"I love you, too."

        "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.  By all this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." (John 13:34-35)
         Do you know when Jesus said these words?  Not while happily strolling along the Sea of Galilee on a sun-drenched day.  Not while peacefully sitting on a mountain top, savoring the view with his friends.  Not while laughing with delight over the love and excitement of children clamoring to be near him.  Not while the multitudes were listening to His teaching with rapt attention and rejoicing over His miraculous healing of the sick. 
          Nope. Jesus said these words immediately after Judas--one of the disciples whom Jesus had chosen, had loved, had taught, had poured Himself into--took bread from Jesus' hand at the last supper and then went out into the darkness to betray this One'd loved him and come to save him.  Jesus said these words knowing that in a few hours He would live them out with His suffering, with His blood, with His very life.  He would be betrayed, abandoned, beaten, and nailed to a rough wooden cross for Judas' sin...for their sins...for your sins...for my sins.  All to demonstrate the boundless, beautiful extent of His love.
         Jesus was born in a cradle at Christmas in order to die on a cross at Calvary.  That is how much He loved us.  And He commands us that "just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another." 
        Love means loving as Jesus loved--when others are at their best...and at their worst.  When they "deserve" our love...and when they don't.  When we feel like loving...and when we don't.  When our circumstances are all sunshine and flowers...and when they're more like typhoons and muddy muck. 
        I've been thinking about this a lot recently for that's how my sweet sister-in-law, Katherine, loved.  Nothing fancy or earth-shattering.  She simply showed up and loved, day in and day out. 
        Isn't that how love behaves? Yes, love sacrifices.  Love forgives.  Love encourages.  Love appreciates.  Love thanks....
        ...but love also, at it's most basic level, simply shows up...day after day, through thick and thin, in busy and barren seasons, whether it's easy or challenging.  Love keeps showing up.   
         The words of our daughter, Janie, when she spoke at Katherine's Home-going service expressed this so beautifully, so I thought I'd share her comments.  (But an important note first: Janie absolutely, positively was nowhere as difficult as she claims here!  No question she was strong-willed, but God used that herculean will after her accident to enable her to fight back and recover.  So praise God that He uses even our weaknesses for our ultimate good and His glory!) 
        Here are Janie's words:
         "For those of you that knew me as a child, I feel I should apologize for some potentially not so fond memories. If temper tantrums were an art, I was Picasso at age 5. I knew every button and could press them all simultaneously, it was a dark gift. I was not an easy child to be around for longer than 5 min. If you got to 6 min, you had front row seat to the Janie tantrum show. All this to say, at certain points in my childhood, I was understandably intolerable. Aunt Katherine was one of the few, the mighty, that showed up for it all. I was stubborn, but Aunt Katherine was even more stubborn… because she refused to be absent in the midst of all my antics.
         She showed up for the attention seeking stage. I would perform the song Britney Spears song “Oops I did it again,” complete with dance moves and background music, literally hundreds of times for my loyal audience member. Each time she couldn’t hide her laughter I would stomp my foot, turn off the music, and start over because I wanted to be taken seriously. I would scold her for not giving me the deference I was due as a serious aspiring 5 year old performer, and each time she would vehemently agree with me and tell me that I was the greatest singer/dancer she had ever seen. She showed up even when I was being ridiculous because I needed someone to affirm in my dreams, no matter how silly.
         She showed up for the vanity stage. In elementary school, I was convinced that I was at the pinnacle of fashion. This meant that I had to have my hair slicked back on my head like a mobster from the 20s. I would make Katherine perform the role of stylist, which consisted of about an hour of doing and redoing my hair. Each time she put my hair in a ponytail and smoothed down all the sides with water, I would look in the mirror and yell “I see a bump!!” and she’d do it again. And again. And again. I usually started crying at some point during the 25th iteration and Katherine would wipe the tears away and say matter of factly “, don’t worry, I will make it perfect!” She showed up even when I was being exasperating because I needed someone to tell me it was going to be okay.
         She showed up for the jealous stage. I use to count my presents every Christmas and compare what I got with what my siblings got. I was at the age where quantity meant infinitely more than quality. One year, when I thought that Katherine had gotten my siblings more than she had gotten me, I went to DEFCON 1 and threw a fit that to rival all fits. I refused to talk to anyone for a good part of the day. But Katherine came and sat with me, even as I was trying to give her the cold shoulder. She said all the presents in the world wouldn’t be enough to represent how much she loved me. She showed up even when I was being ungrateful because I needed someone who would love me without expecting any thanks.
         And Katherine never stopped showing up. Whatever I went through, whatever I did, she was there for it. She taught me that standing side by side through thick and thin is the best way to love someone. Even if they’re stubborn, even if they’re ridiculous, even if they’re exasperating, even if they’re ungrateful, keep showing up. I am eternally thankful for Katherine because I learned so much from the way she loved me when I was hard to love. I am better for it. I love and miss her dearly, but I will carry the example she set for me until I see her again."
       
         The last words our family heard Katherine utter on the night before she went home to heaven were "I love you too."  And isn't it remarkable that on the very same day in Texas those were also the very last words of George H.W. Bush.  "I love you, too."  Oh might those be the words that those we love hear from us over and over again, from first to last.  Don't just think it, say it.  
        Love is why Jesus came at Christmas.  Love is why He died at Calvary.  Love is what He's commanded us to do.  Might others know us not by our accomplishments, our appearance, our accolades, or by anything this world so often applauds, but by the way we love.  Love God and love others.  Think how we could transform this old planet if we would love like Jesus loved. 
       Let's start by simply showing up...today...and then tomorrow...and then the next.  Because aren't you so thankful that Jesus showed up for you over two thousand years ago at Christmas?  Thank You, Lord Jesus, and I love You, too! 
        To God be the glory.