The True Mark of a Good Church John 13:34-35 October 31, 2010

John 13: “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

JESUS’ NEW COMMANDMENT: BY THIS ALL PEOPLE WILL KNOW What is UNIQUE about this mark?  It is a COMMAND—not a suggestion—of Jesus as our Lord.  It is the MARK Christ gave us to wear before the world so that all may know we are indeed true followers of Christ. What’s NEW about this commandment?  It offers a NEW WAY: “as I have loved you.”  It offers a NEW POWER: “since I have loved you.” How has Jesus loved his disciples UP TO THIS POINT in John 13 contextually?  Jesus’ new commandment was given BEFORE the crucifixion; if so, what did Jesus mean by “as I have loved you”?  This observation is the KEY to our study today on how to love one another.

HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US? (HOW SHOULD WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER?) 1)Jesus has loved us with AN ALL-OUT COMMITMENT. Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. John 13:1... he now showed them the full extent of his love. John 13:1b [NIV]

HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US? (HOW SHOULD WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER?) 1) Jesus has loved us with AN ALL-OUT COMMITMENT.  Jesus’ all-out commitment to love us is [1] without reservation (“full extent”) and [2] perpetual (“having loved… he loved”).  Jesus never gives up on loving us—there’s nothing you can do which make him stop loving you.  We are to love one another with an all-out commitment that is without reservation and perpetual—holding nothing back and renewing our commitment continuously.

HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US (HOW SHOULD WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER)? 2)Jesus has loved us through TANGIBLE LOVE AND CARE. And he appointed twelve (whom he also named apostles) so that they might be with him and he might send them out to preach. Mark 3:14

HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US ? (HOW SHOULD WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER?) 2)Jesus has loved us through TANGIBLE LOVE AND CARE.  Jesus’ purpose in selecting his disciples was to love them through sharing life with them.  Over the three years, Jesus shared his life and love with them through thick and thin—his love was real & holistic. We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. 1 Thessalonians 2:8 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. 1 John 3:18

HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US? (HOW SHOULD WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER?) 2)Jesus has loved us through TANGIBLE LOVE AND CARE.  Jesus’ purpose in selecting his disciples was to love them through sharing life with them.  Over the three years, Jesus shared his life and love with them through thick and thin—his love was real & holistic.  We are to love one another also with tangible love and care—without over-spiritualizing our love for one another.

HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US? (HOW SHOULD WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER?) 3)Jesus has loved us by HUMBLE ACTS OF SERVICE. 5 Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him “If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.” John 13:5,14

HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US? (HOW SHOULD WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER?) 3)Jesus has loved us by HUMBLE ACTS OF SERVICE.  Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet took two things: [1] humility (= giving up rights and privilege as Lord & teacher) and [2] servanthood (= doing the dirty lowly work of a servant). The exclusion of the weak and insignificant, the seemingly useless people, from a Christian community may actually mean the exclusion of Christ; in the poor brother Christ is knocking at the door. Dietrich Bonhoeffer

HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US ? (HOW SHOULD WE LOVE ONE ANOTHER?) 3)Jesus has loved us by HUMBLE ACTS OF SERVICE.  Jesus’ washing the disciples’ feet took two things: [1] humility (= giving up rights and privilege as Lord & teacher) and [2] servanthood (= doing the dirty lowly work of a servant).  This is what makes the Christian community is supernaturally beautiful: becoming a servant to one another humbling voluntarily.  We are to love one another this way not only by forgiving each other’s offenses but also by serving to edify each other’s shortcomings humbly.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. 1 Peter 4:8 [ESV] Most of all, love each other as if your life depended on it. Love makes up for practically anything. 1 Peter 4:8 [MSG]

RECAP: HOW HAS JESUS LOVED US ? Jesus gave us a NEW WAY to love—the way HE has loved us. So, we are to love one another… [1] with an all-out commitment. [2] through tangible love and care. [ [3] by humble acts of service. Jesus gave us a NEW POWER to love—the power he draws from his Father. 9 As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. 10 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. John 15:9-10 So, we are to abide in Jesus’ love to draw HIS power to love.

Show That the Church Is Something Beautiful! All too often people have not been wrong in saying that the church is ugly. In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we are called upon to show a watching world and to our own young people that the church is something beautiful. Several years ago I wrestled with the question of what was wrong with much of the church that stood for purity. I came to the conclusion that in the flesh we can stress purity without love or we can stress the love of God without purity, but that in the flesh we cannot stress both simultaneously. In order to exhibit both simultaneously, we must look moment by moment to the work of Christ, to the work of the Holy Spirit. Spirituality begins to have real meaning in our moment-by- moment lives as we begin to exhibit simultaneously the holiness of God and the love of God. - Francis Schaeffer

PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS FOR OUR EVERYDAY LIFE 1.REFOCUS: What is my REALIZATION in obeying this command? 2.REEVALUATE: What is my CONFESSION in living out Jesus’ love together at CrossWay? 3.RENEW: What is my [RE]COMMITMENT in loving one another?