Have you been on a road trip or driven interstate heading out from Sydney?
One of the things I look forward to when I go on a road trip is the big things I get to visit.
If I'm heading up to Queensland, there is the big bananas at Coffs Harbour.
If I'm heading down south to Canberra or Melbourne, there's a big merino in Melbourne.
Hitting those landmarks means I'm around halfway to where I'm planning to go to.
Today, I feel like hitting one of those big things in the life of disciples.
We have only a few more weeks before we finish the launch of our Finish 25 Vision Series.
We reiterate what Steve, our senior minister, said this morning and also at the beginning of the launch of our Vision Series.
This is, follow 25 is like a roadmap for what we want to get to by 2025,
our journey into a new stage of life and mission together.
The journey for us, collectively, as a church, and for us as individuals,
to get to a point where we can identify much growth as disciples of Christ, a Christian.
Through our connection in this church as we follow our crucified, resurrected, and exalted Lord Jesus.
If you identify yourself as a Christian, a follower of Christ, you are on this journey already.
It's time to leave the big banana or the big merino and keep going with the journey.
If you are not yet a follower of Jesus, we would love you to join us
to find out what it means for you to be on this adventure.
If you have been following our preaching series, we have learned that God has given us his word,
which is the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the church to assist us in our journey of living our whole-of-life discipleship,
living a life following Jesus.
We have also looked at how to follow Jesus in our holiness and finance over the last two weeks.
If you have missed any of these preachings, you can find them in our website,
st.paul's.org.au, or our St. Paul's app.
And you will find today's outline in our app as well.
I will look at the big landmark and ultimate goal of Disciples Review today and next week.
They are signposted by the final words of Jesus in the John's and Matthew's Gospel, respectively.
Starting from chapter 13 to chapter 19 of John's Gospel,
it recorded the final words of Jesus' life before he was crucified.
And then the final two chapters show us Jesus' resurrection and exaltation.
At the beginning of John 13, John says,
it was just before the Passover festival.
Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father.
Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
And as done in verse 33, it keeps saying,
Jesus says,
God is most commonly labeled as love,
and we should not be surprised that love is the hallmark of those who follow him.
However, are you surprised that Jesus has made love one another as a new command that we must obey today?
If it is love,
if we are under obligation or a command to do so.
I have four questions I want to answer today from our passage from John 13.
What does Jesus mean by love?
What is new about this command?
How are we to respond to this command?
And what difference are you going to make?
We need to ask the question,
what does Jesus mean by love in our current day and age?
Because we live in an age that focuses on individualistic value.
Love can mean many different things,
and if we are not careful,
we may be importing a definition from elsewhere
that is not the Christian love that Jesus is talking about.
As you read through John's Gospel and the whole Bible,
you will become clear of what Jesus means by love
and how he expressed his love for his own.
That is why we encourage everyone to spend time with God
as part of their daily and weekly life,
to aim for four or more quality devotional time a week with God.
One important thing for us to take notice from today's passage is
the very fact that love is commanded
means to focus us on loving action
rather than on feeling of love.
When Jesus commands his disciples to love,
we are not being commanded primarily to feel something,
but to do something,
to show love by loving action.
We see from early parts of chapter 13,
when Jesus saw love,
he does so by washing the disciples' feet.
His action may not mean much to you
if you do not see it in the eyes of those living in the first century,
living around Jesus.
They wore sandals, no shoes or socks.
They walked on unsealed dirt road without curbs and gutter
to drain away all the runoff.
They shared a road with animals
and whatever they left behind as they go.
Can you imagine what the disciples' feet looked like
after a day of walking?
Food washing at the time of Jesus
was a task generally reserved for the lowest of the manual servant.
Some Jews even insist that Jewish slaves
should not be required to wash others' feet.
The job was reserved for foreign workers or women or kids.
No Jewish man would wash the feet of another man.
But Jesus,
bent right down,
kneeled before his disciples,
washed their feet,
including the feet of the one that could betray him.
And he cleaned it,
dried them up with a towel wrapped around him.
foot washing is an act of humble,
self-sacrifice, sacrificial service
that points to the cross
where Jesus ultimately
showed his disciples how he loved them to the end.
In both of these examples,
foot washing and the cross,
Jesus does something.
He acts.
When he commands his followers to love one another,
it is a command to act,
to show love by loving action,
not focus on the feeling of love,
but focusing on what action
to demonstrate Christian love to one another.
Jesus said,
love one another is a new command
that he gave them from that point.
But what is new about this command?
What is highlighted
in what Jesus said,
follow the sentence,
it highlights the newness of this command.
If we go back to verse 34,
Jesus said,
a new command I give you,
love one another
as I have loved you,
so you must love one another.
The faith,
as I have loved you,
set a new standard
how we should love one another.
The measure of love for one another
is no longer like the song by Hathaway in 1993.
What is love?
