A NEW COMMAND I GIVE TO YOU

Sermon Notes, May 6, 2018

Rev. Garry McGlinchy

            Pastor Garry's sermon, the fifth in the series Jesus Is Lord,  was titled "A New Command I Give You."  It was based on John 13:31-38.

            We usually remember the last words spoken when someone we love tells us good-bye.  Jesus had things to tell His disciples before the soldiers came to arrest him in the Garden of Gethsemane.  He wanted them to know the essentials.

            Jesus said, "A new command I give you: Love one another." (v.34)  Was it really that new?  We see it in the Ten Commandments. It is a central theme of the Bible, the Old Testament as well as the New Testament.  Mark 12:29-31 tells about the man who asked which commandment is the most important, and Jesus told him "Love God, and love others." 

            The new part of Jesus' command is found in verse 34, where He told His disciples to love each other as He has loved them.  His love was about to take traction in action.

            First, He loved His disciples unselfishly.  He chose to allow the soldiers to take Him.  That was the best for the most people.  He showed unselfish concern for them, rather than for Himself.

            Second, He loved His disciples limitlessly.  He was willing to go all the way to the cross.

            Third, He loved them where they were.  He knew His disciples, and worked with them to get them where He wanted them.

            Fourth, Jesus loved them gracefully and mercifully.

            He told us to love others as He has loved us.  We are to love others unselfishly and limitlessly, not calculating "What's in it for me?"  He doesn't want us to do the math that way.  An example of this unselfish love is the way the Amish came to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, long after everyone else had left, and built houses for people who had lost their homes.  Jesus wants us to love people unconditionally, and allow Him to change them over time.  He wants us to extend love and grace to those who are not easy to love as well as those who are.  He wants us to pass on to others the love He's shown us.

            Romans 12:1&2 tells us how to love others: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will."  To love as Jesus loves, we must offer ourselves in consecration so He can transform us.