Preached in Markham Baptist Church, August 14, 2005

HOW DO WE MAKE GOD VISIBLE? "LOVE ONE ANOTHER"

How many commandments are there? If you say there are 10 you would right, traditionally speaking. But did you know there is an 11^th commandment? It’s true and it’s found in John chapter 13:31-38.

In this text we discover Jesus saying good-bye to His disciples. Scholars call this passage from chapter 13 to the end of chapter 17 Jesus’ farewell discourse. Knowing that His time is short – that it was time to leave the world and go to the Father (13:1), Jesus gathers His disciples together and He washes their feet and then He says in our text, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:34)

Now we well may ask, what was wrong with the old commandments? Certainly this may have been a question that the disciples asked at the time.

And the answer is nothing. The law, another name for the commandments, is a God-given gift, it is holy, righteous and good (Romans 7:12). And the law has a purpose and it is important for us to know its purpose.

Paul compared the law to a guide or a guardian that shows us what sin is – so he says in Romans 7:7, “I would not have known what sin was except through the Law.” You understand this, don’t you? You can picture someone stealing, not knowing it was wrong and then he hears the command not to steal. Now he knows that stealing is a sin. So the law has the purpose of showing us what is right and what is wrong.

But there is another purpose to the law. The law is not only a guide and guardian it is also a disciplinarian, in that it awakens our conscience. Before the law, we didn’t know it was wrong to steal, so we could steal all we like and not lose any sleep over it. But now we know that it is a sin to steal and so Paul says in Romans 7:13 - before the commandments, stealing and worshipping idols and coveting my neighbour’s wife was a sin – I just didn’t recognize it – but now because of the law I recognize it as sin and it has produced death in me so that now sin has become utterly sinful. I recognize the fullness of sin in me. This is what Paul means when he says in Romans 5:20 – “The law was added so that the trespass might increase.”

So now the law is not only a guardian and a disciplinarian but it is also (and this is very important for us to understand) opens our eyes to our sin and our need for a Saviour. So the law’s ultimate purpose is to lead us to Jesus Christ.

And once we are in Christ we are no longer under the supervision of the law (Galatians 3:25). The law has done its work, it has brought us to Christ.

So this is a foundation to what Jesus is saying, The old commandments are good, they are holy, and their purpose is to lead you to Me – but once you are a follower of Mine, once you are in Me – you need a new commandment. And the new commandment that He gives us is to love one another.

Really, this commandment is not “new” – In Leviticus 19:18 the people of God are commanded to do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbour as yourself. What is new is the way they are to love, and we’ll look at that in a moment, but what is new is the fact that with the coming of Christ we are in a new age and the character of that age is new – it is one characterized by love.

Now let’s unpack this verse a bit more. Jesus says that this is a commandment. It is not a suggestion. It is a demand that our Master has placed on us. Right away we have a problem because we know that love cannot be commanded. I have this mental picture in my head of God shaking His finger at us and saying, “You’ve got to love one another.”

And we can’t. We can’t muster up love simply because Jesus tells us we have to. We need help. And we read on, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” This tells us that we are able to love because we have experienced Christ’s love in us.

It turns this passage into a “You ought to” passage into a “You are able” passage. We are able to love one another because we have tasted the love of Jesus Christ in our lives. This is the truth, “We love because he first loved us.” (I John 4:19). It is as we taste the love of God in Christ that we are able to love one another.

It is always this way – this is the good news Christianity – it’s not that we have been given more laws and regulations that we have to follow – not only do we have to follow the 10 commandments and all the other moral requirements of the law, it is not that we now have to also love one another – it is that we are able to love one another because we have experienced the love of Christ in our hearts. We are able to forgive because we have experienced the forgiveness of Christ. We are able to walk turn the other cheek because our Lord and Master has turned the other cheek with us so many times. We are able to carry the load not just one mile but two because Christ has done that for us. We are able to love our enemies, because while we were enemies of God He loved us.

