Gimme Some Lovin'

A Reflection on the Gospel for May 15th, 2022:
Fifth Sunday of Easter

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John
13.1, 31-33a, 34-35

Before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.

During the supper, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once.

“Little children, I am with you only a little longer. 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.”
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What does love look like? Is it a rom-com first glance or a love triangle? Is it a fly-by-night romance or a contract to attain a green card? For some, this may be the depth of love they know. 


For those who know Love Himself, it may mean something different: keeping a silent tongue after being stricken by a sharp remark. A gift offered without receiving acknowledgment or praise. Forgiveness bestowed on the gravest offenders. Sowing unity between those who have been divided. Offering ourselves in our barest, most humble form for the good of the other—even if we will be consumed in the process—and maybe even especially so. This last one may cause you to squirm a bit—this notion of an all-consuming love. But stay with me, here. 


Jesus asks us to follow Him into His model of love: “Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” He’s not only asking us to love like Him with our own children (some might see this as a most obvious scenario of sacrificial love), but with everyone. “The compassion [that is, love] of the Lord is for every living thing” (Sirach 18:13).


It’s a terrifying request—even worse, it’s not actually a request but a commandment. I see this as a process, though. We are not born into a complete divinity like Jesus was. We must mature in our love, starting from the very place we’re at right now, because that is the place where Jesus is loving us right now. Dr. Bob Schuchts says, “Security is about receiving before we mature into giving.” This means our love will mature out of a place of security. We must first feel safe and secure in the love of God before we can offer that love to another. And there is a fluidity to this principle. We don’t “become secure” and then offer radical love to all we encounter. It is a moment by moment check-in with our Father: healing upon healing, grace upon grace. Our capacity for loving others increases as our capacity for receiving God’s love deepens.


In conversation with a friend this week, some insecurities were illuminated. We discussed our collective inability to receive praise. I know you know what I’m talking about. Have you ever been the focus of praise for one reason or another and, rather than receive it humbly, you rejected, deflected or corrected the one who praised you? This for me is a common practice and an indication that I struggle to receive that which praise signifies: love. This is an uncomfortable thing to look at because, if what Dr. Bob says is true, I must receive before I can mature into giving. And I want to give love well—like Jesus. To do this though, I must first allow Him to wash my feet and forgive my sins, to gaze at me with compassion and pull me out of deep water.


So, in the end, our sacrificial love will not cause us to be consumed by the people we offer it to, nor will our love be expressed as a consumption of the other in some way. No. In the end, it is our consumption of God and by God that will lead us to freely and securely love all those we encounter.




Lori MacDonald
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