Fifth Sunday of Easter

May 19, 2019

‘In the Name of Love’

St. John 13:31-35

The New Commandment

31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. 32 If God has been glorified in him,[a] God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. 33 Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ 34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

Footnotes:

1. John 13:32 Other ancient authorities lack If God has been glorified in him

Grace and peace to you from our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus, the Christ.

Bono and U2 perform their song: “In the Name of Love.” The lyrics are impressionistic – picture words – images that have a story behind them.  U2 – ‘In the Name of Love’

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByuyP1PNqKQ]

Pride (In the Name of Love) - Bono

One man come in the name of love
One man come and go
One man come, he to justify
One man to overthrow

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

One man caught on a barbed wire fence
One man he resist
One man washed on an empty beach.
One man betrayed with a kiss

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love

(nobody like you...)

Early evening, April 4
Shot rings out in the Memphis sky
Free at last, they took your life
They could not take your pride

In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love
In the name of love
What more in the name of love...

This sermon is a reflection on this song and how this relates to the Scripture for today.

One man caught on a barbed wire fence…

It is been suggested by music critics that this might be a reference to the historic Great Escape from the WWII – Stalag Luft III Concentration Camp.  Of the 76 that escaped, only two – a Dutchman and a Norwegian made it back to Britain – the others were either recaptured or shot.  Later 4 others escaped from a second Concentration Camp.

One man he resist…

Could be anyone who stood up for a cause – most likely Gandhi.

One man washed on an empty beach…

Critics here see this as John F. Kennedy.  He and 11 of his ship mates wound up marooned on a very sparsely populated island when the boat they were on was destroyed by a Japanese destroyer during WWII.

One man betrayed by a kiss…

Is an apparent reference to Judas and the betrayal of Christ!

The verse "Early mornin' April 4th, a shot rings out in the Memphis sky. Free at last. They took your life but they could not take your pride."

IS without a doubt referring to Martin Luther King Jr.  Bono changed morning to evening in later versions since King was assassinated in the evening.

The song is impressionistic images open to interpretation.  The images are of people willing to lay down their lives in the name of love.  People willing to lay down their lives and take a stand and in doing so effect real change in the world.

In the name of love – could be the title of the Gospel according to St. John.  For Christ acts in the name of love on the night when he is betrayed – this is context of the Gospel reading.  Judas has just left to make arrangements with the Roman and religious authorities.  Jesus had just washed the feet of the disciples and now he gives a new commandment - in the name of love.

Christ’s new commandment is not some sort of legal or military order.  You cannot mandate that people love.  You cannot force people to love one another.

Rather Christ’s new command is a profound plea that his followers live in the name of love.  The command to love is a call to the disciples to abide in Jesus’ way of life and love.

The Song – ‘In the name of love’ - paints pictures of those who indeed have lived out the way of Jesus.

We see how that happened in the early church with the story from Acts.  I call it the ‘pigs in a blanket story.’  The early church was very much limited and confined to it Jewish roots.  Purity laws restricted who could join the movement known as ‘the Way.’  The early church was headed into being a branch of Judaism and a minor blip on the screen of the history of religion.

In the name of love Peter was given a vision that converted him from limiting God’s grace and excluding others to embracing the Spirit and opening the door to Gentiles.

It is a dramatic story of a vision – a dream that Peter had while taking a nap on the roof top of the house of Simon, the tanner in Joppa.  I could have used another popular song:  “Up on the Roof” to explain this vision.

Pigs are lowered in a blanket – unclean – animals trample out of the sheet or blanket and Peter is told to take and eat.  This, of course, was contrary to Peter’s tradition and upbringing.  The vision came to him three times. 

Peter is awakened from his nap and told of Cornelius a Gentile centurion of the Italian Cohort who wants to become part of the movement of the Way.

In the name of love Peter reluctantly learns and lets go of this exclusive tradition that prevents him and the church from embracing others.

This is a major historic shift in the church’s mission.  You and I would not be sitting here had Peter not acted on that vision and in the name of love reached out to the Gentiles.

You don’t have to escape from a Concentration Camp, become a war hero, activist to live in the name of love. 

Writer Barbara Jurgensen tells of thinking how her busy life had kept her from living the kind of Christian life she wanted to live. And so one night, she asked God to help her live a really Christian life the next day.

Before she even got out of bed the next morning, her next-door neighbor phoned, saying she had a terrible toothache. The dentist could see her right away, but her little boy was in bed with the measles. So Barbara went over, gave the child his breakfast and took care of him. That filled the morning.

After lunch, a friend who had been in and out of a mental hospital stopped with a couple of dresses, asking if Barbara would help her shorten them. The two women worked together for most of the afternoon.

Near supper time her husband came in announcing that he’d invited two new acquaintances to dine with them, a married couple. The man was having trouble finding work because of a prison record. “I hope it’s okay with you that I invited them,” her husband said and Barbara agreed.

By bedtime, Barbara wondered how, with all those interruptions, she could live the kind of Christian life she’d like to. (Barbara Jurgensen, You’re out of Date, God?)

What she eventually realized, of course, is that God had been in all those interruptions. One sign of God is that, like Peter, we are led where; we did not intend to go.

Dallas Willard, Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, writes:

“The aim of God in history is the creation of an all-inclusive community of loving persons, with God-self included in the community as its prime sustainer and most glorious inhabitant.”

[Source:  Prayer: Finding the Heart’s True Home – Richard J. Foster, p. 254]

In the name of love God continues to call us into such a community.  It is community of faith that combines the vision of God’s new creation [in the second reading] with social action. 

In the name of love God calls us today into a community of cross and crown, conflict and resolution, courageous action and suffering love.  God calls us into a community of unselfish love and witness without compromise.

In the name of love Christ gave his all.  What more in the name of love?  Amen

Permission to use contact: kennstorck@gmail.com