Easter 6B

6th Sunday of Easter, Year B

In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Christ is risen! (He is risen indeed - Hallelujah!)

I’ve shared with some of you that I’m a fan of the series “The Five Love Languages” by Dr. Gary Chapman. It’s originally designed as a tool to strengthen the relationship in couples, but it’s been expanded to include children as well. I think it’s a very rich tool with a lot of potential to both strengthen relationships and to heal relationships that are not doing so well.

Here’s the basic premise: all of us feel loved in one of five different ways. Chapman calls these the “Love Languages”. Here are the five:

Words of praise/affirmation - your spouse says something supportive or encouraging to you.

Acts of service - your spouse does something helpful for you.

Receiving gifts - your spouse gives you gifts to let you know they’re thinking about you.

Quality time - your spouse spends meaningful time with you.

Physical touch - your partner gets close to you, holds your hand, puts their arm around your shoulders...

(https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/click-here-happiness/202009/what-are-the-5-love-languages-definition-and-examples)

For just about all of us as individuals, one of these 5 ways makes us feel loved more than all the others. And that means that is our Love Language…which also means that is how we are most likely to show love to others. Where it gets interesting and sometimes challenging is that when we are in a relationship, the other person in the relationship might not speak the same Love Language.

For instance, if my Love Language is Words of Praise, it’s very likely that my instinct is to offer Words of Praise to my wife. But if her Love Language is Acts of Service…then she’d feel more loved if I’d just put away my clean clothes without being reminded.

Now…since today is Mother’s Day - y’all have NO excuse…I warned everyone last week… I’m going to offer a suggestion. And I’m going to bet that the moms will like this. Ask whoever it is you’re celebrating today what their Love Language is, and find a way to show them that you love them IN THEIR LOVE LANGUAGE. Let’s just assume that the “Receiving gifts” (and cards) is already handled. Some of these wonderful people might feel loved in other ways though…and today is a great day to discover that.

Now, what would you say if I asked you: What is God’s Love Language? What would you say? One answer you might consider is “all of them”, right? But wait Pastor, how would we have “physical touch” with God? Anyone know? We’ll be doing it shortly, when we come to the Lord’s Table - in the Sacrament. So yes, we can do that one.

I think there’s something to be said for the answer “all of them”. I’m confident that God wants us to give gifts to Him - whether it’s our tithes & offerings, or our time, I know that pleases Him. Certainly the language of “Words of Praise” is God-pleasing. When we pray, often the first part of our prayers include praise and adoration. And there’s no question that Quality Time with God is something that He wants and encourages us to do…that He calls us to spend Quality Time with Him.

But if I had to pick one that I think is God’s primary Love Language, I’d say today’s Gospel lesson pretty well spells it out for us. Given what John tells us in this passage, I have to say that God feels loved the most by Acts of Service…specifically in keeping His commandments.

Now let’s be perfectly clear here: I am NOT talking about things we need to do to earn our salvation. I hope that in every sermon you’ve heard me preach you’ve heard the message that you CANNOT do anything to earn your salvation. And you CANNOT do anything to earn God’s love for you. God loves you. He loved you first. Everything good follows that. God’s love came first. We’re clear on that, right?

What we’re talking about today is different. Jesus tells his disciples how they can respond to God’s love for them. I’m telling you that Jesus has given all of us a way that we can respond to God’s love for all of us. We have been told how we can show God that we love Him too. Wouldn’t that be an appropriate response to the great gift that God has given us?

Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love...” [Jn 15:10, ESV]. Ok, so we have that word “abide” quite a few times this week. We heard it last week too. I don’t know about you, but I don’t use that word outside of discussions about the Bible. So just to be sure we all know what it means, let’s define it. The Greek word can be translated in a couple of different ways. If you look at various Bible translations you’ll see “you will *remain* in my love” or “you will *continue* in my love”. There’s even one translation that says “make yourselves at home in my love.” I have to admit - I kind of like that. So we can read it as “if you keep my commandments, you will *make yourselves at home* in my love.” It’s a place to stay. A refuge, a sanctuary even. It’s a place of comfort and peace…maybe even joy.

I might go so far as to say that it’s also in Jesus’ presence. One of the scholars I read made this statement: “Jesus explains that to remain in him means that we remain in his love. He and his love are one.” [R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 1044.]

So Jesus wants us to abide…to make ourselves at home… in his love. And he tells us that we can do that by keeping his commandments. I like it when Scripture doesn’t only tell us what we are to do…but also how to do it.

