LOVING ONE ANOTHER Text: John 13:34-35

LOVING ONE ANOTHERText:John 13:34-35 Utap Road Church of Christ Tacloban City June 20, 2010

Happy Father’s Day to all fathers, and to all fathers who already have become grandfathers!

ILLUSTRATION One day a Christian couple visited their preacher. The preacher told them to wait in the sala. “I will just finish what I’m doing, brother Mokong, sister Mokang.” Wife: “Gaunsa man ka, brad.” Preacher: “Gapanglaba.” Wife: “Kugihan kaayo ning atong preacher. Ikaw, Mokong, sukad niadtong naminyo ta, you have never washed our clothes, not even the diapers of our babies. Look at our preacher, o.” Mokong the husband just kept quiet. Wife: “Kadaghan lagi nang imong gilabhan, brad. Tan-awa ra gud, Mokong, pwerteng kugihana ning atong preacher lagi.”

Then they saw their preacher hanging the clothes he had washed. They saw pants, they saw women’s dresses being hung on the clothesline. • Wife: “Hala, our preacher is single but why is he washing women’s clothes?” • Then they heard a woman’s voice in the room. Wife: “Hala, what is the meaning of this?” • Then they saw the preacher hanging out women’s underwears to dry. Wife: “Hala, our preacher is committing fornication. Look at that, we heard a woman’s voice, and we saw him hanging out underwears!” • And the so the lady member went around and gossipped about their preacher.

Next Sunday morning the preacher began his sermon with an explanation: • “Sister Mokang, let me tell you that the woman whose voice you heard is not a prostitute nor my other woman. I have no woman. She is actually my sister in the flesh. She has just come to visit me. • “Now concerning the dresses and the underwears and pants and diapers you saw, I want you to know, brethren, that I love you so much. I love you so much I don’t want you, the Lord’s beloved church, to be burdened. I love you so much I don’t want to leave you and move to another congregation. But because the support you are giving me is not enough, I decided to look for an extra job to support myself. I went around and asked my neighbors to send to me their dirty clothes so I could wash them, so I could have extra money!”

John 13:31-35 (Montgomery) • 31 So when he was gone, Jesus said. "Now has the Son of man been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. • 32 If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and straightway will he glorify him. • 33 My little children, I am only to be with you a little longer. You will seek me; just as I said to the Jews, ‘Where I go you cannot come,’ so now I say to you. • 34 I give you a new commandment, Love one another! • 35 By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another."

Consider then verse John 13:31 • “When he (Judas) was gone out, Jesus said, Now is the Son of man glorified” -- These remarkable words imply that up to this moment our Lord had spoken under a painful restraint. Judas was there and now he left. The presence of the traitor within His little circle was preventing the free and full outpouring of His heart. • The determined act of Judas to betray Him led Christ to say: “Now is my glory!”

Glory after these prospects, after these things have happened to Him • He was betrayed by a friend. • He was arrested for the crime He had not committed. • He was sold for 30 pieces of silver money, a little over P5,000, the amount equivalent to the value of a full-grown pig, or the price of a slave! The greatest Person in the world became a merchandise that is of little value!

Think also of His being tried overnight in a trial that lasts just a few minutes if not a few hours. • The trial of Jesus showed that one day in history God suffered and died at the hands of the very men He has created! • Think of His being tried by a bunch of men whose righteousness and moral sensibilities are open to question.

Take these into consideration too… • Think of His being hung between two criminals, as if He too was a criminal, dying as a result of that deed… • To the people of the world, Jesus’ death showed Him as a weak person, His cross a sign of defeat, the end of a cause, the bankruptcy of heaven, the victory of evil in the world, the swan song and the last hurrah of a system gone wrong!

But think also • Jesus’ suffering and death is a closure to an unjust deed, • It is a release from an agonizing situation, • It is victory over struggles, • It is the achieving of success after a difficult mission, • It is reaping the glory after having been trodden over by your oppressors.

