The New Commandment

"by this all will know that you are My disciples"

John 13:35

My folks went on a trip a few weeks ago.  They live just a few minutes away from me, so when they go out of town, I take care of their house for them.  Bringing in the mail, watering the plants, keeping a general eye on things.

And I do a great job.

Really.

That exploding mailbox a few years ago was not my fault at all.  There is absolutely no way I could have prevented that.

Anyhow, the job is really not that complicated.  You'd think.  But my mom has dozens of plants indoors, and my dad has a beautiful, lush backyard with a variety of plants.  And that's where it gets tricky. 

I'm not really a plant person.  I mean, I love them.  But I'm not very good at keeping them alive.  Over the years, I have learned that there are a couple of varieties that are hardy enough to withstand my overwatering or underwatering, but most other varieties are in danger in my care.

So when my folks go out of town, they generally leave me a list of instructions:   which plants need to be watered every other day, which ones every two days, how much, etc. 

But this last time, they didn't.  I guess they figured I knew what I was doing, or that it was fairly obvious what needed to be done and how often.  I panicked a little when I saw they hadn't left a list.  Just went with common sense and a lot of prayer.  Oh, and water.  And I think things went fine ~ the plumeria and orchids and African violets seem to have weathered my storm just fine.

I was talking with some friends of mine recently about leaving instructions behind before you go.  I sometimes wonder if I'll ever leave my kids home alone without giving them a few parting words.  After all, they're old enough know to make good decisions when I'm not home, but somehow, I can't resist giving them a few instructions or reminders. 

And there's a sweet example of this in John 13.  Jesus was with His disciples at the Last Supper, having recently washed their feet, and He was giving them a glimpse of what was coming next, letting them know that He would soon be betrayed. 

But then Jesus turned the topic to one more interesting to the disciples:  themselves.  He called them "little children" ~ the only time He ever used that term.  I think that's what made it sound to me like when I give my kids instructions.  His disciples could not go where He was going, so He laid out what He expected of them after He left.

His work on earth was coming to an end, but theirs was just beginning.  So He gave them a new commandment:  "Love your neighbor as I have loved you." 

Now, "love your neighbor as yourself" went all the way back to Leviticus, but this was a new and unparalleled kind of love ~ loving as He loved. 

With this commandment, more than half of the ten commandments are off the table.  We don't even have to think about them, because this love is all-encompassing.  Supreme, self-sacrificing, servant love.  And we cannot ~ cannot! ~ love this way unless He is actively at work in us.  It is so against our nature. 

It's like driving up one of those hill in San Francisco.  If you are not actively going up, you're going to start inching down.

So how did He love them?  Jesus helped, fed, served, taught, forgave, touched, encouraged, listened, welcomed, shared and prayed.  All things we can do.

When my son was about four, I asked him what he loved about his big sister, whom he adored.  He thought for a minute, and then said, "She's fast... she's kind... she loves to sing... and she gives good explanations." 

It was that last one that stood out to me.  That's what a four-year-old values.  That's how you love a little brother:  good explanations.

Jesus loved in many different ways, but always relevant to the needs of those He was loving.  We are to do as He did.  John Wesley said, "Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can... as long as you ever can."  It should be our response to God's love for us.  Sort of "pay it forward," if you will.

I remember reading, years ago, about the first time that 18th century composer Franz Joseph Haydn heard Handel's Messiah.  It was in 1791, at the Handel Festival in Westminster Abbey.  He had never before heard a performance on so grand a scale; the orchestra and chorus together numbering upwards of 1000 people.

When at the Hallelujah Chorus the whole assembly, including the king, rose to their fee, Haydn stood with them, and wept, and exclaimed, "He is the Master of us all!"

Handel's Messiah is a beautiful piece, but one or two voices could not have evoked this same response from Haydn.  It took a choir.

Jesus was speaking to His disciples as a group ~ "By your love for one another, all will know that you are My disciples."  When you and I love, we are blessing others, and we are in obedience.  But when we all love, as He commanded, the world sees Him, and He gets the glory.

"the love of every one of you all 

 abounds toward each other"

2 Thessalonians 1:3

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