Untitled Sermon

John 13:21-35 (HCSB) 21  When Jesus had said this, He was troubled in His spirit and testified, “I assure you: One of you will betray Me!” 22  The disciples started looking at one another—uncertain which one He was speaking about. 23  One of His disciples, the one Jesus loved, was reclining close beside Jesus. 24  Simon Peter motioned to him to find out who it was He was talking about. 25  So he leaned back against Jesus and asked Him, “Lord, who is it?” 26  Jesus replied, “He’s the one I give the piece of bread to after I have dipped it.” When He had dipped the bread, He gave it to Judas, Simon Iscariot’s son. 27  After ⌊Judas ate⌋ the piece of bread, Satan entered him. Therefore Jesus told him, “What you’re doing, do quickly.” 28  None of those reclining at the table knew why He told him this. 29  Since Judas kept the money-bag, some thought that Jesus was telling him, “Buy what we need for the festival,” or that he should give something to the poor. 30  After receiving the piece of bread, he went out immediately. And it was night. 31  When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man is glorified, and God is glorified in Him. 32  If God is glorified in Him, God will also glorify Him in Himself and will glorify Him at once. 33  “Children, I am with you a little while longer. You will look for Me, and just as I told the Jews, ‘Where I am going you cannot come,’ so now I tell you. 34  “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. 35  By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

How High Is Your A.Q.?

“Intelligence Quotient.”

This quantified each person’s ability to remember facts, to think imaginatively, to put information together logically, and ultimately to solve problems. The I.Q. became a means of identifying intellectually gifted students so they might be challenged to maximize their abilities; however, it also became a pretext for pushing a great many others to the fringes of education. In 1983, Harvard University professor Howard Gardner proposed a new theory, suggesting that intelligence has many different forms. Someone can be a mathematical genius, yet have difficulty working his home entertainment system. Another may score the highest I.Q. ever recorded, yet fail to interact with others at the most basic level of competence. Dr. Gardner recognized the existence of “multiple intelligences” and reacted strongly against assigning worth to people based on a single, rather arbitrarily chosen kind of intelligence. There is more to a person than his or her ability to solve mental puzzles.

Jesus never placed supreme value on a person’s I.Q.; He cared much more about developing the A.Q.—the “Acceptance Quotient”—of His disciples. Whereas the I.Q. quantifies an individual’s mental capacity, the A.Q. measures one’s capacity for relationship. I define “acceptance” as one’s ability to receive other people and recognize their worth without holding them to a predetermined standard or requiring any specific performance. Here is how one author describes this freedom, from the perspective of those we choose to accept: Acceptance. It means you are valuable just as you are. It allows you to be the real you. You aren’t forced into someone else’s idea of who you really are. It means your ideas are taken seriously since they reflect you. You can talk about how you feel inside and why you feel that way—and someone really cares.

Acceptance means you can try out your ideas without being shot down. You can even express heretical thoughts and discuss them with intelligent questioning. You feel safe. No one will pronounce judgment on you, even though they don’t agree with you. It doesn’t mean you will never be corrected or shown to be wrong; it simply means it’s safe to be you and no one will destroy you out of prejudice.[5

This quality of acceptance, exemplified and encouraged by Jesus, requires some clarification, lest anyone misunderstand.

First, acceptance does not negate discernment. Christian maturity requires discernment. To accept someone is not to be blinded to that person’s weakness, but rather to overlook those weaknesses when choosing to show honor. It is to demonstrate love without regard for another’s flaws.

Second, acceptance does no denial human sinfulness. On the contrary, acceptance takes sinfulness fully into account as one receives another into fellowship. If you’re looking for perfect people with whom to share fellowship, you’re destined to be lonely.

Third, acceptance does no defence offer unlimited freedom for each individual to be openly authentic without fear of rejection. Each person can be at complete ease knowing that being himself or herself will not lead to condemnation or rejection. After Jesus rose from washing the disciples’ feet, He put on His robes and taught them about humility. However, He warned that not everyone around the table would understand the lesson, much less apply it. The fact that Jesus had just washed the feet of His betrayer would become the occasion of His next lesson. Humility not only bows low to serve others; humility also offers fellowship to lowly people.

Here are three signs of a falling Acceptance Quotient, three indications that grace has not bridged the gap between one’s head and heart.

