AS I HAVE LOVED YOU
The Sixth Sunday of Easter (Year A)
Acts 8:5-8, 14-17; 1 Peter 3:15-18; John 14:15-21
Cole Porter is regarded as one of America’s premier songwriters. The composer of such classic songs as “Night and Day,” I Get a Kick Out of You,” and “I’ve Got You Under My Skin,” his music was noted for both its sophistication and its clever rhymes. And along with such songwriters as Irving Berlin, George and Ira Gershwin, Harold Arlen, Johnny Mercer, and Rogers and Hart (probably none of which some of you have ever heard of!), Cole Porters’ songs make up what is referred to as the “Great American Songbook.
One of his hits is the song, “What Is This Thing Called Love?” and its first verse goes like this:
What is this thing called love?
This funny thing called love?
Just who can solve its mystery?
Why should it make a fool of me?
You know, a lot of great minds throughout history have tried to solve that mystery, philosophers, poets and playwrights. And today, it still continues to get a lot of attention. It fills television and movie screens, books, magazines and greeting cards. Love is something we talk about, read about, philosophize about, sing about.
What is this thing called love?
This funny thing called love?
Just who can solve its mystery?
Well somebody did solve its mystery. Someone who lived two thousand years ago. And He solved it using only five words: AS . . . I . . . HAVE . . . LOVED . . . YOU.”
Oh, what a special night that was, the night of the Last Supper. The Apostles’ heads must have been spinning, for this was no ordinary night . . . this was no ordinary Passover celebration. Jesus, the Master and Teacher reinforced in them, in dramatic fashion, a lesson that he, no doubt, had repeated to them time and time again – that the way to greatness is the way of service. He gave them (and us) the gift of his intimate and abiding presence through the institution of the Eucharist. But not only did He consecrate ordinary bread and wine that night; He consecrated eleven ordinary men to be the first priests in the Church He was establishing. And He did something else that few people seem to take notice of - something that must have brought tears to the eyes of those brawny, sometimes thickheaded, sometimes dense, collection of fishermen, tax collectors and what not. He told them He loved them. It’s said that the gospels contain 31, 426 words spoken by Jesus. But that night was the first time those three words ever came together: I . . . LOVE . . . YOU! “As the Father has loved me, so I LOVE YOU.”
Of course, they knew it. But it’s always nice to hear it, isn’t it, “I LOVE YOU.” And that night, He didn’t just say it. He defined it. He solved the mystery of what true love really is as he further instructed them, “Love one another, AS I HAVE LOVED YOU” Notice Jesus doesn’t go on to say, “And let me tell you guys exactly what I mean.” He didn’t need to. The Apostles didn’t say, “Jesus, could you elaborate a little on that? They didn’t have to. They knew. Because, although the words might only have been said that night, they experienced His love, they felt His love, from the very first day they laid eyes on Him and heard Him say, “Come follow me.”
But whereas the Apostles needed no further explanation of what it is to love as He loved, maybe we do. In today’s Gospel, Jesus is inviting us all to be great lovers. How do we do that? If we are to love as Jesus loved, what exactly are the characteristics of His love? What is it that made Jesus Christ the greatest lover the world has ever known? If He indeed is the model of what true love is all about, then I think it’s beneficial for us to reflect on what exactly it means to love as Jesus loved. In my own meditation, this is what I came up with:
- Jesus love was a pervasive love: It was always evident; it was always constant. Ever wonder why the crowds were attracted to Jesus? How he amassed such a following and such notoriety in only three years? Why, when he walked into a town, even the little children ran up to him and clung to him? Jesus possessed an aura of love. Love oozed out of His pores, radiated from His eyes, beamed from His smile, trajected through His touch. It simply felt good to be around Jesus. When you were in the presence of Jesus you knew you were in the presence of love. It was who He was, and He was always true to Himself.
- Jesus love was an unconditional and an all-embracing love: You didn’t have to qualify to be loved by Jesus – you simply were. Jew or gentile, man or woman, Hebrew or Samaritan, wealthy or poor, healthy or ill, supporter or persecutor, saint or sinner. You didn’t have to win His love and you couldn’t lose His love.
- Jesus love was an active and selfless love: It was a love that was more expressed in deeds than in words. The blind received their sight, the lame walked, the lepers were made clean, the deaf heard, the dead were restored to life, the poor had the good news proclaimed to them. What, other than love, could inspire one to say, “Come to me all who are weary and heavy burdened and I will give you rest”? Without fanfare, without looking for anything in return, no strings attached, what could possibly have been His motivation if not simply love?
- Jesus love was a merciful love: He once said, “What credit is it to you if you love only those who love you?” And he demonstrated that His love was so much more than mere reciprocity. He forgave his persecutors. He forgave the Apostles for abandoning Him. He forgave Peter for denying that he even knew Him. He preached forgiveness – He lived forgiveness. Why? Simply because He loved them. He forgives your sins. He forgives mine. Why? Simply because He loves us.
- Jesus love was a challenging but patient love: Repent! Believe! Turn the other cheek! Go and sin no more! Love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! Forgive seventy times seven times! Turn the other cheek! Serve! Feed the hungry! Nourish the thirsty! Clothe the naked! Welcome the stranger! Minister to the sick! Visit the prisoner! He challenged the people to go beyond the status quo, beyond who they were and where they were at. He saw the best in them, all their potential. And gently, patiently, he encouraged them to grow, to become who His Father created them to be . . . in their own time, in their own way, by His grace.
- Jesus love was a sacrificial love: His was a costly love. It cost Him his worldly possessions, his time, his energy, his creativity. It cost Him his reputation, his family, his friends. It cost him his body, his blood, his life. He said that "no greater love has any man than to lay down his life for those he loves." And that’s exactly what He did, the kind of love He had.
So how does the way that you love match up with the way Jesus loved? Seem impossible? Beyond your reach? Easy for God – not so easy for us mere human beings? Well here’s the thing . . . what Jesus said was not just a suggestion, was not just something to reflect on, was not just a hope, something that he desired from the Apostles and the saints. It’s a command! It’s an expectation! “Love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU!”
But here’s the good news – we’re not meant to accomplish it all by ourselves. What does Jesus go on to say? “I will not leave you orphans . . . I will ask the Father and he will give you another Advocate to be with you ALWAYS.” The fulfillment of that promise we will celebrate in two weeks, on Pentecost Sunday.
In the next two weeks, lets pray that the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, will come upon us, that there will be a new Pentecost in our Church and within ourselves, and that we will be “all fired up” with his gifts of wisdom, understanding, knowledge, counsel, fortitude, piety and fear of the Lord so we will dare to love in the way we have been loved . . . in the way in which we have been commanded to love.
What is this thing called love?
This funny thing called love?
Just who can solve its mystery?
Love one another in the way you received it from me.
