"What I Command"

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

“This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” This is the command Jesus gives to His disciples. The second greatest command of the Law is to love your neighbor as yourself. So here, Jesus ups the ante, saying that you are to love one another not just as you love yourself, but as He has loved you.

On its face, this seems like a simple, rather straightforward command. You know how Jesus demonstrated His love. He died for you, to take away your sins and make you holy before God. He says in today's lesson that “greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.” So the way to love one another like Jesus does is to be willing to die for your friends. This is the true test of friendship, of love.

Misfits and the True Vine

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

In the children's movie “Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, as Rudolf wanders across the frozen wasteland of the North Pole trying to find his niche in life, he stumbles onto the Island of Misfit Toys. There, he encounters such characters as Charlie-in-the-box, the Spotted Elephant, a bird-fish, a train with square wheels, and a toy gun that shoots grape jelly. All these toys have been gathered up by King Moonracer because they have been cast off as misfits, as those who do not fit in or have a place among the ranks of normal toys. Until Rudolf shows up on their island, these toys are condemned to spend their days in the sad company of one another, unloved and unwanted by the boys and girls of the world.

Much like those odd and sad toys, you are misfits. Sure, you may look and feel normal on the outside, but inside, you are strange, weird, unacceptable. You do not fit in with the “normal” people, whoever they are. Like shoving a square peg in a round hole, you may struggle and struggle to fit in, but you will always be a misfit. And so you will be stuck on your own misfit island, until someone comes to rescue you.