First, people with a falling A.Q. are unwilling to accept people without maintaining partiality. Accept people while remaining partial? It happens all the time. The apostle James refers to this when admonishing church leaders: My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. For if a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes, and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You stand over there, or sit down by my footstool,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives? (Jas. 2:1-4) No one outright rejected the man with dirty clothes; however, they expected him to know his place. Similarly today, we are often partial in the way we treat people. Deep pockets get the good seats and positions in leadership; people with suspicious backgrounds are welcome, as long as they dutifully wear the appropriate scarlet letter: A for adultery, E for emotional trauma, S for single, or D for (God forbid!) divorce. Once they prove their worth or patiently dispel our suspicions, we might grant them greater access to the privileged inner circle of the fully accepted. How wrong! How unlike Christ!

Second, people with a falling A.Q. are unwilling to accept another’s personal style without criticism. I’m not referring to matters of morality or doctrine, but one’s choice of personal expression. In some churches, the pastor wears a robe. In others, a flashy suit. In still others, business attire. In a great many, jeans and a T-shirt. If Christ is preached and souls are added to the kingdom, who cares about attire! Churches divide over differing taste in music. Some Christians are unwilling to sit through even one service in which music fits another style. They grouse and complain because others dared to enjoy a worship service they didn’t personally care for. Oh, they are willing to accept others who prefer a different style, as long as they attend the other service.

Third, people with a falling A.Q. are unwilling to suffer offenses without holding a grudge. People who hold grudges reject others who do not meet their expectations and accept only those who do. That attitude is more characteristic of nonbelievers than genuine members of Christ’s body. I’ve heard more than one nonbeliever reject the notion of going to church because “it’s full of a bunch of hypocrites.” To which, I say, “Come on in; there’s room for one more!” Let’s face it; relationships would go a lot smoother in churches if they were filled with perfect people. But the key to acceptance is not perfection, so we must learn to set aside offenses and accept one another, not in spite of our flaws—that’s conditional love—but with our flaws. Acceptance doesn’t mean we have to lower the biblical standard of righteousness, or become like other people, or even adopt their personal styles as our own. Acceptance merely honors the value of other people as the unique workmanship of a delightfully creative God. Acceptance is having the grace to let others be. Intellectually, you are probably very bright, perhaps above average. But how high is your A.Q.? In the kingdom of God, that’s what really matters.

Agapē: Authentic Love 34  “I give you a new command: Love one another. Just as I have loved you, you must also love one another. 35  By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”

While Jesus walked among them on earth, no one doubted whose disciples the men were. Once He returned to heaven, however, their mutual love should be strong enough to maintain their identity before the watching world. With Jesus physically gone, their love should sustain them. In a very real sense, the love between Master and disciple would be multiplied by ten upon His leaving the earth. The kind of love Jesus called his men to express is called agapē <G26>—the kind that seeks the highest, greatest good of another. If the men had any trouble understanding the meaning of this term and how to express it, all they had to do was recall their time with Jesus. He had been their living illustration for more than three years.

It Isn’t Love Until You Give It Away

The world struggles to understand love. Most people think mainly of romantic love, that mysterious sickness that overtakes someone like a delightful case of the flu—can’t eat, can’t sleep, can’t concentrate on anything except one’s lover—a disease for which time is the only cure. That kind of love comes and goes as it pleases and trumps all logic. No one knows its cause. Many accept the existence of family love, but it’s usually conflicted. In many families, love is something to be endured on special holidays and for no longer than absolutely necessary. Loyalty is the primary word for this kind of love; kindness is entirely optional. Authentic love—agapē—embodies the finest qualities of romantic love and family love, but it is permanent and always characterized by kindness. Moreover, agapē bears three distinct qualities that set it apart as distinctly heaven-made.

First, authentic love is unconditional in its expression. Throughout the Gospels, Jesus expressed love for all kinds of “undesirable” people, including Roman collaborators, prostitutes, thieves, religious zealots, rich rulers, working-class people, unredeemed lawyers, and the desperately down-and-out. He turned away no one who desired His love and even wept for those who did not. Authentic love gives without conditions.

Second, authentic love is unselfish in its motive. Agapē expects nothing in return for kindness and gives without regard for self-interest. It’s easy to love those who express gratitude and who respond with love in return. But authentic love gives kindness to others regardless of their ability to return it, including those who are simply unwilling. Loving the unlovely for their sake is the essence of agapē.

Third, authentic love is unlimited in its benefits. Because agapē is its own reward, it always benefits the giver. The satisfaction of authentic love never fades, but only if it’s unconditional and unselfish. In fact, many acts of authentic love often leave the giver feeling like they received the most joy from their deeds! Unlike the elation of romantic love and the loyalty of family love, which live as emotions hidden within the heart, agapē cannot exist apart from action. At least one anonymous poet understood what is meant by authentic love: A bell isn’t a bell till it’s rung, A song isn’t a song till it’s sung, Love isn’t put in your heart to stay, Love isn’t love till it’s given away.

Swindoll's Living Insights New Testament Commentary - John.