Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (Sermon for the 6th Sunday of Easter Year A)

If you love me you will keep my commandments. Simple enough…as long as we’re not confused about just what the commandments of Jesus are [HOLD UP SHIRT]. I don’t know if you can see what’s on this t-shirt: it has an image of Jesus, and the caption is, “I never said that.” There are times when I feel like the church should just make this our uniform—because the world does seem to be confused quite a lot about what the commandments and commands of Jesus actually are—so let’s take a look at them. I’ve gone through the four Gospels and compiled the list for us.

There are four places where Jesus uses the very word “commandment” – when the rich young ruler comes to him asking what he should do to inherit eternal life, Jesus replies, “You know the commandments,” and list some of the Ten Commandments. Then when the young man says he has always done all these, Jesus says, “You lack one thing: go and sell all you have, give the proceeds to the poor, and follow me.” (Mark 10:21)

When the Pharisees ask Jesus, “What is the greatest Commandment,” he tells them, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matt 22:37) Similarly, Jesus quotes the Golden Rule: “In everything you do, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets. (Matt 7:12)

Then, at the Last Supper, Jesus tells 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.” (John 13:34) And just a bit later, Jesus again tells them, “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” (John 15:12)

There are other commands, imperative statements, that Jesus gives throughout the Gospels. He frequently says, “Follow me,” the same command Jesus gave to that rich young ruler and to our patron, St. Andrew, and his brother Peter, as he called them from their boats. (Matt 4:18) Most of the times when Jesus gives commands it is about specific ways to follow him: Forgiving others and being merciful is a frequent one (Mark 11:25, Matt 6:14, Matt 18:21, Luke 6:37, Luke 17:3…), and along with that, recognizing our own sins and hypocrisy—taking the log our of our own eye before we try to remove the speck from another’s. (Matt 7:5) “Do not exalt yourself, for whoever exalts themselves will be humbled, and whoever humbles themselves will be exalted,” (Matt 23:8) “Do not judge, so that you may not be judged.” (Matt 7:1)

Jesus often gives the command to pray as the key to following him: we have the Lord’s Prayer as our model (Matt 6:5), we’re to pray for those who persecute us (Matt 5:43), “watch and pray” he asks his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matt 24:42), we are “to pray always and not to lose heart.” (Luke 18:1) “Ask and it will be given, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened.” (Matt 7:7) “Abide in my and I will abide in you.” (John 15:4)

Following him by serving others is another frequent command Jesus gives. “Turn the other cheek, go the second mile, give to anyone who asks.” (Matt 5:38) “Feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, welcome the stranger, clothe the naked, visit those who are sick or in prison”—following this command is the measure that separates the sheep from the goats on the Day of Judgment. (Matt 25:34)  Sending his disciples into the world, Jesus commands, “Heal the sick, raise the dead, drive out demons.” (Matt 10:8) “Go and do likewise, as the Good Samaritan did,” Jesus commands the legal expert who asks how to inherit eternal life and wants clarity on who exactly is the neighbor he needs to love. “Wash one another’s feet,” the disciples are told on Maundy Thursday. (John 13:14). “Take my yoke upon you.” (Matt 11:29) Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these (Matt 19:14)

“You are the light of the world…Let your light so shine before the world that they may see your good deeds and glorify you Father in heaven.” (Matt 5:14; 16) “You must be born from above.” (John 3:7) “Do not store up treasures on earth.” (Matt 6:19) “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God.” (Matt 6:33) “Do not be anxious for your life…Consider the lilies of the field…Do not worry about your needs; do not worry about tomorrow.” (Matt 6:25) “Give to Caesar that which belongs to Caesar, and to God that which belongs to God.” (Matt 22:21) “Have faith and you will move mountains.” (Mark 11:22) Get rid of whatever in your life causes you to sin. (Matt 5:29) “Enter through the narrow gate.” (Matt 7:13) “Beware of false prophets.” (Matt 7:15) “Be wise as serpents and gentle as doves.” (Matt 10:16) “Be perfect,” (Matt 5:48), and “Be ready, for the Son of Man will come at an hour when none expect him.” (Luke 12:40) “Go and make disciples of all nations.” (Matt 28:19ff) “Worship God only,” (Matt 4:10) and “Repent,” (Matt 3:2), “Obey,” (John 14:15), “Do not fear,” (Mark 5:36) “Believe” (John 14:1) And finally, “Take, eat…do this in remembrance of me.” (Luke 22:19)

There they all are…all of Jesus commands. I remember growing up, using a red letter Bible (that’s the kind where anything Jesus says is printed in red letters), it was confusing because what was in red didn’t match what the wider church was saying and doing. Nietzsche, one of the greatest “anti-Christians” of all time, said: “What is wrong with Christianity is that it refrains from doing all those things that Christ commanded should be done,” (Friedrich Nietzsche, The Will to Power) and Gandhi is frequently quoted as saying, “I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.” (No exact reference exists for this quote from Gandhi) My prayer today is that we, having heard this summary of all Jesus’ commands and living them out, would find that Nietzsche and Gandhi and all who have complaints about Jesus’ followers, would have to add, “except at St. Andrew’s Omaha.”