“Love is the Identifying Mark of Christians”

a 5th Sunday of Easter a

John 13:31-35

At one time, it was tradition in the White family that we attend the annual Big Ten Men’s Basketball
Tournament the second full weekend of March. One of the things that I used to enjoy most about the Big Ten
Tournament was that way that people came out and, without any reservations, made it clear to everybody else who
they were cheering for. You know who the Northwestern fans are, because all 6 of them sit together in the upper
deck with their purple sweatshirts on. You know who the Wisconsin fans are, because they proudly and somewhat
obnoxiously sport their red and white badger shirts and sing, “On Wisconsin” at the top of their lungs, while yelling
obscenities at the Illinois and Minnesota fans right next to them. I don’t think I ever saw a single person at the Big
Ten Tournament who wasn’t wearing their team colors. The wolverine fans, all two rows of them had their blue
and putrid yellow on, and the predominant and well-represented Michigan State fans donned their colors of life and
holiness, the green and white...which we did so that everybody else would know that we are Spartans and
not...heaven forbid, wolverine supporters.
How do people know that we are Christians? How do outsiders know that we are Christians? How do
fellow Christians know that we are Christians? A song that some of us probably learned at a very young age in
Sunday School answers that question, a song based on today’s text from John, “You will know they are Christians by
their love.” Christian love is the external mark that identifies us as Christ’s followers and Christ’s representatives.
As we draw closer to the time when we will commemorate our Lord’s ascension, we learn two lessons, one this week
and one next week, about love...today, in our first lesson on love, we learn that love serves to identify us as
Christians, both among the faithful and among the heathen. It naturally flows out of Christ’s love for us, which is
where our motivation to live a life of love lies...and it earnestly strives to emulate Christ’s love for us, because he has
given the perfect example of what true love is – a love that is both unconditional and uncompromised.

I. It naturally flows out of Christ’s love for us

Up to the point of Jesus’ ascension, the way that people associated the disciples with Jesus was that they were
seen with Jesus! They were seen sitting at his feet, learning from him. They were seen accompanying him on
various journeys. They were by his side as he performed many miracles in the presence of many witnesses. In fact,
it was because Simon Peter was seen with Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane that a casual observer asked him,
“Weren’t you one of his disciples? Didn’t I see him with you in the garden?”
Up to the time that Jesus ascended into heaven, a sure-tell sign that someone was a disciple of Jesus was that
they were seen with him, observed as his followers, and that was the chief external evidence that identified each of
the disciples as disciples of Jesus Christ. What would happen, though, when Jesus would no longer be visibly with
them? What would be the new way in which they would be able to be identified by both fellow believers and
unbelievers as Christians, because, Jesus himself tells them. “Where I go, you cannot follow...”? Listen to verses 33
and 34:
 “My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you
now: Where I am going, you cannot come. A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you
must love one another.” Love, that’s how they will know that we are Christians, by our love for one another and our
love for souls...a love which is defined for us in the most tangible and meaningful terms at Calvary’s holy mountain.
It’s the kind of love that sacrifices for others, which deprives the self for the sake of another’s eternal welfare, which
is willing to do whatever is necessary to bring others to salvation. Turn your eyes to the holy hill outside Jerusalem,
to the holy sepulcher where our Lord was laid in death, and there you find out what love truly is.
It’s certainly much different than what we are exposed to in our world. What we are taught in our world
apart from God’s house and outside of Holy Scripture is that love is always deserved, it is earned...that it is only
given to those who have proven themselves worthy of it. The worldly concept of love is self-serving at best,
egomaniacal at worst, always demanding something of others before any kindness or goodness is extended back to
them. And ultimately, the one who gets to determine who is worthy of my love is me! Think about that for a
minute! Do you treat your husbands or wives that way? How about your children? Examine your hearts
thoroughly today, because if we really take the time to examine the plank in our own eyes, I am convinced that we
will see how much we have been influenced by our surroundings...how much we have allowed the world, our
culture, the media to shape our concept of what love is, who is deserving of it, and what we can get in return for it!
Why love others...fellow Christians, even unbelievers? Jesus says: “As I have loved you, so also you love one
another!” Take to heart that fresh command of Jesus today, and live a life of Christian love that flows from the love
he showed to you. How concerned he was for you, for your eternal well-being, for your soul...Philippians 2 defines
that love specifically, love extended to us, the unworthy recipients: “5 Your attitude should be the same as that of
Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made
himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 8 And being found in appearance as a
man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death— even death on a cross!”
Love each other, fellow Christians, not because they are worthy of it, or because you may get something in
return for it, or because you can get some advantage by doing it...love because Christ first, in humble service to you
and the whole world loved you, despite your unworthiness, despite your utter lack of love for him. He loved the
world that rejected him. He loved souls that hated him. He died for souls that could care less about him. He
subjected himself to the agony of hell even for people who will never receive him by faith. He literally loved the
unlovable, dying for their sins and going to hell and the grave for them. Now that’s love, amazing love. Love each
other with that same spirit, that same attitude...for such love is an identifier that marks you as a child of God and a
disciple of Jesus Christ.

