LOVE BY DEGREES
John 13:31-35; Acts 11:1-18
Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are y disciples.
Think for a minute about your stove at home in your kitchen. Can you picture the temperature knobs? How are they marked? My stove has Off, Warm, Low, Medium, Medium High, and High. Choosing the correct setting will bring the corresponding burner to the right temperature so that you can cook whatever you’ve placed in the pot or pan just the way you want it. It does not matter if its Farberware or Correll or the Wal-Mart brand. To achieve a delicious result, you need the right setting, the right temperature, and the right amount of time…of course, you need to watch over the pan, stir the food inside so neither burns up—I speak from experience.
At 211 degrees Fahrenheit, a pot of water is very, very hot; you certainly wouldn’t want to put your bare hand in it. What happens, though, if we raise the temperature of that water just one degree—to 212? At 212 degrees, a steam engine can haul a mile-long freight train up and over a rugged mountain pass. As scalding hot as 211 degree-water is, that water has no power to move a steam engine, not even by half an inch…what a difference one degree makes!1
1 McCartney, Bill. blind spots: What you don’t see may be keeping your church from greatness. Wheaton, IL. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. 2003, p 149.
Both of our scripture passages this morning reveal how 211-degree believers became two-twelvers. The temperature of the "burners" in Jerusalem and Joppa, is about to go from Medium High to High, and the Christian faith train starts to move. The high degree of love they are commanded to show to one another is the only steam that can keep their gospel train stuck at the station.
Acts 11 revolves around the hottest debate among Jewish Christians of that day: Is their newfound faith in Jesus Christ intended only for Jews, or is this faith also given to the Gentiles while allowing them to remain Gentiles—that is, uncircumcised, outside the Jewish Law. It’s the circumcised believers who are steaming mad at Peter.
Their question is not a question at all, it is scalding criticism. "Why did you go to the uncircumcised and eat with them?" After detailing his vision on Simon the Tanner’s rooftop and sharing its application to his present life-situation, Peter turns up the heat on his critics—not to wound them, but to move them forward: (1) because he loves them and (2) because the gospel is meant for all people all over the world. "If God gave [the Gentiles—Cornelius and his companions] the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?" (Acts 11:17).
Jesus knew that his impending death could severely hinder the faith of his disciples, and without their faith, the spread of the gospel would falter at 211. The Lord gathers all of his teachings, the meaning of his miracles, the intent of his journey on earth and his glorification to come, and sums all of it up in this way: "I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:34-35).
What’s so new about the idea of loving one another? We already do love one another, don’t we—how could we be a part of Christ’s church or take Christ’s name if we did not love one another? Yes; we love each other, but do we love each other to the degree that Christ has loved us?
Christ loved us so much that he was willing to go to the Cross, to suffer and die for us. He took our place. No known love has ever gone this far before for us. This "new commandment is a profound plea cried out to Christ’s disciples of every century that we will choose to abide in Jesus’ way of life and love." Time is too valuable to spend it caught up in technicalities like the Christians in Jerusalem did when Peter ate with the uncircumcised believers in Joppa.
Abiding in Jesus’ love is the one trait of Christian character that can bring others to Jesus Christ simply because they observe how we love one another. Likewise, Christians behaving badly outside of the new commandment also sends a message to the world—that we are hinderers—more concerned about standing in God’s way than being on God’s side.
In the midst of the Civil War, a certain pious person told Abraham Lincoln, "I hope the Lord is on our side." The President responded, "I am not at all concerned about that…But it is my constant anxiety and prayer that I and this nation should be on the Lord’s side."2
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To be on the Lord’s side is to LOVE one another to the 212th degree. With love for one another, we will get through those rugged mountain passes that come into our lives from time to time. When we allow the love of Christ to take deep root in us, so that it flourishes in all that we do and say to one another, it is the first step in helping the world understand how a Christ-centered community is the hope of the world. Let’s set our love on HIGH and give thanks to the Lord for he is so very good. Amen.
April 28, 2013
First Parish Federated Church of South Berwick, ME
The Reverend Donna Lee Muise, Pastor
