The Love...Not The List

Just before Jesus was handed over to be tried and crucified, He gave the disciples one last message. One that would be their strength and their courage and their endurance in the difficult days to follow… in all the difficult days that followed, even for you and for me and the difficult days we encounter in the 21^st century. Jesus called it a “new” command. “Love one another… As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” But what is new about LOVE? How is that a “new” commandment?

It’s the “as I have loved you” part that brings new light to LOVE. We define love as a feeling of affection, a fondness, a warmth in the spirit. But that is not the essence of true love. Jesus loved ugly people with ugly habits and ugly intentions. Jesus loved those who persecuted Him. Jesus loved those who kept getting it wrong, even though He was right there showing them right. Jesus loved regardless of receiving no love back.

Jesus took on flesh and became fully man when he was here so, as a human, how was He able to love so well in spite of the way He was treated? Our humanness is what makes it so hard for us to love without conditions and without limits. When our tank is emptied by the stress of difficult relationships, we tend to run out of the love we are supposed to be extending and our heart closes up shop. How did that NOT happen to Jesus? It was His Father that filled his love tank. You see, God IS LOVE, therefore, God in your heart brings love to your life. Withholding love from anyone until they shape up and make a deposit in your tank is simply not the way of Jesus.

Imagine this scenario…

You are on trial, being accused of being a horrible follower of Jesus.  Your attorney is defending you, telling the jury that you attend church almost every week. You put $ in the offering. You volunteer at charities a few times a year. You do devotions at least 3 days a week. You were baptized as a kid. You sing on the worship team, rock babies in the nursery and can quote a half dozen verses of scripture. There is a Bible with highlighted verses on your coffee table and you rarely allow expletives to escape. The jury is nodding in agreement that you are a fine follower.

Now the prosecutor takes over. She looks straight at the jury and tells them that Jesus was never really about a list of things to do and not do. Jesus himself said that the new command was to love each other just as He loved. She continues as she paces back and forth in front of the jury…  “He gave to those who had nothing to give back. He healed those who didn’t say please and thank you. He loved those who persecuted Him and called for His death. And with his last few breaths He demonstrated that great love, by asking God to forgive them for their cruelty to Him.” And then she closes with this, “Love is what defines us as a follower of Jesus, not Lists.”

Now the jury must decide if you are a follower… a legit follower of Jesus. You look over at them and they look back at you. As you lock eyes, you see that the jury is made up of your spouse and your children; your in-laws and your neighbors; your boss and your co-workers. What will the verdict be?

It’s fairly easy to consider ourselves good and godly people, but if our love is the determining factor, do we still measure up to what we want to be? To whom we are called to be?

Perhaps today is the day for you to clean out the anger and frustration and bitterness that has set up housekeeping in your heart and make room for God to fill you with His love. When that happens, don’t keep it! Give it away freely, because as long as you are giving it away and not allowing the bitter junk to come back, God will keep filling and filling and filling…

So, go love!... The Jesus way!