Simply put: Love one another as I have loved you. In this farewell discourse, Jesus offers words of truth and words of comfort to the disciples. These are words spoken hours before Jesus will be arrested, and he has a lot to say. In chapter 13, Jesus foretells the betrayal and the denial, and then he says, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another.”

Jesus goes on to explain that he is preparing to leave. He talks about leaving this world and going to the Father. He tells the disciples that he is the way and the truth and the life. He promises that God will send another Advocate—the Holy Spirit—who will be with the disciples forever. The Holy Spirit will teach the disciples all that they need to know and remind them of all that Jesus has said.

And then we get to chapter 15, where Jesus says, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinegrower… You are the branches.” Jesus talks about fruit and pruning and the relationship between the branches and the vine. In this relationship, in order for the branches to survive and bear fruit, they must remain on the vine. If they fall off the vine, they will no longer have the necessary nutrients on which they live and from which they are able to bear fruit. Just as the branches must stay connected to the vine, stay connected to me, Jesus tells the disciples. Abide in me, as I abide in you. Abide in my love. And then, again Jesus says: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” It is stated so simply. But it is easy?

We often talk about the Golden Rule: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” It is written on the wall of many children’s classrooms, and it becomes a common statement on covenants at youth retreats. It’s an ancient rule, with ties to many world religions. In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, “In everything do to others as you would have them do to you; for this is the law and the prophets.” And in Matthew, Mark, and Luke, we can find several places where Jesus commands us to “Love our neighbors as ourselves.” Love others the way we love ourselves… But here, in his farewell discourse in John’s gospel, Jesus’ commandment is different; we are no commanded to love others the way we love ourselves. We are commanded to love one another as Jesus has loved us. We are to love as Jesus loved. And that, my friends, seems much more challenging.

After all, how many of us can find fault within ourselves—we never quite feel good enough or smart enough or fast enough or… fill in the blank. We don’t think we’re capable of the tasks set before us, and we don’t give ourselves enough credit. In reality, though we can be quite selfish, how much do we really love ourselves? How much do we believe in ourselves and affirm the gifts we’ve been given?

More than loving ourselves, we must love others as Jesus loved us. “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Here, in the season of Easter, we continue to celebrate Jesus’ victory over sin and death. We celebrate the resurrection—the greatest love demonstrated in Jesus’ life and death on the cross. But, how do we even begin to emulate such love? How can we possibly love as Jesus loved?

Well, we begin with the man himself—with the one who was fully human and fully divine, with Jesus, who loves us and shares God’s love with us. We can only love because God first loved us. Jesus assures us—as he assured the disciples, “As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.” There is a call for action here: Abide in my love. Jesus is about to leave the disciples and this world, but his ministry—his sharing of God’s love—is not over. It has only begun. Continue in my way, he says. Continue in my love. Stay in my love. Remain in my love. Live and abide and dwell in my love.

There is a beautiful scene in the Disney movie, The Lion King[1], where Simba the lion has to be reminded where it all begins. After a tragic accident when Simba's father, the King, Mufasa dies, Simba runs away from Pride Rock and exiles himself. He doesn’t think he’s worthy of love and community. So, he makes new friends and a new life for himself, away from his family and friends, away from everything he knows, and away from the role to which he has been called. Much later, upon searching for food, his childhood friend, Nala, finds him and reminds him that he is still rightfully the King of Pride Rock, that he has a call to fulfill. “We need you to come home,” she tells him. But Simba is scared—scared of the past, of failure, of being alone, of doing it wrong.

So Simba is feeling particularly sad and lonely when Raffiki the monkey comes along. Simba is annoyed by him and says, “Creepy little monkey, will you stop following me? Who are you?” Raffiki, in his infinite wisdom responds, “The question is- Who are you?”

Raffiki: Wrong, I'm not the one who's confused. You don't even know who you are.

Raffiki: Nope. Wrong again! Ha ha ha. He's alive, and I'll show him to you. You follow Raffiki and I'll show you.

The two make their way down to the edge of a pond, and Raffiki tells Simba to look down into the water. Simba peers into the water and sees his reflection. He sighs, and says, “That's not my father. It's just my reflection.” Raffiki responds, “No. Look harder. You see... He lives in you.”

When Simba looks harder, he hears his father's voice and looks up to an image in the clouds. In the image, Mufasa says, “Simba, you have forgotten me.” Simba replies, “No, how could I?” Mufasa says, “You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, Simba. You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life... Remember who you are. You are my Son and the one true King. Remember who you are... Remember.”

He lives in you. Remember who you are. Every time a child is baptized, we are asked to “remember our baptism.” And it’s a way for us to remember who we are. There are times when, like Simba, we need to be reminded who we are. We need to be reminded that God lives in us, abides in us. Remember who you are: a child of God. A child of God loved by God. A child of God who can only love others because you have first received God’s love.