And more than this, He has placed His Spirit in us, His very character in us so that we can now fulfill the commands. So what used to be struggle and strive to love one another, but now we are able because we have the very spirit of Christ in us. Is there still a struggle? Yes, but now as we give ourselves to Christ we don’t need to give into defeat.

This verse tells us how we are to love one another – as Christ has loved us. How did Jesus love us? Was it just words? Was it just warm fuzzy feelings? No, love one another as I have loved you. Christ loved us by action. He demonstrated His love by action. He washed the feet of His disciples, even the disciple who betrayed Him. He took bread and broke it, He took the cup – both symbols of His self-sacrificing love and He gave it to His disciples, even the disciple who betrayed Him, and each one would desert Him. His love was demonstrated, a self-sacrificing love.

This verse tells us that what matters for Christ’s followers is love. Love is the supreme test for a follower of Christ. It’s not the ability to say the right things. It’s not orthodoxy. It’s love. I sometimes make the mistake of testing a persons’ commitment to Christ by their doctrine - do they believe certain things certain ways. But that’s not the true test of those who are followers of Christ. A person may be able to grasp all the mysteries of the gospel, they may be able to express a proper knowledge of the incarnation, inerrancy, the endtimes, and election and justification and sanctification and be able to proclaim it all so that you think that they have the tongue of an angel but if they have not love, if WE do not have love, we are but a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

I may have a faith that is so wonderful, an inspiration to hundreds of people so that everyone thinks highly of me and think I am something. I may have a faith that is able to move mountains but if I have not love for my brothers and sisters in Christ I am in fact nothing.

So John will write in his first letter, “If anyone says ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” (I John 4:19-21)

Finally in verse 35 we read of the results of this command. “by this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” There are all sorts of churches who claim to be the “real” church. The Eastern Orthodox church says they are the real church because they have their roots in the land in which Christianity was born. The Roman Catholic church they are the real church because they say they can trace their beginnings to the apostles. The Evangelical church says they are the true church because of their understanding of Scripture – but Jesus says the one true note of my church is love. And He says that when the world sees my people of different nationalities, of different economic backgrounds, personalities - the difficult and the demanding and the cantankerous – when the world sees My people loving one another then they will say, this is of God, God must be here. So wonderful, so unearthly, so unworldly is this self-sacrificing love that the world will have to say this is from God.

This love between one another then becomes the supreme tool for evangelism. We sometimes get upset with ourselves when we are unable to speak up for Christ in the workplace. We sometimes beat ourselves up saying, “I wish I was a better witness for Christ.” It is good to have the desire to testify to your faith but do not miss the obvious opportunity you have to witness the reality of Christ – by loving one another. It is something we all can do, and Jesus guarantees that every time we love one another the world will take notice and know that Jesus Christ is real.

Now the application. Some of you may be wondering about the September 11 and the event in the tent. Some of you may be worried that what we are trying to do is “wow” the community with a jumping castle, a big tent and all the rest. Please let me help you put those worries aside and state plainly what the purpose of the day is. The purpose of the day is to introduce people to our loving God by introducing them to you. During the past number of months you have heard over and over again, words of encouragement from people who have testified, from those who have been baptized, “You, Markham Baptist Church, have revealed God to me. I have discovered God in this place. Through your care, through your compassion, through your love for me and my family, through your love for me I have discovered the reality of God.”

My friends we want to display God by displaying our love for one another. And that’s what we are about on September 11th. It’s not about putting on a big show, it’s now about wowing people with a free BBQ - it’s about giving the people of this community the opportunity to meet you, and discover through you the reality of God. That’s why it is so important for you to be present on that day. That’s why we need you there, greeting people, saying hello to people, supporting one another by offering your gifts of service, and helps and hospitality. We don’t want you to be phony, we don’t want you to be people you’re not, but we don’t have a fear of that, because you love one another and we want you to demonstrate that to the community.