Faith working through Love / Love one another as I have loved you
Gal 5:6 - For in Christ Jesus; the only thing that counts is faith working through love. For [if we are] in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor un-circumcision counts for anything, but only faith activated and energized and expressed and working through love. (Amplified Bible)
Love is what makes faith work. If love is absent, faith will drain out. This verse tells us how these two words are inseparable. You couldn’t have faith in God if you didn’t love Him. This year the talk is how one can build one’s faith but there is something even more important to get this faith moving and that is love.
The theme for this evening is “love”, more specifically on love one another as I have loved you. In the bible, love has another word - charity (uncompensated care, expect nothing in return). Jn 3:16 – love, gave, believes, life. It all began because of love. Replace God with your name in Jn 3:16. Do you love people that you give Jesus to them?
We find a mention of this kind of agape love in John 13:34 - I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. Jesus made this statement immediately after the Last Supper.
Then again we find a shorter mention in John 15:12 - "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. This is the passage of Jesus the true vine.
In both these passages there are certain words which are common:
The Last Supper - we come across servant-ship, love and betrayal.
The true vine - witnessing, discipleship, friendship love and hatred.
In the light of these let us look at love one another as I have loved you. Jesus mentions it’s a new commandment. What’s new in this commandment? The Jews were aware of the two commandments – love God and love neighbour as yourself! Lev 19:18. So how does this commandment become new?
Love one another as I have loved you. The second part of the statement has changed – as I have loved you! The earlier commandment was to love one another as you love yourself. Jesus is not canceling the second commandment. He is realigning the focus – it is not on yourself but on Himself.
Human love has its share of selfishness – I will love you if you love me, agree with me; but Jesus is giving a whole new meaning – as I have loved you.
How did Jesus love us? By laying down his life for us
What is the relationship He mentions here? I lay down my life for my friends
What kind of love is this? Unconditional love
From where did Jesus get this love? John 15:9 - As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.
As the Father has loved me – the vertical bar of the cross
So I have loved you – the horizontal bar of the cross
This agape, unconditional love comes the Father through the Son and this love has to flow into us. This is what is portrayed in the passage of the true vine – I am the vine, you are the branches and my Father is the vine-grower. Jesus says abide in me, abide in my love. At no point can we be disconnected from Jesus for then this love will become unavailable.
In the previous two commandments, there was no dependency between the two - the vertical was separate from the horizontal. Jesus brings in this dependency, connectedness – the cross! This is love to point of being crucified and I will come to that in moment.
What happens with this connectedness?
John 13:35 - By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
Your discipleship, apostleship, ambassadorship or witnessing for Christ is not some independent activity but with total dependency on Christ. Jesus is not asking us to be His imitators but something bigger and deeper – to abide in Him! To remain connected! He will do the fruit bearing in us depending on the pruning. Can you tell me if any branch can bear fruit on its own?
So far I covered the second part of our theme verse for today. What are we to do with the love we receive from the Lord? Love one another! The remainder of the talk focuses on this aspect.
Who is this ‘one another’? Our neighbour! Who is our neighbour? This question was put to Jesus by a lawyer and Jesus goes on to give a popular story - the parable of the good Samaritan.
Who is my neighbour? Read Luke 10:25-37
A lawyer wanted to test Jesus. So the person has studied the law and is quite well versed with it. And as we know lawyers also know loopholes in the law. He treats Jesus with respect – Teacher though he knows Jesus is not a part of the priestly community and in no position to teach scriptures. What must I do to have eternal life?
Jesus puts a question back to him in which he is familiar – what is written in the law? And the man replies love the lord your god with all your heart, soul, strength and mind and love your neighbour as yourself. Jesus says 100% correct answer – do this and you will live. The discussion should have ended there.
But this lawyer wanted to justify himself. Just as we read the story of the young man who met Jesus – he had kept all the commandments and so too this lawyer had kept all the commandments but he wanted to know who was his neighbour. Jesus goes on to tell a famous parable.
In this parable we see a few interesting characters. There is a lawyer and Jesus of course, a certain man, a priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. We can see Jesus is bringing about a comparison between two groups of people: pious Jews – God’s chosen (priest & Levite) and a Samaritan.
Samaritans lived in Samaria - northern Israel. These were Jews who broke away from the Jewish race and married Assyrians. So they were considered half-Jews or a mixed race. And this was the reason why Jews hated the Samaritans
To understand this parable a little better let us see a pattern out here. We first have the priest or priesthood considered closest to God. They offered sacrifices for the sins of the people.
Then we have the Levites. They were people who assisted the priests in the temple duties. They did not perform sacrifices but still they worked in the temple.
Then there are the ‘general’ pious Jewish people or the lay people in today’s description and on the outermost tax collectors, harlots, prostitutes etc. The Samaritans came next. As I said they were half Jews and finally came the Gentiles who were like the gone case.
With this picture in mind let us examine this passage.
A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell into the hands of robbers, who stripped him, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead.
Jerusalem was on a high mountain and Jericho at a lower level and so he was going down This man was probably a well to do man – going about his business and he had to pass through what was known as the ‘Bloody Pass’ due to the high number of crimes that happened on this road. It was infested with robbers. These robbers had pounced upon this man – not only robbed him but stripped him and beat him.
Life is full of troubles and they come into our lives in two ways:
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first when we do something wrong
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The other way is when something unknown happens to us. It is just pure misfortune that you were there. God allows certain things to happen.
This is what happened to this poor man. He was at the wrong place at the wrong time and he was stripped and beaten and left there half dead.