Jesus says: “Now is the Son of Man glorified” (John 13:31). • Jesus knows the prospect of the cross, but He rather dwells on the glory that it brings. • Jesus speaks in the aorist tense when He says, “Now is the Son of Man glorified.” • The aorist tense in Greek is often translated as past tense in English. But it also means point action, an accomplished action, an action seen as a whole. “Now is the Son of Man glorified!”

Jesus thus speaks of the prospect of His dying as the road that leads to glory. • Jesus also says that as a result of His being glorified after his crucifixion, the Father also receives the glory. “Now is the Son of man glorified and God is glorified in Him!” (13:31). • The Lord speaks of this glory as an accomplished act. In spite of the great evil shown by men by their act of crucifying a man who was God, the Son of God was glorified and the Father was glorified in Him. The Father gave his Son and the Son gave Himself that man may live. The Godhead was glorified in the saving of mankind.

Many early Christians too suffered like their Master did! • Like the ancient Polycarp. Bound at the stake, surrounded by chunks of wood, on which drums of asphalt had been poured. • A Roman soldier standing by, ready to throw in the torch that would start the fire burning. • Yet in the midst of it all, you’d see Polycarp facing his death with joy. • When he was asked to deny the Christ, he said: “Eighty and six years have I served Him. How can I blaspheme my King and my Savior?” • When he was threatened with fire, he said: “Those fires would hasten my trip to heaven.” • The prospect of dying and death is to them already the certainty of their reward!

Consider verse John 13:32 • “And if God was glorified in Him, God will also glorify him in Himself, and straightway (that is, immediately) shall he glorify him.” • God did exalt Jesus while Jesus hanged on the cross. “If I be lifted up, then shall I draw men unto myself,” says Jesus. • Brethren, we all could always look up to that God become man who hanged on the cross for our relief and comfort, and for the answer to our troubles of sin and death!

There was darkness over the whole land for three hours as the Maker of the world suffered and died (Luke 23:44). The light of the sun failed to give its rays. The temple, the symbol of man glorifying God, now becomes the symbol of man rebelling against God; its veil, which separates the most holy place from the rest of it, was rent in the middle, the signal of the end of the old system, but the signal too that man, no matter how sinful, can benefit from the merit of the death of God’s Son. • Calvary was the picture of defeat that became victory! • If anything, it should lead us all to cry out in great joy. “Jesus is indeed the Son of God!”

Consider verse John 13:33-34 • He is about to leave His disciples. He calls them “little children,” an expression of endearment as if they already are family to Him (verse 33). • And since they are family, He gives them a commandment that becomes the rule that will guide them (verse 34).

OUTLINE OF THE SERMON • I.THE NOVELTY OF THAT COMMANDMENT. • The commandment is a new one. “A new commandment I have given you” (v. 34a). • II.THE SCOPE OF THAT COMMANDMENT. • The scope of that commandment is everyone. “That you love one another” (v. 34b). • III. THE COMPARISON OF THAT COMMANDMENT. • That commandment finds a model, a form to copy from. If we don’t know how to do it, Jesus shows us the way: “Love them as I have loved you” (v. 34c).

First, Love is indeed a new commandment. • “A new commandment I give unto you” (verse 34a). • It is new, not because there was no commandment before which required them to love their fellowmen, because there was indeed such a commandment. Leviticus 19:18 is a passage to show that in the old times God indeed commanded men to love their fellow men. The new commandment of Jesus is not new in the sense that it was the first time to be given.

But it is new as far as the Jews are concerned. • Although the Jews were commanded to love their fellow men, the Jews never loved the Gentiles, they loved only their fellow Jews. • Among his fellow Jews, a Jew would love only those that he selected. • Among those he selected, there were those he loved more and there were those he loved less. • His external rites and cultural peculiarities hindered the Jew from truly loving his neighbor.

