Being Whose We Are
Dr. Jim Wilson, May 2, 2010 “It presents a serious challenge to every Christian.” These words were the response of evangelical preacher and author, Jim Wallis, to Chris Matthew’s question about how the church should respond to the new immigration law signed this past week in Arizona. The point Wallis was making is that the new law which allows police officers to stop and demand proof of citizenship from anyone they deem looking suspicious, challenges Jesus’ command to his disciples to love the neighbor. How should the church respond? Wallis said that hundreds of pastors, lay people and church officials from across the religious spectrum, Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox, Evangelical, had contacted his office saying they oppose the law, will not obey it, and will work to get it overturned. Wallis and Matthews went on to discuss the immigration issue in the larger context, agreeing that our present system is broken and woefully out of touch with reality. They agreed that the borders must be secured, that the federal government has failed to pass needed reform, and that if illegal immigrants are discovered during an investigation of a crime, they should be deported. The objection was giving police the power to stop persons on the basis that they look suspicious to the officer. The great fear is that this will lead to more racial profiling. Yet, what caught my interest was Wallis’ contention that the law interferes with our calling to love the neighbor. As our text reveals there can be no compromise on this commandment of Jesus. The scene is the Upper Room where Jesus and his disciples are sharing their last meal together. Jesus launches a long conversation commonly referred to as his “Farewell Discourse,” in which he seeks to prepare his disciples for his departure and their life without him. He begins with a somewhat convoluted statement about the Son of Man, referring to himself, being glorified even as he glorifies God. William Barclay suggests this very well might be an early Christian hymn, proclaiming how God revealed his glory in Jesus. That suggestion helped me sort through all the references to being glorified. Jesus follows this proclamation about glorification with what might best be described as a very personal family announcement: “Little children,” he says, “I am with you only a little longer.” And then goes on to say he is leaving them, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” One can only imagine the sadness and anxiety these words prompted among the disciples. Now Jesus speaks a final commandment to them, one that will establish their identity as his disciples and continue his work in the world. It is a familiar command but with a new and challenging twist. “I give you a new commandment,” says Jesus, “that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.” Then Jesus speaks of how this command will witness to whom they belong. “By this,” says Jesus, “everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” This is how we who bear Jesus’ Name are to be whose we are. We are to love one another. The “one another” here means the members of the community. That may seem, at least at first hearing, quite narrow and restrictive when compared to Jesus commands in the Sermon on the Mount to love the neighbor and to love the enemy. I don’t agree that the command to love one another is a step back from the more demanding love for neighbor and enemy. The call to love neighbor and even the enemy still stand as the measure of how and whom we are to love. Yet, in the Church in the late first and early second century the demand was for love within the community. The church was threatened with fractures over doctrinal disputes, division over how to respond to outside pressures, and splintering in the face of persecution. So the call to love one another is appropriate in this context. And what is new about this commandment is not the call to love, the First Testament is filled with such calls, but that we are to love one another as Jesus loves us. His love is the standard for our love. This standard, I believe is what gives the command its meaning. We are to love one another as God has acted toward the world and as Jesus has acted toward us. Such love is more than emotion, more than warm tingly feelings for one another. To love in this way is to speak and act and be for one another. The Greek word used for such love is agape which is a love that seeks the good of the one loved without concern for merit or condition or personal gain. And this is what sets such love apart from even the noblest of human love which always has at least a trace of self, of personal benefit, even if that trace is just a good feeling or personal happiness. Jesus’ love for us was selfless, acting solely for the other. Such is how we are called to love one another. If we are to consider Jesus’ love for us, how he acted for us, we see other characteristics in addition to selfless that become standards. For instance, Jesus loves us sacrificially. There is no limit or condition to his love. He went all the way to the Cross for us. Likewise, he loves us with understanding. Jesus knows us through and through, completely. It is often said that “Love is blind.” This may be true with romantic love, but it is not true of Christian love. We are to love with our eyes wide open, no illusions, no fantasies, no naiveté. This love sees clearly and still loves. Finally Jesus also loves with forgiveness. All of those first disciples deserted him and yet he forgave them. So he forgives us. Forgiveness is the ground of all enduring love. Such are the characteristics of Jesus’ love for us: selfless, sacrificial, understanding, and forgiveness. These characteristics are to shape how we speak, act for one another. When we love one another in this way, as Jesus loved us, we witness to whom we belong, that we are disciples of Jesus. Is it possible for us, mere human beings, to love in such a way? I am sure most of us have heard stories featuring examples of such love. One night last summer I was surfing through channels and happened on the movie, “To End All Wars.” Later I learned that the movie was the true story of Chaplain Ernest Gordon and was based on his spiritual autobiography, THROUGH THE VALLEY OF THE KWAI. The story line is the plight of Gordon and a small group of POWs captured by the Japanese during WW2. These men are forced to build a supply railroad line through the Burmese jungle and across the River Kwai. At the end of a grueling work day, as the shovels are collected by a guard, the officer becomes angry when he is told that one shovel is missing. He berates the prisoners, calling them names and threatening executions unless the shovel is produced and the guilty party steps forward. No one responds. Thinking their silence to be rebellion, the officer becomes enraged declaring he will carry out his threat. One man from the small group steps forward and is promptly beaten to death. A short time later it is discovered that the guard had miscounted. All the shovels were there. Nevertheless, the man’s action for the group provided an example of selfless, sacrificial, understanding and forgiving love which prompted a change in the ways those prisoners acted toward one another and even toward their guards. Such love is possible, not on our own, but by allowing the gracious love of God, that love that acts for us, to empower our love. We are to love on another as Jesus loves us; this is his command to us. It is also the standard for our love. Clearly, such love is much than being nice. It is speaking, acting and being for the other. This is how we witness to whom we belong, that we are disciples of Jesus Christ. May we be whose we are. Thanks be to God! Amen! |
