It was a simple statement. Because of its
simplicity, I stop sipping my coffee and read it
again.
Here’s the statement:
Gospel: The crowd tries to stop Jesus from healing
the girl then mocks him. Don't let anyone prevent
you from loving.
February is culturally known as the month of love.
Amidst those tasty, staled, delightfully colored
candy hearts and Hallmark cards, there we don’t want
to forget:
Love—isn’t only a feeling. Then what else is it?
Love—is a verb. God is love. Out of God’s love God
created. That is the good news. God didn’t have to
but God did. And thus, we are.
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is
from God... 8Whoever does not love does not know
God, for God is love… 11Beloved, since God loved us
so much, we also ought to love one another. 12No one
has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives
in us, and his love is perfected in us.
It really isn’t that easy? Or is it? Jesus loved
radically. Radical love, is a love so extreme that
it dissolves our existing boundaries, whether they
are boundaries that separate us from other people,
that separate us from preconceived notions we my
have about each other, or that separate us from God.
Despite the warnings and threats from the community,
Jesus compassionately cared for those on the margins
in his community. But also, Jesus cared selflessly
for those he called disciples.
Here in lies a potential problem: it is easy to spot
the outsider but do we know who is an outsider on
the inside? Not sure what this means? Here is an
example our own denomination faced and still faces
at times: To be an outsider on the inside looks like
a woman pastor not being treated in the same way as
the stereotypical male pastor.
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Essentially, in God’s sight, no one is a misfit.
There is no set protocol for God’s community. It is our call as
God’s people not to cast judgment or the first stones but to join
God in love the world and everything in it.
Often the crowed tried to stop Jesus from loving. But he didn’t
listen. Selflessly he gave of himself until there was nothing else
to give.
In turn, those he loved, well, they lived. Will you prevent it or
perpetuate it? “Love your neighbor; she/he is like you.”
Martin Buber’s translation of the biblical command is rhythmically
stronger than what we are used to. The pause in the middle of the
sentence makes us think.
How so? Love of self and love of others are not compared in this
translation. Working on a deeper level, this translation points to
their common root, which is equality. Our love assumes likeness in
others, even if we cannot see the likeness. Love is perhaps the
deepest need that people have; learning to give and to receive,
their our greatest task.
Don’t let anyone prevent you from loving.
[Adam Quinn, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln] |