II. It earnestly strives to emulate Christ’s love for us

Now that we’ve answered the “why” question, why do we love others, our brothers and sisters in Christ as
well as precious souls who are outside of the kingdom, we turn our attention to the “how.” The Scriptures do not
leave us in the dark. In fact, the Spirit gives us some very practical guidance for how Christians can express their
faith publicly through acts of love towards fellow Christians and otherwise. “A new command I give you: love one
another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples if you love
one another.”
 How would people know who Christ’s disciples were? After Jesus ascended into heaven, they would not be
identified by the company they kept, because Jesus was no longer visibly with them. Instead, they would be
identified by their public confession of faith and subsequent behavior. It’s no different today! We are identified as
Christians by our confession of faith which believes in a Triune God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and by our
whole-hearted dependency on the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and everlasting
life, AND we are identified as Christians by the love that we show to our fellow Christians and to other souls that
are in desperate need of the gospel that saves.
Far be it from us that our lives do not match our confession! Far be it from us that the love Christ has
shown to us in unconditional grace is darkened within and among us by an unwillingness to shine that light of love
in the presence of others. Far be it from us that confess with our mouths like Christians and act in hatred like the
pagans, giving to our fellow Christians and especially those outside the kingdom reason to question our confession.
That’s what happens...when our lives do not match our confession, people have legitimate reasons to question the
authenticity of our public confession of faith and our seriousness in upholding it, thus placing a barrier for the
Word of God to have effect upon hearts that are dead in sin, ultimately putting up a barrier for the Spirit to enliven
hearts that are dead in sin to a new life in Christ Jesus.
Like the disciples of old, strive with the might the Holy Spirit has given to you by faith to emulate your
Savior’s love in the world, both toward your fellow Christians and toward those who are not in blessed fellowship
with the Savior. Strive to emulate the kind of love which is both unconditional and uncompromised, welcoming all
to the gospel that saves, and leading precious souls to the one who lived and died for them. And let there be no
reason for anyone, either inside the church or otherwise, to be able to question our sincerity of faith. Let there be
no question about the one to whom we belong. May our voices be heard and our lives be evident that we are sheep
of the Good Shepherd, so that those outside the faith may have living testimony of Christ’s love for all, and those
inside the faith may be confident of our calling to the One True Christian faith.
How will they know that we are Christians? How will the world know that we are disciples of Jesus when
Jesus is no longer visibly present with his disciples in this world? ...not by observing our company, but by observing
our confession and behavior. They will know that we are Christians by our love...the kind of love which flows from
the unconditional love of Jesus, who lived and died for all....the kind of love that ignores the worldly concepts of
loves and seeks only to emulate the love of Jesus in our dealings with fellow believers and other precious souls in
need of the gospel. Live a life characterized by Christian love - a love which identifies you to the world and
especially to the members of the Holy Christian Church as a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.