Christian Testament text for 24 April 2022

 

1 John 3:18-24        Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

Reflection        Although it is not clear who the author of 1John is, the overarching purpose of this treatise is to urge readers to embody Jesus’ commandment to love as Jesus loves; “not in word or speech, but in truth and action,” action meant for the good of others.

Ever sInce the mid 1800s in Kierkegaard’s book Works of Love a distinction has been drawn between eros and agape love. Eros is drawn to the goodness or beauty of the other and desires union with the other so to experience personal fulfillment.  Therefore, eros is love arising from human need to be joined with another to whom we are attracted or in whom we see goodness.

On the other hand, agape affirms the goodness and beauty of the other, raising them up rather than seeking something from them. Agape acts to promote what is beneficial for the other rather than desiring something from the other.

Let me be clear. Eros has its place. Without it, I would not be here to write and you would not be here to read. But eros has a short shelf life. It only took me two marriages to figure that out. By contrast, agape love endures for the long term. It is love in which we abide; living, breathing and  finding our being  while affirming the goodness and beauty of others and fostering their well being.

The love commandment in 1 John points to both ethics and morals; ethics being the code of conduct prescribed by the great commandment “you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength… and…you shall love your  neighbor as yourself,” and  morals referring to the Spirit of love that abides or persists within us. Morals arise from the wisdom or law written on our hearts, inform our conscience and direct our actions. Although this kind of moral psychological interpretation would not have occurred at the end of the first century when 1 John was written, the author of this treatise is urging readers to recognize the interior source of love and persevere in love informed actions for the benefit of others; in other words, to abide in agape love. 

Just prior to today’s text from 1 John we are counseled, “We know love by this, that (Jesus)  laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for one another” (1 John 3:16). On rare occasions we may have cause to literally step into the line of fire to save the life of an other, but many times every day we have the opportunity to “lay down our lives for an other,” albeit less dramatically.   Every time we share our assets or resources, our time or whatever is meaningful to us for the good of an other, we are laying down our lives. Every time we hold back our judgment, self interest, preference, comfort or desire in order to affirm the goodness and beauty of an other, we are laying down our lives and experiencing a moment of agape love.

Returning to 1 John we are challenged by the question, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and refuses to help?” (1 John 3:17). How do we respond to this question given our current situation? We complain that the annual inflation rate for the United States is 8.5% for the twelve months ended in March 2022. With the price of gas in Oro Valley at $4.49 per gallon and the cost of groceries rising every week, we furrow our brows, cross our arms, tighten our purse stings and look for someone to blame. 

But look around. Even in the face of the current economic climate, most of us enjoy more resources than folks across the globe have ever imagined.  Which brings us to a painful part of agape love. Agape love demands we give up some of what we tell ourselves we need to affirm the beauty and goodness of others and foster their well being, especially others who are suffering with extreme, life depleting need.

Here is the thing, agape is the same Greek word used to describe God’s love for humanity and our love for other human beings. Agape love is the law written in our canon and etched onto our hearts. It is this love in which we abide, affirming the goodness and beauty of all humanity, laying down our lives for the benefit of others. Where will you direct your agape love today? 

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Luke 17:11-19        On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!" When he saw them, he said to them, "Go and show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were made clean. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean? But the other nine, where are they? Was none of them found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?" Then he said to him, "Get up and go on your way; your faith has made you well.”

Reflection        Today we find ourselves walking with Jesus along the border between Samaria and Galilee. Walking between the land of the Jews and the land of the Gentiles and in his proverbial back pack Jesus carries a message, “God is with and for all people, regardless on which side of the border they live.” For Jesus, people are not identified by their geography, ethnicity, or religion. For Jesus, all people are identified as people of God. 

But, then and now borders are troublesome places. They mark the edge of this and that, they are the sites of controversy and  roiling conflict. I suspect this is because when we arrive at our edges, our borders, we rub shoulder to shoulder with people and customs, languages and beliefs different than our own. When confronted with the stranger or the unknown, we feel vulnerable. Not wanting to feel vulnerable we build barriers to protect ourselves. The problem is, no matter how massive the barriers, we still feel vulnerable. 

Therein lies the conundrum. For as long as we look around us, identify people as Samaritans or Jews, the in crowd, the out crowd, good or bad, brown or white, us or them, for as long as we insist on discriminating between “us and them” we will always feel vulnerable.  Which brings us to Luke’s text.

Passing through the borderland place of outcasts, Jesus does not ask the lepers, “Are you a Jew or a Gentile?”  He does not try to figure out who has leprosy and who has a minor skin rash. Jesus looks at them (and here I believe “looks” means more than seeing the condition of their skin with his physical eyes), Jesus looks at them and sees their shared humanity. Jesus sees people of God who have been separated from their communities and their God. (It is helpful to remember that, unlike today,  two thousand years ago people did not have personal, private relationships with God. God was present with people in community which means, if you are cast out of your community you are separated from God.) 

Following accepted religious practice Jesus sends the lepers to the priests who will examine the disease on their skin and determine whether or not they may be received back into the community. (Lev 13,2-3) But, something more is going on in this parable. As soon as the ten lepers accept Jesus’ instruction to “Go and show (themselves) to the priests,” they are “made clean,” fit to return to their community.  I believe what we are meant to understand here is, as soon as the ten lepers turn toward God and ask for mercy, as soon as they acknowledge their dependence on something more than themselves, they are restored to relationship with their community and God. Nine of the ten lepers run off to the temple to receive the priest’s stamp of approval and return to life as they know it.