“You did not choose me, but I chose you,” Jesus said. Jesus initiates. We have been chosen. And it’s a beautiful reminder of why we baptize children. As our Directory for Worship states, “The Baptism of children witnesses to the truth that God’s love claims people before they are able to respond in faith” (W-2.3008b). We have been chosen. God’s love has chosen us. And it is from this place of love where we can begin to love others. We can begin to love as Jesus loved. We can begin to love Jesus, to be Jesus’ friend.

When we remember who we are and to whom we belong, then and only then can we respond to others, calling them to remember who they are. Calling them to notice God’s abiding love within. Knowing that we are beloved children of God, loved wholly by God, then we can be the “creepy little monkey” for others—reminding them of Jesus’ initiation: “You did not choose me, but I chose you.” And the circle grows wider.

The Acts passage seems to be very fitting here. A group of Gentiles have gathered, and upon preaching to them, Peter realizes that they too have been included in God’s covenant family. They too are children of God. The circle of God’s love and salvation is busted wide open. So, surely it was a shocking moment for Peter—first he learns in a vision from God that the food laws he has always known may not be so absolute. And now, among a group of uncircumcised Gentiles, it becomes clear to Peter that they are included in God’s covenant promises. Even in his astonishment, Peter cannot deny what he sees: The Holy Spirit being poured out on the Gentiles. “Can anyone withhold the water for baptizing these people who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” God’s gift is bigger. God’s family is bigger. What we think we know about God’s love may not be the end of the story.

In fact, it’s just the beginning. God’s love is where the story begins. God’s love is what names us and claims us at our own baptism. God’s love is what calls us to love others as we have already been loved. God’s love is what expands our understanding of the covenant family, of the family of God.

In his book Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations[2], Robert Schnase relates a story about a church where two infants were both being baptized on the same day. “A long-time member and proud grandfather stood at the baptismal font with his family for the baptism of his baby granddaughter. Another infant from another family that was new to the congregation was baptized at the same service. Following the service, the two families intermingled at the front of the church as they took turns having their pictures taken. At one point, the mother from the new family needed to get some things out of her bag, and the grandfather from the other family offered to hold her baby. Other church members were mixing and greeting, and several commented on the grandfather with the baby, and he found himself saying several times, “Oh, this one isn’t mine; I’m just holding him for a minute.”

Well, Monday morning the grandfather came to the church office and told the pastor, “I want to change my will to include the church, and I want to talk to you about how to do that.” The pastor was stunned and couldn’t help asking about what brought the grandfather to this decision. The older man’s eyes grew moist as he said, “Yesterday I realized something while I was holding that other baby, the one from the family that just joined the church. I kept telling people that wasn’t my child, but then it dawned on me that it was part of my family, part of my church family, and that I have a responsibility for that little boy just like I have for my own granddaughter. I've been a member of this church for more than forty years, and in God's eyes I'm a grandfather to more than just my own… I want to divide my estate to leave a part to the church as if the church were one of my children.”

Loving as Jesus loved us. Expanding our own understanding of family to include all of God’s children. We have been loved. We have been called to love one another. We have been chosen. And we are appointed. We are appointed to go and bear fruit. From a place of deep love, we go and love one another.

Today is a day we are calling “Promise Sunday.” It is a day for all of us to remember our baptism, to remember that God chooses us first. This does not mean that we must literally remember the water on the top of our heads or rolling down our cheeks. It does mean that we remember that we were baptized and that we have been incorporated into God’s covenant family. We know that we can love others as Jesus has loved us because of the grace that was bestowed upon us in our baptism.

And if you haven’t been baptized, then you are invited to anticipate your baptism, knowing that being baptized doesn’t mean loving others as Jesus loved suddenly becomes easy. But being baptized means that you recognize that God chooses you and appoints you to the ministry of love.

Today is a day to remember who we are and that God promises to love us and to equip us for the ministry of love. God makes the first promise, but we respond with a promise of our own. And each time someone is baptized, we make a promise—a commitment—to guide and nurture by word and deed, with love and prayer. We promise to encourage each other to know and follow Christ and to encourage each other to be faithful members of Christ’s Church.

Today, we celebrate that promise. We are grateful for the women and men who stood up here today as Sunday School teachers, Bridge to Worship leaders, and Youth Advisors. We are grateful for the children who shared a powerful sermon in song with us last Sunday. We are grateful for the church members and friends who affirmed those children and recognized their gifts. We are grateful for the children who share and interpret the stories of faith for us, the adults. We are grateful for youth who question the status quo and feel the Holy Spirit’s pushing at the edges of our own circles. We are grateful for people who are not just like us who come to be a part of our community. We are grateful for men and women, young and old, ordained and lay, great and small. For all of us have a place in the faith community—to love as Jesus has loved.

Loved and commanded. Chosen and Appointed. At the baptismal font, we are given our identity. And sometimes, we need to go back to the font to remember who we are. Sometimes, it’s at the font where we are reminded that God’s family is big enough for all people.

What does it mean to be children of God? We belong to God who loves us and calls us God’s own. In life and death we belong to God. We have been chosen and appointed. We have been chosen and appointed to love one another. And it starts here. [at the font]

[1] Walt Disney Feature Animation, 1994.

[2] Schnase, Robert. Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations. Abingdon Press, 2007.