6th Sunday of Easter, May 14,2023: Acts 17:22-31; 1 Peter 3:13-22; John 14:15-21; Psalm 66:7-18
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” My first response to reading this was that this is a transactional relationship, not one of love. It continues, assuming that you do these things, then God will do these things for you. Sounds like a quid pro quo to me!
Our culture likes to think that love is *not* transactional, but spontaneous, open and giving. We sometimes think of it as something that escapes analysis: to say why we love someone seems to draw lines around our feelings. Yet we routinely do things for people because we love them. We also sometimes love because we are loved.
The love Jesus talks of is a circle: you love him, you will be loved by the Father and be loved by Jesus. It is also an action, not a feeling: keeping the commandments. And the promise from Jesus is that we will not be orphaned: there is an Advocate, with us for ever.
The Gospels were written long after Jesus’ death, and recorded the stories told in particular communities of Jesus people. The earliest parts of John’s Gospel date to c. 70 CE; other parts were not in their final form until after 90 CE, sixty years after Jesus’ death. By the time it was completed, the community of Jesus people only knew Jesus through the stories that were told. John’s Gospel reminds them that they did not need to know Jesus personally to be part of him: if you love him and keep his commandments, the Advocate, the Spirit of Truth, will be with you.
In his sermon to the Athenians, Paul tells them that the God he is speaking of “is not far from each one of us”. Jesus tells his followers that if they love him, “I will love them and reveal myself to them”. God is close by, our readings promise.
I am not sure I always keep Jesus’ commandments, though I try. But the promise that I am not alone is one that helps me get through the hard times.