If You Love Me

Text: John 14:15-21

Grace, mercy, and peace be to you from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

          Happy Mother’s Day to all our mothers! Today is a special day for you to receive the love of your children. A return of the love you’ve shown to them. Not that it’s a contest about who loves more, but it’s nice to set aside the time to remember those we love and to acknowledge the sacrifices they make for us. So, thank you mothers, for all that you do.

Today’s Gospel isn’t about mothers, but it is about love. And love is the key ingredient to being a good mother, just as it’s the key ingredient to living a Christian life. Jesus says, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” First and foremost is our responsibility to love the Lord. And secondly, to love our neighbors. Our nearest neighbors in our own households as well as those further from us. And love isn’t just something that you say, it’s something that you do. I’d venture to say that most moms wouldn’t be 100% satisfied, even though they might say they would, if their kids simply said, “I love you” today. Which is why there were so many kids up early this morning frantically coloring, and gluing, and taping together Mother’s Day cards.

It’s like that old saying, “Talk is cheap.” It’s easier to say something than it is to do something. It’s really easy to say that we love God, but to actually live that love is a lot harder. Which is why Jesus doesn’t say, “If you love me, say so.” What He says is

“IF YOU LOVE ME YOU WILL KEEP MY COMMANDMENTS.”

          We hear this sort of talk a lot. Children will say things like, “If you love me, you’ll buy me this toy.” Or from the teenager, “If you love me, you’ll let me stay out a little past my curfew tonight.” And it’s not just children. Spouses use the same kinds of manipulation to get what they want in a relationship. “If you love me, you won’t mind if I go golfing.” “If you love me, you’ll wash the dishes tonight.” But that’s not what Jesus is doing here in this text. He’s not trying to manipulate us into doing what He wants us to do by putting conditions on His love. He loves no matter what. What He’s saying is that the ones who truly love Him are going to be so moved by the love He’s shown to them that they’ll joyfully live as He’s called them to live.

It’s just a fact that disciples who love Jesus keep His commandments. It’s a result of the gifts we’ve received. Jesus says in John 3 that, “unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Therefore, having been born again in the saving waters of baptism, we can see the kingdom of God. And seeing the kingdom of God and living in it, we’re inclined to be deliberate about our intentions, our actions, and our commitment toward God, and our neighbors. Because He first loved us, we love Him and those around us. And while our love is spoken in words, it’s also clearly shown through our actions. And Jesus gives us the clearest example of love in action when we hear that, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”

The love that Jesus advocates for by keeping His commandments isn’t a rehashing of the Old Testament Mosaic Law. Jesus kept that law knowing that we’d never be able to. And thanks be to God that He did, because if we were held to that law in order to be saved, we would all come up truly lacking. This keeping of His commandments that Jesus is referring to is not to keep the Law. We can’t. That’s not to say that we shouldn’t recognize God’s Law and diligently attempt to better follow His will every day. But the word “keep” in this context is more about keeping a treasure. Not “keep” in the sense of going down a checklist of dos and don’ts, but “keep” as in taking care of something that’s very important.

When a Christian couple gets married, they make vows to love, and to honor, and to cherish each other. The sign of that loving, and honoring, and cherishing is the wedding bands they wear on their fingers. They honor each other when they’re together and when they’re apart. At the same time, no Christian husband or wife expects their spouse to every day, at all times, live up to that perfect standard they’re vowing to uphold. If that’s what you thought marriage was going to be then I’m sure it didn’t take long before you were disappointed. And if you’re considering marriage, don’t think that your spouse is going to be any more perfect than you are. Neither of you will live up to that standard. Instead, there’s constant forgiveness in the marriage and striving daily to do one’s best for one’s beloved.

And that’s the picture Jesus is describing here. Because you love Him, you really do strive to honor Him. Keeping His commandments is the living out of the gifts that He’s given to you in Word and Sacrament. Keeping His commandments is yearning for more of what He gives by being in His house and coming back for more. And then praising Him for His indescribable gifts. And flowing from all of that will naturally come the recognition that this treasure you’re privileged to keep is one that you also want to share with others. So, you’ll take it from this place and give it away as you share the love of God with those who need to receive it. You keep this treasure. You care for it. And you share it.

And what you see in that is the reflection of what Jesus has done for you. Because He keeps you, His disciples, His treasured possessions, in His care, through the work of the Holy Spirit. Which He knows that we need. Because, you see, the problem we all have is that as much as we might rightly desire to keep God’s gifts as the treasure that they are, we will regularly fall short on account of our sin. We’ll neglect devotion to His Word, which is supposed to be the “lamp to our feet and the light to our path.” We’ll fail to hunger and thirst for the Sacrament as we ought to. We’ll fail to love our neighbor as we should. So, our Lord knows that the only way we can begin to keep His gifts holy and sacred is if we have help.

Jesus knows that He’s going away, so He tells the disciples, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me.” This is right after He’s also told them that, “I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.” As we struggle. As we sin. As we fail in this task of keeping His commandments, God walks with us through the work of the Holy Spirit to call us to Himself. To gather His whole church here on earth so that we might support one another. To enlighten us with God’s Word. And to sanctify us in the Truth.

This is the promise that Jesus gave to His disciples in that Upper Room as He was preparing to leave them. But it’s also the promise He gives to us. That He will not leave us alone. He continues to show us very single day how much He loves us. He didn’t just say it, He shows it. He showed it as He kept us from being destroyed by sin when He died for us. He showed it when He overcame death in His resurrection so that we might also be raised from the dead one day. And He shows His love by continually giving us His gifts to enjoy. And to share. Love is the key ingredient to living a Christian life. Knowing the love of God in Christ Jesus and responding to that love by keeping, treasuring, His commandments. Amen.

The peace of God which surpasses all understanding guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.