Read John 13:18-38

 

John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you, so you must love one another.  By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

 

Jesus knows Judas is going to betray him.  Jesus knows the night has come.  Jesus knows that death is near.  Jesus knows that Peter will deny him.  Jesus knows the pain that is ahead.  He gives the disciples a new command, “Love one another.”  Peter’s response to this is a question about where Jesus is going.  He doesn’t even consider whether or not he loves his brothers, he just moves forward to the question of where.

 

I think we are more concerned about getting our questions answered, over loving one another.  I think at times we are more concerned about being right over caring for our brother or our sister.  I think at times we judge someone’s motives over thinking what is best of people.  I think this is one of the biggest struggles of the church is to love one another.

 

I don’t know why it is so hard for a church to love each other, all I know is that it is.  I don’t know if it is the variety of people.  I don’t know if it is the structure of a church.  I don’t know if it is because we start loving a perception of church that we have.  I don’t know if it is because we love our idea of church over our God.  Maybe it is a mixture of all these things.  Maybe for you it is only one.

 

What I do know is we are called to love one another.  Jesus says, “They will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”  Do we love one another?  Do we love one another over our differences?  Do we love one another over our perceptions of what church should be?  Will we?

 

Pray that our church will love one another?  Pray that we will love one another even though we are different and even though we have different ideas of what the church should look like.  Pray that people will know we are the church by the way we love one another.