'Love is Love' - Easter 6

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever” Jn 14:15-16

I am a child of the 60s and 70s and remember well a little cartoon I often saw in my father’s newspapers, or in coffee-table books from that era. New Zealand cartoonist, Kim Casali, used to draw love notes for her partner. After a while she decided to publish them in booklets, and then a newspaper took them up. The cartoons depict one or both of a romantic couple; the drawings are always accompanied by a sentence that begins “Love is …” They are definitely a child of their day, and a bit cheesy, but their simple reflections on love somehow work. Love is … caring for one another more each day. Love is … motivating each other. Love is … where you want to be. Love is … sharing everything. Love is … counting your blessings. Love is … the way to grow. Love is … when you can’t stay mad at each other for long. And perhaps most famously: Love is … being able to say you are sorry.

Divine love, love of God, of course, is not the same as romantic love. But there are probably as many similarities as there are differences. One of the great mystics of the Christian tradition, Saint John of the Cross (1542-1591) articulates in his poetry the almost somatic passion of contemplative union with the God of love:

O living flame of love

That tenderly wounds my soul

In its deepest centre! Since

Now you are not oppressive,

Now consummate! If it be your will:

Tear through the veil of this sweet encounter . . ..

How gently and lovingly

You wake in my heart,

Where in secret you dwell alone;

And in your sweet breathing,

Filled with good and glory,

How tenderly you swell my heart with love.

Love is … well, love; be it divine or human.

Today’s gospel reading is another in a series of passages from the Farewell Discourse of Jesus, that we have been reflecting on ahead of the Day of Pentecost. As a whole, these words of our Lord form a magisterial love-letter, that stretches across four chapters of John’s gospel. In his commentary on this passage, Rudolf Bultmann writes: “The question [here is]: what is this love, which is directed to Jesus? … Can the disciples still love him, when he has gone? Can the next generation love him, without having had a personal relationship to him?” (The Gospel of John, p.613).

The opening words of today’s gospel provides an answer, for first-century Christians, as much as for us today in our pandemic angst: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever” (vv.14&15).

Love, obedience and Spirit: these three are the key to a dynamic and enduring faith.

This is not a sentimental love. A Kim Casali love, sweet as that is. This is a tough, resilient love. It is a love that squares up in the face of persecution, of grief, of suffering, of disease. It is without doubt a love for our age that has weathered the storms of many centuries of trauma and challenge. This love is above all demonstrated through obedience. Not the legalistic heartless obedience of the archetypal Scribe and Pharisee. Jesus’ commandments are different, but equally clear. To ignore or forget our Lord’s commandments is to be disobedient, to lack love; indeed, to be foolish. The opposite of ignorance is not knowledge, but obedience. Seeking truth and wisdom is not just filling our heads with facts; it is being in love.

It is important to note also, that obedience to Christ’s commandments is not purely an act of the will; and therein lies the fundamental difference between the old way and the new. Although we certainly need grit and fortitude to exercise this kind of odedience, Jesus promises his disciples, and us, “another Advocate”.

Just as he has stood by the disciples, loved them, supported them, taught them, he will send another to take his place during their times of trial, and ours. The Greek word here, paracletos, means “one who comes alongside” or even more specifically, “a legal assistant or advocate.” But this Advocate, C.K. Barrett notes, is “a prosecuting, rather than a defending counsel” (The Gospel According to John, p. 385). This Advocate will give them the words they need when under persecution. This is “the Spirit of Truth” that will be your strength when the hard times hit.

Love. Obedience. The Advocate. A threefold chord that is unbreakable, what ever we face as Christians.

The story of the St Peter’s Eastern Hill social enterprise is a good example of this three-fold chord in my mind. Our Lord’s Commandment is crystal clear: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbour as yourself” (Luke 10:27). When the pandemic hit, and Parliament asked it’s Chaplain, can you help your neighbour? There was no choice really. Yes, we were afraid. Yes, we were overwhelmed. But could only respond in obedience, and in love, “Here I am Lord, send me.” And then the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, began to work through us. The distribution of 60 meals became 100, then 200, then 400, and now we distribute 500 meals every day to some of the thousands who have lost their jobs since March; the new poor in Melbourne. And from those who came to pick up food, some also said, “can I help?” We have now have 19 university students, many struggling themselves, who serve as volunteers each day.

God is good! The Lord be with you.