NO GREATER LOVE

May 24,-1987, 11:00 a.m. Worship Service
John Buchanan
Fourth Presbyterian Church, Chicago

Scripture
isalah 27:2-6
John 15:1-17

“Greater love has ho one’ than this, that one lay down one's life fora
friend." —John 15:13 (Inclusive Language Lectionary) —

My proposal to you this morning is either the most important one you
have ever heard or it is the silliest. It is from. the final conversation
Jesus had with his disciples. just before he died... The proposal is that~.the
highest petential-to which you can aspire, the most profound and deep. joy
you can hope for is related: directly to your. willingness to love. This
idea is not as simple as it seems. It suggests ‘that. the way to be happy “in
life is to stop trying to be-so happy. It suggests that the way to be
fulfilled is to forget about: your own fulfillment and worry about someone
else's. ~ It “is. the. unlikely suggestion that this life lived for others
is the highest and best any of us can be, and. that the greatest love of “all
is a love so “other directed," so utterly selfless, that it is willing to
lay down | “its life for a friend. oe :

My proposal to you, which is either the most important or the.
silliest you have ever heard, is that while we are: genetically programmed
for survival, we have a spiritual potential for something far greater. The
Biblical proclamation about us is that this spiritual potential is our ~~
crown and our glory: it is what’ makes-us children of God, a little lower
than the angels, given dominion - which means trusteeship — over the rest
of the creatéd order.. Tt: ais the very essence of our religion that: when
we move from Living for our own survival, £0 selfless living - dying. for
others, Christ lives ‘in-us. a :

Consider what he said... “lL am the vine, you are the branches." .
and... “fhese things [ have spoken to you, that my joy may be in you, and
that your joy may be full." ..and... "This is my commandment, that you
love ane another as I have loved you. Greatér love has no one than this,
that one lay down one's life. for one's friends."

it is an appropriate day to consider this proposal. Memorial Day
invites us to remember and to honor those who have died in the service of
their country. So we look back and for everyone of us there is a special
memory of a dear one who did not come home. Collectively we do not have to
look further back than last week when 37 young American sailors died ina

missile attack of their ship in the Persian Gulf. It is an appropriate day a.
to consider the proposal because about this incident and for most of the :
other military deaths in recent years it is not possible to invoke the more
traditional rationale of defending. one's homeland or even fighting for

freedom. Platoon was the best motion picture of the year precisely because

it did not back away from that issue.’ Platoon is a harsh and violent movie

but: it is a beautiful movie, perhaps a spiritual movie, because it conveys

what the bravest have always known, and that is that ultimately people die

for one another and not political goals-or philosophical abstractions:

that even when the cause is ambiguous at best and at worst, wrong, brave

men and women keep. dying, essentially because they are in it topether and

they cannot and will not betray one another. The highest, noblest life to

which any of us can aspire, that is to say, is whal Jesus said it was...

"Greater love has no one than this...”

That is the meaning of what happened in the Persian Gulf last week.
And it is at the heart of this most important or most silly proposal that
life is full when you love enough to think of. others, in effect to lay down
your life for them. "I will live in you when you love like that," he
promised... Christ in us... the light of the world ~ the true life - the
life of God - in us, in that greater-than-any-other. love, living and dying
for others.

; ‘Did. you ever notice how the people who love you live in you? Ever
notice how you live for the people you love, how your deepest. love actually
organizes your life, regardless of what else you think is going on? Ever
notice .how.your parents-live in you: how the older you get. the more you
sound like your mother or father? Sometimes I say something to my children
and think to myself “That's my father talking!".. There is something of, that
here. Jesus said “when. you love one another, I will live in you."

The situation in which he said this to his friends dees. not appear at
first glance to be very promising. It is certainly not very cheerful. It
is the Last Supper.. The: atmosphere. in the upper room is heavy with tragedy
about-to happen. © Betrayaland arrest lie immediately ahead.. Jesus is
saying things like, "Where I am going you. cannot follow." For three. years
or so-he had shown them. what it means to be alive. They were not, I think,
more altruistic than we are. They were not better people. They. didn't
walk. away from their homes and jobs because of a philosophic abstraction,
or even a-theological truth. They were disciples because being with him
made them feel. more alive than anything they. had ever done.’ They had. begun
really to live. They had actually begun to live this radically new life
for others. They had been “born anew" in the very process of laying down
their lives. Words like freedom and joy had new meaning for them. © It was

~ profoundly good to be with Jesus of Nazareth, and now he was telling them
“it was about to end. "Cut off from me you can do nothing,” he had said,
and cut off from him they. most certainly were ahout to be. How, then, to
live? How to continue to live with this new life, depth, intentionality
and joy - when he was no longer there?

