Proof of Being a Jesus Follower
John 13:31-35
by Jim Westmoreland
You might think of a goose as a silly animal that doesn't have much sense. Once in a while you can still hear a person who behaves in a foolish way being called a "silly goose." But scientists now realize that geese are not as dumb as you might think. In fact, what we can learn from geese applies also to human life. There are at least four lessons for us to learn from the study of geese.
Geese fly in a "V" formation. Have you ever wondered why they do that? We now know that as each bird flaps its wings, it creates uplift for the bird behind it. By flying in a "V" formation, the whole flock increases its flying range by at least 71% over the range of each bird flying on its own. This is the first lesson we can learn from geese. People who share a common direction and a sense of community can get where they're going quicker and easier, because they are traveling on the trust and uplift of one another.
Whenever a goose falls out of formation, it suddenly feels the drag and resistance of trying to go it alone and quickly gets back into formation to take advantage of the lifting power of the bird immediately in front of it. The second lesson for us is that it helps to stay in formation with others who are headed the same direction we are going.
When the lead goose gets tired, it rotates back in the formation and another goose flies point. Here is the third lesson for us. It pays to take turns doing hard jobs. Rotating leadership is a good thing.
When a goose gets sick or is wounded by gunshot and falls out of formation, two other geese also leave the formation and follow the goose down to help it and protect it. They stay with it until either it is able to fly or it is dead. Then they head out again on their own or with another formation until they catch up with their group. The fourth lesson for us is to stand by each other when the need arises.
Jesus once told his disciples, "Consider the birds of the air. . ." Perhaps, if the disciples had been as familiar with geese as we are, Jesus would have used these facts about geese during his lengthy talk with them on the night before his crucifixion. Throughout his discourse Jesus tells them to love one another. He also was telling them, in effect, to hold fast to the image that he is flying point for their sake and to remain in formation so that the whole world will come to know the gracious salvation God wills for all people.
In today's gospel Jesus begins his final talk to his disciples. Judas Iscariot has just left the room. Did you know that Judas is apparently the patron saint of many Christians even today? It's true because they follow in his tradition. Judas was, after all, the first person ever to skip communion and to absent himself from the community of the faithful. By leaving, Judas has clearly fallen out of formation with the Christian community of disciples.
Jesus speaks to those who remain: "Now the Son of Man is glorified." In John's gospel the glorification of Jesus is not his resurrection, but his crucifixion. In fact, in John's gospel, Jesus uses the phrase "lifted up" so that it has a double meaning. Jesus is "lifted up" on the cross and he is "lifted up" in glory. His glorification is his crucifixion. Judas has left the upper room to report Jesus' location to the authorities so they can arrest him and try him and execute him. The process of glorification is beginning.
Meanwhile, Jesus speaks calmly yet passionately to his disciples. "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." This will be your proof that you are a Jesus follower!
Jesus calls it "a new commandment." What exactly is new about it? we might wonder. Way back in the Old Testament book of Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18, it says, ". . . you shall love your neighbor as yourself." The idea of "loving one another" was already as old as the hills.
What is new about this commandment that Jesus gives is the context in which it is given: the context of the glorification of Jesus on the cross. It is new, because it is given by the Christ, the Messiah, whose glory is His passionate death for the sake of the world. This is not a proverb spoken by a wise rabbi or the saying of an abstract philosopher. It is a Word of God, spoken not in words only, but also in deeds, in action. In fact, it is a Word of God spoken and enacted in the life and death of Jesus the Christ, the one and only Word of God in human flesh. It is a word that is God's truth and God's love demonstrated and proven on the cross.
Jesus flew point for his disciples just the way the lead goose flies point for the "V" formation. Jesus' movement creates uplift for all who follow him. His position at the head of the formation not only points the way; it also creates the spiritual air current that allows all who follow him to fly better and longer and more effectively.
Furthermore, His commandment that his followers love one another means that our flying in formation is an activity of the Christian community. No one can fly in formation alone. No one can "do his or her own thing" in faith apart from the church, which Jesus established for our benefit. Not only do his followers fly with him as their guide, they also fly in a pattern with each other, so that each one's efforts contribute to the efforts of the others. His followers love one another by keeping in faithful formation with him and with one another. Their love is not merely a feeling of sentimentality or an impulse of empty good will toward one another. It is a powerful expression of determination that everyone counts for something, that everyone needs to be helped throughout the course of the journey, and that everyone needs to reach the promised and intended destination. Love in the Christian community is like the interdependence of a flock of geese, in which each member empowers the others and no one wins until everyone wins.
"Consider the birds of the air," Jesus said. Consider the geese that fly in "V" formation. When one drops out because of sickness or injury, the whole flock does not interrupt its journey and stop flying. Instead, a team of geese tends to the needs of the one who has fallen away until either health is restored or death has occurred. The flight of the formation does not end because one bird is impaired.
In the same way, the church continues its movement in and through the world, even though a member here or another member there drops away. Sometimes, congregations can allow themselves to come to a complete halt in mid-flight because of one member who became ill or who became confused or even mean. It is not love at all when any member demands the total attention of the whole church and tries to bring all activity to a screeching halt. And it is not love when an entire congregation gives so much power and control to any one member that it will abort its mission for the sake of that one who has become insecure, fearful or an habitual naysayer.
Think about the uplift that comes to every member of the formation when all of them fly in place with their leader in front of them. The church, too, offers incredible uplift for all who join it in formation behind Christ as the head.
Baptism is our initiation into the formation of those who follow Christ. The glory of His self-giving for us becomes our glory too. We can soar through life with less effort because of the spiritual air currents he provides. And by faithful participation in the formation called the church, we provide those spiritual air currents to others around us. We can fly and not become weary because of what He does for us and because of what He makes it possible for all of us to do for each other.
We look into the sky on a spring or autumn day and see a formation of geese flying overhead, and we say, "Isn't that remarkable? Just look how they fly together in harmony and cooperation with each other!"
In the same way, the world looks at the church from time to time. And what does it say? Does it say, "Just look at those silly geese, flying this way and that, always honking at each other and fighting!" Or does it say, "Behold those Christians, how they love one another!" When they see how we love one another both when it is easy and smooth and when it is not easy and bumpy, then the way that we have related to one another in love and respect becomes the proof of our discipleship.
Today, this week, In what way can you show your love for one another this week and give specific examples that you are a Jesus follower? As we renew our efforts to live as the people of God and to be faithful in reaching others and ministering to them, let us build each other up, let us be flexible for the benefit of others, let us listen to other's needs so that we can respond, not with defensiveness, but with love. Amen.
Century Christian Church, May 6, 2007 - Sermon by Jim Westmoreland
