JOHN 14:15-21 THE LOVING WAY

15 “If you love me, you will obey what I command. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 21 Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him.”

What an odd statement. “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” In our human interrelationships, and even in the other religions of the world, the statement would reflect reality if it were turned on its head. “If you keep my commandment, I will love you.” This is the essence of the works righteousness into which we so easily fall. We are always trying to find a way to earn the love of another. There is the illusion of comfort in knowing that by checking off a certain number of tasks and earning high marks on them I can guarantee my success. Beyond that, everything that is not on the list of requirements is then inconsequential and I am free to pursue them to my heart’s delight. In short, I can have it both ways. My attitudes and thoughts, even my private life, can be whatever I want them to be as long as my outward actions conform to the rules. In the human context, what has my loving Jesus have to do with it?

Throughout St. John’s Gospel, love is not an emotion, and is anything but manipulative. The love being written about is the attitude of self-giving – an act of the will. The simple statement, “If you love me, you will obey what I command,” is a reminder of the amazing grace of God. We love him because he first loved us (1 John 4:19). God has made the offer of reconciliation and love before we have even gotten around to acknowledging our sin-problem. He came to the Patriarchs and Prophets without them asking him or doing anything to earn his favor. And the Son became incarnate, lived, taught and died for us while we were still enemies of God (Romans 5:8). We cannot earn God’s love, it is pure gift. Therefore our obedience is the act of gratitude for God’s gratuitous love for us. It is the expression of our love, because it has as its object the self-sacrificial pleasing of the beloved. We are to obey God not because it will bring us his favor but because he has favored us with his love.

Lord God of all Creation, how do I respond to the love you have shown me in providing the opportunity for my reconciliation with you? I have done nothing but rebel against you and insist on my own way. As I cannot love you on my own, send your Holy Spirit to guide and empower me so that I might express my love for you by only living to please and glorify you. Amen.