“lam the vine... I continue as the source of the life in you.'

The vine, by the way, was a powerful image for them. The prophets,
had described Israel as the vine. God's vineyard was the nation. ‘The old

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coin of the. realm had an image of a vine.-: An ornate and beautifully:
crafted golden vine with-clusters as tall as’a-ihan; was one of the
ornaments that’ adorned the inside: of the Jerusalem Temple. They may have
seen-that beautiful artifact earlier -Lhat very day.:. The vine was an
important symbol-of their identity as God's’ people’ Bat now Jesus was:
saying "I am the vine + you are the branches ~“f°am the source of Ehe new
life in-yvou..." ;

‘This is not easy going. fhe proposal is) complex..: but it is: perhaps
the most ‘important thing -he ‘ever’ said... oat : ee

May ZT reconstruct it one more time? One.::. Jesus. promised that life
in him“is<life characterized-by something he? called: "fullness. of joy."
Whatever that. means; and -Pcbelieve it is fairly clear; > +. it means thatthe
life in Christ is not somber, staid; repressed ~ ‘nor is-it superficially,
trivially: - “everything is wonderful" bappy.:.) [tois a‘ profoundly happy.
life.;."fullness of joy:" os oo

fwovs it-is a life "driven" by love for others, instead of love-for

self. Get the twist? It is lifé motivated; propelled, driven} “not bythe

desire for happiness which! is’ what drives mostof/us most:of the time, or

‘the drive for security, or power’ - but by the desire for: someone else's”.

happiness

“That is the key, the Christian secret. .-In striking contrast. to what
the world proposes and nature seems to teach, Jesus declares that we are
children of: God, -fully-human; and profoundly joyful when: we live for
something other than ourselves:

There is practical truth here. It. may seem a silly suggestion <>
sometimes - that to live you have to be willing to die; but there: is:°I.
think, a body of experiential evidence. “About ten -years. ago, . Norman
Cousins, the distinguished: editor: of Saturday: Review: published an account:

-of his illness in the The New England: Journal: of Medicine. The title-of

the article which became=a-widely read: book / was “Anatomy of. an ‘T1thess."
It isva- fascinating account: of: Cousin’s: recovery from: a crippling and:
irreversible disease, and the unusual: therapies he’ and his: physician
devised to wage the battle. In the process of writing the book Cousin's
had-a great: deal to say about life ~ healthy, (full life,-and about -a
quality of living that translates into vitality and” vigor ard something

akin: to-what. Jesus: called “fullness of joy:" inva particularly. good:

chapter ‘on. Creativity And Longevity he-describes ‘in: detail. the ‘twoomen

whose example and whose: friendship-helped himin his struggle with-ifiness:
~ Pablo Casals: arid: Albert: Schweitzer. “Both:men led vigorous and ‘full “lives
into their nineties... As Cousins: pondered their’ cxample he concluded that
both of ‘thew were driven:by a passionate lovecaffair- with life, that they
were deeply and. passionately committed to something outside themselves,

some great cause whose benefit -accrued to othets —. Casals to-beauty in
musiccand; in his later years; >to world peace; Schweitzer to healing,
health. : ~ ;

Weare Jearning from the weli-elderly thal one ‘of: the ways to stay
well is to stay alive and the only way. to stay alive is to care about ;
people “and causes and ideas “other than .self.-.1°quoted= four retited friends

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of: mine. last week. who wrote. an essay om -retirement in which they expressed —
anger. because. their retirement was forcing them to spend their days

worrying about themselves, fussing about their own wel] being and they were
discovering that. when you are forced to worry. about yourself - there is

always. something to worry about... that when the elderly seem. to be

Obsessed with what appears to be essentially selfish concerns, aches and
pains, medicine and food... it is because we have deprived them of anything
else-to worry about. "We don't grow old," they said. “When we stop

growing we become old.". There. is experiential truth in Jesus' suggestion -
that joy and fulfillment is connected. to love: and love is essentially
laying down life - living for the other or others.

