Now It's Real

John 15:9–17 NIV

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father, I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

INTRODUCTION

A cute, but eye-opening story to get us started this morning:

An ingenious teenager, tired of reading bedtime stories to his little sister, decided to record several of her favorite stories on tape. He told her, "Now you can hear your stories anytime you want. Isn't that great?"

She looked at the machine for a moment and then replied, "No. It hasn't got a lap." (P)

Technology isn’t always our friend, is it? Here are some examples of the attitudes it can create:

Why read to your children when you can make a recording?

Why drive across town for a meeting when you can log onto Zoom?

Why attend a family gathering on the other side of the state when you can save gas and just do FaceTime?

Why go to church when I can put a service on the television, or watch ours on YouTube tomorrow?

Why talk to someone about Jesus when we can pray for them to happen upon a Google entry to give them the cheap, probably inaccurate Internet version of what faith is all about? (P)

Why put forth the effort when technology can do all this stuff for us?

I’ll tell you why - none of those cop-outs has a lap; they don’t have a heart, a shoulder to lean on, hands to shake, and the personal touch God created people to have with each other. (P)

Did you know - that of all the very specific prophecies in Scripture, none of them talk about modern technology?

Oh, I believe Jesus knew full well, as He was giving the Great Commission, that just over 1,950 years later, people would have access to the information super highway. But there’s a reason there isn’t a prophecy that draws attention to that - that Jesus didn’t tell us to go into all the world electronically, and send out a disciple-recruiting email or Google Meet link to try to find disciples somewhere out there.

None of those “convenient” tools has that personal touch - they don’t have the key to all of this - love. (P)

Jesus would never have accepted a FaceTime alternative to His final meal with the disciples, where the most precious words He would ever speak to them, those recorded in John 13-17, were shared, and He certainly wouldn’t have tolerated cell phones at the table. He wouldn’t have accepted a convenient excuse as to why His disciples should be able to skip this gathering...Oh, I got things to do, ball games to watch, too much work to prepare…I don’t feel comfortable. (P)

Every painting of the Last Supper shows twelve disciples around the table, because that’s exactly how many were there...all of them. It’s where they had to be to receive these final, precious, powerful, and instructional words of briefing on the work that was to come. Jesus only excused one of the men partway through the evening, and not for good reasons, and we all know what became of Judas - one who didn’t accept the mission of Jesus as He issued it. (P)

Our study for the next several weeks, as we resume talking about the importance of the church, is going to take us through this sacred evening between Jesus and His disciples, what it meant for them, what it means for us, as we, too, are being briefed for Christ’s work, and why the events of the Last Supper are so important, that Jesus clearly instructed with each of the three components, that we observe these things in our settings as well. It’s why we do Love Feast, and it’s why our commitment to taking our place at Christ’s table should be as strong as His disciples. (P)

We are all a part of the church and have a place in the work of the church. We do it together - as a body - especially as we learn the foundational principle behind the Last Supper of 2,000 years ago, the Love Feast of today, and the instruction those gatherings were designed to give the church as we seek to be the church to a world in need.

And as you see in John 15, and you have heard many times, that foundational principle is love - a deep seated love that cannot be shared outside the bonds of human interaction, human gathering, and brotherly and sisterly bonds in a setting like this where we share a salvation made possible by the shining example of that love, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (P)

And in His teaching and modeling of that love, especially as it is presented in John 15, He would work the disciples through three progressive levels of love, all of which apply to us, because that’s how we must tackle these levels, one at a time, and you will see how that works as we proceed this morning. {CLICK}

LEVEL 1: Basic Love for Friends

That should be the easiest one, right? And it generally is, possibly with a couple of exceptions. (P)

Jesus starts by connecting some dots about love. He introduces this love in verse 9 by discussing the type of love His Heavenly Father had for Him. {CLICK}

John 15:9 NIV

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.

That’s an incredibly important statement to dissect and understand. And Paul’s prayer for the Ephesians later on would be for that very thing: {CLICK}

Ephesians 3:17–19 NIV

I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, {CLICK} may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, {CLICK} and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

{CLICK}

As humans, we are limited to a very human understanding of love, and by nature, it’s all the farther our thinking allows us to go, making it difficult to grasp the depths of His love for us.

It’s often tied to how our own relationships look:

If you grow up in a close-knit family, with an outstanding social life, and you feel your people’s love abundantly, perhaps you are a little closer to understanding the depths of God’s love.

