The Joy of Loving One Another Keith McFarren May 5, 2024 John 15:9-17 How do you know if you have been “saved?” Maybe the term “saved” sounds a little too “evangelical” to some of us. Maybe I should say how do you know if you have received your salvation? Hopefully, you know that there is only one way to “get it.” It’s as easy as what Paul and Silas said while witnessing to the Philippian jailer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved” (Acts 16:31). Or if you don’t like that word “saved,” we can say, “Believe on the Lord Jesus, and you will receive your salvation.” But how do we know if we have received our salvation? We know because our belief is confirmed by our behavior. Our salvation shows by the way we act and by what we say and how we think. What we say and what we do is an expression of what we believe…and in the life of a Christian, what we believe determines our ultimate destiny. Or as Martin Luther explained it in The Freedom of a Christian (1520), “Good works do not make a good man, but a good man does good works.” The signs of salvation in a person’s life can be seen by others. The time, the talents, the thoughts, and the tithes…all these things that we manage and maintain for God are the signs of our salvation. People who worship God and work to witness to their faith in God are showing signs of their salvation. But the greatest sign of our salvation, or maybe we should call it the “give away sign of our salvation,” is also the most distinguishing characteristic of Christianity. The greatest sign of our salvation and…the most distinguishing characteristic of Christianity…is our love for others. When Jesus commanded us to love one another he was pointing to love as the greatest sign of salvation. Throughout the context of Jesus’ teaching and biblical revelation, loving others is how we express our love for God and loving God sets us on the direct path toward heaven. It fills us with joy to know that we are saying the things that Jesus would say and doing the things that Jesus would do. It fills us with joy knowing that we are sharing our love, a love that causes us to show love and to give love and to act lovingly with so many other people. That’s the secret that Jesus is trying to give to his followers as they are about to find out how the world around them can really be. In this “farewell discourse,” Jesus tries to fill them with all sorts of truth that might help serve as a solid foundation for them to stand on as they are about to face the world around them. In the midst of all that he says, he is simply saying, “All you have to do is hang onto me. Stay connected to all that I was, all that I am, and all that I ever will be. But most of all, know that I will always be with you, and remember the examples of life that I have taught you.” There is a whole lot of valuable information in our scripture reading this morning. And you would expect there to be a whole lot of information because this is a farewell speech that was given by Jesus. There is talk about obedience. There is that odd little statement about who is choosing whom in verse 16. We could even talk about sacrifice…about how Jesus says there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for his friends. All this is being said, of course, right before Jesus lays down his own life not only for his friends, but for his enemies and for those that don’t know about him or even for those that maybe don’t even like him. How great would one’s love have to be to do something like that? So many things to talk about. But let’s talk about verse 11. “I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be full.” Joy is one of those elusive qualities in life…it’s something that you just can’t put your finger on. Joy is one of those “I’ll know it when I see it” type of things…or “I’ll know it when I feel it” type of things. Joy just seems to happen. It is an instantaneous, momentary type of thing. It is a passion that grips us. Joy lifts us up and makes us feel better than we’ve ever felt before. Joy is kind of like a shot of adrenalin…it’s there for a while…and then it’s gone. If only we could hold on to it for just a little bit longer…if only we could hold onto the feeling of joy forever. Do you know what joy looks like? Have you ever done an image search for joy on the computer? The most common images that come up are images of people who are named Joy…such as Joy Von Blon, a woman I believe was aptly named because she is full of it…joy, that is. But there are other images of joy that come up in a Google search…and usually the images contain some type of movement like dancing or running or jumping…as in jumping for joy. So, when we think of joy…it’s like when joy hits us and we can’t be still…we have to physically express ourselves by moving around in some way or another. Another thing that is interesting about searching for joy on the internet, is that quite often the picture contains more than one person. Not only can you not keep joy internally confined, but you also feel the need to share it with someone because you can’t (or you don’t want) keep it to yourself. Mark Twain supposedly said that, “grief can take care of itself, but to get the full value of joy, you have to have someone to share it with.” Joy is an experience not to be kept to ourselves; joy needs to be shared with community; joy needs to be shared with those around us. Maybe that’s what Jesus wants us to understand when he said, “That my joy may be in you and your joy might be full.” You see, the peace of God is not the only legacy that Jesus leaves behind for his people. He leaves the peace of God with us, but he also adds the fullness of joy…and his own joy at that. So, if we don’t accept all that Jesus has to offer us, both his peace and his joy, then we are not benefiting from all that he wants us to have and all that he wants us to live with. The New Testament is a book that tells us how to live our lives in accordance to Jesus’ teaching and it doesn’t pull any punches…it tells us the facts with honesty and frankness. Yet, at the same time, the New Testament should also be looked at as a book full of joy and happiness. The New Testament is a declaration of good news that is meant to remind us of the sun breaking through the clouds on a cloudy, gloomy day. When Jesus started out on his ministry back in Nazareth, he stood up in the synagogue and read where it was written that, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim release of the captive and of recovering sight for the blind, and to set free those who are oppressed” (Luke 4:1621). When John the Baptist was in prison and began to lose faith in who Jesus really was, what did Jesus say? “Go and tell John what your have seen and heard…the blind receive their sight and the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, and the poor have good news preached to them” (Matthew 11:4-5). All throughout Jesus’ ministry, all one has to do is to look at all the joy and happiness he left behind as he went from one village to the next. Wherever he went, frowns were turned into smiles…people’s sorrows were healed and diseases were cured. It was though the weigh of the world was lifted from the minds and the souls of the people…only to be replaced with newfound health and strength. The earliest Christians were happy people simply because they were willing to accept the joy and the happiness that Jesus offered them. And that same offer still stands today. Jesus offers to share his own joy and happiness to anyone who is willing to accept it from him. Our joy, which is a fleeting, but powerful human experience that fills us up, is not totally complete until it is joined with the joy Jesus offers us, a joy that is a holy and divine, a joy that comes from knowing that there is no greater love than to give one’s life for his friends. But our joy won’t last long if we try to generate it and then maintain if ourselves. Like the morning fog, our joy is here for just a little while, and then it’s gone. But when we follow Jesus, when we abide in him, when we stay in constant contact with him, when we become the branches on the vine and he becomes the vine, then there will be a continual river of living water flowing from him to us and we will receive a never ending source of joy. But to do all this we have to maintain a constant relationship with Jesus, through worship and through prayer. It means that we have to enrich our own lives through worship and prayer and by emulating Jesus in all that we say and all that we do as we become fruitful branches that are attached to the vine. Our joy can only be complete, it can only be mature, it can only be perfect, when it is joined to or woven into the joy that only Jesus Christ can give. Our joy can only be complete by allowing Jesus to become a part of our daily lives. This eternal joy is a gift that comes from Jesus. It is a gift that is given to each of us when we accept him into our lives…when we accept his salvation, when we are “saved” as some of us like to put it. To accept him into our lives, to accept his salvation, to be “saved,” is to obey his commandment to love one another just as he loved us. Our joy doesn’t come about by looking inward and loving and satisfying only ourselves…our joy comes from loving others, from loving all people and being in service to all people, just as Jesus was to us. |