The Community of Love

For our second week in "A Dialogue with Jesus" from John 13-16 we looked at the Footwashing, The Betrayal and The New Commandment which all occur one after the other during the last supper.

Jesus is wanting to prepare his disciples for when he has returned to the father (13.1) , he wants to form them into the kind of community that will continue his mission once he has gone and ultimately he wants to form a community of love (which reflects the divine community of love - Father, Son & Holy Spirit) which can be summed up in these verses (some of the most profound words about the nature and power and purpose of the church)

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.”

(1) The Footwashing

This is a radical act of humility, kindness and servanthood as is to be an example for the community to follow (verse 13-17).

(2) The Betrayal

Judas’ response to this beautiful act is betrayal! He couldn’t have been closer to the light but he chose the darkness. The disciples (not being the brightest fellas…you don’t have to be ‘switched on’ to be part of the community of Jesus!!) didn’t understand what was going on. It is something that the whole message of the bible testifies to, the community of God is a “mixed community” until that last day and people who seem to be part of the community (and even have leadership positions) do not actually love Jesus, they love the darkness and end up walking in darkness forever (e.g Matthew 7.21-23 or Matthew 13.24-30, 36-43).

(3) The Love Commandment

We now understand the implication of verse 34-35 (above) in the light of all that’s gone on. To love each other as Jesus has loved us is to love your betrayer/enemy with a radical act of kindness and humility. This is so counter-cultural.

The reason we don’t love people is because
      (1) They don’t deserve it…they have wronged us
      (2) They are not like us….we don’t ‘get on’ with them naturally, in fact they wind us up
      (3) They will not repay us…we gain nothing from loving them

But this is where we need to understand that God first loved us, so we can love others (vs 14, vs34 + 1 John 4.8-21, especially verse 10-11). He loved us when
      (1) We didn’t deserve it…we had wronged him
      (2) We were not like him…we were his enemies
      (3) We could not repay him…we never could

Once we see and know and experience this love from Jesus, it empowers us to love those who are different from us and those we find hard to love.

And what is the result of this love? Are it’s greatest effects internal? No they are external - “by this all men will know you are my disciples. The greatest witness to the watching world is the love within the community of God - a love for every gender, age, race, background, economic status, education etc. The world does not know such diverse community and when it see it, it makes it sit up and watch and ask “who are you following…?” and we get to tell them about the love of Christ that transformed us (Galatians 2.20). It has and always will be the greatest evangelistic strategy, in every culture and in every era!

So what is the church? It is a Community of love reflecting the divine community of love
(1) We love each other (with this humble, servant-hearted love shown in acts of kindness…to those we struggle to love)
(2) We can only love like this once we know the love of God empowering us
(3) This love makes the watching world sit up and notice.

Application and Discussion and Prayer

(1) In pairs, retell the story of John 13 (just briefly) and comment on anything you find remarkable/challenging about (a) Jesus (b) The disciples or (c) The Situation. Share your thoughts with the rest of the group.

(2) From this story what does it mean to love someone (and what does it NOT mean - i.e what are our misconceptions of love)?

(3) Who do you find it hard to love and why? What reasons do we give for NOT loving others? How does Jesus’ example help you?

(4) What does it practical thing (equivalent to the footwashing) could you do this week for (a) someone in your Mission Group or (b) someone you are VERY different from and find hard to get along with.

(5) What does Jesus say is the effect of this community of love (vs35)? Does this strike you? Why is this the case?

(6) If our love for each other is the greatest witness to the world, in what ways can we as a Mission Group can we involve friends who don’t know Jesus in our community?

(7) How does command to ‘radical love’ make you feel? Burdened? If so, where does the power and resources come for this love? (see question 8)

(8) What does it mean for Christ to have washed our feet? How does that make you feel? (see question 7)

(9) What action point do you take away from this story?

Memory Verse - John 13.34-35 or Galatians 2.20.

Prayer
- Pray that each other to be secure, confident, joyful and empowered in the love that God has for you in Christ (use Ephesians 3.14-21 or Romans 8.35-39 to pray)
- Pray for a servant-hearted and humble attitude to be among you (use Philippians 2.5-11)
- Pray for those that don’t know Jesus, that they would come to know his love through the love of your Mission Group.