If you were, or are often alone, friends are fewer than you like, and even your relationship with your family is strained, it may be even harder to know a love that goes so much deeper than that. (P)

It’s these limitations on our ability to perceive God’s full measure of love that give us a bit of a homework assignment - and that’s simply to get to know God better. And that’s essentially what Jesus is saying here. (P)

Now, this takes a little explanation, so bear with me a moment.

You see in verse 10: {CLICK}

John 15:10 NIV

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.

How can we keep His commandments? - By reading, and studying, and getting to know better who God is and how He operates.

And when we remember that Jesus was sinless, which means He scored 100% in obedience to God, all the way to the very hardest thing God would call Him to do, as we are reminded in: {CLICK}

Philippians 2:8 NIV

And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!

...we can see just how strong the bonds of love were between the Father and the Son. (P)

Now it’s important to understand something here...despite what verse 10 may sound like, this isn’t about God basing how much love He has for us on how few mistakes we make.

We’re going to see this in a big way when we get to level 3 in a few minutes, but John 3:16 is in no way painting a picture of a perfect world, when it says that God so loved the world - or in our language, He loved the world so much that He sent Jesus into it.

He didn’t wait until just the right degree of obedience was occurring among just the right percentage of people. If anything, it was at the opposite end of the spectrum - when things were in pretty rough shape - and He’s going to do the same thing when He returns - when things can’t get much worse. (P)

So He’s not saying that you have to be a good boy or girl before He can love you. But what Jesus is saying in verse 10 is basically two-fold.

First, love grows as knowledge grows and as connection grows.

Most married couples know that love at first sight isn’t really a thing. I mean, sure, maybe you are with the person you saw the first time and “knew that would be your soulmate,” but in reality, those feelings are purely superficial at first.

It isn’t until you truly get to know each other better that your love really starts to build.

So many children have a better and stronger relationship with their parents as they have gotten older because they have come to know their parents and understand them better. (P)

It’s the same idea - the more we know God, and know His commandments, and what His commandments are really about, the more we truly love God. That love, as we have said so many other times in the past, will not grow without time in the Word and time in prayer. (P)

So that’s one way to unpack the connection between love and obedience, but the other is simply desiring to be the best us for the people we love the most.

I mean, if you truly love someone, won’t you automatically do your best to live right by them? Aren’t you automatically going to want to do your best to honor your spouse or provide for your children, regardless of the sacrifice it may require, because of the love you have for them?

And that is all we are being asked of our first true love, Jesus Christ, who says earlier in this conversation, John 14:15: {CLICK}

John 14:15 NIV

If you love me, keep my commands.

Live right by me.

Honor me.

Don’t reject me.

Feel the love I have for you.

It doesn’t mean that God won’t love you until you're perfect, or that we can’t love Him until we’re perfect. We will make mistakes. But true love makes the expectations of that love easy to follow. We usually want to do the right things for the people we truly love. (P)

And so Jesus then takes this level of love between Him and God, and Him and the disciples, and makes His main point with it. Verse 12: {CLICK}

John 15:12 NIV

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.

(P) Now remember the context of the gathering, and why we’re still dealing with this level 1 love here.

This conversation is in the Upper Room; it’s the conversation they would have been having while eating the Last Supper, it’s just Jesus and His disciples around the table, that’s it.

And Jesus isn’t saying here to go and love everyone - not yet. They aren’t ready for that part of the conversation. He is just telling them to love each other - that close-knit group of people, maybe even throwing in some of the other people that were near and dear to them, family members, other friends like Mary, Martha, and Lazarus - start with that close-knit fellowship.

And as you may recall, they had enough trouble with that sometimes...some of the disciples, like James and John, thinking they deserved a special seat in Heaven, Peter being a stubborn old goat and incredibly strong-willed, having to accept Matthew, a tax-collector, in their midst, which would not have been all easy.

And all of them having to come to terms with one of their very own, Judas, being the one who would betray Jesus.

They weren’t any different in their struggles with each other as we are with our siblings sometimes, but the more they came to know each other, the hope would be that love between them would grow, just as it does when we spend that time with Jesus. (P)

And that brotherhood was going to have to remain unified, as they would have a big role to fill within just a few months of that very night. (P)

And so, as they got stronger with Level 1, Jesus would need to prepare them to consider: {CLICK}

LEVEL 2: Sacrificial Love for Friends

This level, and the next, were the type of love they were going to need in this work. (P)

After Jesus got done giving that command in the previous verses to examine what should have been the simplest form of love, He steps it up with verse 13, and it’s here that this whole thing gets real - hence the title of this message.