Parents know. it... Beginning with-birth itself, with the pain of
slabor, there is the. absolute reality of. putting one's life on. the-line.
The. best-of parenting-in fact, is putting: the welfare, happiness, health,
life. of-that. child-before your..own. Someone: did that: for everyone of -us.
And it. continues as a life task. Parents continue: to parent as:long as
‘they live. Garrison Keillor said that to a class of college graduates last
.week.:: He. told the graduates to be grateful that their parents worried
about-.them, that they-would always. worry about them, that even as they sat
there in.caps. and gowns their parents were worried about whether they had a
clean: handkerchief: in their pockets, whether .they were pressed, .tucked in
and-properly combed. Thanks be to God that someone once put our. .welfare
before their own. Thanks be to God for Saints who are still worrying about
us! oo: : ;

The best.parenting knows: how: to. love by. denying self - ultimately by
withdrawing when the time comes, by letting-go....: by voluntarily changing
the relationship so that the beloved child is. free to walk away... Alan
_ Paton wrote about it, poignantly,.to his own adolescent son, on ‘the

occasion of his confirmation... :

"Go forward, eager ~ child,.see here I begin: to. take my hands away
from:you, I.shall see. you walk. careless on. the edges of the precipice, but
-if--you wish you shall-hear ho-words come. out of: me; my whole soul will be
sick with apprehension, but I .shall. not disobey you... Go forward, go
forward, .I. hold the bandages and ointments ready." —[Robert.- Raines, The
Faithing Oak, p..34]

The. best: of.-human friendship knows. the. truth of it. Brave.men die in
foxholes. net. for ideology: but for the buddy beside them. A colleague told
me Jast- week, about her ministry with a young mano with AIDS.” She is. the
only.one. who knows. For. many understandable reasons no-one else can. know
ooyet... So-she has begun to prepare to be with. him and for him,....She ‘has: gone
o:a seminar-and learned what she needs. to-know and discovered the
networks, the doctors: and: nurses and hospice. and, support.group;-: She will
be.with:him and for-him:../ oe

Christ is in that... The incarnation: happens when life is lived for
others and the very best of our humanity is in it- too. : ;

The. world needs ‘the reminder. As a matter of fact, my deepest en

conviction is that the world's need is desperate in this. regard. The world
As operating on the basis of very different assumptions. It is: in

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comparison. to the world's assumptions: that--Jesus' suggestion and my:
proposal. to you sounds-silly. : :

The-world assumes that: fullness of joy is what-happens to -you-when
you enhance and enrich and enlarge your .1ife and:celebrate your awn self
and, best of all, reward.yourself with the -“stuff" ofthe world. ~ The-world
assumes, -teaches, honors and: celebrates. that. life's ‘noblest :purpose is.:
getting as: much: us you:can-and then: protecting: what. you have accumulated,
Time Magazine devoted ‘ituch ofits recent issue cto. the current ethical
malaise in-our culture. We have become accustomed to being lied.to-and:
ripped off .by high officials in our best institations. What is wrong with
us, Time “asked, and. then-offered a series of: thoughtful articles and:
essays. . The cover article - reported that the clarion.call. of the-:day is
“Enrich Thyself." Politically we have concluded that success in-business: —
is the major. criteria for national leadership: One. ofthe sad products of
this mentality is wide-spread “insider: trading". which. Time calls the...
"gospel: of wealth.run: amuck.”.. The: provocative: Time essay. lectured that:
the point at.which personal. fulfillment eclipsed.duty.in this culture,
something. very important came unraveled. ».The -"Me"-generat ion became “the
"My" generation. Personal fulfillment became the goal and the process, ‘the
measure of all things.. "Does it-.make me feel good + does it compute .- will
it earn interest - will it-serve me?" From.the: most-.intimate: human
relationships. to the -most.public policy our culture vis» flirting with ioral
disaster’ in-its.obsession:with individual: fulfillment. . In human sexuality,
when. one's.own fulfillment..replaces: the fulfillment: -of. the other, sex /is..no
longer. sacrament but. the:medium:for selfishness:::/In: public life, when: the
obsession: with: personal: profit: obliterates: any commitment to’ the. common:
good - we have moral anarchy. reflected in the appalling growth of white-
collar crime... street crime.costs the nation.four. billion dollars a year.
The cost. of. white collar-crime is 40 billion. -.That's moral anarchy.

That's. rampant greed.

The other assumption our culture makes is that it-is better: net to
love anything so passionately that you become: personally vulnerable. Not.
Jong ago, “in youth culture, it was regarded as hopelessly square .to love
anything, particularly one's parents and family, school. or nation. I. think
we're growing out of that, but the gospel of. selfishness does suggest cool,
detached, self-sufficiency as a better model than passion and
vulnerability. So Jesus' suggestion that true life happens when you love
enough to die for something sounds pretty silly,.and pretty naive and
pretty irrelevant...

