Dec 27 2018 John 13:20-35

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.

This is what I love about Christ, and about Christianity. To be clear, I'm not suggesting that other God-loving people don't love each other. But through Christ's "new commandment", there can be no question about our responsibility to each other. No question about who's in and acceptable or who's out and shunned. We are to love each other as Christ loved us. Period.

There was a time, not long after the last presidential election, when I was having a deep conversation about politics, faith, acceptance and love. There were those who were aghast at the results of the presidential election, and were using terms like, "morally corrupt", and "the new Hitler". I countered that we should love everyone, on both sides of the political aisle. That we shouldn't sit in judgement and decide who was more favored; that was God's job.

I was shocked to hear from fellow Christian clergy that yes, we could. Their particular perspective was more true to Christ's, so the others were patently wrong. A Rabbi told me that Judaism didn't frown on judgment; that was a Christian thing.

To be clear, I'm not suggesting these perspectives (or mine) are right or wrong. I am saying that I truly value and appreciate the no-judgment-love-all I take from Christ's teachings. The end of the new testament reading from John this morning concludes with the line, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." How can that be anything other than love. all?