“We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death. Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him. Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him? My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” 1 John 3:14-18 (KJV)
By nature, we are private individuals. At church, we greet one another warmly and enthusiastically. We grab each other by the hand and sometimes embrace one another. For some that is way too close! The more we try to get away, the closer others want to come. We just want to be warm and friendly with other believers, but many times we invade someone’s privacy or ours is invaded and it makes us feel uncomfortable. The problem with restricting our personal space is that real ministry occurs up close and personal. Praying for the sick, anointing someone with oil, caring for various personal needs cannot happen at a distance. Jesus passed that along to his disciples and John passes it along to us in this text.
Perhaps John is remembering the eve of the Lord’s crucifixion, when he washed his disciples’ feet. It certainly was an act of love. It went way beyond words of love. When we ask people, “What do you find most difficult: washing someone’s feet or having someone wash yours?” we almost always get the same response. “It bothers me. I can wash my own feet. I don’t need anyone’s help. And besides that, I don’t want anyone to see my feet or handle them.” While we all can identify with this privacy issue, it gets in the way of expressing our love. It is far removed from the spirit of Christ. It is a very humbling experience to both serve others and allow them to serve us. But our love for our Christian siblings is exhibited in both.
The feet-washing showed his disciples that Jesus meant business. Calvary shows the world that God means business. In today’s text, John shows the Church that he means business when he asserts, “let’s not love only with words. But let us love with action and truth.”
Dear Father, thank you for your grace and mercy. Thank you for the love you have shown to us in Calvary. Empower us with love for other Christians and enable us to express that love freely. This I pray in Jesus’ name. AMEN
Let us praise God for his love and share it with others,