Love one another
20/09/12 05:21
There are several versions of the story that go around among ministers. Here is the version that is most familiar to me. A candidate preaching to a prospective new congregation preaches a sermon on John 15:9-17. He speaks eloquently about God’s great gift of love and how that give comes with the obligation to love one another. He gives several clear illustrations. The congregation is impressed. They hire the candidate to be their pastor.
On his first Sunday in the new pulpit, he preaches a sermon on John 15:9-17. It isn’t quite the same sermon as he preached when he was a candidate, but it has similar themes. Not everyone in the congregation notices that it is the same text and those who do are wondering if they remember accurately.
The next Sunday he preaches a sermon on John 15:9-17. This continues week after week. The members of the church start to get upset. Some quit coming to church, saying, “If the sermon is going to be the same every week, I don’t need to come every week.” The leaders of the church get concerned. Finally, they appoint a small contingent to go and speak to the pastor about the repetition in the sermon.
He welcomes them cordially and listens to their concern. Finally one of the group asks him directly, “Why do you keep preaching on the same passage of scripture week after week after week?” “Well,” he replied thoughtfully, “I figured that when you got the commandment about loving one another as Jesus has loved you – and everyone was following that commandment – we could move on to another.”
The story usually gets appreciative glances from pastors. It frequently doesn’t seem all that interesting to lay people.
Here’s what I don’t like about the story: It assumes that the people who “don’t get it” are all lay people and that ministers somehow understand things better than those who are not ordained. In my experience, ministers have as much trouble living the gospel as any other Christians.
Here’s what I do like about the story: The core of scripture bears repetition. There are some Biblical lessons that are worthy of constant repetition, as we discover depth upon depth of meaning. And, we often fail to follow the simplest of Christian instructions.
I have some colleagues who seem to make it a continual practice to complain about their congregations. When I am together with other clergy, whether all of the United Church of Christ, or a group from different denominations, there always seems to be one or more “complainers” whose congregations are difficult and whose pastors need to tell someone about the trials of trying to serve that congregation. It isn’t a pleasant experience to listen to the complaints. I have made it a practice to avoid complaining about the congregation I serve. There are a couple of reasons. The first, and most important, is that I have been blessed to be called to congregations of wonderful, loving and caring people. The horror stories that are told about clergy abuse, about former pastors who cannot respect boundaries, about unfair or unsafe working conditions – I know none of those from personal experience. I have served congregations that have been faithful and fair.
Another reason that I am careful to avoid complaining about the congregation I serve is that I was taught, early in my career that we are defined not by our complaints but by our commitments. “When someone comes to me with a complaint,” a wise teacher once told me, “I talk to that person about commitment. I ask them if they are willing to make a commitment to doing what is required to solve the problem. If they aren’t then I know that they want to be complainers.
It does seem that there are some people who would rather complain than solve problems. Lay people have no corner on this type of personality. There are plenty of complainers among the ranks of clergy.
It seems little short of a miracle, then, that there are still some really good sermons preached on John 15:9-17. In spite of our rather contrary personalities, we keep telling the simple story: Jesus loves his disciples in the same way God loves Jesus. Jesus calls his followers friends and asks us to love one another. With all of the other changes in the history of the church, with generation after generation of church politics, with times of failed leadership and internal corruption, with all of the things that have marred the story of the Christian church, this story has not yet been lost. Preachers and congregations can find the message to be as fresh and meaningful in our generation as it was when Jesus was giving his farewell instructions and prayers to his first disciples.
I confess that there are some people who drive me up the wall. There are individuals who seem to be placed in my life for the purpose of making my life miserable. There are folks who make me cringe every time I see them. These are people I have been called to love. And the love that I have been called to offer isn’t some kind of reciprocal relationship. It is unconditional love. It is pure sacrificial love. I have been asked to be willing to lay down my life for these people. I have been led by example to call them my friends.
It is a tall order for a person like me with a sometimes too quick temper. It isn’t an easy journey. There are times when I am tempted to pray that a particular individual might find a meaningful home in another church. There have been plenty of times when I have prayed for the health, safety and long life of a particular person in part because I don’t know if I could be gracious enough to be the appropriate person to speak that that individual’s funeral. I suspect that every pastor has one or two individuals that they hope will live longer than the pastor’s term of service in that congregation.
But the bottom line remains the same. This love business isn’t optional. It applies to pastors as well as laypersons. It is a commandment.