It is also new as far as the Gentiles are concerned. • The Greeks had rationalized love and invented some distinctions which in English were still translated “love.” • For romance and sexual feelings, they invented the word EROS. To love a woman, to them, is to have an erotic love for her. • If they loved their dogs and their cats and their things, they used the word STORGE. If you love your dog, you could say, “I STORGE my dog.” • For closeness toward comrades and friends, they used the term PHILEO. If you say you love a friend, you could say, “I PHILEO my friend Charlie.” • For the kind of feeling that motivated one to make sacrifices for the one he loved, the Greeks invented the word AGAPE. This to me is the greatest love of all.

It is a new commandment for those who are in Christ. • If they would be Christians, the Greeks would have to do away with their rationalization. • If they would be followers of Jesus, the Jews would have to throw their arrogance and discriminatory feelings to the winds. • If both races would unite as one body, one people, one kingdom, one church, one family in Christ, they would have to destroy the barriers that divide them. • The Jews loving the Greeks and Greeks loving the Jews would be some kind of a new commandment to these people.

It is interesting to note that of the four Greek terms translated “love” – EROS, STORGE, PHILEO and AGAPE, the Greek terms STORGE and EROS did not find any usage in the Bible. Do you know why? The Bible does not need to emphasize EROS love for a woman, or STORGE love for cats and dogs and cars and houses. By nature we know how to do them! • But the terms PHILEO, love of comrades and friends, and AGAPE, the sacrificial love, are being used in John 21:15-17.

John 21:15-17 • 15 So when they had broken their fast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love [agape] me more than these?” He said to him, “Yea, Lord; you know that I love [phileo] you.” He said him, “Feed my lambs.” • 16 He said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love [agape] me?” He said to him, “Yea, Lord; you know that I love [phileo] you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” • Peter had a difficult time comprehending the agape love Jesus expects from Him. 17 He said to him the third time, Do you love [phileo] me? And he said to him, Lord, you know all things; you know that I love [phileo] you. Jesus said to him, Feed my sheep.

Second, The scope of love is from one to another. • “That you love one another” (verse 34b). • Does the phrase “one another,” “each other” have limits? Does it refer only to members of the church? • I am inclined to believe that love here is both extended and limited. Let me explain.

AGAPE love is a limited love • “Love one another” is limited only to people. • It does not include beings and things other than people. • It does not include cats and dogs. A rich woman in America left in her will just a few thousand dollars to her sons but millions of dollars to her Chihuahua! • You may have heard of a church that baptizes cats and dogs and reserves special seats for them in worship, but making these animals “Christians” is the height of stupidity! • The Greek the word for “one another,” allelois, in the NT has never been applied to objects but only to people.

But AGAPE too has no limits! • While it is limited only to people, AGAPE love is not limited to people of one kind. • AGAPE love is not limited to color of the skin, whether black or white or brown or yellow. • AGAPE love is not limited to the size or shape of the nose, whether aquiline or hawk or flat; or to the kind of hair, whether blond, or brown, or black, or kinky, or straight, or long or short.

AGAPE love is not limited to educational attainments, whether graduates or drop-outs; • AGAPE love is not limited to the IQ, whether genius, average or moron; • It is not limited to the possession of wealth or non-possession of it, whether rich or poor. • It is not limited to religion, or sect. We too should love the Baptists as we love members of the church of Christ. • It is not limited to gender preferences. We should love the women. We should love the men. But we too should love those who are in between – the lesbians, the homosexuals, the transvestites, the transgenders.

Lastly, The comparison, the model and the spirit of the command to love is the love of Christ himself. • “As I have loved you” (verse 34c). • In everything in the church, Jesus the Head of the church is always the role model and form to copy from. • Christians are to love as Jesus loves all men. • Jesus loved all men enough he created this world for them. • He loved all men enough he died for them.

“By this shall men know, if ye have love for one another” • Christians are not to be known by distinctions of wealth, or learning, or fame; • They are not to aspire to earthly honors, or love the best seats; • They are not to adopt any peculiar style of dress or badge, but they are to be distinguished by tender and constant attachment to each other;

They are to surmount all distinctions of country, of color, of rank, of office, of sect. • Christians are to feel that they are on the same level with one another, that they have common wants, that they are redeemed by the same sacred blood, and that they are going to the same heaven. • They are to befriend each other, to support each other in trials; to be careful of each other's feelings and reputation; and to even deny themselves some comforts and privileges to promote each other's welfare.

