8-20-2023

Good Morning All,

              John 13:35; “Everyone will know that you are my disciples because of your love for each other.”

    Some of my favorite songs are ballad love songs; I cry every time.  Marty Robbins has some of the best especially “My Woman, My woman, My Wife;” that has to almost be the best.  The funny thing was that in the mid-70’s every hard rock group had at least one love song.  KISS had “Beth,” Styx had “Lady,” Alice Cooper had “I’ll Never Cry.”  Love ballads have always been the staple of country western forever.  Like one wag once noted, if you play a country western song backwards; the wife comes back, the dog comes back to life, it quits raining and I get my job back.   

    We are fascinated by love songs just as we are fascinated by the whole idea of love.  Yet what does “love” mean?  We use the word so freely that, for some, it has very little meaning.  I love my job; I love my wife and I love pizza; are these all the same?  Most would say “no,” but some might not be so sure.  So, what is love?

     Our verse is part of the “Upper Room” discourse in John.  This took place on Maundy Thursday just before the institution of the Lord’s Supper and then Jesus’ arrest.  Jesus told his disciples to “love one another” this was his “new commandment.”  Everyone will know by the love we have that we are His disciples, but what does this mean?  It simply means to forgive and to not judge.

    We show our love best by forgiving each other.  Forgiveness is a lifelong process; it is critical to becoming a disciple of Jesus.  For some, this is the hardest thing to learn.  We end up forgiving the same offense over and over but that is love; to forgive and then move forward.  This is what God does for us; He forgives us and then we move forward, onward in our journey with him.  This is how we continue in our journey with our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ; we forgive and move forward.

    The second is to not judge one another.  Never look at someone else’s situation and think “Well, they had it coming;” “That is what happens with bad choices;” “You reap what you sow.”  We never truly know why someone is in the situation that they are in; what we do know is that God wants us, his Church, to reach out to each other and help to heal.  We are to share with each other, the physical needs of food and water and shelter as well as the emotional need of caring and comforting as well as the spiritual need for the comforting word of forgiveness and salvation from God and his Word. 

    This is love, to forgive and to leave judging to God.  By this everyone will know we are disciples of Jesus by how we love one another.

Dear Father, teach us to love as you love us.  Show us that this leads us through the path of life which you desire us to live.  Help us to reach out to those who are most in need of your grace.  In Jesus’ precious name we pray, amen.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret