September: Day 26: Teaching 1: The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian

September: Day 26: Teaching 1:
The Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian
 
(On the Motivations for Mutual Christian Love)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. All the apostles, and after them the shepherds and teachers of the Christian Church, inspire us with mutual love for one another; but Saint John the Theologian, whose memory we now celebrate, can be called preeminently a Preacher of Love. According to the testimony of one Church chronicler, he constantly said to Christians: "Children, love one another!" "Beloved, let us love one another!" His whole life was an expression of the love that he taught.

"My children! Let us love not in word or tongue, but in deed and in truth," says this apostle. He outlived all the apostles and was the only one of them to die a natural death in extreme old age.

II. Celebrating the memory of such a great preacher of love, it is fitting for us, brethren, to talk now about love, in order to strengthen in ourselves the disposition towards it.

There are many reasons to love one another: nature, which is common to all of us, and our spiritual relationship with one another, and the commandment of our Savior, and His example, and the moral dignity of love, and the great benefit that comes from it - everything encourages us to love one another.

a) Indeed, who are we to one another by our nature? Brethren, we all have one forefather on earth, Adam, and one common father in heaven, God. This means that we all make up one great family and therefore must love one another as blood relatives.

b) Being one family, as people, we all, by calling ourselves Christians, are still in the closest relationship with each other - we are, according to the teaching of the apostle, one spiritual body, of which Christ is the head, and we are members (Eph. 5:23, 30). But in what relationship are the members of one natural body? Are they at enmity with each other? Is the hand armed, for example, against the foot, the eye against the ear? No, they act in harmony with each other, mutually assist each other and are in such fellowship that if one member suffers, the others suffer with it (1 Cor. 12:26). If this is how the carnal, unreasonable members act: then should not we, rational members of the spiritual body, act even more so, the head of which is Christ, who desires that we live in peace and love among ourselves?

c) Jesus Christ above all commands us to love one another. Remember what He prayed for and what He inspired the apostles with before His suffering? “Holy Father,” He cried out to the heavenly Father, “keep them from enmity,” “that they may be one, as We are!" "My friends,” He said to the apostles, “I command you that you love one another” (John 17:11, 15; 15:17). You see how much Jesus Christ desired us to live in mutual love! We precisely fulfill the dying wishes of our parents, relatives and other people: shall we then neglect the covenant of our Lord and Savior, made then, as He was going to suffer for us, preparing to die for our salvation? Oh, if we do not fulfill this sacred covenant, then we will clearly show that we do not love Jesus Christ and are unworthy to be called His disciples.

d) Jesus Christ not only commanded us to love other people, but also presented in Himself an example of love for us. Why did He, being God, come down from heaven to earth and take upon Himself our mortal flesh? Out of love for us – people. Why did He, an innocent man, undergo severe suffering and was crucified on the cross, like a lawless person? Out of the same love for us people. Why does He suffer long with our sins, and not only have mercy on us, but also send us various gifts of grace? Out of love for us. If He, the most high being, so loves the people He created, then should we not love them even more, creations like them? For we are obliged to imitate our Creator and Redeemer in everything. The Apostle also instills this in us, telling us: “If God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (1 John 4:11).

d) We must love one another all the more because love for our neighbors has a high moral value and constitutes the great perfection of a Christian. It makes us like God, because “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and acts in everything out of love for His creations, especially for us – people, whom He loves so much that “He sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live by Him” (1 John 4:9). It is the source and totality of all that is good; and therefore it is higher than all other virtues: “Now,” says the apostle, “abide faith, hope, love, these three: and the greatest of these is love,” without which all our knowledge, exploits, and faith itself have no moral value. You see what love means and how necessary it is for our moral perfection! Therefore, the apostles, instilling all the Christian virtues, most of all command us to love one another. Above all, they say, “Acquire love, which is the bond of perfection.” Above all, “have fervent love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins” (Col. 3:14; 1 Peter 4:8).

e) And how good it would be if all people would fulfill this apostolic commandment exactly and live in sincere love among themselves! Then there would not be those evils that come from human hostility - there would be no quarrels and abuses, deceptions and slanders, thefts and murders, open and secret denunciations and other harmful actions that cause so much misfortune to people. On the contrary, then those sorrows that are inevitable in this world, according to the natural laws of nature, would be greatly alleviated: then the poor and the needy would find generous assistance from the rich, the weak and infirm would find the support and patronage of the strong, orphans and widows would find the care necessary for them. In short, then love would remove many of the misfortunes that now occur in the world, would sweeten many of the sorrows that now oppress humanity, would shed much joy and consolation among people: for love, according to the words of the apostle, “is long-suffering, is merciful, does not envy, does not exalt itself, is not proud, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things,” and not only does nothing bad to anyone, but also inspires those who hate us to do good, to bless those who curse us, and to pray for those who do us harm (1 Cor. 13:4-7; Luke 6:27-28).

III. “Let us love one another,” brethren, “and let us love sincerely, not in “word” or “tongue,” but in “deed” and “truth” (1 John 3:18 ).

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.