6th Sunday

For the last couple of Sundays we have been hearing the Last words of comfort and guidance Jesus would give his disciples, Jesus emphasizes the necessity of mutual life together.   

Only together with him are all things possible.  He urges them and us to remain with him, in communion with him and with each other.

To be in communion with Jesus is to –

“Love one another as I have loved you”.  He says.  Not just love, but as he loves.

And to love, as he loves, is to act in the likeness of God.

We cannot measure God’s love.
But we can say something about it.

John tells us

 “In this way the love of God was revealed: God sent his only Son into the world so we might have life”
The amazing story of God’s love is that it was sent. It came to us.  It was God who acted first and loved first and so generously and completely that our salvation history is -

“Not that we have loved God, but that He has loved us”

Everything flows from this generosity.
God’s love was made visible and active in his Son.   Jesus is God’s love personified.

On recent Sundays we have heard Jesus say; I am the good shepherd and I am the vine.

Today he is absolutely clear-
 ”As the Father loves me, so I love you.”

Jesus’ love is the Father’s love, freely given and abundant.

And this supernatural love calls for, even demands, a response from each heart it touches.
But how can we love like this?

God’s love is constant.  It does not ebb and flow.  It is never withheld. 

Our love is fickle.  It ebbs and flows and is withheld, from God, from each other and even from ourselves.

Jesus understands this human weakness and he knows that it is not the individual that will succeed but the community and he offers himself – to do the heavy lifting for us.

“With me all things are possible”

“Remain in my love as I remain in my Father’s love”.

Because, it is we who need to remain.  God is sure and steady but, we are unreliable and changeable.

 To remain is also an invitation, and a road map to the possible.  It allows us to be open and receptive to Jesus’ love and it moves closer to loving as he does. 

“Remain in my love by keeping my commandments, just as I have kept my Fathers”

These are action words - words of intention, of decision and of choice.

“I have kept” he tells us.

To keep the commandment to love we must be clear about what this love is.

As a culture we have cheapened the value of love, reduced it to its lowest common denominator.  We have exploited it and have used it carelessly and without thinking.

We fall in love at the drop of a hat.  We call affection and infatuation love.

We love ice cream, movies and cars.
Would I lay down my life for an ice cream or a passing fancy or a romantic feeling?

Jesus did not fall in love.  He chooses to love and he is our model of what kind of love we are talking about.

The love Jesus shares with the Father and shares with us is a love that is deep seated and deeply held. It is an unlimited commitment and concern for the wellbeing of another.

To love, as Jesus loved, is both sacramental and sacrificial. It is always life affirming and often joyful.
It is not begrudged, or given as a means to an end.  Its only purpose is the good of the other.

To remain in Jesus’ love is to choose to love something outside of ourselves.  And do it NOW.

 We cannot sit back and wait for love to happen, as if by magic, we must love. There is no perfect person or perfect time to love.  We must choose to always love.

When we love like this it is simply a response to the love we have already received.

Jesus says -

“No one has greater love then this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends”

 and he tells them and us  “You are my friends” and of course, he did lay down his life.

Through our baptism and life with the Holy Spirit and in communion with each other we are his friends.

And we remain in his love.

God’s friendship, given to us, is not exclusive. 

It is precious not because it is rare, but because it is expansive and all encompassing.
It is not warm and fuzzy it as hard as a diamond and its many facets reflect God’s light into every dark place.

 It is poured out everywhere and onto everyone.  We are not meant to keep it tight fisted and hidden, but we must share it; from God through us to our Spouses, from God through us to families, to neighbor, to stranger.

We are asked to lay down our life for a world that is bigger than our own backyards.

When I say this and I feel it is beyond me I remember Jesus words today -
It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you.
He reached out.  He called.  He chose.

Not in a way that separates us one from another, like some playground soccer game. 

Jesus loves and calls each and every one of us, individually, but not separately.  We are loved and we love as a community.

This is the meaning behind the words -

“I am the good shepherd, I know mine and mine know me.”

This is the movement of supernatural love.

We are not push out of the sheep fold, but drawn out, to follow Him because we love him and be guided by Him because trust him.
And we are not pushed to love, but drawn out of ourselves, to love.

 Because to love, as he loves us, is not a commandment, but a free response to he who loved us first.