Peace

Peace

Saturday 18 February 2017

Love Radically.



Yet again, I am reminded that the call of a Christian is first and foremost a call to love. That is the gist of this week’s readings from scripture. Not the sort of love that is promoted in the business-driven Valentine’s Day celebrated by some earlier this week.  In fact, Jesus himself said that others would know that we are his disciples by the love that we show. We are called to love because we have been loved. And, the truth is, we have been loved when we were not at all lovely.

Scripture reminds us that while we were sinners (people who turn away from God). Indeed while we were enemies of God, Christ accepted death at our hands and the greatest act of love in the resurrection which returned us to a loving relationship with God. And it is this kind of love that we are called to show. We are called to offer to others the kind of love we have received. We are called to love in unexpected, extravagant ways. We are called to love the people who might least expect it. And we are called to love not merely by our words but by practical action.

In Leviticus 19, ten verses are devoted to specifically lining out practical ways to love our neighbours as we love ourselves. And our neighbours might be those who normally get overlooked or even mistreated. We are called to love the poor and the immigrant by not taking all we could take of our own produce. We are to leave some for them to glean. We are to love our employees by paying them quickly and fairly. We are to treat the deaf and the blind with respect. We are to love our neighbours no matter who they may be.


But in Matthew 5: 38, Jesus, as he often does, Jesus takes it a step further. He calls us to love our enemies. He calls us to love the people who treat us unjustly by praying for them. He calls us to love the people who would steal from us by offering them more than what they demand from us. He calls us to go the extra mile and to give freely, for we have freely received so much more than we deserved.

In both Matthew and Leviticus, we are encouraged to leverage the element of surprise. It is not stated in the texts, but it is there underlying. Someone who is stealing from us would never expect us to offer more than they demand. A poor immigrant would never expect a wealthy business owner to consider him or her. A deaf person and a blind person would expect to be overlooked, if not completely mistreated. The one who hits us on one cheek would not imagine that we would offer the other cheek as well. The kind of love that we are called to is unexpected because it is not natural.

And yet, WE, are promised by our God that we are loved extravagantly. Know it deep down inside. You were loved before you could even try to earn it. Receive the unconditional love God has for you. And as you receive God’s love . . . May you love others before they have a chance to earn your love. May you surprise others with love in practical ways when they least expect it. May you love those who normally get ignored. And may you, even as Jesus did, treat your enemies with a kindness and generosity they do not deserve.

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