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In history, there are a number of infamous betrayals that stand out as the worst of the worst. Fans of Imperial Rome will suggest nothing was as bad as Brutus and Cassius stabbing Julius Caesar in the back. Movie buffs will struggle to decide whether the worst villain is Robert the Bruce, turning on William Wallace in Braveheart, Sauraman playing dirty in the Lord of the Rings, or Fredo undercutting Michael Corleone in the Godfather. For Christians, the obvious answer is Judas, betraying Jesus for a measly 30 pieces of silver. I have to admit, these are all pretty bad! There is one more from my own experience that I would add to the list. One of my siblings, I never figured out who, would pick through the boxes of Lucky Charms cereal with their thieving fingers under the darkness of night and consume all the marshmallows. Heartbreak and horror followed the next morning when I would pour the box into my bowl, only to see the tasteless brown oats staring back at me. Betrayal indeed and not the best way to start your day, with a heaping helping of disappointment!
Even though I would never stoop so low as to poach the marshmallows out of Lucky Charms, I understand the instinct to remove the things we don’t like and only choose the ones we do. Whether that is food, friends, work, tv shows or so many other things, we want what we like and we avoid what we don’t. This is a normal human reaction and something we do almost automatically many times a day.
In the gospel from John, Jesus says: "This is my commandment: love one another as I love you." Then, just a few lines later he says, "You are my friends if you do what I command you." and then he concludes by repeating: "This I command you: love one another." If there is one thing Our Lord is driving home to his apostles and to us it is this: "Love one another in the same way that I have loved you. Loving one another is my command and keeping my commandments makes you my friends. So love one another." But who is one another????? Who are we called to love in the same way that Christ loved us?????? Is it our friends? Yes! Is it our family? Yes! Would this include our co-workers, acquaintances and even total strangers? The answer is yes! Christ's command to love one another even includes those who have hurt us, those who annoy us, yes, even our enemies.
The hard truth is there are people in our lives who are full of sharp edges and have proven themselves hard to love. These are the people that leave a bad taste in our mouth, the ones who make our stomachs churn when we see them. They are the folks we would rather separate from the rest and throw away. They are the people who, if we had our way, would never have contact with us and we would never have to deal with them.
But this command of Jesus to love one another, which he repeats several times, is clear; as Christians, we do not have the option of loving only those we like nor do we have the option of liking all of those we must love. As Christians, we do not have the luxury of choosing which people we will love and which people we will ignore or discard. Christian love is much deeper; it is more than a passing feeling or fleeting passion. It is not based on what the person in front of us deserves, it is based on what we have already received from God, something we ourselves did not deserve or earn.
I mention this because there seems to be an increasingly hateful mentality in our society, even among those who call themselves Christians. I am not just speaking about a few backwards folks somewhere far away. This divisive, uncharitable mentality infects us right here in this parish. Christ's command to love one another extends to each and every person made in his image and likeness, regardless of their color, nationality, politics, or creed. This command of charity embraces the whole range of humanity from the unborn child to the terminally ill and elderly. As Christians, we must love all persons, whether it is a nasty neighbor, hypocritical politician or incompetent church leader. As followers of Christ, we must love even those we struggle with, whether that is a family member, co-worker, a fellow parishioner or any other person we don't see eye-to-eye with.
But perhaps the reason why we find it so hard to love one another is because we don't understand what love truly is. To love as Jesus loves does not simply mean saying nice things or always grinning and bearing it; it is also about standing up and always doing the right thing even if this might be upsetting to some. Love is willing the spiritual good of another person. Sometimes the most loving thing we can do for an individual is to respectfully confront them with the truth and correct them in order to prevent them from going astray. Sometimes this means saying things that are difficult and unpopular. Just because someone says something hard to hear doesn't mean they don't love us. Far too often we avoid sharing the truth because we're concerned about being "politically correct." As a result, we dilute the gospel message and use the excuse that we are being "pastoral" and "sensitive."
Friends, our gospel promises wonderful things to those who keep Christ's commandments; by following them we gain the privilege of becoming Children of God!!! To make it even simpler, Jesus tells us his commandment is this: love one another as he has loved us. Nothing could be more simple; nothing could be more challenging. We need God's help to keep this command, especially when it comes to those who might be difficult, hateful, or just entirely different from ourselves. That is why we are here today, in this Church, at this Eucharist. Our example of love is seen on the cross; Jesus gave his very life for all people, even ththose who put him to death. We are called to that same level of love, for our friends, for our family, and even for our enemies.
Join with me in praying for the grace to love one another as Christ first loved us. This is the hallmark of our faith, this is the pledge of our salvation, this is what has and should always set Christians apart. May those beautiful words of Christ reign in our hearts: "I no longer call you slaves, I have called you friends. Love one another as I love you.”
