John 15: 9-17
As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
‘This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.
Love: Command and Promise
Love is both a command and a promise. When I was an adolescent boy my father and I were working together on building a mother’s day gift. My dad is a pretty good wood worker and we were fashioning a fancy wooden napkin holder for paper napkins to keep them from blowing away at picnics. We were working on the band saw and my dad was trying to teach me how to use the saw in a way in which I could prevent cutting off my thumbs. I didn’t care for his lesson, so I walked away from him and the project.
As I was walking away my dad took be by the shoulder and spun me around to face him saying, “You will help me with this project, and you will have fun.” It was ridiculous that my dad commanded me to have fun, but it was so ridiculous that it actually worked. I turned back. I did have fun. And to this day my mom still uses the napkin holder that we made for her.
Jesus in effect says, “You will love each other, and you will be loved.” Love is a command and love is a promise.
Questions
In what ways have you experienced the command to love in your own life?
In what ways have you experienced the promise of love in your own life?
How have you experienced the command to love in the life of your church?
How have you experience the promise of love in your church?
