In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

     "Don't go there!" "You don't want to go there!" "Let's not go there!" I wonder where this colloquial phrase got it's start? It's become so common, I suppose no one remembers who first coined the phrase. I mean, literally, we've said that for some time-don't go out into the street; don't go into dark alleys-but now, it's come to mean don't do something-don't talk about something-don't bring up a certain topic. Now, "Don't go there" means let's not discuss that-or surely, you won't want to talk about that.

     In our gospel lesson for today, which comes from Jesus' farewell discourses-Jesus' farewell discussion with his disciples at the Last Supper, we are told that Judas went out to sell Jesus out for thirty pieces of coin. And St. John tells us, as soon as Judas left, Jesus said, "Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him." And of course, Jesus' glory comes, from being betrayed by Judas, being arrested by the Jewish authorities, being tried and tortured by the Romans, and finally, Jesus' glory comes from being crucified. So, what Jesus is talking about here, is his own death-and he tells his disciples plainly, I am going where you cannot-where you will not want-to go. Jesus is going to the cross, to die, and when Jesus goes to be crucified, the disciples may not go with him. He's telling his most intimate companions, "with regard to the cross--trust me, you don't want to go there!" And indeed, no one wants to go to the cross!

     But then, Jesus says to his disciples something else, as He gives them a new commandment. The old commandments, the two greatest commandments Jesus has spoken of before, saying, "the greatest and first commandment is this-to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. And the second is like unto the first-love your neighbor as yourself." These commandments, we know well, as did Jesus and His disciples. But why, then, does Jesus give a new commandment? Why the need for a new commandment? And, just how is this commandment new-or different? If you really read this new one, you'll notice that the change is subtle. It sounds almost exactly like the old commandment-except, here, Jesus says, "love one another, as I have loved you." The old commandment, if you want to call it that, was, "love your neighbor as yourself." The new is, "as I have loved you, you also should love one another." And though these sound similar, think about the great difference between the two. It's the difference between loving someone as you love yourself-and loving someone, as Jesus loves! And you know what-I'm not sure we want to go there! When you consider how Jesus loves us-that, too, may be someplace we just can't, or won't, go with Him. Because look at His love-at the Last Supper, Jesus has knelt to wash his disciple's feet-their dirty, smelly, mis-shapen old feet. And then, He gives Himself-His very body and blood, to them, for spiritual food and drink, manifesting for them the total, self-giving sacrifice He would make for them on Good Friday, emptying Himself for their sake, and for the sake of the world. This love, with which Jesus loves us is a love that is foreign to us-so foreign and alien that we can't really even comprehend it-because it seeks nothing for itself.and that, we don't understand. Our concept of love, and so, our loving, always has an eye for itself. We say we love our spouse, or our significant other-fully expecting that they will say it in return-automatically. We try to please the another, hoping the other will want to please us as well. We give, only to get. Our motives for love, are most often, self-motivated-as our primary concerns are for self-gratification, self-preservation, and the glorifying of self. Like it or not, we are motivated primarily, by us, and our wants and needs. And even love, is subservient to love of self. Which is contrary to love, which kneels at the feet of another. Which is contrary to love which serves, simply for the sake of serving. Which is what makes this new commandment so difficult-in that it requires so much of us-and requires something we just are not prepared to give-total, complete, unselfish, self-sacrifice. Martin Luther, in speaking of this new commandment, writes, "so then, this commandment of love is a short, and yet a long commandment; it is only one commandment, and yet many commandments; it is no commandment, and yet all commandments. It is short, a unit in itself, and its meaning is readily grasped; but in practice, it requires much time and many deeds." Luther also writes, "this is what is still happening in the world, and I suppose it will stay this way forever: people are willing to be fed and made rich, to have the Gospel help them acquire worldly possessions and bring them a living, money, honor and comfort; but that it would dominate them, and teach them divine service-this they cannot endure." What many of us-perhaps most of us cannot endure-is the call to love, the call to serve, as Jesus has loved, and served us. We just don't want to go there. And truly, we have trouble going there, because we don't now how to get there! How do we become less focused on ourselves? How do we keep our self-identity and autonomy, in a healthy way, while giving ourselves away? How do we learn love that seeks the good of the neighbor, and not the desires of the self? How can we get to love of one another?

     First, we have to hear what Jesus says-that Jesus begins, "As I have loved you." The starting place has always to be-that Jesus loves us. In fact, this is the point of everything Jesus says and does at the Last Supper-that Jesus kneels at his disciple's feet; that Jesus washes them; that Jesus prepares the meal; that Jesus feeds His followers with spiritual food; that Jesus loves us and serves us.that Jesus gives Himself up for us, a perfect sacrifice for the sins of the world. The mistake we sometimes make, is that we just think too much of ourselves-we concentrate on ourselves too much, and we miss the powerful, transforming love of God the Father in Jesus Christ, the powerful, transforming love, with which He first loved us! In St. John's first epistle, he writes, "in this is love, not that we love God, but that He loved us, and sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him." You see, the important thing is God and His love! The first thing, is that God loved us, and sent His Son to manifest that love for us! And God's love is manifested, in that He sent His Son to be the expiation, the payment, for our sins. In other words, God's love comes to us, as forgiveness of our sins. In other words, we are forgiven, for not being loving, and not being able, sometimes, to love-and not being able to love with a complete, self-sacrificing, un-selfish love. And it is this merciful love; it is this forgiveness-that sets us free, to love. It is God's love, shown in Jesus' sacrifice on the cross, that sets us free to love-not perfectly, not always self-lessly-but in response to the love of God, in Jesus Christ. In a sermon in 1522, Luther said, "How does one come to love? The heart of man is so base that it cannot love, unless it has first seen the benefit of loving. So God thought, 'Well, I must deal with you in such a way and with such kindness that you will love me. So God took His Son, and sent Him into our mire, sin and misery, and poured forth the entire story of His mercy-He made Himself a beloved Father-He gave us His Son, poured out His great treasure most generously and sank and drowned all our sins and filth in the vast sea of His great goodness, so that the heart cannot but let this great love and blessing, draw it to love in return.otherwise the human heart cannot love; it must find that is has been loved first."

     When we struggle to love, and find it hard to go there-let us first go to the heart of God, where God first loves us. Let us focus, not on ourselves, and our sinfulness and our inability to love-let us first, experience God's great love and blessing-trusting that God will draw us, to love, in return. Let us first, meditate on God and His love; that God made Himself a beloved Father-that God gave us His Son, poured out His great treasure most generously, and sank and drowned all our sins and filth in the vast sea of His great goodness. And then, let us simply wait and see-whether love, for one another, will come. Let us wait and see, whether God will draw forth from us-love.

     In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.