by Rev. Canon David B. Tabo-oy
v34And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. v35If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35
The dust has settled and victors emerged while losers lick their wounds waiting for the next election derby three years from now. But as we await for that next political exercise we must move on with our designated roles in order that civil society will serve humanity towards achieving a harmonious, prosperous and peaceful coexistence among all creation. After the political mud wrestling that even employed extra-legal modus operandi and below the belt hits it is most important to consider Jesus’ command: Love one another. Indeed, it is most difficult to genuinely love one another after the hurt inflicted and received during the political campaigns – even among family members.
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The gospel reading takes us back to the upper room where Jesus spent his last meal with his disciples. After Jesus washed his disciples’ feet as an example of humility and servanthood, he predicted his betrayal and indicated that one of them will be the collaborator. Such statement from their teacher could have created animosity and suspicion among the disciples. Jesus certainly could have felt the tension but what is predicted could not be circumvented. Jesus then told them to love one another. Only love could erase any doubt or ill feeling among us human beings. Heeding to the ‘love one another’ command of Jesus certainly would make the healing process of any wounds inflicted during the last political rumble.
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“v34And now I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. v35If you have love for one another, then everyone will know that you are my disciples.” A Bible scholar pointed out that the command to love one another, in and of itself, was not a new teaching. It had been a part of Jewish tradition for centuries. In explanatory comments on the Ten Commandments, Deuteronomy 6:5 says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your might.” Leviticus 19:18 adds that “you should love your neighbour as your self.” The call to love one another was not new to Jewish teaching and was also present in the wider Greco-Roman world. We cannot make a case that loving one another was a new idea; at least not in the sense that it was the first time anyone heard about it. On the other hand, it seems plausible to say the newness of which Jesus spoke was that by our love for one another we will be identified as followers of Christ to the wider world. As the earlier church anthem puts it, “They will know we are Christians by our love.”
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We all know that the opposite of love is ‘hate’. Now let me share what Philipp Gulley wrote about this subject of love and hate. He wrote, “Now I want to tell you a lie. Hate is an emotion we can’t help. Hate is a feeling we cannot overcome. If we hate someone, it is because we just can’t help ourselves. We’re human. We have no choice but to hate. That is a lie. Unfortunately, it is a lie many people believe. They believe this lie in order to excuse their hatred. After all, if we can’t help but hate, if hate is a feeling we simply cannot help, then hatred is never our fault, is it? But we can help it. Hatred is a choice. We choose to hate, just as we choose to love. Oh, I know, there are people out there who believe love isn’t a choice, that love is primarily an emotion, a feeling stirring in the loins. These are the same people who stay married for some time, then drift apart. These are the people who love the idea of love but seem unable to stay in it. Love is a matter of will – something we decide to do. Love is a choice.”
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There is a story about a man who had a huge boulder in his front yard. He grew weary of this big, unattractive stone in the center of his lawn, so he decided to take advantage of it and turn into an object of art. He went to work on it with hammer and chisel, and chipped away at the huge boulder until it became a beautiful stone elephant. When he finished, it was gorgeous, breath-taking.
A neighbor asked, “How did you ever carve such marvelous likeness of an elephant?” The man answered, “I just chipped away everything that didn’t look like an elephant!” If you have anything in your life right now that doesn’t look like love, then, with the help of God, chip it away! If you have anything in your life that doesn’t look like compassion or mercy or empathy, then, with the help of God, chip it away! If you have hatred or prejudice or vengeance in your heart, for God’s sake, and for the other person’s sake, and for your sake, get rid of it! Let God chip everything out of your life that doesn’t look like tenderheartedness. (James W Moore, Some Things Are Too Good Not To Be True)
Let us pray
Almighty God, whom truly to know is everlasting life: Grant us so perfectly to know your Son Jesus Christ to be the way, the truth, and the life, that we may steadfastly follow his steps in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Easter 5, BCP)**
