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Sunday, May 9, 2004
Sermon:"I Give You a New Command - Love One Another"
Scripture: John 13:31-35
Reverend Larry Gerber

Los Angeles has a traffic problem, and it has nothing to do with the number of cars clogging the roadways. When we find ourselves going through life with a NASCAR mentality, we need to review the driving tips that come directly from Jesus himself.
1. A police officer with the L.A.P.D. pulls a driver over to the side of I-5, and asks for his license and registration.

"What's wrong officer?" the driver asks. "I didn't go through that red light. And I certainly wasn't speeding."

"No you weren't," says the officer, "but I saw you flashing the one-fingered salute as you swerved around the lady driving in the left lane, and I further observed your flushed and angry face as you shouted at the driver of the Hummer who cut you off, and how you pounded your steering wheel when the traffic ground to a stop."

"Is that a crime, officer?"

"No, but when I saw the ‘Jesus loves you and so do I' bumper sticker on the car, I figured, ‘This car has got to be stolen.'"

Driving in traffic can be a problem. Especially if you live in major cities like Boston, New York, Atlanta, Houston, Seattle and Los Angeles, not to mention Phoenix.

In our personal lives, it might also be the dehumanizing disregard of people, and holding our own selfish desires as ultimate.

The antidote isn't complicated. It's one four-letter word with a deep and ancient meaning — love. It is not the one letter salute, that is disgusting and irritable, but rather it is another gesture that is just as easily portrayed with one hand. It is the sign language gesture for "I Love You". Simply hold a hand up, turned toward the person, or people that you are sending the message to: with the little finger, the thumb, and the index finger extended.

Loving each other — as Jesus taught us — means slowly learning to see other people, other drivers, as human beings, not just as cars. Through the lens of love, we see that in each car is a driver and that each driver is a person and each person is a child of God.

Seeing in this way means understanding that each person, in or out of a car, is deserving of our loving kindness, just like God loves us (Titus 3:4).
It's simple. "So now I'm giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples." That includes when we are driving, he might have added, had he owned a car (John 13:34-35 NLV).

We need to "drive in the lanes of love"
In me growing up years, there were times, not many mind you, that I did not do exactly what my mother and father thought I should be doing. I remember at least once when I frustrated my mother with my actions. She simply and calmly said: "I love you Larry, but I do not like what you just did." That was a positive statement of my mothers love for me, followed by a statement of her disappointment in my action. It had a profound affect on me, not only then, but throughout my life, even now.

Not to drive in the lanes of love, could lead to these results:
• Not checking blind spots. Do you blindly make changes in your life, taking no notice of who might be hurt in the process? Are you ever harmed when blindsided?

• Not yielding to pedestrians. Do you live as if it never matters who gets in your way? Do your choices frighten those around you? Do you feel as if someone, or everyone, is trying to run you down?

• Not waiting for a clear intersection when making a left turn. Do you live as if you are the only one who matters, believing you'll never get hurt? If you are at a life crossroad, do you feel vulnerable, exposed?

• Not using turn signals. Do you make sudden changes in life without communicating? Do people around you make unsettling moves without telling you?

• Rolling through stop signs instead of stopping. Do you disregard signs indicating that disaster looms? Or, have you been unexpectedly broadsided?

There's a bumper sticker that reads: "In fact, I do own the road.", and another, "If you don't like my driving, get off the sidewalk." Some people don't see the failure to follow the rules of the road, or the rules of civil life, as a problem.

Jesus said, in chapter 15: "If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned" (John 15:6 NIV).

Jesus was pretty clear about the rules of proper living. He wanted his disciples to understand the etiquette of how to behave. It was important enough to him that it was nearly the last thing he told them before his death. "Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples" (v. 35 NLV).
If we're serious about our discipleship with Jesus, there's a "driving tip" for life that'll serve us in every circumstance. You already know what it is. The question is: Can you follow this simple tip?

Jesus detailed it for us:

1. No greater love does one have than to lay down his life for a friend.

2. Visit the sick.

3. Visit the imprisoned.

4. Give food to the hungry, drink to the thirsty.

5. Clothe the naked.

6. It's easy to love those who love you. How about loving your enemy?

7. Love God above all things. This means worshiping nothing — success, or wealth, or beauty, or power, or getting to our destinations, or anything else — more than God.

8. Love our neighbor as ourselves.

Shouldn't that be reason enough?
As the hand out given to you this morning explains, we are on a study plan, to determine what our mission for this particular church is and should be. The bottom line is that, as Christians, we are called to love, visit, feed, clothe. How we carry that out should not be hard to determine. We are called, as God's children, and as brothers and sisters with Christ, to:
Go, make of all Disciples, baptizing in His name.
One persons comes now to stand before you, dedicating herself, not only to membership of this church, but her commitment to follow Jesus. Would you, as members and friends of this church, please stand to welcome and support her commitment

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Source:
LeDuff, Charlie. "Traffic tips for Los Angeles best taken with a pinch of Kimchi," The New York Times, July 30, 2003, A11.