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On being Disciple

Part III … and in all things love.

John 10:11-18

Every February husbands are out buying the perfect card for their wives, wives are doing the same thing. Couples are busily trying to find ways to share the age-old message of Valentine's Day. How do you say I love you that makes this year at least as good as last year's attempt? On past Valentine's Days my wife and I have made dinner reservations, or even gone away for the night, but last year we had our kids with us. Instead of going out, and spending money they don't have, they decided to come home, with their special someone, and had dinner with us. I have to tell you, it's a pretty good feeling when they do that.

The word love is thrown around pretty easily these days. We are quick to tell someone that we love them, or that we love a decision that was made, or a dinner that was cooked. Love and like and many forms of approval seem to be interchangeable. But is that what love truly is?

Is love something easily given, and if easily given, easily withheld? Is love just a pretty word on a card on Valentine's Day or for an Anniversary celebration? Or is love so much more than that?

In our scripture reading for today love appears to be so much more than a word, easily thrown around. In fact love expressed seems to be at a cost well beyond what many are willing to pay. Let's revisit a portion of our reading starting with the 14th verse.

"I am the good shepherd; and I know My own, and my own know me, even as the Father knows Me and I know the Father; and I lay down My life for the sheep.

And I have other sheep that are not of this fold; I must bring them also, and they shall hear my voice; and they shall become one flock with one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again."

The word love is only mentioned once here and it is a response to an action taken by the shepherd. The shepherd is willing to go to whatever ends are required to protect the sheep and to give them life. It is in the act of the shepherd to willingly give his life for his sheep that merits the love of the Father.

Now we all may be quick to say that God loves us no matter what. And I want to say to you, maybe not. There are days when I feel that God's love is tied at some level to our willingness to respond in faith to God's demands. True, our expression of love for one another is a direct result of God's love for us. But I don't see it as an unending well for the one who always chooses against God. In our freedom to choose we can choose to accept God's love which then demands a faithful response from us. We may not be able to have one without the other.

The shepherd (Jesus) understands that through his care of the sheep (you and I) even unto his very death, is the way he receives and lives in God's love. But it is his choice to give and receive, no one else can do it for him. Listen once again to verse 18, "No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."

How does all this apply to the journey we have been taking for the last several weeks? Let us put it into context. When we started talking about the essentials of faith there were two items that were on the short list. First was belief in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The second was the each person is created in God's image and equally valued by God. And underlying all of this discussion is that fact that God offers love to all who will receive it.

How do we model this love for our brothers and sisters? How do we understand our life together as people expressing God's love when the world often makes it so hard because of the differences that often separate us? Here is the messy part. If anyone confesses faith in Jesus Christ, and if that person is created by God and valued by God, then we must find a way to love them. And this is not the easy "I love you" of Valentine's Day cards. This is not the easy I love this meal, or I love your dress. It is the difficult love of the shepherd who willing lays down his life for those he loves and cares for.

True, I doubt that anyone of us will ever be asked to lay down his or her life for someone else, but, are we willing to step outside the comfort and convenience of our life for the stranger in need? Are we willing to risk the judgment of friends when we choose not to live as they live, but in a way that is more responsible when it comes to the sharing and use of the world's resources?

Are we willing to love the person who walks in our church doors who looks different, or sounds different, or who lives differently than you and I? Are we truly willing to take seriously their confession of faith as being just as valid as ours, embracing them as our brothers and sisters in Christ? Now, I am not saying that we are too blindly receive people into our midst who are obviously not seeking to do Christ's will. We do have a responsibility to uphold each other, to counsel and support each other in our journeys. But let us be careful to realize that God's children come in all forms and sizes and that faithful journey which we value, may look different in someone else.

It has often been said that the most segregated place in America is on Sunday mornings in church. If we looked around with honest eyes we would have to agree that this statement is pretty accurate even at our church. And there are a number of reasons for that.

But my prayer is that for all of the reasons why diversity is so rare in the church, one of the reasons that doesn't exist in our congregation is because we are not welcoming. It is easy to warmly receive those who look and sound and live like us, but it often tests us to the core to make room for those who don't.

The statement that started this whole series has led us down several paths. "In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, and in all things love." Of all the sermons on this topic I thought that this would be the easiest. And yet in some ways it is the hardest. For this is where the rubber hits the road. We cannot accomplish the non-essentials, much less the essentials without being open to loving those we often see as unlovable.

Loving each other means caring for each other, crying with each other, and laughing with each other. It means being at the bedside in times of illness and standing at the graveside in times of death. It means holding each other up when the strength to do so is gone. And it means holding each other accountable when we begin to stray. It means being open to hearing the voices of those who we so easily shut out. It means offering and seeking forgiveness when the situation demands it. It means reaching out when all we want to do is crawl inside. And it means standing at the door and welcoming people inside, not just for a day, but also for a lifetime.

"…and in all things love" may be the hardest thing yet for the church to be about. For n loving each other, we are offering the love first given us. And that love is pure, and over the top, and willing to give it all even when we are found undeserving. That is the love we are called to share this day and in the days to come.

—sermon series by Doug Lofton. Lofton serves as senior minister as Southport Christian Church, Indianapolis, and is the chair of the General Nominating Committee of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). A PDF file of this series is available for download. Lofton delivered this series in September 2006.