But the tenth leper, a Samaritan who was an outsider even before he was cast out for having a skin disease, is transformed by receiving the grace of Jesus’ mercy. Praising God the Samaritan claims his true identity in relationship with God, the relationship that transcends all borders, inside and out.

Today we are invited to ask ourselves,”Like the nine lepers, is it sufficient for us to follow the rules, know our place, get our passports stamped and continue life as we know it? Or, is it time for us to see the people we treat as lepers through Jesus’ merciful eyes? Is it time for us to join Jesus and the Samaritan praising God and proclaiming, “God is with and for all people, regardless on which side of the border they live?”

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Gospel text for Sunday 22 February 2015

Mark 1:9-15        In those days Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And just as he was coming up out of the water, he saw the heavens torn apart and the Spirit descending like a dove on him. And a voice came from heaven, "You are my Son, the Beloved; with you I am well pleased."

And the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness. He was in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan; and he was with the wild beasts; and the angels waited on him.

Now after John was arrested, Jesus came to Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God, and saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.”

Reflection    Baptism is the beginning,  the beginning of a new covenant relationship between God and us.  Baptism is the beginning of a new way of being and participating in life. Baptism is all about we, the living body of Christ on earth, the community of beloveds recognized by the way we live for the good of one another.

Being a Christian does not necessarily mean we believe certain things; Jesus‘ birth from a virgin, every word of the Nicene Creed. Being a Christian does not necessarily mean we do certain things; go to church on Sunday, give money to charities, read the Bible every day. 

Being a Christian means following Jesus,  walking the way of the cross, the way of giving our lives to suffer with and for all of humanity. For some of us that means listening when a friend describes their pain for the seven hundredth time. For others it means bringing meals to the homebound, or speaking out against customs, rules or laws that marginalize or oppress groups of people identified as “other;” the disabled, the aged or infirm, people of lesser or more education, resource or intellect, people of a different race or religion or no religion at all. 

For as long as we submit to labeling anyone as ‘other’ we are forgetting our commission and Jesus’ poignant prayer; “Not my will, but your will be done.”

Jesus dove full into life, revealing God’s love for lepers, maniacs reprobates, and “others.” He built no walls. He stretched no fences. By our baptism we are commissioned to likewise, to live and die for one another.

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Gospel text for Sunday 2 June 2013

Luke 7:1-10        After Jesus had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. A centurion there had a slave whom he valued highly, and who was ill and close to death. When he heard about Jesus, he sent some Jewish elders to him, asking him to come and heal his slave. When they came to Jesus, they appealed to him earnestly, saying, "He is worthy of having you do this for him, for he loves our people, and it is he who built our synagogue for us." And Jesus went with them, but when he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to say to him, "Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you. But only speak the word, and let my servant be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to one, `Go,' and he goes, and to another, `Come,' and he comes, and to my slave, `Do this,' and the slave does it." When Jesus heard this he was amazed at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, he said, "I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith." When those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health.

Reflection        “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof.” It is unthinkable that a centurion could say those words to Jesus. Roman soldiers were chosen from the wealthiest and most privileged citizens. When a man swore the ‘sacramentum,’ an oath of allegiance to the Roman Empire, his status changed from citizen to soldier. From then on he was no longer a citizen guided by his own conscience and he bore no personal responsibity for his actions.  All of his actions were subject to the will of his commander.  He would have been trained to feel neither cruelty nor compassion and to unequivocally execute orders. Likewise he expected those under his command to obey orders. As he said to Jesus, “I also am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me.” He knew his place in the chain of authority and in that chain there was no room for conscience or compassion. In other words, once he had sworn the oath and received his armor the centurion’s will was no longer his own. So, what happened?  

Apparently training to be a Roman soldier had not wiped all compassion out of the centurion. He was a man known for loving the Jewish people and for building their synagogue. But, he was also a man under the authority of the Roman empire.  He was commissioned to keep peace and eliminate revolutionaries. There must have been an all out war inside the centurion the day Jesus showed up in Capernaum. “To whom shall I attribute greater authority? The Roman empire or this pecular Jewish preacher?” I wonder if the centurion surprised himself when he sent some Jewish elders to ask Jesus to “come and heal his highly valued slave who was close to death.” After all, even Jesus was amazed!

Not only did the centurion recognize Jesus’ power and ask for his help he did what was unheard of - he humbled himself. Rather than relying on his power and privilege and peacock plumes to get what he wanted, he said to Jesus, “I am not worthy to have you come under my roof; therefore I did not presume to come to you.” By every standard the centurion would have been considered dignified and worthy of respect. Yet in spite of his title, power and peacock plumes, he decided in favor of the poor, the hungry and the reviled. The centurion decided in favor of his slave and in so doing he allied himself with Jesus. And Jesus was amazed.

Violating every convention and putting himself at personal risk, the centurion chose the way of blessing the least among us. In two thousand years the need to do likewise has not diminished. Much as  the centurion we are people “set under authority” and sent to do the business of God, sent to decide in favor of the poor, the hungry and the reviled.  Let’s stop limping along.  Let's stop the social, political and religious wars and get on with the business of God deciding "for" the invisible people.