Saturday, March 22, 2008

 

How Will They Know Series

 

John 13:34-35 “A new commandment I give you.  Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  All men will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.” 

 

Legacies

 

During Holy Week, this is the day Jesus would have been entombed.    I know from burying those I have loved that the day after the funeral is incredibly sad.  Friends go back to their lives and you are left with your grief.   It would be natural to reflect on the life of the one you lost.   The remembering of the legacy of the people who have died and the possible reflection of the legacy as we live in the face of our death is sobering. 

Jesus stood for loving people and loving God’s creation.  I believe the truest influence of Jesus is that He loved people.   It is hard to see His love in the pages and paragraphs of the Gospels.   The pages of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John are full of stories, teachings, miracles, and events that you might miss the truth of His vibrant love for people.   The greatest influence of our Lord comes from the love He shared in every day relationships.  

 

The depth of our soul develops as we ourselves pass down God’s love to others.  Living together we can love in a way that flowers into the hearts of the people we know.    Jesus said with words, but more importantly with his life, that the community of faith should be known by our love for other believers and our compassion for the world. 

 

I have struggled with how the faith community seems oblivious to the power of love.   Jesus’ life embodied that power.   We reflect the memory of His life as we love others in our faith community.   Often, we do not love as we should.  Christians seem to be very quick at condemning inside the church.   From my position at the heart of this one church, it seems Christians spend more time critiquing the faults of others than they ever do just loving.   The witness of our legacy as Christians is severely compromised when we spend more energy rallying against others rather than radically loving them.  

 

In pondering our lives if we hurt others we become like cheap chocolate Easter bunnies.   We may look solid on the outside but if we don’t truly love we become hollow.   It is so important that our legacy follows the legacy of Christ.  We must radically and completely love as Jesus did.   In loving rather than condemning, we can change the world.

 

It is natural for us on this day to remember the legacy of Christ.   May today also be a day we consider our legacy.   May our legacy always emulate that of Christ.  

 

Prayer:

Dear God, help me to love and live as Jesus did.  Amen.