Thoughts for the Day

Jesus said, ‘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.

(Church in Wales Lectionary, New Revised Standard Version)

Thoughts

The words from John's Gospel are some of Jesus' last words to his disciples. He knows he is heading to his death, and the Jewish authorities are set to destroy him. Here we see the gold standard of his instructions. The disciples are accustomed to following rules, for the Law of Moses was full of explicit commands on how a man or woman was called to obey God. Now Jesus distills all these into one simple rule. We are to love one another, he says, 'as I have loved you'. They do not understand this command at the time, but will do after his death.

But what does 'loving one another' mean today? We may not be called to give up our life, but we are called to go the extra mile for others, not just our loved ones or our friends, but for all with whom we come in contact. To do this we need to be honest with ourselves. We would not want to be hungry or thirsty; or without shelter; or unable to get to the doctors for lack of transport; or left alone and isolated; or blind for want of a simple operation. But people around our world do suffer such things. Jesus calls us to love all people wherever they are in the world. Can we stop for a moment today and review how much of our time or our talents or our money we give to loving others?

Lord Jesus Christ,
You gave up Your life for us,
and suffered death upon the cross.
You also called us to love one another,
as You loved us.
May we shake ourselves out of complacency,
review our life,
and show more love to others
wherever they are in the world.
Help us to give our time and talents
until it hurts.
Amen.