Homily for [C] 5 Easter – John 13.31-35
Sometimes the most profound truths are found in just a few words. At the end of our gospel today, we find just those words. A new commandment, direct from God. “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another”.
Just as I have loved you …. And how has God loved us?
Fr. Henri Nouwen said it eloquently ….
“Long before any human being saw us, we were seen by God’s loving eyes. Long before anyone heard us cry or laugh, we were heard by our God, who is all ears for us. Long before any person spoke to us in this world, we were spoken to by the voice of eternal love”
God loved us first; God waits for us; God keeps loving us, for we indeed are God’s beloved daughters and sons.
Just as I have loved you, Jesus goes on to say, you also should love one another. These words of our Lord are given – not as a suggestion or an option, as something to embrace if we feel up to it – but as a real challenge to put into practice day in and day out. It is a way of life, a way of love, for God’s beloved. So, what does this love look like?
St. Augustine was once asked this question: Being a theologian, Augustine could have responded with a theologically profound insight that would tax the minds of most intellectuals, but instead, he offered a much more practical answer. He said,
Love has hands to help others.
It has feet to hasten the poor and needy.
It has eyes to see misery and want.
It has ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of others.
That is what love looks like.
Paul, in his letter to the church in Corinth, gave us some more concrete examples of how to live a life rooted in love, saying.…
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
And, after living on this earth for over 70 years, and being married for over 50, and ordained and in ministry for 35, I can tell you that it is hard to love like that. It is hard to always be patient, It is hard to always be kind, It is hard to always be wanting what is best for the other person, whether they are friend or spouse, parent or child or grandchild, whether they are the person I encounter on the street, or in the prison, or in the hospital. Or whether it is just another servant of God trying to live their life.
Yet, as hard as it is, I wouldn’t want to live my life any other way than aspiring to that vision of love that Paul presents us, and that Jesus calls us to. That God calls us to. A vision that tries to see the best in the other person. A vision that seeks to love the other as God loves them.
How about you? Do you aspire to that vision of love in your family, your community, your world?
The very fact that you are here today suggests to me that you do. You and I are beloved daughters and sons of God. In as much as we live our lives being patient, being kind – In as much as we live our lives not being envious, or boastful or arrogant or rude, or insisting on our own way- then we live our lives in the image of God. We love one another as God has loved us. And putting that love into action in the world, we show the world that Love is the centre of the Christian life. We show the world that Love is the very essence of God’s being, And that everything we do as Christians flows from God’s love and leads back to God’s love. The love of Christ was and is a constant and generous donation of self. And so too, is our call to love.
The world tells us that we are called to strive to attain a higher standard of living., But God tells us that we are called to a higher order of loving. And in a much as we strive towards a higher order of loving – as we strive to love the unloveable, forgive the unforgivable, to be generous in our charity, to show compassion and mercy towards all, then we become more and more the reflections of God we were created to be.
Sounds easy? Nope. Not at all. Most difficult thing we can do. Because it is easy to love someone who loves us back, to care for someone who cares of us; But not so easy with those people who get under our skin. That seem to rub us the wrong way, That see the world differently than we do. Whether it is the driver who cuts you off in traffic, or the dragon-lady in Accounting…. hard to look beyond the surface, isn’t it. To see the broken and wounded person inside. To see them as God sees them.
Is there a lesson in all of this for you and me? I think so. And it is just this ……
We can’t do it alone. We just don’t have the capacity to love that way. But, with God’s help, we can aspire to try to love that way. And for me, it begins with a prayer.
And so, when we find ourselves challenged, about to act in a way that is anything BUT the way God calls us to – say a silent little prayer. Ask God for help. In whatever words, or thoughts, or images that work for you. Sometimes for me, in those tense times, I have an image of God’s creation in mind that brings me peace. Sometimes, I hold some prayer beads I have in my pocket. Sometimes I just ask God to help me, the Holy Spirit to guide me.
Because we are never alone. God is always with us. We just need to be humble enough to ask for God’s help. And with God’s help, we can indeed aspire ……
to love one another as God loves us.