As I write this message, we are drawing towards the end of a hard fought and at times bitter Federal election campaign. It has highlighted again the divisions and barriers that we like to erect between different ‘tribes’.
It was not much different in Jesus’ day. While most Jews were united in their hatred of the occupying Romans and distrustful of their distant cousins, the Samaritans, there was considerable animosity between various Jewish political groups. In this contested space, Jesus offers an alternative way. Love one another. No ifs, no buts, no exceptions, no limits. Just love one another. Let that become the symbol to the waiting world of the new Christian community. And before we are tempted to make this too exclusive, God’s view of ‘one another’ is broader than we can imagine and includes those we feel sure are outside the sphere of God’s blessing.
Love one another. So simple to say and yet so difficult to embody and live out. What might it take for our neighbours to remark, how those Christians love one another?