Love, Obedience, and Abraham Lincoln

I took our car in for an oil change, and I was sitting in the waiting room, which was empty except for me and one other man. There wasn’t much to do, so I struck up a conversation, and pretty soon we were talking about United States Presidents. And that’s when things started to get a little strange. You see, this man began talking about Abraham Lincoln; that he not only considered Lincoln to be the greatest President ever, but also the greatest American of all time and possibly the greatest man in history, period. In fact, he even said that he tried to live his life according to the teachings and example of Abraham Lincoln.
Well, now, this piqued my curiosity. I’d heard of Buddhists and Confucians, but I’d never met a Linconian—a disciple of Abraham Lincoln. I didn’t even know there was such a thing. So I just had to ask a few more questions:
“Are there others like you?” I asked. “Oh yes, there’s a group of about 40 here in Lake County; we meet once a week on Friday evening—that’s the day Lincoln was shot. Our leader has a Masters Degree in American History. Every week, he reads a selection from Lincoln’s writings, and then he gives a talk explaining what it means and suggesting ways we can apply it to our lives. And of course, February 12th, Lincoln’s birthday, is a big holiday for us. We have parties, exchange gifts, and sing Civil War songs. It’s fun.”
“That’s fascinating!” I said. “So you must study Lincoln’s life and writings?” “Well, not exactly,” he said. “I do own a leather-bound copy of Lincoln’s complete works—his speeches and letters. I also own several biographies of Lincoln. One of these days I really do plan to read them. I just haven’t had the time.”
I started to push him a little. “But how can you be a disciple of Lincoln if you don’t read what he wrote?” “Well, it’s mostly common sense stuff, really,” he said. “Do unto others, the golden rule, be nice to people, free the slaves, that kind of thing. And besides, I listen to a half-hour speech about Lincoln every Friday.”
“I see. So how does being a follower of Lincoln affect your life?” “Well, like I said, I go to a meeting every Friday. I celebrate Lincoln’s birthday once a year. I own a leather-bound edition of his writings and speeches. Oh, and most of my friends are also Linconians.”
“So, when you get together with your friends, do you talk about Lincoln’s life and how to live out his teachings?” “Oh, no, not really. That stuff’s for Fridays, when we go to the meetings. No, we mostly talk about sports, politics, our families. We’re normal people, you know.”
As you may have guessed, this conversation never really happened. I just made it up. But it would be ridiculous, wouldn’t it, for someone to claim to be a follower of Abraham Lincoln, and yet not study his writings…not be familiar with the events of his life? You might reasonably doubt the depth of someone’s devotion to our sixteenth president if they had never heard of the Gettysburg address, or the Emancipation Proclamation, or Ford’s Theater. You would rightly expect that if a person claimed to be a disciple of Lincoln’s, it would have an affect on how they lived, beyond attending a meeting once a week.
Do you see where I’m going with this? If you are a Christian…if you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ, it will affect much more of your life than just Sunday morning. Following Jesus isn’t a hobby. It’s a way of life. It’s a way of life that makes us different from the world around us. It’s a matter of identity—it’s not just a matter of what you know, it’s a matter of who you are. To say it another way, Christians define themselves by their connection to Jesus Christ. That connection is a real thing. Again, it makes us who we are: people who have Jesus living inside them. Question number one in Luther’s Small Catechism: What is Christianity? Answer: It is the life and salvation given in and through Jesus Christ. Not a code of regulations. Not a list of do’s and don’ts. Not a burden of guilt to motivate us. Christianity is being chosen by God, adopted by him, cleaned up, forgiven, and being plugged into life with Jesus that lasts forever.
So how does someone respond to all this? Jesus tells us in his usual straightforward manner, “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Now, right away you might hear that and think, “whoops,” because we know ourselves. We know our own track record with keeping God’s commands. We are weak-willed, rebellious, in a word, sinful. That’s what made Jesus’ suffering and death on a cross necessary. But again he did that for you so you could be chosen, adopted, cleaned up, forgiven, and plugged into eternal life. So if you return to God and admit your sin and spend some time at the foot of the cross, then your debt is paid in full. You have the proverbial clean slate. Not only that, but you have the Holy Spirit as your counselor and advocate. He goes with you through life pointing you to Jesus. Having given you these priceless gifts, your resurrected Lord gently asks you, “Do you love me?”
If you do love Jesus, then you will want to obey his commands. You won’t have to be forced to. You won’t obey Jesus because you’re scared of what’ll happen if you don’t. You obey his commands because you love him and know that’s what’s best. If you didn’t love Jesus, then you wouldn’t really care what he commanded, would you? If you do love him, then you do care, and you’ll want to do things his way.
By the way, what are the commands Jesus wants us to obey? Any idea? Earlier in this same conversation, Jesus said it clearly. This is chapter 13 verse 34: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Are you sensing a theme here? Love seems to be very important to our Lord Jesus…but he’s not talking about sticky sweet sentimental feelings or warm fuzzies. When Jesus talks about love, he’d usually talking about sacrifice.

How will you respond to Jesus? As you think about that, consider this poem quoted by Pastor Gregory Dawson:

Christ has no body now
But yours
No hands
No feet on earth
But yours

Yours are the eyes
Through which he looks
With compassion on this world
Yours are the feet
With which he walks to do good
Yours are the hands
With which he serves all the world

Yours are the hands
Yours are the feet
Yours are the eyes
You are his body

Jesus said, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Let’s show Jesus to each other by obeying his commands.