Who can master Level 1, much less the higher bar Jesus presents here in this next verse? {CLICK}

John 15:13 NIV

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Of course, we aren’t even dealing with the highest level yet because Jesus is keeping this discussion within the realm of friends still. And furthermore, He’s just talking about Himself at this point as the one to perform the act He just suggested.

He’s talking about the sacrifice of His own life that was just hours away from this moment at the table. (P)

No one has a greater degree of love than the one who is willing to sacrifice his love for his friends, and by the way, Jesus says - verse 14: {CLICK}

John 15:14 NIV

You are my friends if you do what I command.

{CLICK}

The first people - not the only people - but the first people Jesus is thinking of at this point are His disciples, rightfully so. Jesus was preparing to die for them.

And there’s that condition again - you are my friends if you do what I command.

But do you remember what the greatest commands were from Matthew 22? Love God and Love others - that command once again to love. He said the laws and prophets all fall under that command of love because of what we just said - we automatically give the best of ourselves to those we love.

Do we give our best to others - family, friends, fellow believers?

Do we give our best to God?

Do we do it because we truly love them? (P)

If the answer is no, none of this matters anyway, but if the answer is yes, because we care about others and we want to be a friend of Christ Jesus, then He’s happy to call you a friend. And you are one of the ones He died for.

That’s why we’re here -we either believe, or we are searching, and learning, and trying to get to know God better. (P)

Would we ever be willing to take it to the level of sacrificial love for those people near and dear to us? (P)

That’s what the Apostle John would later challenge us with in his first epistle: {CLICK}

1 John 3:16 NIV

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

And I think many of us would. It’s not a pleasant thought perhaps, but I know people who have been willing to donate organs, knowing the risk to their own bodies. I know of few parents who wouldn’t sacrifice their own lives to save their children, and few spouses wouldn’t be willing to do that for each other.

Nobody hopes they ever have to do that, but I think more of us would for those people near and dear to us then we may think.

And that’s the greatest form of sacrifice - the ultimate price, to give one’s life, but not all sacrifices come in that form. Paul calls us to be a living sacrifice, so that’s where it starts. And most of us do that pretty readily for family and friends. (P)

But that’s what Jesus wants us to consider at this second level. What kind of sacrifices are we willing to make for those closest to us? (P)

It is said that Cyrus, the founder of the Persian Empire, once captured a prince and his family. When they came before him, the monarch asked the prisoner, "What will you give me if I release you?"

"Half of my wealth," was his reply.

"And if I release your children?"

"Everything I possess."

"And if I release your wife?"

"Your Majesty, I will give myself." Cyrus was so moved by his devotion that he freed them all. As they returned home, the prince said to his wife, "Wasn't Cyrus a handsome man!"

With a look of deep love for her husband, she said to him, "I didn't notice. I could only keep my eyes on you-- the one who was willing to give himself for me." (P)

That’s what Jesus did for us, the collective, spiritual bride of Christ we now call the church. (P)

Salvation is individual - I can’t decide for you to receive Christ, you can decide that for me - but as we make that decision, we take our place in the Church that He established. So collectively, and corporately, through the love He has bestowed upon us and are called to project to one another, we can be a powerful unit that will keep His fire going. (P)

His glory and my good, the song we just sang together, talks about that beautifully - so as we sing it again in the coming weeks, remember that. Remember that mission that has its roots in love, because that becomes especially critical when we unpack love’s highest level, number 3: {CLICK}

LEVEL 3: Sacrificial Love for All

This level is touched upon in the last two verses of our text, 16 and 17: {CLICK}

John 15:16–17 NIV

You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. {CLICK} This is my command: Love each other.

{CLICK}

The fruit He talks about is that which comes at our baptism, particularly the baptism of the Holy Spirit, who comes upon us and equips us with the things of God so we can do the work of God. (P)

Namely, those things include - spiritual gifts - which we will talk about more in the coming weeks - those are special abilities and passions you find yourself equipped with that can be used to bless and bring Christ to others. Those are individual - you each have your own giftings. More on that after Easter.

But there are also general things the Spirit gives to all, like the fruits of the Spirit discussed in Galatians 5: {CLICK}

Galatians 5:22–23 NIV

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, {CLICK} gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

These are the kinds of things we all should be showcasing in our daily walk - all of them - because it’s what sets us apart from the rest of the world.

We are kind to people the rest of the world might be unkind to, like people with a troubled past, people who look different, or people of a different economic or social class.

We are stronger in resisting temptations that the rest of the world might be weak in, like greed, jealousy, or sexual sins.

We are peaceful in situations where others might wish to instill violence. (P)

We love people the rest of the world might wish to hate, like enemies.

