Keep my Commandments- John 15:9-17

 

Acts 10:44-48; Psalm 98; 1 John 5:1-6; John 15:9-17

Our Gospel reading is very interesting today. We see both the word “love” and the word “command” come up over and over. 

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love …” (15:10). 

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you” (15:12). 

“I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another” (15:17).

We see the same in our epistle reading. 

“By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome” (1 Jn 5:2-3).

They aren’t words we usually associate with one another. “Love” feels so soft, and “commandment” feels so hard. … The Catholic Priest and spiritual writer Henri Nouwen insightfully wrote, 

“we often confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. God loves us without conditions but does not approve of every human behavior. God doesn't approve of betrayal, violence, hatred, suspicion, and all other expressions of evil, because they all contradict the love God wants to instill in the human heart. Evil is the absence of God's love. Evil does not belong to God” (Bread for the Journey/ The only Necessary Thing p.68).

 … It might be that we actually confuse unconditional love with unconditional approval. It’s the sense that if you love me you will let me do what I want. And maybe that is why we feel a tension between the words “love” and “command”.

I think there are ways in which these words do relate. Basil the Great, who lived in the late 300’s, once said, 

“Now, if observing the commandments is the essential sign of love, it is very greatly feared that without love even the most effective action of the glorious gifts of grace- even of the most sublime powers and even of faith itself and the commandment that make a person perfect- will not be of help. ... It is evident, therefore, and undeniable that without [love]- even though ordinances are obeyed and righteous acts are performed, even though the commandments of the Lord have been observed and great wonders of grace effected- they will be considered as works of iniquity ... because those who perform these acts have as their aim the gratification of their own will” (Concerning Baptism 1.2).

Basil is saying something very similar to what Saint Paul was saying in first Corinthians 13- 

“If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing” (1 Cor 13:1-3).

We taint the action if we obey a commandment without the proper motivation, or without the proper identity driving that action. … This is the accusation that Jesus often brought against the very religious people of his day. In Matthew chapter 6 Jesus speaks about those who give alms, pray, and fast, but do so with disordered motivations. Jesus sees some of them giving, praying, and fasting, as a public act of piety to receive the admiration and praise of their friends and neighbours. … To correct this, Jesus suggests the spiritual practice of secrecy. If you give, pray, and fast in secret, where you have no one to impress, then you will be able to correct the motivation to use these actions to love and serve God rather than impress others. … Imagine someone giving you a birthday gift, but then taking a selfie with the gift they bought you so they can show their friends on social media how generous they are. Or, maybe they constantly ask you (throughout the party and even for the next week) if you like the gift, in a way that makes it clear that their desire to bless you is overshadowed by their desire to be appreciated and recognized. The gift is sort of tainted, isn’t it? It isn’t an act of appreciating you on your birthday. It’s about them. … We can do good things for the wrong reasons, Basil suggests. And when we do have our motivations wrong, then our works might be considered “works of iniquity … because those who perform these acts have as their aim the gratification of their own will”. It taints the act.

But if the motivation is pure, then everything else seems to fall into place. … When asked what the greatest commandment is, Jesus says, 

“’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets’” (Matt 22:37-40).

 … When we get love right, then the rest of the commands will hang right- Like hinges on a door. If the hinges on the door are off, then the whole door is a bit of a mess.

St. Augustine once said, 

“let us, therefore, hold fast to this precept of the Lord, to love one another, and then we will be doing all else that is commanded, for we have all else contained in this” (Tractates on the Gospel of John 83.3).

 He is basically saying, Love God and do what you want. If you love God, you will also love your neighbour because they are made in the image of God. … Ephrem the Syrian (363-373) said that the command to love one another was the only truly necessary commandment- 

“this is sufficient, even if it is unique and so great. Nevertheless [God] also said, ‘Do not kill,’ because the one who loves does not kill. He said, ‘Do not steal,’ because the one who loves does even more- he gives. He said, ‘do not lie,’ for the one who loves speaks the truth, against falsehood” (Commentary on Tatian’s Diatessaron 19.13).

 … If I love my children, the state doesn’t have to threaten me to care for them with laws against being a negligent parent. I want to do my best for them- even at risk to myself. 

“No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (15:13).

 True love is willing to suffer for the good of the beloved. Biblically, love isn’t primarily a warm emotion. It is a willingness to do good for the other, … and self-sacrificial love is the highest of loves.

So love, as the proper motivation of our actions, is important and powerful. … Our reading also suggests that Jesus’ commandments are designed to keep us in his love. He says, 

“If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love…” (Jn 15:10). 

 “You are my friends if you do what I command you” (15:14). 

 “I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another” (15:17).

 … If I ask my children to do something, and I know it is for their good and for the good of the family, then what does it mean when they disobey? … Often, it is because they prefer to do something else. They would rather play. Their desire for themselves, for their own immediate pleasure, has overtaken their sense of the good that I want for them. … Or, maybe they don’t believe that what I am asking is for their good. … So what happens when my selfish desires overtake God’s commands, or my distrust for God’s commands creep into my heart? Am I able to abide in God’s love? Doesn’t that do damage to my relationship with God, just as a child disobeying good commands from their parent damages their relationship?

In the end, why does God care what we do. Dallas Willard once said that we think sin would be a lot of fun, except for God has a thing about it. That’s not what’s this is about. Jesus’ commands are for our overall good, and for the good of the world. Jesus says, 

“I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete” (Jn 15:11).

 Ultimately, this is all for our good.

May we abide in love, and may all we do draw us deeper into that love.

AMEN.