Scripture/Sermon of the Day. May 15, 2022

John 13:31-35

The New Commandment

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has 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 will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Reflection/Sermon:

I. The theme of the sermon last week was the rejection of Jesus. He told people: “God and I are one.” He said, “God and I are the same.” Many said, “That’s blasphemy! You can’t put yourself on the same level with God!” Jesus said: “I heal people, I cast out their demons, I tell them the good news of God’s eternal love and forgiveness and blessing — for which of these will you arrest me?”

II. Last week there was a point that I did not make clearly enough. When we read the gospels, we see that Jesus was rejected. In Nazareth people tried to push him off a cliff — in Jerusalem they tried to stone him. In John’s gospel, the theme of Jesus’ rejection by the people is repeated over and over. John even began his gospel with that warning: “In the beginning was the word and the word was with God AND THE WORD WAS GOD…. The light of the world. He was rejected because people liked darkness more than light.”

III. The point I didn’t make clear enough last week is that we still reject this Jesus we meet in the New Testament. His message is “love one another.” BUT WE REJECT A GOD WHO COMMANDS US TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER because love isn’t the way of the world. Fighting is — about politics, about money, about sex, about covid — about everything. We’d rather fight than love.

IV. We fight about the Bible, the book that tells us not to fight!!!! 1) Is it the literal word of God should we interpret its stories as metaphor? 2) Was the earth made in six days — or over billions of years. 3) Did the human race start with Adam and Eve fully made by God in one day — or did it take millions of years for the first human beings to evolve? 4) Are people born gay/lesbian/trans or do they choose their orientation ? We argue about these.
5) The Bible accepts slavery — does that mean it’s still ok to own people? 6) Is God pro-choice or pro-life?

V. We fight. 7) “Do I have to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior to be saved? And if I don’t, will God throw me in hell?”
Our scripture today says all these questions and the debates we have over them are silly and a waste of time. Jesus would say: “The main point of my teaching is not about how old the earth is. Or if Adam and Eve were made in one day or a million. But do you love one another?
Will you go to heaven or hell when you die is not the important question— BUT WERE YOU KIND TO THE LAST PERSON YOU SPOKE TO?!”
I.) The Bible does not have one position on the pro-life/ pro-choice debate — and neither should we. I hope we are both.
II.) The Bible doesn’t tell us what political party to join.
III.) And our scriptures don’t say what will happen to us when we die.
There is really only one message in our Bible — which we heard Jesus give in our reading today: love one another, right now. Everything else in the Bible is just commentary on this one command: Love, right now.