Baby, don't hurt me.
Baby, don't hurt me no more.
The measure of love is no longer defined
by reframing from hurting each other.
It's no longer measured
by loving others
as you would love yourself.
The new standard of love
is demonstrated by Jesus
washing the disciples' feet
and laying down his life
for us sinners on the cross.
The one who is in very nature,
God,
made himself nothing
by taking the very nature
of a servant.
He humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death,
even death on the cross.
The standard of love set by Jesus
is extraordinary and unique.
How Jesus fulfilled the command to love
is unprecedented.
One scholar says,
No one has ever loved as he loved.
He gave himself to death
not for the righteous or the good,
but for the sinful,
for the disobedient.
He gave himself up to death
for his friends,
not for his friends,
but for those who love him,
but for those who denied
and forsook him,
for his enemies,
for those who hated him.
Apostle Paul,
in his letter to the Romans,
also illustrated the rarity
and uniqueness of Jesus' action
in chapter 5, verse 6 to 8.
You see,
at just the right time,
when we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die
for a righteous person.
Though for a good person,
someone might possibly dare to die,
but God demonstrated his own love for us in this.
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.
Jesus repeated the love command
in chapter 15 of John's gospel
in verse 12 to 14.
Jesus said,
My command is this,
love each other as I have loved you.
Greater love is no one than this,
to lay down one's life for one's friends.
You are my friends
if you do what I command.
He is ready to lay down his life for his friends,
knowing full well that within a short time,
they will desert him and deny him.
What is new about the command
is a new standard
that Jesus has set for us
and for his followers.
The standard is so high.
So how are we to respond
and fulfill this command?
Bible scholar Don Carson says,
This new command is simple enough
for a toddler to memorize
and appreciate,
profound enough
that the most mature believers
are repeatedly embarrassed
at how poorly they comprehend it
and put it into practice.
At this moment,
thinking about what Jesus has done
to wash the disciples' feet
and die for us on the cross,
some of you may feel embarrassed.
Maybe you're still enjoying
too much fun
at the Big Banana
or the Big Marino
and have not got back
in your car
to keep on with the journey.
Maybe it's a sense of guilt,
worrying about what others
will think of you
if they find out
how immature you are
or how your spiritual life
is going.
You are not alone.
In the whole Bible,
the person that knows
what it means
to embarrass himself
in front of Jesus
will be Peter.
After hearing Jesus' command
to love one another
as he has loved them,
this is Peter's reply
in verse 36 of chapter 13.
Simon Peter asked him,
Lord, where are you going?
Jesus replied,
where I am going
you cannot follow now,
but you will follow later.
Peter asked,
Lord, why can't I follow you now?
I will lay down my life for you.
Then Jesus answered,
will you really lay down
your life for me?
Very truly I tell you,
before the rooster crows,
you will disown me three times.
Peter self-confidently
proclaimed that
he will lay down
his life for Jesus,
was met with Jesus
repeating his word
as a question,
will you really lay down
your life for me?
After all,
who is laying down
his life for whom?
Peter's response
highlights one of the common
human nature
and weaknesses,
especially when it comes
to love.
We often quit to speak
and make promises
but fail to deliver.
And there's another
deeper issue
illustrated by his response,
but translated differently
in modern day Christian,
the issue of pride
and independence.
instead of responding
with a determination
in the affirmative,
we often respond
to God's command
in the negative.
When we are asked
to consider
to be a leader
or disciple
to help others
to love and serve God,
we are very quick
to say no,
very quick
to come up
with reasons
why we are not suitable
to fulfill
God's command.
Jesus said
in chapter 14
of John
verse 15 to 17,
if you love me,
keep my commands
and I will ask
the Father
and he will give you
another advocate
to help you
and be with you
forever,
the spirit of truth.
And then in chapter 15
when he repeated
this command,
he says again,
you did not
choose me
but I chose you
and appointed you
so that you might
go and bear fruit,
fruit that will last
and so that
whatever you ask
in my name,
the Father
will give you.
We are to respond
to Jesus' command
by the empowerment
of God,
the Holy Spirit,
the advocate
that sent to us
at the request
of Jesus
to be our helper.
If you intend
to be fruitful
in living for God,
whatever you ask
in Jesus' name,
the Father
will give you.
What is impossible
with man
is possible
with God.
Our relationship
with God
has a direct
correlation
to how well
we follow
and fulfill
God's commands
and that is one
reason why
we have set
our objective
to identify
much growth
in our relationship
and knowledge
of God.
the high standard
set by God
is meant
to drive us
in a closer
relationship
with him.
Independent
from God,
it will be
impossible
to fulfill
God's command
to love one another
as Jesus
has loved us.
Away from God,
we can do
nothing.
But on the contrary,
as disciples
remain in Jesus,
keeping close
to him,
praying for help
and strength,
we experience
the power
of the
indwelling spirit.
