Is Love a Verb?

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
May 21st 2006
Meditation Series: “Love is?”
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Is Love a Verb?”
I John 5:1-6

This week I did something highly unusual: I finished my sermon on Tuesday. It was a rather good conclusion to our four week series on love. However, today you are not going to hear that sermon. This week I had the privilege of hearing the moderator of our denomination, Rick Ufford-Chase, speak. As I listened to him speak I became convinced that there was another message I needed to preach this morning. Let me share the fruits of last Wednesday’s encounter with the moderator of our denomination.
Last Sunday during bible study, someone asked a very direct and probing question. The essence of the question, as I remember it, was this: All our talk about love is well and good but it does not seem to be very specific. It is easy for us to talk about love, but what about some details. Although, I attempted an answer, which seemed to be well received, the truth is that I felt a deep uneasiness about the question and my answer. After all, this first letter of John does not give many details about how we are supposed to love others in the name of God. In this letter, it is clear that love is a verb. However, we are left to our own devises to figure out the specifics.
When it comes to connecting current events with the love of God there is a rather large laundry list. However, this morning I will suggest only one. It is a hot topic which is receiving a great deal of attention. It is the issue of immigration. I do not claim to have special insight into policy making. What I do know is this: The bible has a tremendous amount to say regarding immigrants.
I want to begin with our passage from first John and then look at relevant passages from both the Old and New Testaments. Let me encourage you to find a bible, if you did not bring one. You may even want to keep your finger in the table of contents in the front. I know this is rather foreign to Presbyterians. However, I do believe it will be a fruitful exercise.
Our passage from first John lacks specifics. However, there is a rather unsettling idea that we are called to be conquerors of the world. These words are troubling to our modern ears, particularly with the current use of crusade language being connected with military actions. However, this passage is not talking about use of force. We are called to overcome ‘the world’ through the love of God. New Testament scholar Walter Wink says that ‘the world’ in this passage means the: “Interlocking network of powers- political, economic, cultural, and ideological.” That world could never be overcome by force. Instead, the world – marked by inequality, oppression, and war – could only be engaged, transformed, and ultimately overcome through love in action. So the call is to overcome or transform ‘the world’ in love not through violence or the threat of violence.
Before we move to the other passages of scripture I want to take just a moment to highlight some of the current conversation about immigration. I believe it will be helpful to place those messages alongside the message of the bible. I think the dissonance will be enlightening. In the current conversation, I have heard calls to build a wall all along our borders. However what is meant is just the boarder with Mexico. Let’s be honest, there is little concern with the Canadian boarder. (One just has to wonder if that is because they are white. While that may seem like I overstate the case our immigration policy does seem to favor the lighter skinned people of the world.)
The current conversation about immigration also brings to light economic realities. While it often goes unspoken the use and abuse of immigrant labor has everything to do with the American need for cheap labor. Much of the immigration policy that has been created deliberately works to drive a wedge between the Hispanic/Latino community and the Black community. This is no where more evident than when people claim that those people are stealing our jobs or when the President of Mexico openly claims that immigrants do the jobs that African-Americans will not do. This sort of race-baiting ultimately benefits the labor market and allows for unprecedented exploitation of the poorest people in our society. There is a reason we get low prices everyday. While I am not an economist or policy maker I do know that the bible does speak pretty clearly on these issues. So let us now take a closer look.
