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.
