There is spiritual writing that is fluffy and light, kind of
breezy and makes you feel good, and then there is the Gospel of John, which is
always thick and dense and packed tight.
John spirals around repeating the same phrases but going deeper and
deeper. It can seem repetitive and
boring, and requires concentration and deep thought. John gives me a headache. And of course today we have the Gospel of
John.
We just heard: “Jesus said to his disciples: (that is us), “As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love.” Short sentences that pack a lot of wallop. “Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain
in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his
love.”
The word
“remain” in some translations is rendered “abide”. “Remain” here does not just mean get left
behind, but rather denotes an active, conscious commitment to be there, to abide. It is a choice and a commitment.
Then Jesus
says something I find interesting. “I have told you this so that …” ¿so that what?? So that you will be impressed with the
closeness between Jesus and the Father?
No. So that you will do what
Jesus tells you? No. So that you will understand what Jesus is
all about? No. Rather Jesus says “I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy might
be complete.” Jesus instructs and
teaches us so that we might share fully in His joy.
Hmmm. Everyone here have complete joy??? I
guess not. Joy is a difficult concept to
define and identify. A long time ago,
when I was a seminarian, we used to sing an awful song by the Medical Mission
Sisters called “Joy is like the Rain.” (sing first refrain)…. Anyone remember that? Well, maybe not.
Joy is
different than “happiness”. I suspect
that joy is under-rated. It is too
closely identified with “happiness”, which it is not.
Happiness
depends more on what is going on outside of you, on external
circumstances. Joy however comes from
within. It really is not related to what
our exterior circumstances are like. I
have met people in very distressing circumstances, like the Little Sisters of
Jesus I met in Nome, Alaska, whose home had been destroyed in a terrible winter
storm but yet were some of the most joyful people I had ever met.
And I have met
plenty of people who lived in big homes, had fancy cars and every electronic
gadget, huge salaries, healthy children, lots of worldly goods and still were
crabby, bitter, discontented and anything but joyful. I am sure you have met these people too.
Jesus
proclaims: “I have told you this so that
my joy may be in you and your joy might be complete.”
What is Jesus’
joy? How do we share in it? What would complete joy look like?
I believe joy
comes out of a deep and firmly held conviction of God’s love for me. Jesus had that joy, and Jesus wants us to
have it too. Joy is the evidence of the
presence of faith. Because, as St. Paul
tells us, “if God is for us, who can be
against us?” The only one who can
screw up my relationship with God – which is all that really matters in the end
– is myself. This is why freedom from
sin is the basis of all true freedom.
Jesus wants
you to have joy and that it be complete.
No lacks, no gaps, no thin or worn spots, no lacunae, just full, total,
complete joy. Not in the future, but
NOW. That would be wonderful!
From speaking
of joy, and how Jesus wants us to have complete joy, Jesus immediately goes to
an odd place, to giving us a command. “This is my commandment: love one another as
I love you.” Joy and commandments don’t easily go together
in our minds. And yet they are
intimately related, tightly bound, two sides of the same coin of
discipleship. Joy and the commandment to
love are connected.
That is
because the command to love is an odd command.
An authority can command us to do something or to not do something. But can love be commanded? It is of the essence of love that it be
free. Maybe “duty” or “respect” or
“obedience” can be commanded, and it might mimic love, but genuine love is, by
its very nature, free. It must be given
freely.
How can Jesus
command love? Well, I am not entirely
sure. But He does, so He must be able
to.
I think His
“command” is a funny and odd kind of command.
It is not an order, not an apodictic statement of “Thou shalt love”
given from on high, not a “do this or else” kind of statement. Rather His command is more like an
invitation. But it is an invitation made
with such incredible love that it is, in effect, irresistible. It is not a command that pushes and shoves,
but rather a command that invites, entices, allures, pulls the strings of our
hearts. It is in this way that Jesus
commands us to love.
And in
surrendering to His invitation to love as He loves, we discover the complete
joy that He wishes us to have. Love and
Joy are two sides of the same coin. They
are inseparable.
“I have told you this so that my joy may be
in you and your joy may be complete.
This is my commandment: love one another as I love you.”
John’s Gospel is pretty
dense. And that is good. God bless!
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