While there are a good number of passages in the Old Testament dealing with immigrants or aliens (the biblical term), we will deal with the four most representative. The first is in Genesis chapter 15:13-14. In this passage, God says the chosen people will be aliens in a great empire which will exploit their labor. God is also clear that Egypt will pay for its exploitation.
The other three passages are written after the promised liberation from Egypt. In each passage God sets the rules for how aliens are to be treated. With each command comes the reminder from God that they were once aliens in a foreign land. The second passage is Leviticus 19:33-34. We now turn to Deuteronomy 10:17-19. And finally we turn to Deuteronomy 24:17-18, 22.
In each passage, there is something which is rather foreign in our current debate on immigration. In the bible, it turns out, that aliens are to be treated as citizens. They are to be provided food and clothing. The call in each of these passages is to enable the immigrant to live justly in the country. It is rather unfortunate that the dominant voices of Christianity have not shared these passages to influence public policy. Now, let us move to the New Testament.
In the teachings of Jesus the term alien or immigrant does not exist. However, the terms neighbor and stranger are prominent. When Jesus teaches about the neighbor it is clear he means all people are our neighbors – no exceptions. When Jesus ends the greatest commandment with “love your neighbor as yourself,” we can be confident Jesus includes undocumented workers.
There are three passages which illuminate this teaching of Jesus. The first passage is a rather familiar one. It comes from the twenty-fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew 25: 41-46. This passage is truly amazing because Jesus says what we do to the stranger is what we have done to him. ‘As you have done to the least of these (even the undocumented workers) you have done it to me.’
We now move to Romans 12:9-13. Paul makes it clear that the foundation for extending hospitality to the stranger is love. It is an extremely concrete way to live out love. Want to live out the love of God, extending hospitality to those we do not know. The final passage this morning comes from Hebrews 13:1-2 (insert passage here). Once again, the passage begins with love as the foundation for extending hospitality to the stranger. In doing so, we may very well be in the presence of angels. Our very brief journey through the bible presents the simple but radical notion that we are to love all people – including the undocumented worker.
For four weeks we have talked about the love of God often in very broad ways. But today we see a very current event which is spoken quite clearly from the stories of our faith. However this voice is not being heard. If there was ever a time for Christians to speak it is now. I am not suggesting we join the ranks of partisanship. After all, neither party is taking a position that is remotely Christian, biblical or just. All I am suggesting is that we take seriously the call to love found in this first letter of John which we have been studying for a month. Who knew bible study could cause so much trouble!?
So let us listen to this call. Let us love because God first loved us. Let us love all people. This includes those who are hidden from our sight right in our own city – the undocumented workers. May we have the courage to stand, as people of faith, and offer a voice of love where fear abounds. Let us share this radical good news which is just not being heard. May we have the courage to know, and to live out the reality, that love is indeed a verb. Amen.

