Maundy Thursday

The following is the sermon I will preach tonight...

“Love”

Maundy Thursday 03/20/08

John 13: 34-35

Grace and peace to you from God our Father, and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Faith, hope and love. Three words we hear a lot around this church. They’re watch words for us—guiding principles, if you will. They remind us where we’ve been, they ground us in the present, and they provide a pathway towards our future. Faith, hope and love.

We’re going to look at faith, hope, and love over the next three days—during a period which not so coincidentally is called Triduum, or The Three Days. Because the three most holy days in Christendom all gathered up in one worship event that spans the time from Maundy Thursday, through Good Friday, to the Vigil of Easter and Easter Day. We’ll look at one word each of those three days, beginning tonight with “Love,” then tomorrow with ‘Hope,” and finally, with “Faith” on Easter morning. And with God’s grace we will see afresh why these words are both our call to mission as a church, and the very essence of our lives as disciples of Christ Jesus. So, first…love.

Tonight’s reading from John comes from what is called Jesus’ farewell discourse. It takes place during the last meal he shared with his disciples, and it’s sort of a last will and testament for Jesus, in which he gives instruction, comforts his friends, and promises them a continued presence via the Holy Spirit. One of the things Jesus tells them is a “new commandment.” This in itself is startling, for it reveals Jesus’ oneness with the God of Israel, who gave Moses the Ten Commandments on Mount Sinai. But it is the commandment itself which is truly surprising.

“Love one another,” Jesus begins, and, if left to our own devices to finish this advice, we might say, “as you would love yourself.” Love your neighbor as yourself. The “Golden Rule,” right? But no, Jesus, as usual, is going to take that saying and give it a major twist. “Love one another,” Jesus says, “Just as I have loved you. Jesus’ love for us is to be the model for our love for one another. Well, what does that love look like—how is it different than our love for our own selves? Well, I’ll tell ya…

There’s an old camp song that goes like this—join in with me if you know it:

Love, love, love, love;

The gospel in a word is love.

Love your neighbor as yourself,

For God is love.

The gospel in a word is love. But did you know that there are several different words for “love” in the gospels? The New Testament was written in Koine Greek, which was kind of a common language used for trade in those days of the Roman Empire. And Koine Greek has different words for different kinds of love.

There’s philos or what’s commonly known as “brotherly love.” This is the deep emotional connection one shares with a family member, or other close knit social grouping—a “related-ness,” if you will. We get our English word “philanthropy” from the same root.

Then there’s the romantic and carnal love that exists between two people. That’s eros in the Greek. We get the English word “erotic” from this root. Bet’cha never thought you’d hear that word in the sermon tonight!

And finally there is agape. Agape is kind of a generic word for love in Greek, but in the New Testament and especially the gospels, it is infused with very specific theological and Christological meaning. Which is a fancy way of saying “agape love is special.” How is it special? Three ways (at least, there’s probably a whole lot more, but we only have the three days!).

First and foremost, agape represents God’s love for us in Christ Jesus. Given graciously and freely with out merit. As such it is not dependant on our reciprocation. For example, with eros love there is consent between the two parties. With philos there is a shared connection based on feelings. For both of these types of love to work, there has to be give and take, loving and being loved. If one party stops loving, the relationship is shattered and comes to an end.

But, as I said, God’s love is not dependant on our loving God back. God’s love is not conditional. God loves us no matter what. He loves us when we love him, but he loves us even if we forget or neglect to show our love for him. He loves us even if we curse him. Even if we say we don’t believe in him, God still loves us. God loves us unconditionally—on our part.

Second, God’s love for us is immeasurable. Sometimes when Lisa ask me, “Do you love me?” I say, “A little bit.” Just to freak her out—I don’t really mean it. I love her a lot—my real answer comes from a children’s book we used to read to Erik: “Do you love me? All the way to Africa and back.” Or, all the way to the moon and back. Or, for you Star Trek fanatics, all the way to Rigel 7 and back. The thing is, though, no matter how great a distance those may each be, they are finite—they can be measured. Human love can be quantified.

One season we say, “Oh, I love those Celtics!” Then next season they lose a lot and we say, “I can’t stand those bums!” Or we may love a political candidate’s message, but not enough to give him or her a chunk of our hard earned cash.

God’s love for us in Christ is not quantifiable. God’s love is “deep and wide” as another camp song relates. It has no boundaries, no limit, and there’s no end to it. God doesn’t just up and decide that he’s not going to love Ray Theil anymore, or that he’s willing to love Christina a little bit, but not enough to die for her. God’s love, like his promises, is steadfast, enduring, timeless, and immeasurable. God loves us unconditionally—on his part as well.

Last but definitely not least—and I warn you right now I’m going to stretch your brains just a wee bit more by giving you one last Greek word to ponder—God’s love for us in Christ Jesus is characterized by kenosis. Literally translated that means “pouring out,” as with a pitcher of water. God’s love is shown to us by Jesus “pouring himself out” for us. By serving, not being served. By healing, not being healed. By feeding,, not being fed. By proclaiming the brightness and newness of the kingdom of God, not by keeping his mouth shut when it came to a point in which it would be advantageous for him to keep quiet. Jesus loved us so much that he poured out his very life for us, and that’s the kind of love he intends for his disciples to have for one another.

That’s the whole idea of that foot washing thing Jesus does with his disciples. It illustrates the “just as I have loved you” part of the new commandment. Jesus Christ, Son of God and Son of Man, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God from before time—Jesus never the less disregards his divinity and stoops to wash the dirty smelly feet of his followers. Even Peter’s.

So “love.” What does it mean for us individually, as followers of Christ. It means that we are so loved by God that we are empowered by that love to love others with that same type of love. A self pouring kind of love, in which we are more interested in what we can do, what we can say, what we can give of ourselves, rather than what do we get out of this relationship, how am I filled, or what’s in it for me? In this way we become wellsprings of God’s love, for that love flows into us endlessly and out through us to each other without ever running dry.

And finally, to quote another, non-camp song, what has love got to do with it—what does this agape love mean for Messiah Lutheran Church? It means we are blessed with an abundance. Forget the budget deficit, forget the size of the Sunday School, forget even the attendance statistics. We are blessed with an abundance of God’s love pouring like a flood into this church—soaking the people, drenching the sanctuary, saturating Messiah House, and puddling up the parking lot. God’s love is so abundant it’s drowning us and so we need to go down to the end of the driveway and open the floodgates and let that love wash us out the doors of this building and out into the community and the world to be for others what Christ is for us. Love. Let me hear you say LOVE!

By this they will know that you are my disciples. LOVE! Love, love, love, love, the gospel in a word is love. And our mission in a word is also - ? Love. AMEN