Intil you see it, that is: until you experience it: or when Gad's
Holy Spirit grabs you by the scruff of the neck and shows it to you in some
gorgeous act of seifless grace or some magnificent life of such truth that
you cannot ignore it... And you know, that's just what the Christian story
within the. human story -is all about. That the human self is never greater,
more noble than in selflessness; that.in dying to self, true life emerges.
Mother Teresa's living. for. the dying in Calcutta, or Dietrich Bonhoeffer's
martyrdom at the hands of the Nazi's, or Martin Luther King somehow knowing
that his trip to the mountain was the last one. - or on back in history -
St. Ipnatius of Antioch on-the road to his death as a martyr: saying -"Now,;. I
am beginning to be a disciple”... or those contemporary lives, those modest
exanples: of. people -living-unsel]lfishly,-for:other- people, scattered

—_

throughout “our common lifelike precious: leavening. You find a lot -of them nel,
in-churches and volunteering to do the. work no? one- else will -do.-:¥You fund

them tutoring and serving meals to the homeless and Visiting in the jails

and: carrying food to the homebound and reading’ to the blind. You almost

have. to look for :them because you see, they are: truly not. interested in

‘anyone's knowing about them; they have grown: beyond living for self, even

the emotional gratification which results:when others applaud this

selflessness... They are learning’ to live for others — which always means

dying a-little -— which Jesus promises. is-where. fullness of joy-is> truly to

be found. : :

And it is where he will-be found. "lL am the “is where fullness of joy
is truly to‘be found. ;

And it is where he will be found. -"T-am the vine ~ you are the
branches..."". He died for those men around that. table. He died, at least
in ‘part, so that they would live and grow and-become and pass on:to the
world this most important. of. all proposals -— that we live when-he. lives: in
us. He went out and did it. < He laid down his ‘life for his friends. He

= died-for-us.

One of the most. powerful passages in all of literature is the
conclusion to For Whom’ the Bell: Tolls. Ernest.temingway was not -a
traditional believer..:. but he. could never ignore or escape: the God who I
‘believe -pursues all -of’us,; and: the Gospel is never: far; in one form: or
sanother,. from. what<he wrote. In. this: conclusion Robert, the hero of-the
novel, is~ fatally wounded ‘by:the Fascists during: the Spanish Civil War.
Maria wants: to stay and die with hin. Hemingway wrote profoundly about the
glory of our humanity and at the same time,-T:believe, “about -the ©
unexplainable mystery of Christ. living in-us. (His characteristically
terse writing became, in the middle of this passage, biblical/liturgical).

“Now: you-will go for us. both,' Robert: said. "You must© do’ your duty
now... Now you are going well and fast and far and we both go:-in-.thee... Now
art thou doing what thou should: Now thou art obeying... Not. me. but-us
“both. The: me in’ thee: Now you go for us. both. Truly: we both’ go-in-thee
“now. This I have: promised thee.' ne S

"She started to-look around.” ‘Don't:look around! Robert: Jordan said.
*Go.?- And: Pablo: hit. the. horse across the. crupper. witha -hobbling strap and
‘it- looked as though Maria tried ta slip. from the saddle. but: Pilar-and Pablo
were riding close against her and Pilar was holding her and the three
horses’ were going up-the draw.

Robert," Maria turned around and shouted, ‘‘Let me stay! Let me
stayh’: 'Tcam with thee.'* Robert Jordan shouted;-'I am with thee: now. We
are both there. © Go!'-Then they were out of sight around the corner of the
draw’and he was soaking wet with sweat and looking at nothing.": -[See, The
Magnificent Defeat, The Me ‘in Thee, Frederick Buechner ]

-24 Jesus. said,. "love one another, as I-have: loved you. Greater love has
no-one than this, - that one lay down one's life.cand -..~ len,

“These things: i. have spoken: to. you thatemy. joy. may be in you and-that

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your joy may be full" -~ atid -

lt. .is- either the silliestoer the most important iden you will ever
hear:

Thanks be to you, 0 Gad
far those who heve loved us more than they loved. themselves

Thanks be to you, 0 God
for your son, who loved his friends more than he: Joved his own Fife.

Thanks-be to you for
his death, in which they and we are given life.

Thanks be to you, 0 God,
for your:eternal lave revealed in Jesus Christ. our Lord. Amen.

~]

R-9A=R7