Now You Are Calling Me a Liar

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
May 14th 2006
Meditation Series: “Love is?”
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Now You Are Calling Me a Liar”
I John 4:7-21

If you have missed the last two weeks of this sermon series on first letter of John the good news is you did not miss much. While that sounds like a commentary on my preaching I actually intended it as a commentary on the letter itself. That is because the first letter of John is rather repetitive. Each week as we have read this letter, two things become abundantly clear: 1) God is love, and 2) If we claim to love God we are supposed to love our brothers and sisters.
It really is quite simple. However, if there is one thing we know from two-thousand years of experience it is this: If it is simple, the followers of Jesus will most likely make it complicated. So, while this letter may be repetitive the church needs to hear it. As such, we will take a few minutes and look more closely at the simply-complex matter of love.
Our passage is lengthy but is well summarized in the last three verses. At the heart of the matter are these words: “We love because God first loved us.” These words are far more confessional than explanatory. It is a profound truth which says that God’s love is the foundation of our love. We are able to love only because we have first been loved. However, it is also true that it only through loving others that we can understand of the love of God. It is the basic confession of faith; we love because God first loved us.
On this point few Christians disagree. However in the very next passage that agreement is quickly dissolved. It says: “Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars.” The disagreement on this passage has to do with the definition of brother or sister. Too often this passage is interpreted to only include people in the immediate community of faith. This persistent interpretation is not only short sighted but in conflict with much of the New Testament and the teachings of Jesus. God intends, even commands, that we extend love to all people and not just those people who act like us, think like us, vote like us or who are of the same race or nationality. The rather blunt news in this passage is this: Any time we seek to deviate from this calling or make judgments about who is worthy of God’s love we become the liars talked about in this passage.
I remember well a picture which hung above my father’s desk. It was the famous Norman Rockwell picture which had the golden rule printed upon it: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” In some ways those words seem to embody the meaning of this passage, at least on the surface. Unfortunately this golden rule has some flaws which arise in practice. As a result it can actually stand in the way of us truly loving other people which causes us to become liars.
While that may sound extreme please give me just a moment to explain. I believe, despite best intentions, these words can and do cause harm for one very simple reason. It starts out with the flawed assumption that the entire world wants to be treated the way I want to be treated. While human beings do share commonalities more often than not there are real differences. In order to deal with this difficult it would make more sense to change the rule from, “Treat others the way you want to be treated” to read this way, “Treat others the way they want to be treated.” While it may seem like a semantic change, it is really the difference between loving others and hating others, even if it is unintentional.
While the traditional interpretation works well in places where people are from the same culture, upbringing an outlook it is limited. When people from diverse backgrounds, races and cultures work, live, and worshiping in together it becomes so much more important not to always assume sameness. With this simple change of words it can help us shift our thinking and more importantly actions. It will however require us to give up the assumption that everyone does or should think and act like we do.
By working to give up the assumption of sameness we will be free to move from being that unintentional liar to really loving our brothers and sisters. This is the real work of love, the love of God in Christ. It means we must move beyond superficial sentimentality. It means we must get to know better one another and others who are unlike us so we will know how others like to be treated.
While it may sound like I have left the realm of the bible and heading into something radically foreign. However, consider that God came in the form of a human being. In Jesus, God made the effort to walk among us. God made the effort to be with us and to truly understand what it was like to be a human being. There is no greater example for us in how to seek to treat others the way they wish to be treated.
Our reading from this morning ends with a reminder about the commandment. The commandment, the greatest commandment, we have is this: “…those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” Any confession of faith which claims to love God must be evidenced in love of others. Love is primary over everything else. All things are secondary to love. The Peace, Unity and Purity of the church are secondary to love. Doctrine is secondary to love, financial security is secondary to love, the market is secondary to love, and even our nationality is secondary to the commandment to love others as God has loved us.
In a world where love is so often spoken and so little known, a community of Jesus’ people who love one another and who share love with the world is a rare find. However, this is our call. So may God give us the courage, the strength, and above all else the love to live out this calling so a dying and loveless world might hear and see the love of God found in Jesus Christ. Amen.

Now you are meddling...

WESTMINSTER PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH
May 7th 2006
Communion Sunday
Meditation Series: “Love is?”
Rev. Mark R. Bradshaw-Miller
“Now You Are Meddling…”
I John 3:16-24