Because of this
and only
because of this
we can love.
With the spirit's
help,
we have the power
to change
and know
what it means
to love
the Jesus way.
Jesus commands
his followers
to love one another
as he has loved us.
And love
is a big thing
in Christianity.
It's by our love
for one another
that everyone
will know
that we are
Jesus' disciples.
We are primarily
talking about
the interaction
between Christian
brothers and
sisters here.
John's gospel
reports Jesus
giving his love
command in the
final week
before his
crucifixion,
resurrection,
and exaltation.
We saw how
Peter
respond to
Jesus'
prediction
of his imminent
departure.
The other
three gospels,
Matthew 20,
Mark 10,
and Luke 22,
reported how
the other
disciples
responded
to Jesus'
departure
and what
Jesus said
to them.
All
these three
gospels
reported
that
instead
of loving
and serving
one another,
the disciples
argued
and fought
for the top
position
and disputed
about
who is
the greatest
among them.
And Jesus
replied to
the argument
in Mark 10,
verse 42,
you know
those who
are regarded
as rulers
of the
Gentiles
lord it
over them
and their
high officials
exercise
authority
over them,
not so
with you.
Instead,
whoever wants
to become
great among
you must
be your
servant
and whoever
wants to
be first
must be
slave of
all.
For even
the Son
of Man
did not
come to
be served
but to
serve
and to
give his
life
as a
ransom
for many.
I've been
talking about
Jesus'
commands to
love one
another.
Why do I
concur
by addressing
the issue
of exercising
authority
and lording
over others?
I'm putting
myself on
notice
because our
attitude
and handling
of authority
are strong
determinants
of whether
love is
lived out
in Jesus'
way.
and whether
we will
get to
our
destination
of
intentionally
discipling
each other
to treasure
Jesus in
all of
life.
At
church,
at home,
and while
I had my
own office
before,
I would
become
aggressive
in my
language or
tone
to control
others or
manipulate
them to
agree with
my points
or do
things my
way.
or project
my
disappointment
or even
sometimes
say it
out loud
to them.
My
sense of
entitlement
and use
of authority
come out
at the
worst when
I need
things to
be done.
I want
to be
served
and I
want things
to be
done.
I
completely
ignore the
fact that
Jesus gave
his life
to ransom
me and
those I
am speaking
to.
And he
is in
control of
our life,
not me.
And that's
why I
need to
bring us
back to
that point.
As we
love
others,
we need
to be
careful in
how we
exercise our
authority.
Jesus has
given his
life to
restore all
wrong we
have done
against God
and each
other.
And we
can be
sure of
that by
looking at
Peter's
life.
At the
end of
John's
Gospel,
in
chapter
21,
Jesus
gave
Peter
three
occasions
to
declare
his
love
for
him,
one
for
each
time
he
disowned
him.
Peter
can let
his
failure
determine
who
he
is
or
accept
the
grace
that
Jesus
Christ
gave
him
and
make
a
change.
After
his
restoration,
in the
end,
Peter
responds
to the
command
that
Jesus
gave
him.
A
very
simple
two-word
command
in
verse
19
of
chapter
21.
Jesus
said
this
to indicate
the count
of death
by which
Peter
would glorify
God.
Then he
said to
him,
follow
me.
Jesus
responded to
this
two-word
command
by Jesus
to follow
him,
and he
did follow
Jesus
to his
death
in Rome
about
30 years
after
Jesus'
crucifixion.
In
Peter's
letter to
the
churches,
he
identified
himself
as a
weakness
of
Christ's
sufferings,
drawing
attention
to his
life's
biggest
failing,
to
magnify
the
big
love
that
he
experienced
from
Jesus.
And
Jesus'
love for
him
enabled
him
to
shepherd
and
take
care
of
those
that
God
entrust
to
him
after
his
big
failure.
In
1 Peter
chapter 5
1-7,
he
is speaking
to the
old
and the
young,
to those
leading
and those
being led.
To the
elders
among you,
I appeal
as a
fellow elder
and a
witness of
Christ's
suffering,
who also
will share
in the
glory to
be revealed.
Be
shepherds
of God's
fog that
is under
your care,
watching over
them not
because you
must,
but because
you are
willing,
as God
wants you
to be,
not pursuing
dishonest
gain,
but eager
to serve,
not
lulling it
over those
entrusted
to you,
but being
examples to
the fog.
And when
the cheap
shepherd
appears,
you will
receive the
crown of
glory that
will never
fade away.
In the
same way,
you who
are younger,
submit yourself
to your
elders.
All of
you,
clothe
yourself with
humanity
towards one
and other
because God
opposes
the proud
but shows
favor to
the humble.
Humble
yourself
therefore
under God's
mighty hand
that he
might lift
you up
in due
time.
Cast all
your anxiety
on him
because he
cares for
you.
Let's
follow Jesus
and love.
Amen.