One was newly married, another had just bought some oxen that needed tending, and another a new piece of land. The invited had sorry excuses for why they couldn’t attend. You will recall that there was a man who planned a great feast and sent his servant out to invite all his friends to come join him. Luke’s account of it in chapter 14 of his Gospel is a little different than Matthew’s. John’s first-century disciples and look at some examples from Scripture as a brief examination of our progress in Jesus’ commandment of love.įirst, a very familiar story, the parable of the wedding feast. He kept company with people who were “ different.” He loved all persons, and repeatedly admonished his followers to love those he particularly loved-the poor, the sick, the disabled, and others on the margins who society tends to avoid. There are some loves that come easily to us, but the way Jesus wants us to love is hard. But, like Jesus’ disciples in the first century, we in the twenty-first century need to hear the same admonition over and over again too. Like Jesus responding to his Father’s will, Blessed John made Jesus’ WHY fully his own, and to the end of his life continued to admonish his friends to do the same. He was not able to put many words together with his voice and was accustomed to utter nothing but this during every gathering: “Little children, love one another.” Finally, the disciples and the brothers who were present became irritated because they constantly heard the same thing over and over, and they said, “Teacher, why do you always say this?” He answered with a statement worthy of John: “Because it is the Lord’s command, and if it alone is done, it is enough.” (bk. John the Beloved was still encouraging this WHY, or his way of love toward the end of his life:īlessed John the evangelist, when he was staying in Ephesus until extreme old age, used to be carried to church with difficulty by the hands of the disciples. In his commentary on the Letter to the Galatians, St. That is clear by his response to the Pharisees who asked him what the greatest commandment was (Matt. Jesus handed his WHY on to his Apostles, and by word and example invited us all to make his WHY ours. Just as he received his WHY from his father, Jesus’ WHY became theirs. Through his teaching and sacrifice, he pierced the hearts of his first disciples, and sent them out to preach the Gospel to the world (Matt. In word and deed, Jesus offers those who believe in him salvation by the forgiveness of their sins through obedience to his word and participation in his sacrifice. John told us, “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16). As he said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 6:38), and the will of his Father, the one who sent him, was to redeem humanity by his teaching, example, and death on the cross. Of course, we know the cost of his fidelity to his Father’s WHY. It was to carry out the will of his Father. Sinek says that only individuals and companies that clearly understand their WHY are successful. Why? Because only those who can clearly articulate their purpose, cause, or belief (their WHY) are able to inspire loyalty and command trust. His first TED Talk in 2009 has received over 50 million views, and his book, Start with WHY has sold over 1 million copies in the US alone. Simon Sinek is an author and motivational speaker who is best known for popularizing the concept of WHY.
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