Since coming to Westminster I have been told on two occasions that I had gone from preaching to meddling. Each time it was followed by something like: “keep it up.” Now, in case this phrase in not part of your vocabulary let me explain. It has to do with when a sermon begins to hit a little close to home. In other words, when a preacher moves from the general to the specific and the sermon has real implications for the ways in which we live our lives - then a preacher is meddling.
After reading over the first letter of John a few times, I am convinced this passage has moved into the category of meddling. There is no doubt in my mind that the writer of this letter was accused of meddling. After all, the writer says that the love of God in Christ means we are to have equitable sharing of resources. If this is not meddling, I do not know what is. So let us take a closer look at the words of this meddling preacher.
The reading begins with a familiar theological assertion. “We know love by this, that (Jesus) laid down his life for us.” The idea that Jesus died for us is known as the atonement. The simplistic understanding is that through the blood of Jesus we are saved. Because of the ways this theology has been abused it has come to resemble something like divine child abuse. (God can only be satisfied with the death of his Son.) Despite this abuse and misuse of this theology it should not be completely ignored.
Anthropologists have shown that the practice of some form of a blood sacrifice is evidenced in nearly all cultures. The need for blood seems to know no boundaries. Human beings are a blood thirsty people. This blood thirst has had a powerful impact on the development of Christian theology. As a result, the crucifixion is seen through a bloody lens. However, instead of simply reinforcing the age old myths and human bloodlust with the cross, something radically new has taken place. The death of Jesus was intended to be the end of human sacrifice and blood lust.
I am drawn to this understanding which, instead of working to justify violence, breaks with the human need to always find a scapegoat. The reality of this love is that human beings no longer need to follow the old pattern which seeks to find someone to kill in order to ease our fears and anxieties. In Jesus Christ, we are called to end the cycles of violence in our world instead of participate in them. The love of God in Jesus Christ brings to an end our ‘eye for an eye’ lifestyle.
Even with this challenging beginning, it is not the only challenge in the passage. While there are many difficult passages to understand in the letter of John the second verse from our reading is not one of them. It says: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brothers or sister in need and yet refuses to help?” The simple truth of this passage, and many others in the bible, is that God is not pleased when some people have an over-abundance of the world’s goods while many others starve. In our world, where money is a sacred cow of church and culture, this passage moved right from preaching to meddling.
There is little interpretation needed when confronted with passages like this. However, some of the most creative interpretations I have seen have worked to explain away these passages as having nothing to do with us. The easiest and most common side-step is to claim that the author was only talking about the community of believers. In the first letter of John, it is clear that the writer is only dealing with those people in the immediate community. This is often taken to mean we have no responsibility for those who are not Christians. While it is a correct reading of this book there is a glaring problem. The exclusion of people from the love of God, including the sharing of resources, is not biblical because it is in direct conflict with the teaching Jesus and Paul. All the creative interpretative work does not allow us to wiggle out of our responsibilities. If we have more than we need we are called to share.
However, we are left with another question. Why would the writer of this letter write about the necessity of loving only the believers? We know that the community which received this letter was experiencing conflict. It was a conflict which has nearly split the community. So, the teaching about love is dealing with a community which is finding it hard to love one another, let alone other people. Because of this it would make no sense to talk about loving all people if they could not love the person at the end of the same pew.
While this conflict is not wholly foreign to Christians in North America, we live in a very different time. After all, many see church as a voluntary society. Church for most Americans is a place where we go to find people who think like us, act like us and most often of the same race. If we are unhappy with one community we move on to the next one till our personal needs are met. While this fits our consumer mindset it was not something that the first Christians would have been familiar. Within the early Christian communities there was often great diversity of culture, belief, and social standing. As a result conflict was not uncommon. So the need to talk about loving brothers and sisters was necessary for the health of the community.
Despite the consumer church culture of North America conflict is still alive and well. We Presbyterians are no stranger to conflict either. Within many denominations there are ongoing fights about sexuality, loving-justice, biblical interpretation. (Though ultimately the conflict is really about who has power.) As I listen to, and participate in, the ever escalating rhetoric I am convinced that we are in need of a basic lesson in love for sisters and brothers from the first letter of John. We are not good at loving those Christians with whom we radically disagree. Too often, instead of heeding the words of I John to love one another, we decided to narrow who we include in the list of sisters and brothers. (The list of who is entitled to our love.) The words we need to hear once again from the letter are these: “…Let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.”
The truth of the gospel is that God’s love is radically inclusive. Unfortunately most of the news coming from the pews does not often share in this inclusion. Instead, it tells a story which is not all that different from the world outside. Too often, Christians have lined up into camps which look an awful lot like the two major political parties. This is not the way it is supposed to be. Christians have been called to be living and transformed witnesses to the radically inclusive love of God. It means the church must not join in the calls for angry rhetoric and exclusion but show the world that there is another way.
I wish I could stand here this morning and tell you I had a three point plan for how we ought to do this. I do not. In fact, I am not all that confident that our denomination will get this right despite our best attempts. If I am honest, I must admit there are brothers and sisters in Christ with whom I have a hard time loving. I can get so wrapped up in our denominational arguments that love is often the furthest thing from my mind and heart. However, what I do know is this. We love for no other reason than that God loves us. Despite our love for violence and addiction to the ways of division and death God still loves us. Despite all of this we are still offered love.
So let me end by meddling… Who do you have the hardest time loving? Who do you find beyond the realm of God’s love? Guess what? God expects us to love them to. They have been made in the image of God they are our sisters and brothers so the command is clear. On this, there is no wiggle room – no room for interpreting it away. We are called to love because God first loved us. This is the truth; this is the good news. May God grant us the strength to love as we have been shown love. Amen.