Almost every American knows that God dictated 10 commandments to Moses.  And they also know that Moses was then given the task of letting the Hebrew people know that these were the rules by which they should live.  But now, let me ask, who, where and to whom was the 11th commandment given and for what purpose?  [Pause]  
 I’ll give you a clew; it was revealed in the Book of John, Chapter 13, Verse 34.  Now who can tell me who said it?  [Pause]  (Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of Man)
 All right, where was it said?   [Pause]   (The upper room where the last supper was observed)
 I have to believe you know to whom was it said [Pause] (The Disciples)
     I’m sure you have figured out by now we are talking about the Verse in which He said, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.”
 And He continued in Verse 35, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
 Let me give you a very small example of this before we discuss it in more detail:  The other night I was waiting for an arriving passenger for some time.  A woman in her early 30’s with two small children was having trouble keeping care of a 3 year old son and a wide ranging 5 year old.  
      I was poorly dressed and at least three times her weight.  Further, I remembered similar occasions when I was a well dressed businessman and had asked to help.  On those occasions, I was given a very cold shoulder and shunned.  However, this time, old close and all, something in my face told her that it was all right to accept my help in looking after the errant 3 year old while she collected her 5 year old.  
      “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another,” kept ringing through my head. And I knew that some how, she, a Christian had known that I too was one and could be trusted.
 
     “Well, of which just what is the kind of love was Christ speaking,” you ask.  I realize we break love down into both a noun and a transitive verb.  We speak of romantic love, motherly, fatherly, and sibling love, love of friends, love of pets, love of nature, and many other kinds – even love of things such as food.  
      Lets look at some of these:  
      Romantic Love –A very important part of the Hebrew wedding celebration is the serving of a very good wine used to toast the new couple.  Christ’s first miracle was done at a wedding.  The groom had run out of wine very early on and Christ knew it would be an embarrassment to the new wife and her family.  Christ then quietly took the wine servants back to the water barrels and told them to give this to the wedding guests.  One of the guests, not knowing Christ was the source of the wine, observed that the wine was so good that he remarked, “Most hosts serve their best wine first and their lesser wines after their guests have drunk a great deal.  The groom is to be congratulated for saving his best wine ‘til last.”
      Did Christ make this his first miracle to show the importance of the love a man and woman?  Just maybe it was also to show that a gift to a friend that doesn’t even know he has been given a gift is an act of love.  Remember the movie, The Magnificent Obsession?   (If you don’t, you may well want to rent it.)
      The Love of Siblings – Mary Magdolin, who later became a sort of 12th disciple to replace Judas after his death, dearly loved her brother Lazarus.  Jesus had also expressed his love of Lazarus as though he were his brother also.  You will remember that while Jesus was away, Lazarus died in Bethany. By the time Jesus could get there from Jerusalem, Lazarus had been in his grave for four days.  Even so, Jesus, the Christ, raised Lazarus from the dead out of love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus, his virtual brother and sisters.
      In my own case, my three sisters, Joyce, Marilyn and Shirley and I have always been very close.  Our written communication has been sparse but we four have always been so close that we knew what each other were experiencing of importance without having to be told.
      Love of pets – In Revelation we are told that in the New Jerusalem we will find the lamb lying down with the lion.  Yes, animals will be there too. How could it be heaven if those we love so deeply were not there?  Just think of your friend Hector or Homer or Socrates or what ever you named him or her.  Think of looking into that friend’s eyes and seeing unquestioning love even though you do a poor job of showing it to that friend.  Surely these friends have been given to us to help us understand God’s unquestioning love of us and He expects us to give that kind of love to Him and our brothers and sisters in Christ.
      Love of Children – After the Sermon on the Mount Jesus was very tired.  He was so tired that his disciples were afraid for his health and asked the near by noisy children to leave.  Christ stopped them and ordered them to “Suffer the little children to come unto Me, for such is the kingdom of heaven.”
      And let me ask you, “When your small children or grandchildren look up at you with eyes of wonder and love, could heaven be better?
      This bring us to the Love between parents and their children --  Remember, the 5th of the 10 Commandments is, “Honor thy father and thy mother.”
      Let me ask you to think about the really great classic movies or books.  It is most often a story of the love between parent and child.  For instance, the Wizard of Oz is a story of a girl who is lost in a strange place.  A place she admits is mostly “very beautiful.”  And yet, in the final scene she sums up the adventure by stating, “never-the-less, all I kept saying was: There is no place like home.  Oh Auntie Em’ there is no place like home.”
      In my own case, as I’ll bet it was in yours, whenever I was hungry or in trouble I knew my prime place of survival was at home with my portents.  Why, because I knew that there I would find unquestioning love no matter what good or bad thing I had done that day.   And, I knew something further.  I needed to be prepared to face life as an adult. I needed to learn how to take my place in society.   
      I remember once, when I was about 5, I was watching my father saw a board.  As he came close to finishing the cut I could see he needed some one to hold the unsuspended end to keep it from causing the board to break just as the cut was finished.  However, I stood there and did nothing.  At this point I was taught in no uncertain terms that if you see someone needs help, you ask him or her if you may help and give it to him or her if they wish it.
      This point was made clear in the parable of the Good Samaritan.  That parable added to the lessen that you should offer help even if it places you, yourself at personal risk.
 And this brings us to the kind of love that Jesus Christ himself referred to as the greatest love of all.  In John 15:13 he said, “No one can have greater love than to give his life for a friend.”  And He proved it by doing that Himself on the cross for all those who have asked him to be their dearly loved friend. That includes you and I.
      And then He told us through his disciples that he gave His life for us so that all of our sins would be forgiven without us having to suffer at God’s judgment.    All we have to do is be his friend and we will never suffer death.

      The Choir sings:  Love Lifted Me