And that is the level Jesus steps into here that He also hopes for the rest of us.

Because yes, Jesus died for his disciples, for His friends, for His mother, Mary...all of those in His circle. But it absolutely did not end there.

On the cross, He called for the forgiveness of the very people who put Him there.

His sacrifice was for all people, past, present, and future, regardless of their past.

His love was extended to sinners, even at their most helpless and lowest state.

So yes - Jesus died for his friends and loved ones, and we might actually be able to do that, too, if it came to it. {CLICK}

Romans 5:7 NIV

Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person, someone might possibly dare to die.

That second level just might be achievable for some, but Level 3 - what about that? That’s the level Jesus took it to. Verse 8: {CLICK}

Romans 5:8 NIV

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Remember, we talked about that earlier? God’s love for us was not conditional on how little we messed up - because His love was demonstrated the strongest when the world was at its worst.

But He knew that that was exactly the right thing to do for the people He loved - He gave His best self for those people - not just for His friends, but for all of us. (P)

Can we possibly do the same for those Jesus might be wanting us to reach, friend or foe? (P)

From an anonymous contributor:

One January afternoon in 2007, 50-year-old Wesley Autrey was waiting with his two young daughters to board a train at Broadway’s 137th Street station in Manhattan, when the unthinkable happened. According to cbsnews.com, Cameron Hollopeter, 19, fell onto the subway tracks while suffering a seizure, just as an oncoming train was approaching.

In a split second, Autrey, a construction worker and Vietnam War veteran, jumped onto the tracks to save him. As the train barreled toward them, unable to stop in time, Autrey realized he could not lift Hollopeter to safety. So he threw his body on top of the still convulsing young man, pinning him down in the shallow drainage trough, roughly a foot deep, between the tracks. The train’s front two cars rolled over them with just about two precious inches to spare before the operator was able to bring it to a stop.

Hollopeter and Autrey emerged largely unharmed. Cheers erupted, and Autrey was hailed as a hero. But Autrey, as humble as he was brave, told The New York Times, “I don’t feel like I did something spectacular; I just saw someone who needed help. I did what I felt was right.”

I did what I felt was right. (P)

The height of morality, the height of love, what does it look like to do what is right for any person you come across?

Does it have anything to do with sharing the love of Christ with them? Is that the care you have for them - that at all costs, you don’t want them to be crushed by the oncoming train of judgment, because you care about what happens to them, just as Jesus cared about what happens to you? (P)

That is a hard thing to process and commit to, yet once again, we as the church of Jesus Christ are all in this together, and so no one should ever have to face the prospect of going this alone - we have our Savior, and we have each other, and our mission is to be one and the same...to serve Him and share His love.

How are we working together? (P)

CONCLUSION

So we close by once again considering this commandment of Jesus, we read it in John 15, but it is actually rooted in John 13, verse 34: {CLICK}

John 13:34 NIV

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.

(P) But in this setting we call the church, it is taken to a whole new level - where our willingness to make love real is how people know we are real.

Verse 35: {CLICK}

John 13:35 NIV

By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

(P) That starts right here. It’s why we’re here.

It’s not just a Sunday morning routine.

We aren’t just the Dunkard Valley Social Club.

We aren’t a members-only VIP club.

We are the church of Jesus Christ, called to love each other, as a body of people with the same basic but powerful story - sinners saved by grace, and now we come together in the commonality of our story, loving on one another, and finding within this body and from above the strength and drive to take that love to the next levels.

Is our love strong enough to sacrifice for others here, should we be called to do so?

What about for the rest of the world? (P)

We’ll break this challenge down over the next couple of weeks and examine some helpful pointers. And those pointers will remind us why we’re here and what it takes to be the church - and why fellowship is so important.

And I’m not talking about just the social aspects, though that’s important, but I especially want us to consider the spiritual ones, like:

Corporate worship

Praying together, though separate is important, too, but it can’t just be that way

Partaking in our various meals - and not just because we’re Brethren and that’s what Brethren do, as the joke goes

The support we show our youth

And yes, even the Love Feast where we set aside our discomforts for just a few minutes to remember, as a body, who holds our salvation, and who is calling us into, and briefing us into, a bigger ministry (P)

The days of seeing church as just an optional activity of convenience have to be over, if we understand what our purpose is. (P)

I pray that is something we can open our hearts and minds to in our prayer time as we not only prepare for our Love Feast on March 29, but also as we begin to write the next chapters of our story as a church.

Let’s pray together about how that will look as we close for this morning.