A Homily Prepared For Sunday, May 5, 2024

The Collect

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The Gospel

John 15:9–17

9 As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.

10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.

11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

14 Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

15 Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.

16 Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.

17 These things I command you, that ye love one another.

Commentary on Today’s Gospel Selection;

When preaching or teaching from John 15, verses 9 through17, which are highly used and abused passages, we have to make an effort to pay close attention to the text in its historical and literary context. This will prevent us from interpretations that fuel relativism, religious liberalism, and socialism.

My Amish friends, who have to use the public highways to get from farm to town, use bridles on their horses, that have devices that rest beside the horses eyes to keep the animals attention focused on what is straight ahead. The use of what is commonly referred to as blinders, prevents the horse from seeing, through peripheral vision, anything that is overtaking or passing by. Therefore this minimizes the possibility that the horse will react violently after being frightened by the cars speeding by just a few feet away.

In the classic allegory of Plato’s Cave, people are chained in a cave, facing a blank wall where shadows are projected by objects passing in front of a fire behind them. The shadows are the only reality the prisoners have ever known, and they give names to these shadows, believing them to be the true reality. The prisoners are unaware of the actual world outside the cave, which is filled with light and color.

In our old horse and buggy days, and even today in cultures such as that of the Amish who prefer the old ways, we see these blinder devices used to control the horses; which in a way, these blinders used on horses function in a similar fashion as the restrictions placed on the victims on Plato’s cave, their attention is focused in such a way they are blinded or made to be oblivious to the reality around them.

When these passages are preached or taught with out contextual meaning, when they are taught in such a way as to emphasize love without obedience to the entirety of God’s word, the student comes away with an incomplete knowledge of Jesus’ teachings, like a horse with blinders, or the victims in the allegory of Plato’s cave; they are made to be oblivious, if not ignorant of the objective truths delineated in the Christian Scriptures.

“This is the third in a series of entreaties by Jesus for his disciples to obey him (see also 14:15 and 14:23). In our churches today, we rightly emphasize the importance of grace. However, we will fail those who depend on us for spiritual wisdom if we fail also to emphasize the importance of obedience.” (Donovan)

In verse 12 Jesus states, “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.”

Recently I was drawn into a debate with a reader who commented on one of my posts, and the reader emphasized love above all else. I replied trying to explain to him that, yes Jesus did teach agape love, that brotherly love that inculcates empathy and compassion for others, but I also tried to explain to him that this concept of agape love must be taught with a sense of balance.

John the apostle, demonstrated this sense of balance by preceding verse twelve in which Jesus gave a commandment for us to love one another, with yet another commandment; “If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.”

Jesus clearly states that if we keep his commandments, we will abide in his love. This is like a parent telling a child, “If you follow my rules and do as I tell you to do, you will remain in my love.”

However an incomplete teaching of these passages in 15 John 9 to 17, results in a situation such as that we see today, that situation in which far too many people attempt to falsely claim that the only commandment Jesus gave was to love one another. But right here in verse 10b Jesus adds, “even as I have kept my Father’s commandments, and abide in his love.” As we read in the Bible, the entire Bible, God did inculcate among us the necessity of brotherly agape love, but God also commanded many other things as well, which we can not afford to ignore.

Here John narrows the commandments given by God to just one, but we must balance this concept with that which is taught in the other Gospels. For example this Gospel by John, does not emphasize teaching in the way that Matthew does. The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7) includes many specific teachings that are missing here. Part of the reason is that John is a different person with a different style and emphasis. However, it is also true that Jesus’ love-commandment pulls together all the law and the prophets. The person who loves needs no commandment not to steal or kill, because the person who loves will not do those things.

We expect this sort of love to be reciprocated. But we do not prepare people these days to be cognizant of the reality that some of those who receive our love can not reciprocate. We fail these people by emphasizing verse 12 without also explaining to them that the principalities of this world have made it impossible for some people to participate in a loving, agape, environment.

For example, as Christians we feel compelled by Jesus’ teaching on “The Least of These.” In Matthew 25:40-45, Jesus teaches that caring for the least of these is equivalent to caring for Him. The phrase “the least of these” is not a specific group or category, but rather a description of those who are in need. In the biblical context, this can include the poor, the hungry, the sick, the imprisoned, and the stranger. Jesus’ words emphasize the importance of showing compassion and kindness to those who are often overlooked or marginalized in society. So with that thought in mind, we visit those in prison, and attempt to minister to them, helping them find salvation. But others take this passage from Matthew to the extreme and become activists working to get criminals released, and then turn a blind eye to the unbelievably high rate of recidivism. In 2018 the Bureau of Justice Statistics released a study demonstrating that the recidivism rate—the rate in which people are released from prison only to break the law again, be arrested, and returned to incarceration—was as high as 80% in a study that took place over 9 years. In other words, eight of ten released from jail, get out, only to commit another crime.

I have to ask, how is it a demonstration of our love for one and another, when we work to get people released from prison, and then turn a blind eye to the plight of those who are raped or murdered by those prisoners activists have worked diligently to get released? How is it a demonstration of love—for everyone—when we fail to protect the vulnerable from those consumed by evil? How can we remain silent, when those we have professed our agape love for, returned that love in a form of hate?