And a few verses later Jesus said, “You are my friends if you do what I command you.” (Jn 15:14, ESV) Last week’s lesson (the verses immediately before this) talked about the vine and the branches, and that we would “bear much fruit and so prove to be [Jesus’] disciples.” (Jn 15:8, ESV) But in today’s lesson, we are elevated from “disciple” to “friend”. “Friends” in this verse refers to an “affectionate and intimate relation” (Lenski) - but Jesus and the disciples are not equal friends. “He condescends greatly when accepting them as friends, they are lifted high by being accepted as his friends.” [R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 1050.] Make no mistake - that “promotion” is due entirely to love - Jesus’ love for us, as he describes in verse 16: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you...” (Jn 15:16, ESV).

Once again, I find the English lacking here. “Love” in English can mean so many different things. When we say “love” in English, I think most often we think of a feeling. “I just love ___” (fill in the blank). That blank might be a person - someone actually in your life, or someone you just admire from afar. An actor, musician, or athlete. Or it might be your favorite food. Or your favorite music. Or your favorite color. But in each of these cases, “love” is really just an emotion. Something you *feel*…not something you *do*.

When Jesus talks of love, especially in this lesson, it’s ALWAYS the Greek word agape. And agape is absolutely an action word. It is completely selfless. It is thinking of the one(s) you love more than yourself. It is self-emptying. It puts others above self. Verse 13 explains this best: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13, ESV). It doesn’t get any more self-emptying than that… and that is EXACTLY what Jesus was about to do, in His death on the Cross. This kind of love is an ACTION.

And then there’s Jesus’ last statement in this lesson: “These things I command you, so that you will love one another. (Jn 15:17, ESV) Just one more note on the Greek. If we read this in Greek, the meaning you’d take from this is that this verb in this sentence actually conveys a sense of ongoing action. So it would be more like “…so that you will keep on loving one another.” Non-stop, without end. So what does THAT look like? That’s what Jesus tried to describe to us in the rest of this passage. Every time he said “as I have loved you” - he’s using himself as the example.

Going back to that scholar I mentioned before, he describes it like this: when Jesus said “as I have loved you”… “This means with the same kind of ἀγάπη, having the same insight and intelligence, the same motive and purpose. The disciples are not merely to be attached to each other, devoted to each other, helpful to each other. Many who are not disciples show this kind of love, even calling each other ‘brother’ [or ‘sister’]. To love as Jesus loved is to see what he sees: the soul’s needs, the eternal interests; and since these are fellow-disciples with us, these needs and these interests in connection with our mutual discipleship, i.e., what our [brothers or sisters] need as [brothers or sisters] in the bond which binds us most intimately together. Secondly, besides this insight and understanding our [brotherly] ἀγάπη includes that we have the same purpose and will toward our [brothers and sisters] that Jesus showed toward us. He was bent on one thing and one alone toward his disciples: to keep them in the Father’s love which is life and salvation, to further and advance them in God’s grace, to multiply God’s spiritual gifts to them. This is the love that is ‘his own,’ which is different from the common love of [humanity]; and this love is to animate all his disciples in their relation toward each other.” [R. C. H. Lenski, The Interpretation of St. John’s Gospel (Minneapolis, MN: Augsburg Publishing House, 1961), 1047–1048.]

Jesus redefines what “love” actually is. We are not to use our own definition or understanding of “love” any more, but his. It is a verb…and not just a feeling verb, but an action verb. It demands that we *do* something…and we are both called and commanded to do it. So what does it look like?

That is going to be something different for each one of us. What is it that you can “empty” of yourself to love your brother or sister? What do you have to give? It’s not always money. Sometimes it is, for sure. But sometimes it’s a talent or special gift that is unique to you - something God gave specifically to you for the good of the Kingdom, and it’s up to you to use it for the good of your neighbors. Maybe it’s not a special talent, but just your time. Last weekend, we put 150 flood buckets together with a bunch of NALC youth from this whole area of our state. That didn’t take any talent or special gift; it just took time…and the fruits of our labor will bless many people in the months ahead.

What is God calling you to *do* that is how you can show love…agape…for your brothers and sisters in Christ? I invite you to pray about that. Because for certain, our Heavenly Father has truly loved us already, and continues to love us. We see it every time we set our eyes on the cross. We taste it every time we receive the gift of Holy Communion. We hear it each time we hear His Holy Word proclaimed. So how do we want to respond to our Holy Father and His great love for us? By doing what He has commanded us to do: and that’s loving each other, and continuing to do so. As we do active loving things - Acts of Service - for our neighbors, we actually get a 2-for-1 deal. By loving our neighbor, we also love God. And I’m 100% certain that pleases Him greatly.

Christ IS risen! (He is risen indeed - hallelujah!)