Easter 5C 2007 John 13:31-35

What is this thing called love? A group of professional people posed this question to a group of 4 to 8-year-olds children. The answers were deeper than they imagined.

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8

"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4

"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other." Karl - age 5

"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." Chrissy - age 6

"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 5

"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend whom you hate." Nikka - age 6

"There are two kinds of love. Our love. God's love. But God makes both kinds of them." Jenny - age 4

"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday." Noelle - age 7

"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well." Tommy - age 6

"Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine - age 5

"Love is when mommy sees daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Robert Redford." Chris - age 8

"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day." Mary Ann - age 4

"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." Karen - age 7

"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
Jessica - age 8 (1)

Indeed, what is this thing called love? Jesus said to his disciples, “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.”

The Babemba tribe in South Africa was featured some years ago in a TV documentary on Apartheid. Within that tribe, antisocial or criminal behavior is rare. But when it happens, the Babemba have a creative way to deal with it ...

When a tribe member acts irresponsibly, he or she is placed at the center of the village. Work stops, and all the men, women and children in the village gather in a circle around the accused. Then, one at a time, They all call out the good things the person in the center of the ring has done previously. All the positive attributes and the kind acts are recited carefully and at length. No one is permitted to exaggerate or be facetious. It's serious business!

This often goes on for several days and stops only when everyone is drained of every positive comment that can be said about the transgressor. Not one word of criticism concerning the accused is permitted. At the end, the tribal circle breaks up, a celebration begins, and he or she is welcomed back into the community. Apparently this overwhelming, positive bombardment causes that person to resolve to live up to the expectations of the tribe. It must work because these ceremonies are quite rare. (2)

What is this thing called love? An ethics professor at Princeton asked for volunteers for an extra assignment. Fifteen students showed up. He divided the group of fifteen into three groups of five each. He instructed the first group of five to proceed immediately across the campus to a certain spot; if they didn’t get there in fifteen minutes their grade would be affected. A minute or two later he instructed the second group to proceed across the campus to the same spot; but they were given forty-five minutes to get there. After they left he instructed the last group to go across the campus to that spot too; but they were given three hours for the trip.

Now, unknown to any of these students, the teacher had arranged with three students from the Drama Department to meet them along the way, acting as people in great need: the first one they met covered his head with his hands and moaned out loud as though in great pain; the second, a little bit further along the way, was on some steps lying face down as if unconscious; the third, on the very steps of the destination, acted out an epileptic seizure.

Not one of the first group stopped, two of the second group stopped, and all five of the third group stopped. What the experiment suggests is that when we are too busy, with tight schedules and impossible deadlines, there is no time for love. (3)

What is this thing called love, this new commandment Jesus gave us to love one another? A teen-aged boy informed his father of a wonderful activity that they were going to do at his church’s youth group. They were going to hand out blankets to the homeless. This was in the upper midWest where warmth is a necessity during the ruthless winter.

The young man exclaimed with fervor, “We’re passing out blankets so that we can tell them about Jesus!” His father quickly corrected him. He said, “We don’t give blankets to the homeless to tell them about Jesus. We give blankets to the homeless because they’re cold.” (4)

What is this thing called love? Hard to define but like many things, we know it when we see it and feel it. We also know that we can love people even when we don’t like them. And we do it because Jesus told us to love one another -- no matter how hard it may seem.

AMEN


1. http://www.cybersalt.org/go?id=123i
2. Sermon Illustrations You can Use, SermonWare House, email from voicings.com, 17 April 2007
3. Keith Wagner, Words to Remember, adapted from Adrian Dieleman, Love One Another, eSermons Illustrations for May 6, 2007
4. King Duncan, Collected Sermons, www.Sermons.com, story from "The Least of These” by Marc de Jeu