As he is lying there by chance a priest also was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. But when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. The priest had probably just finished his monthly temple duties and was on his way home. He had served in the temple and done godly things and loved the Lord with all his heart and soul and strength and mind but as he walked away from there he forgot the other part of the law to love neighbour. He loved himself and his family as well. There are times when people pretending as wounded are kept on the roadside and the moment you go to help them somebody pounces on you. This priest didn’t want to get himself into such a situation. He walked away. He could have waited for someone to arrive and then the two could do have helped the man but he seemed to be in a hurry.
So likewise a Levite – just like the priest had finished his duties, he too had completed his duties and was also proceeding home. He too expressed his love for the Lord but he had other things on his mind and he too passed by.
Finally a Samaritan was passing by and he came near him. The priest and Levite passed him by on the other side but the Samaritan came close to him. He was moved with pity.
Now pity can be of two types:
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I have a genuine concern for others and go out of the way to help people
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I look at myself and say what if this happened to me and was left in such a condition. If I am in such a situation I want someone to help me and so I will help hoping God remembers me when I am in crisis.
The passage does not tell which kind of pity this man had and it does not matter as long as help is provided. He poured oil and wine on the wound and bandaged it. Oil and wine the equivalent of today’s ointment and spirit – the doctor before treating a wound cleans it with dettol or spirit and then applies the ointment. This man had wine to clean and oil to pour to prevent infection and then bandaged and took him to an inn for treatment. He even paid for it not knowing if he would ever get that money back.
The passage does not tell us whether the injured man was a Jew or non-Jew. It did not matter. This Samaritan went out of his way to help this man. He was sure the wounded man needed help and he provided the service. He could have said why should I attend to him? Others have left him, why should I? He asked no questions. He did not worry if he would be attacked as this wounded man could be a ‘bait’. He was not worried of the legal wrangles.
The Samaritans who were not God’s chosen shamed the attitude of the Jews who were God’s chosen.
Who is your neighbour?
Going by the dictionary meaning it is the person living near or next door but Jesus broadens the scope of this word. It is any person irrespective of caste or creed or religion living next door or the person you come in contact as you move around. In the bus or train, as you walk on the footpath, as you interact with the shopkeepers, as you come and go to church, an accident victim or a victim of abuse.
Then there are various institutions – orphanages, aged homes whom you can reach out through adoption.
In between the Samaritan and the wounded man, the Samaritan became the parent and the wounded man the child. The Samaritan spent everything for the wounded man just as a parent spends for the child’s welfare. There are no questions asked. 2 Cor 12:14. You as parents do it for your children. Same is the attitude for your neighbour. Do not expect anything in return.
In every situation there is a neighbour. Jesus went to the extent of telling love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. They are your best neighbours.
Friends what I have spoken upto now is wrt neighbours. But the command is also to love your neighbour as yourself.
Do you love yourself? You can’t forget this part. The love for neighbour is based on love of self.
This entire passage can be relooked. As I said there are a few characters:
The wounded man - wounded by sin – away from God, Jerusalem
The priest - the law
The Levite - the prophets
The Samaritan - Jesus
- oil and wine – wine is His blood with which we are washed clean and oil is the anointing of the Holy Spirit that He gives us and brings us to the inn – the church to be taken care by His apostles. Jesus did not ask questions - why should I die for sinners? He did not count the cost but willing gave Himself!
When Jesus asked him who the neighbour was in this parable, the lawyer did not mention – the Samaritan – instead he used another phrase – the one who showed him mercy.
Who has shown you mercy and compassion and unconditional love?
If you believe Jesus cares for you, can you do likewise? This is what Jesus demands at the end of this parable.
Friends, the world represent love in the color pink, roses and butterflies but in true love it has to hurt, pinch. There has to be a cost – time, money, energy, life. If this does not happen then it is anything but love. Jesus paid the price with his life. You and I have small things happening on a daily basis. This is a test of what our response will be?
On Sunday 20th January, 2013, Pope Benedict XVI, tweeted on the net for the first time in Latin. He is trying to revive the language from which the Bible was translated to its modern version. Nobody understood and there followed translations which read as:
"What does the Lord command to those wholly eager for the unity of those following Christ?
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"pray constantly, do justice, love goodness and walk humbly with Him".
This is Micah 6:8 requoted – the first and the last referring to a relationship with God and the rest of a relationship with one another.
Justice – not national level but of your relationships with people – “DO” justice and not just support.
Goodness, kindness, uprightness – fruit of the Spirit - translated in OT as loyal love of God. Our call is to love one another just as God loves us – unconditionally, mercifully, passionately, consistently, kindly and with loyalty.
All this has to be done within the framework of praying constantly and by humbly walking with Him i.e. submission to His will. We may have worked on our pride and arrogance but if we go about doing our own stuff, our own will then we are yet to come into submission to His will. Many have got into doing good works. Not all good works are God’s works. As we spend time in prayer, His will becomes clearer and we can walk with Him.
St. Faustina’s Diary, 742 "I demand from you deeds of mercy, which are to arise out of love for Me." and that he explained that there are three ways of exercising mercy toward your neighbor: the first-by deed, the second-by word, the third-by prayer.
| Corporal works (bodily needs) of mercy Mt 25:34-40 | Spiritual works of mercy |
| 1. To feed the hungry.2. To give drink to the thirsty.3. To clothe the naked.4. To harbour the harbourless.5. To visit the sick.
6. To visit the imprisoned (classical term is "to ransom the captive") 7. To bury the dead. |
1. To instruct the ignorant.2. To counsel the doubtful.3. To admonish sinners.4. To bear wrongs patiently.5. To forgive offenses willingly.
6. To comfort the afflicted. 7. To pray for the living and the dead. |
Can you place your finger and say this is the area that God is leading me. Having done that, it does not mean the other 13 are options. God expects and tests each one of us in all these areas.
As people in the renewal, we have great faith. Let this faith be expressed through love for one another. Amen!