The Hardest Commandment

Jesus said to his disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” 

John 15:9-17 (Revised Standard Version)

Good morning Beloved Readers. Today is the first Sunday after Easter. It is also the first Sunday in April, which is Communion Sunday. I am going to draw on my Maundy Thursday post, “In Search of Communion” as a jump off point for today’s post. In that post, I spoke about the need for communion in today’s church and world. I spoke about the church’s cheapening Communion into a lifeless ritual far from what Jesus initiated on the night he was betrayed.

Today’s scripture text takes place during the Passover Seder-the “Last Supper” as the church calls it. We see Jesus, who knew that the Powers That Be were closing in on him, giving final instructions to his people. The first was for the disciples to live out Jesus’s teachings they received so they can abide in his love just as Jesus lived out The Parent’s teachings and abided in Their love. Jesus assured that such a life would result in joyful living.

However, it was Jesus’s next instruction that really hit home: to love one another. Not, just to love one another, but to love to the point of laying down one’s life for another if necessary. It is that love which Jesus related to his disciples as friends more than servants. Plus, this love (and with Divine help) that will empower the disciples to live the Christ life and “bear fruit”-empower others to live the Christ life as well.

Love is known as the “ The Greatest Commandment.” As Jesus taught in Matthew 22:34-40. Here, Jesus teaches that we are to love God first and foremost with our whole being; and then love each other as we love ourselves. However, I have to be honest and say this commandment might as well be called, “The Hardest Commandment,” since we don’t follow this commandment as we could.

I call Love “The Hardest Commandment” because we-including me-don’t follow this commandment. If you look at us in the church, you sadly see hatred towards “others” and each other. We don’t love as we could. And if you were to visit today’s Communion services, you could see people who just tolerate each other. And love God? Forget it. We have a love-hate relationship with the Divine, who we treat more like furniture than the Source of All. I say we treat God like a piece of furniture because we don’t think on God unless They serve some use to us-like furniture.

I spoke of the loss of communion in our churches and in our society; now we see why: no love. Love is a hard commandment. Loving the Divine who we cannot see can be a stretch for us-even for Christians. Loving those who may not appreciate, reciprocate, or deserve our love is a challenge. Love is a hard commandment when we’re called to say “No,” or worse, let go. Loving ourselves fully is hard since we have created facades that we wear all day, seeking validation from the outside. The love commandment is hard and reaches into our communions, where we put on facades and “like” each other. We’ve turned our communities into just masses of people: no love, no joy.

And we wonder why people are leaving the church and the world doesn’t take us seriously. We’ve been weakened by the lack of love that we cannot fully live the Christ life, nor can we empower others to do the same.

Love is “The Hardest Commandment,” however you see Jesus putting such a great emphasis on it for us to follow. Methinks God is trying to tell us something.

That’s all for now my friends. Just something for us to think on today and down the road.

Peace.

Image: East Long Branch, New Jersey. November 4, 2023.