“This is my command: Love each other.”
I guess I should meet the pastor in the story that opened this blog. I haven’t gotten that one down all the way yet, either.
On his first Sunday in the new pulpit, he preaches a sermon on John 15:9-17. It isn’t quite the same sermon as he preached when he was a candidate, but it has similar themes. Not everyone in the congregation notices that it is the same text and those who do are wondering if they remember accurately.
The next Sunday he preaches a sermon on John 15:9-17. This continues week after week. The members of the church start to get upset. Some quit coming to church, saying, “If the sermon is going to be the same every week, I don’t need to come every week.” The leaders of the church get concerned. Finally, they appoint a small contingent to go and speak to the pastor about the repetition in the sermon.
He welcomes them cordially and listens to their concern. Finally one of the group asks him directly, “Why do you keep preaching on the same passage of scripture week after week after week?” “Well,” he replied thoughtfully, “I figured that when you got the commandment about loving one another as Jesus has loved you – and everyone was following that commandment – we could move on to another.”
The story usually gets appreciative glances from pastors. It frequently doesn’t seem all that interesting to lay people.
Here’s what I don’t like about the story: It assumes that the people who “don’t get it” are all lay people and that ministers somehow understand things better than those who are not ordained. In my experience, ministers have as much trouble living the gospel as any other Christians.
Here’s what I do like about the story: The core of scripture bears repetition. There are some Biblical lessons that are worthy of constant repetition, as we discover depth upon depth of meaning. And, we often fail to follow the simplest of Christian instructions.
I have some colleagues who seem to make it a continual practice to complain about their congregations. When I am together with other clergy, whether all of the United Church of Christ, or a group from different denominations, there always seems to be one or more “complainers” whose congregations are difficult and whose pastors need to tell someone about the trials of trying to serve that congregation. It isn’t a pleasant experience to listen to the complaints. I have made it a practice to avoid complaining about the congregation I serve. There are a couple of reasons. The first, and most important, is that I have been blessed to be called to congregations of wonderful, loving and caring people. The horror stories that are told about clergy abuse, about former pastors who cannot respect boundaries, about unfair or unsafe working conditions – I know none of those from personal experience. I have served congregations that have been faithful and fair.
Another reason that I am careful to avoid complaining about the congregation I serve is that I was taught, early in my career that we are defined not by our complaints but by our commitments. “When someone comes to me with a complaint,” a wise teacher once told me, “I talk to that person about commitment. I ask them if they are willing to make a commitment to doing what is required to solve the problem. If they aren’t then I know that they want to be complainers.
It does seem that there are some people who would rather complain than solve problems. Lay people have no corner on this type of personality. There are plenty of complainers among the ranks of clergy.
It seems little short of a miracle, then, that there are still some really good sermons preached on John 15:9-17. In spite of our rather contrary personalities, we keep telling the simple story: Jesus loves his disciples in the same way God loves Jesus. Jesus calls his followers friends and asks us to love one another. With all of the other changes in the history of the church, with generation after generation of church politics, with times of failed leadership and internal corruption, with all of the things that have marred the story of the Christian church, this story has not yet been lost. Preachers and congregations can find the message to be as fresh and meaningful in our generation as it was when Jesus was giving his farewell instructions and prayers to his first disciples.
I confess that there are some people who drive me up the wall. There are individuals who seem to be placed in my life for the purpose of making my life miserable. There are folks who make me cringe every time I see them. These are people I have been called to love. And the love that I have been called to offer isn’t some kind of reciprocal relationship. It is unconditional love. It is pure sacrificial love. I have been asked to be willing to lay down my life for these people. I have been led by example to call them my friends.
It is a tall order for a person like me with a sometimes too quick temper. It isn’t an easy journey. There are times when I am tempted to pray that a particular individual might find a meaningful home in another church. There have been plenty of times when I have prayed for the health, safety and long life of a particular person in part because I don’t know if I could be gracious enough to be the appropriate person to speak that that individual’s funeral. I suspect that every pastor has one or two individuals that they hope will live longer than the pastor’s term of service in that congregation.
But the bottom line remains the same. This love business isn’t optional. It applies to pastors as well as laypersons. It is a commandment.
“This is my command: Love each other.”
I guess I should meet the pastor in the story that opened this blog. I haven’t gotten that one down all the way yet, either.