Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Back in the days when we gathered for summer church camps in addition to the ever present Kum-ba-ya was this favorite:

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord.
And we pray that all unity will someday be restored.
Refrain: And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love,
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love.
(The congregation joined in singing the refrain)

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we'll guard each one's dignity and save each one's pride Refrain:

We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand
And together we'll spread the news that God is in our land. Refrain:

They will know we are Christians by our love.

On the last night Jesus was with his friends, he was reclining at the table, having dinner with them. Maybe he was feeling anxious because he might have known that his time with them was growing short. Perhaps he felt as though this was his last chance to get all of his teachings and time with them boiled down into a few plain spoken sentences – what we call ‘sound bites’ that they would remember forever.

This teaching of Jesus actually begins when Judas has left the dinner table to go out to betray Jesus. Jesus tells the disciples he will be leaving them shortly and then says, "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."

Immediately the disciples start questioning him, missing what he is saying to them – all wrapped up in their anxieties: Peter "Where are you going? Can't I follow you? Thomas "Lord we don't know where you are going; how can we know the way?" Philip: "Show us the Father and we shall be satisfied." Judas (not Iscariot): "How is it that you will show yourself to us, and not the world?"

And so Jesus talks to his friends about love. He tells them that the way to he will show himself to the world is through them and the love they show for each other. He wants them to understand that if they model love through their behavior toward themselves and others that God's love will show through.

This kind of love is about acceptance, understanding, patience, and steadfastness. This is similar to the kind of love we show toward our teenagers when they get upset and rant and rave at us, tell us they don't want to be a part of the family, dash to their rooms, slam the door, and then come out five minutes later and say, “I need a ride to the mall” ....and we take them!

This is the kind of love Miss Kooky, a school bus driver from Bradenton, Florida showed to the children on her bus. She was featured on NBC’s Nightly News last week in their ‘Making a Difference’ section. Driving that bus day after day with children yelling and making all kinds of commotion had been getting to her. She thought of quitting but then loved those children too much to give up. So she created Miss Kookyi’s reading bus. She told the children they were to be quiet on the bus as if they were in a library. They were to read a book, any book, and when finished, to hand in a book report. Whoever handed in the most reports at the end of a given period would win a prize. Amazingly enough, it worked. The bus is quiet. The children are reading. Miss Kooky is reading far more reports than she ever imagined and the children’s grades have gone up in school. This is loving people as God has loved.

They will know we are Christians by our love.

This is the kind of love I experienced when I first met my biological half-brothers and sisters…people I did not know...who were strangers to me...yet to whom I am related.

In 1992 I met my biological mother and her husband. Her birthday is in May and the month before her birthday my half-brother who, until my arrival on the scene, had the distinction of being the oldest in the family, called to invite me to join the other four brothers and sisters in a celebration of that birthday. I wanted to go but went on that trip with great trepidation.

First he suggested that he would fly in from Albuquerque, spend some time with me, and then he and a sister and I would drive up to Maine (10 hours in the car with strangers), stay in Maine for four days (meaning I would be stuck without my own transportation ... and way to leave if I wanted to), and ultimately be together for this birthday celebration. I had visions of 40 something years of history being discussed ad nauseum while I sat by and listened. But I went.

This man, who was a stranger to me, had worked to overcome my being "that woman" to becoming, "my sister." He was willing to fly in early so we could get to know each other before spending that 10 hours in the car. And he thought the ten hours in the car would give three of us some relationship so I would not be arriving into the midst of strangers. This was an act of the kind of love Jesus is talking about.

The other siblings attempted in every way possible to make me one of the family. This was a little bit overpowering in some ways. I kept trying to get away so I could be by myself. (Hey lets go to L.L. Bean. You can just drop me off and we can meet two hours later. Oh no, we’ll just tag along with you. The next day, Hey there's a Filene's. Why don't you drop me off while you run errands, and pick me up later? Oh that's O.K.; we’ll just tag along with you.)

I went to church (Catholic). Father Ernie gave me communion, knowing that I was not catholic. Then he graciously invited me to read the lesson on Thursday morning, my mother's birthday. Again, the love of Christ showing through.

The last night, gathered around the table, we all gave gifts to my mother. Interspersed in all the gift giving, was the giving out of homemade hearts by a six year old niece. They had scotch tape on the back so we could wear them. I had already accumulated several when she brought me one that said "Happy birthday" "You won't be here on your birthday she said, so I'm giving you yours now." Then to my surprise, my siblings gave a gift of a stained glass hummingbird – “everyone in the family has one’ they said. It came with a card that said welcome...and was signed by everyone.

When it was time to go, I was ready to leave. I didn’t know when I would see this clan again. What mattered most to me was that they extended themselves to include me ... a stranger ... with the kind of love that we are commanded to show for each other.

They will know we are Christians by our love.

And just this past week a stranger showed the love of Christ to St. Gregory’s. During the week I looked up how much a communion kit cost. We have mine to use but I thought the church should have one of its own. Well…these little kits are pretty expensive. So I sent out an email to the clergy of the diocese – sort of a plea from their ‘country cousin’ – do any of you have any kits you aren’t using? Several people responded with web sites selling kits (mostly the disposable cups from other denominations) and then Joel from Chappaqua New York emailed that he had the vessels from a kit – given to him by a priest’s widow. Needs a little polishing he wrote. On Saturday, Joel and his wife rode their motorcycle from Chappaqua to Woodstock to deliver the kit. They literally went the extra mile or 100 miles (115 to be exact) to share the love of Christ with our congregation.

And lastly, around nine people showed up Saturday morning to clean the grounds – put new mulch in the labyrinth (pushing a wheelbarrow full of mulch is a great way to get a cardio workout). This was done for the glory of God to be sure but also to make our grounds inviting for whoever wants to sit and meditate or walk the labyrinth in prayer. We do this because we want to show the love of God to whoever walks through our doors or onto our property.

They will know we are Christians by our love.

The poet Ursula Le Guin captures the challenge of such love: “Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone; it has to be made, like bread, remade all the time, made new” (The Lathe of Heaven). In a time when people are hesitant to proclaim, “I am a Christian” because many people associate ‘Christian’ with the notion of who is in or out, we can strive to be brave enough, intentional enough, to show the community, strangers, family, what a Christian really is…someone who lives out the commandment to “love others as I have loved you.” We can make ourselves a sacrament – an outward and visible sign of inward and spiritual grace – by sharing – giving away – the love of Christ, without assumptions, without prejudice, without requirements and with joy.

In all we say or do, may we show that we are Christians by our love.