Love One Another

Introduction

As you all know I really love hockey! I enjoy going to games, cheering with the fans, and of course booing when the refs make a call I don’t agree with! Well, I went up to Elmira a few years ago, back when they were the Elmira Jackals, and I watched a game with a group of friends. We often sat behind the away team’s bench, a few rows up.

This seat gave us a great view of the ice, the players, and the fans as well. Down at the seats that are right up on the glass there was a sign that had been newly posted. It said, “Careful with drinks”

I thought at the time, “well that’s an odd sign.” The thought quickly left my mind as the game started up. Nearly 30 minutes into the game the away team was getting chippy, which means they were hitting hard and trying to get away with some penalties, they were trying to get under the skin of the Jackals!

Well, the Jackals were NOT going to put up with this behavior. The away team was down shooting at the Jackal’s goal. The goaltender was making amazing save after amazing save, and the away team would NOT let up. Finally, one of the players shot the puck along the boards to get it to his teammate on the other side, one of the Jackals read this play.

As the puck slid behind the net and up the other side the anticipating away team player waited for the puck to get to him. As soon as the puck hit his stick the largest Jackal player hit him, hard. Not only did he hit him hard, but he hit him into the glass. The guy went up to the glass, face planted, and fell down to the ice. This happened right in front of us, and the game went on.

At that same moment, when we saw the guy’s face, helmet, and hands smooshed against the glass, something else happened. Liquid started spraying all over the fans in the front two rows. It turns out that the sign had a pretty good purpose. You see the adults would have their drinks and no where to set them. So, they set there cups up on the little ledge in front of them, the ledge that held the glass.

So, when a player would run into the boards and glass, drinks would spill. Or, in this case, when a player is hit hard into the boards and glass the drinks will fly and spray over everyone in the first two rows.

After that, I knew why they had a sign that said, “careful with drinks.”

Other Signs

You’ve heard me talk about signs before. Maybe not actual signs like you see on the side of the road, but you heard me talk about other types. Remember the story I told you a few weeks ago, the one about the old couple in San Antonio? The quick run down is that this car was tailgating me, honking its horn, and swerving. Finally the car passed me and I looked over to see this sweet old couple frantically sending me some not so nice signals with their hands....

As they drove up further I saw the back of their car. They had bumper stickers that said “I love Jesus,” a license plate holder that said, “Jesus loves Texas,” and a ichthus symbol (which is the fish). All of these things, and the gesture that they sent to me were signs. They indicated something that they wanted known.

They wanted the world to know by their bumper stickers and license plate holder that they were Christians who loved Jesus. And, judging by the sign they sent just for me with their hands I would say they wanted me to know that I wasn’t driving fast enough for them.

Well, they got their point across, but like I told you before, they were sending some pretty mixed signals. Their signs were contradicting one another. Here, let me show you what I mean...

Show signs

Illegal Car

Drive Safe

Antique Tables

No Pets

And my personal favorite, Revival Cancelled

Like that elderly couple, these signs are sending some pretty mixed signals, or they are at least ironic.

But, nonetheless, we can see that signs are pretty important.

Jesus Signs

They are so important that even Jesus talked about them. No, he didn’t reference speed limit or stop signs, but something more. Jesus says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

While all of this is extremely important, I take two things away from this piece of Scripture.

The first is a command.

Jesus is commanding his disciples, meaning us, that we are to love one another as He has loved us. When I hear this I think about the death of Jesus on the cross.

We recognize that as a sacrifice, an event that Jesus did not have to endure, but He chose to. He chose to take on the physical, emotional, and spiritual torment so that we would not have to. He showed amazing love through this sacrifice.

We do a really good job of realizing how much physical pain must have been there, but during a time where status meant everything, there was more. Jesus’ death on the cross was not like an everyday execution.

The act of being crucified was egregious. It was considered by the Romans to be the most humiliating, dehumanizing, and utterly embarrassing way to die. It was considered to be so awful that they would not even condemn other Romans to die in this manner, no matter what their crime was.

Even if the person wasn’t a Roman, their crime had to be one of the most severe to be considered for crucifixion. So, Jesus, being the son of God, the mightiest person to have ever existed, the most spiritually in-tune with the Father, died in the most humiliating way possible. This shows so much love.

Not only that, but the way Jesus treated people was loving. Remember, these are unique for His time. He sat and ate with people whom others ignored, he talked directly to women and listened to them, he spent time in each town visiting the sick and dying. Jesus touched and hugged those who were sick and considered “unclean.” He showed them all signs of love and compassion, empathy and consideration, even the people who did not follow Him or God the Father. He didn’t care who they were, He was going to die for them because He loved them. That was the extent of Christ’s love.

The second thing I take away from this Scripture is when Jesus says, “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

There is wording in this Scripture that is very important.

Can anyone guess? I’m looking for two words....(By this)

Right, Jesus says BY THIS! It means that Jesus gave us not only a command, but He is telling us that when we follow through with His command, something will happen.

Jesus says that what will happen is that “everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” He says that the world, the people, they will know that you are a follower of Christ if you LOVE them! They will know we are Christians by our love!

Here are some things Jesus did not say,

“They will know we are Christians by our Sunday morning attire”

“They will know we are Christians by our bumper stickers”

“They will know we are Christians by our cross necklaces”

“They will know we are Christians by how many Bible verses we can quote”

“They will know we are Christians by our affiliated political party”

....I could go on about the things Jesus did not say about this, but I want to focus on what He DID say.

“Everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Together

When we put it all together we see that Jesus has given us the command to love one another, and he has told us that when we do, people will know that we are followers of Christ!

This command by Christ grows increasingly more difficult to fulfill, especially in our current culture. There is so much division, hate, and slewing going on. We have lost the ability to show love to people with whom we disagree with. But, like I said, it was a command.

Jesus did not recommend that we love one another, He didn’t suggest that we love one another, he didn’t even hint at it. He said it. Plain and simple. He commanded it. There is no room for interpretation here, not one single inch. It is clear, concise, and commanding.

So, if we are to be true followers of Christ, if we are to be sincere and real Christians, we MUST show love to one another. In those moments where we disagree, where we may be upset with one another, where we may be angry or sad....we MUST continue to love one another.

This is one of the promises that I will be making to Larissa next week. I will, before all of our friends and family tell Larissa how much she means to me and promise to love her no matter what. In those moments where it is hard, difficult, stressful, and sometimes seemingly impossible, I will not falter in my love for her. And that is something I take very seriously, and it is something that I carry over into all of my other relationships.

My relationship with my dad and step-mom, with my mother, with my other family, with all of you, with my friends, with strangers, with the innocent and the guilty. Jesus gave me not room for distinction, he said ALL people, not just who I choose.

So, I know it is hard, but this is a command that we must follow. Go this week, and all of the weeks to come, and see every person on this earth as being a child of God. You don’t have to agree with them, you don’t have to be around them, you don’t even have to like them, but you have to love them!

Let us pray