Text: John 15:12-27
Prayer Pointers:
For growth in love
For friends during this time of pandemic
I have always thought this passage is the one best suited to place next to the story of Zebedee’s sons, John and James, when they ask Jesus for places of prominence in the coming kingdom. They wish to be great, to have renown, to be recognized and revered by others.
Jesus turns their attention to those who are not recognized, who are never revered, who are not considered “great” by anyone. To welcome one such as this—to LOVE one whom the whole world would say is not worthy of love—is to love as the Father loves, and to welcome the Lord.
Of course, this kind of love, the love Jesus is commanding, is not warm, fuzzy feelings. We talk of love as an inner state of emotion and bristle to be commanded to generate that feeling. Love begins in a search—how can I serve? What can I celebrate? How can I recognize and revere? What is great about this person before me? These are concrete actions that Jesus offers us by example, and the great irony is that our feelings of love normally follow those things to which we give our attention and our service.
Easter joy ~ Pr. Dave Brooks