I have often heard these verses compared to the traditional folk art nesting dolls common to Eastern Europe, you know the wooden doll that when you remove the top half form the bottom you find another identical but smaller doll inside, which contains yet another doll in it? These verses are like those old nesting dolls or perhaps concentric circles. We are the outer most—doll or circle—Jesus is the next and God is at the center. We abide in Jesus’ love, and keep his commandments just as Jesus abides in his Father’s love. If we obey Jesus’ commandments because we love him, we must also obey those commandments of his Father.

At the very first of this Gospel, John makes the argument, almost poetically, that Jesus was with the Father from the beginning, that Jesus was the Word—the Logos—the “I Am” which is the identity of God. If what John set out to prove with his Gospel is true—which I believe it is—how can we justify teaching that “love” trumps all other commandments, even when it is to the determent of the (other) Least of These? How can we show love to human animals who have been consumed by evil, and feign obliviousness to suffering of their victims?

The answer is we can’t. We can show compassion and tolerance to the sinner, even those who have murdered or raped, but yet protect The Least of These that are the vulnerable children, women and men unable to defend themselves from evil.

We can show compassion and agape love to the sinner who has broken moral and ethical rules found in the Bible, but yet we must avoid allowing them to remain in their sin by our lack of love, that agape love that comes from teaching the whole Word of God. For example, it is not agape love to turn a blind eye and not offer compassionate counseling to the person with a metabolic or eating disorder—who refuses to get help or adjust their eating habits—a person who is literally eating, or dieting or even purging, their way to an early grave.

How can we in good conscience teach these and other passages which similarly seem to inculcate love without also teaching the other parts of the Bible that provide a sense of balance?

I published a homily a number of years ago, that due to the current conditions in our culture, I need to search out in my archives and dust it off so that it may again be shared. That homily described the balance scales once used in commerce, and frequently used in allegorical teachings. Such scales had two trays, each connected to opposite ends of a beam which had a pivot point in the center. When a weight was placed on one tray, that tray would lower while the other tray was raised by the action of the beam responding to the weight at one end. If there were equal measures on both trays, they would be at equal heights or balance. In olden times, one might place a one pound weight on one side and then add grain to the other until there was a sufficient quantity to achieve balance, indicating that there was one pound of grain. This process of attempting to make a scale find the point of balance, becomes an allegory representing the importance of emphasizing all of God’s Holy Word, not just the feel good parts. If we emphasize just one provision of obedience to Jesus’ commandment we risk creating an out of balance situation when we ignore the other teachings of Jesus..

Here in John 15:17 we see Jesus saying, “These things I command you, that ye love one another.” but yet we find in Matthew passages that demonstrate a sense of balance, passages that are often overlooked when we teach John 15.

“And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house or city, shake off the dust of your feet. Verily I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrha in the day of judgment, than for that city.” (Matthew 10:14-15)

Here we see Jesus explaining to his disciples, who he was sending out to teach and preach, how they were to react to those communities who refused to hear Jesus’ plan for salvation.

We have to remember that the disciples were themselves Jewish by birth and familiar with the customs of their culture. The disciples were very much aware that pious Jews, in that era, often shook the dust from their feet to show their separation from Gentile practices.

In Matthew 18 Jesus give instructions on how an aggrieved brother is to handle the situation when a brother has sinned against the aggrieved. This passage also touches on the traditions of the Jews to avoid religious intercourse with those outside of their community.

“Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee, thou hast gained thy brother. But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established. And if he shall neglect to hear them, tell it unto the church: but if he neglect to hear the church, let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican.” (Matthew 18:15-17)

It should be noted that Jewish people had working relationships or business dealings with Gentiles and even tax collectors. They simply did not allow them into the heart of their community and religious life, which to Jews in that era, religious life was the community. So when Jesus said, “let him be unto thee as an heathen man and a publican,” he is saying isolate the community, especially the Least of These—the vulnerable—from the negative influences of those unwilling to hear and abide in the Word, but do so in a loving manner, after all as Paul will show in 1 Corinthians 5:1–13, the goal for the church remains the restoration of the sinful person once he or she has finally come to repentance.

With all these things said, we find evidence that one must look at John 15:9–17 seeking a sense of balance. While Jesus did command us to love one another, he gave other instructions, that provide clarification. The lessons of Matthew 18:15-17 and 10:14-15 must be practiced in a manner consistent with that of the teachings in John 15:9–17. Likewise we can not afford to practice universal unconditional agape love, as commanded in John 15:9–17 with out discernment, without teaching the new Christian the entirety of the Word which provides that elusive point of balance (discernment) I so often write about.

Much harm has been done by Christian leaders who have mishandled the application of Matthew 18:15-17 and 10:14-15, but in a similar manner, much harm has been done by Christian leaders who have mishandled the application of John 15:17 “These things I command you, that ye love one another.”

Benediction:

May God’s love surround you, God’s Spirit guide you, God’s whisper cheer you, God’s peace calm you, God’s shield protect you, God’s wisdom arm you, wherever God may lead you. Lord, be with us now to strengthen us; about us, to keep us; above us, to protect us; beneath us, to uphold us; before us, to direct us; behind us, to keep us from straying; and ‘round about us, to defend us. Blessed are You, O Father, forever and ever. Amen.