Christians are to refrain from jokes or comments that could offend the sensibilities of other people; and if they have offended some, they must be ready to apologize. • They must not allow differences of opinion or taste or likes or preferences to build walls between them. They build bridges, now walls! And if they had some disagreements, they must allow the Lord to become their Arbiter, and the Lord shall settle whatever differences there are on the day of judgment.

Christians are second-milers; they are willing to walk the second mile. • They are also “other-cheekers,” because they offer the other cheek. • In these times when many are looking for advantages, Christians allow themselves to be taken advantage of. • In these times when brethren defraud each other, Christians suffer the consequences of being defrauded.

They don’t settle the scores but let God take a hand in doing so. Their wives or their husbands may divorce them but they don’t buy guns to even the score, or hail these spouses to court in order to get alimonies. • If you still don’t get it, in America we are the group that has lost many chapels and much land and more Bible colleges and much funds and more people to the digressive and the progressive among us. • It does not mean we cannot change for the better; it only means we will not change because our state as-is is already better.

The Christian discusses differences with other sects only to win those people to Christ, not to win points for Christ. • Like Paul, he becomes all things to all men in order to win some. • He may eat with a prostitute but not sleep with her, as a way of helping her overcome her struggles with sin. • He will spend time talking to a lunatic if only to show to the world that he loves everyone. • He is a loving model to a little boy or a little girl if only to start that little soul on the road to greatness. He remembers what Jesus says, that the kingdom of heaven belongs to such little ones.

Love is a commandment (John 13:34a). If we love Jesus, we have to keep His commandments (John 14:15). • If you have faith, it is not impossible to think that we can love all. • We have to love the people who are unloved, the people who are unlovable, and the ones who are not capable of loving us back. • If we cannot fulfill this command now, I don’t think we can fulfill it tomorrow, for it might be too late.

Do it now • If you love a soul, express that love now. • Giving flowers to the living is better than offering a wreath to the dead. They will not smell it. • Giving food to the living is better than giving food to the dead. They will not eat it. Give something to the hungry and the thirsty and the unclothed before you regret not having done anything. • Give of what little you have now, and don’t wait for yourself to become rich because you might not. • The Bible says do good as you have the opportunity (Galatians 6:10). Opportunities, by the way, don’t have any schedules. • Jesus says we must serve Him, and we serve Him by serving our fellowmen.

The test of that love is when you bring to Jollibee or McDo the man who just slapped you on the face, or boxed you, or insulted you. • The test of that love is when you can embrace the man who wanted to stab you with a machete, who wanted to shoot you with a gun. I found out that by embracing the man who wanted to stab me with a machete, he could no longer stab me! My father could not beat me with a stick because I was hugging him! • The test of that love is when you learn not to fight back.

Not fighting back may be a sign of weakness. But it is in that weakness that you become strong. • When you don’t fight back, you allow the Lord to fight the battle for you, you allow the Lord to take vengeance. • If you fight back and kill your enemy, he will die and you will suffer the consequence of that action. Physically you live but you will go to hell on the last day. • If your enemy does not die, he takes vengeance on you, and you may die, and you suffer the consequence of your action. You die and go to hell just the same. • Let the Lord do the fighting. Don’t fight back.

If you pray for your enemies, God will listen, and He will take action. Firstly, He will make your enemies your friends. • Or secondly, He will touch your enemies that they can no longer harm you. • It took me three years to teach the church in the mountains to stop hurting their enemies and to start loving them, doing them good, and praying for them. It is a difficult lesson to imbibe, but they learned it. • We learn if we obey Jesus’ new commandment.

FINIS • Brothers and sisters in Christ, “love one another” is a command that transcends all human boundaries. It is a love that copies the love of Jesus. “A new commandment I have given you, that you should love one another as I have loved you.” • I am glad to be imparting this message to you all. God be with you and Happy Sunday.

LOVING ONE ANOTHER Text: John 13:34-35