Our text for today is the Gospel reading, and especially these words: “‘By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’”
So today we confirm and receive a group of individuals into the membership of this congregation. For some time, we have looked into God’s Word together, and we have studied the teachings put forth in Luther’s Small Catechism. For some, this no doubt served, at times, as a review. A review of what God’s Word has been speaking and declaring to us throughout our lives of faith. And at other times, it might have felt like discovery. But, as we know, the sum of catechesis is not spent in class and study. A large part – an important part – of this process is living among the congregation; participating in the worship life, and receiving the amazing gifts that come through the ministry of Word and Sacrament. I would even argue that this part of the process is an essential piece of the process. For you learn a great deal just by living in the body of Christ. For instance, you have probably begun to really understand and learn the ethos of this congregation, and the Lutheran church itself. It would maybe be safe to say that before today, they have been slowly morphing into good Lutherans.
So just to see where you are in that process, let’s just cover some of these characteristics. I have here in my hands, this morning’s top ten list. Top Ten Ways You Know You Are a Lutheran:
- Number 10: The only prayer time meal you know is “Come Lord Jesus.”
- Number 9: All of your casserole dishes have your name on the bottom.
- Number 8: They have to rope off the last few pews in church so the front isn't empty.
- Number 7: You sing "Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus" while sitting down.
- Number 6: You can't imagine a celebration without food.
- Number 5: While watching Star Wars you hear "May the force be with you" and you reply "And also with you."
- Number 4: You are at a funeral of a family member who is Catholic, and you are the only one who says "for Thine is the Kingdom and the Power and the Glory, forever and ever. Amen." after everyone else is done.
- Number 3: A midlife crisis means switching from the old hymnbook to the new one.
- Number 2: Your pastor skips the last hymn to make sure church lasts exactly 60 minutes
- Number 1: You arrive at church and start having a panic attack because someone else is sitting in your pew.
Any of these sound familiar? We know there are those characteristics that might be labeled “Lutheran”. However, as we know, Christ’s kingdom goes far beyond the culture and characteristics of just one community; one small part of all that comprises the body of Christ. We’ve been hearing this amazing truth proclaimed to us these last two weeks in the words of Revelation. We read, “After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.”
God’s kingdom includes people from all nations. So it goes without saying then that the Kingdom has many more characteristics than those we find in our own community here. It includes those who may never have had the desire to obtain hymnals, much less change them. It includes those who worship hours at a time, and expect a good 45 minute long sermon (don’t worry; I am not making any suggestions).
So we are reminded that God’s love extends to all people, regardless of cultural expressions that might appear within the body. And yet, both the Gospel and Epistle readings these last couple of weeks have also helped identify those characteristics that are to be true for all believers; likeness and similarity that are found in diversity. And as Christ points out in today’s Gospel reading, these particular characteristics are so essential that they become the very means by which people will even know that we are disciples of Christ.
Some years back, there was a movie made entitled, “Moulin Rouge”. It was a musical that used many different songs of the twentieth century to tell its story, a story of a young writer who finds himself moving to Paris in 1899 to follow the Bohemian revolution. But when approached by a group to help write a production, he begins to question whether or not he is truly a bohemian revolutionary. So they asked him, “Do you believe in beauty?” “Yes.” “Do you believe in freedom?” “Of course.” “Do you believe in love?” “Love? Above all things, I believe in love…” This was so central to the revolution, in fact, that the production was going to close with one line: “The greatest thing you’ll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return.”
Like the Bohemian revolutionaries, we know that, as Christians, love must be central to our beliefs and our values, and it must characterize our lives together. This reality is only further developed by John in his epistles where we read, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” And also, “Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
When we hear these words, there is a good possibility we might get a little shaken up by them. Like Christian, who questioned whether or not he was truly a Bohemian revolutionary, we at times no doubt wonder if we are truly disciples of Christ. For who among us has not failed to love others as we are called to do?
We have all failed to live according to Christ’s new command. In all our relationships; whether it is as husband, wife, or friend, we do not always manifest this one characteristic that identifies us as children of God.
And if we were to begin there, we would have no hope. But is it possible that we have missed the truly unique characteristic. The one where it all begins. The one that truly identifies us as disciples of Christ. “Love one another; just as I have loved you.” The Bohemian revolutionaries had no hope, for they said one must learn to love, and be loved in return. Christ knows too well our sinful nature and our inabilities. For the Christian knows that the greatest thing a person can learn is to be loved, and love in return.
The characteristics of a disciple do not begin with our loving one another; but our being loved by God. A love that goes beyond any natural ability we may have. A love that can only be demonstrated by God Himself. God’s children all share in this one characteristic, and we have all felt the loving embrace of our heavenly Father.
A love that was poured out to us in our baptism, when our Savior declared to us that we have been delivered from our sin, and freed from our captivity. A love that was freely given, not because we deserved it, not because we fit some perfect mold, not because we somehow loved enough to deserve to be loved. And by dying on the cross, our Lord not only saved us from death and hell, but He also glorified the Father. Christ lived a life of love, and because of that, His life was an act of worship.
What a blessing it is to know that in Christ’s love we are able to glorify and worship our God by loving one another. That as Christ’s disciples we are capable of serving the very God Who has loved us, by serving and loving one another. It is in our acts of love that others will be able to see Christ, and the surpassing love of Him Who died to save us.
What a blessing it is to know that we can follow Christ in such a powerful and amazing way, in spite of our sin and our own limitations. That we ourselves have been raised to glory by the love shown through the death and resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and will stand in the presence of God with all the saints that have gone before us, glorifying Him; giving Him the honor, and glory that He alone deserves.
So God has called us here, into this community to be His disciples. He does not require that you lose those characteristics by which you know you are a Lutheran, but that they be based always in love. For others will not know we are disciples because we have a luncheon once a month. They will know we are disciples only if that luncheon is a way by which we are able to serve one another and express our love and fellowship with one another, and to welcome others into our midst. Our discipleship will not be made evident by what hymnal we use, but by our use of that hymnal as a framework in which God delivers to us His love through His Word, and the blessed Sacrament.
The greatest thing we can ever learn is to be loved. The greatest thing we can ever teach is to be loved. So now, let us love in return. AMEN.
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