Love Wins

In Nomine Iesu
St. John 15:9-17
May 6, 2018
Easter 6B

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus~

There a lot about love going on in today’s Holy Gospel. In fact, Jesus uses the word “love” nine times in nine verses. Last week we learned that Jesus is the vine and we are His fruit-bearing branches. It turns out that all the good fruit we bear can be classified and organized beneath this one, four-letter word: love.

But this love is no ordinary love. This love isn’t the fake, counterfeit love cultivated by social justice warriors. No, this love—real love—it flows from the Father to the Son to you—and, finally, from you to others. Jesus says, “Abide in my love. Stay there. Rest there. Dwell there.” Again, notice where real love begins—not in our hearts, not in our feelings, not in our decisions or choices, not by our initiative. True love—real love—begins in the heart of God the Father, from whom it then flows to the Son. It then flows to you from the Son by way of the cross, by way of the font, the altar, and the Word.

I’ve preached on this text many times over the years; but what struck me last week was how Jesus seems to intertwine His love together with His commandments. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love. . . . This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Now, a word is in order here about “keeping” the “commandments” of Jesus: It’s not quite what it sounds like. It sounds like a lot of law. Do this. Follow the rules. Obey. But “keeping” the commandments of Jesus is more than just obedience. It also means to treasure, to honor, to hold them in high esteem.

And the commandments of Jesus are not like the commandments of Moses. Jesus didn’t come to give more commandments. Strictly speaking, Jesus’ only commandment is to love one another. The commandments of Jesus, then, are actually His gifts—the very gifts that bring His love to us: the gift of Baptism, the gift of Holy Communion, the gift of His Word, the gift of Holy Absolution. Those things are what Jesus has “commanded” us. These are His gifts that we must always keep and treasure. By keeping them and treasuring them, we abide in His love. His love then has its way with us.

To really understand the love of Jesus, consider what was going on when He taught His disciples about love in today’s gospel reading. Jesus gave this profound teaching about love on the night when He was betrayed, gathered in the upper room with His disciples. Jesus had only hours to go before His crucifixion. He wasn’t feeling a lot of love from the Twelve that night. He knew that they would deny Him, betray Him, and abandon Him. But Jesus loves them anyway. He calls them not “servants,” but “friends.” He reminds them why they are sitting at the table with Him: It’s not because they made all the right choices and chose Him. No, He chose them. He appointed them. And He would fill their lives with love.

That’s the heart of God’s love. He takes the initiative. He chooses. He loves. He does not what is easy. He does what is difficult and hard and impossible for us. He chooses to love the loveless. He chooses to love His enemies. He chooses to love sinners and calls them His “friends,” and lays down His life for them, and eats and drinks with them, and forgives them. And He withholds nothing from us: “All that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you,” He says. You’ve got full access and privilege and a seat at the table. You are a friend of Jesus. And as a friend of Jesus you’ve got love—love to bear and love to share.

You may have noticed the title of this sermon: Love Wins. Love wins has become something of a hashtag slogan in the war against natural marriage in our country. It’s a sign of our cultural decay that love has now been divorced from its source—cut off from God. Jesus said that we abide in His love by keeping His commandments. But these days, in our culture, love has more to do with breaking God’s commandments than keeping them.

When our culture crows about how love wins, love has been completely redefined. Love now means “license,” the deadly “freedom” to do whatever I want—to insist on my own way over against God’s ways. But this so-called freedom is actually a form of enslavement—enslaving people to their feelings and emotions—enslaving them to every sinful, selfish inclination. Enslaving people to a barren existence driven by lust and the need to indulge every immoral thought. Love wins? I don’t think so—at least not this so-called love. Idolatry wins. Selfishness wins. And, ultimately, despair and death win.

But learn from Jesus what real love is: self-restraint, self-sacrifice, self-denial. Sitting with His disciples late that Thursday night, Jesus let loose one last prediction of what awaited Him—one final bit of foreshadowing: Greater love has no one than this, that someone lays down his life for his friends. That “someone” was the Son of Man. And His friends are gathered here this morning to receive His love, His forgiveness, His peace. That love—the love of Jesus that led Him to lay down His life for you—that love is the love that wins. That love wins for you forgiveness for every sinful self-indulgence. That love wins for you a place in the Father’s heavenly mansion—an eternal home in heaven, gathered around the throne of God in perpetual light and love.

This victory of Christ’s love in your life can already be seen here and now in the love you show to those around you. But don’t focus exclusively on your love for others. Because the more you focus on your love for others, the less of it you’ll see. That’s because love isn’t a skill that we practice and perfect—like playing the piano. Love is a fruit. It’s God’s work in us. So what do you do to be more loving? You fix your eyes on Jesus. You dwell in His love for you. You receive it. You keep it. You cherish it and treasure it. You plant yourself squarely in that stream of water and blood that flows from His side—blood from the chalice that atones for every sin, and water from the font that washes you whiter than snow.

This is how we love others with the love of Christ: By letting His love first have its way with us, and then having that love overflow to those around us. This love is what Jesus calls “fruit that abides,” or “fruit that lasts.” What a strange phrase that is: fruit that abides. If there’s one thing we know about the fruit in the produce department it’s this: It doesn’t abide. It’s not gonna last. Bananas turn black. Apples bruise. Mangoes get mushy and moldy. That fruit has a short shelf life because it’s been severed and cut-off from its source of life. Not so with you. Connected to Christ, abiding in Jesus, receiving His love and forgiveness—the love you bear will last into eternity—just as you will abide with Jesus for all eternity. Your shelf-life is eternal. In Christ, you have no expiration date. Because you are abiding in Him. You are His friend. He has chosen you. Love wins in Jesus.

In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.