Know it well, love is its meaning. Who reveals this to you? Love. What does he reveal? Love. Why? For Love. Remain in this and you will remain in the same. –Julian of Norwich, as quoted by Richard Rohr, in THE UNIVERSAL CHRIST, page 69. Fr. Rohr goes on to say, “When we are truly ‘in love’, we move out of our small, in-dividual selves to unite with another, whether in companionship, simple friendship, marriage, or any other trustful relationship.” (p. 70) Announce that the theme of worship is “Love”, and pew-sitters will expect hearts ‘n’ flowers–surprise!
The Old Testament reading, Exodus 12:1-14, tells of the origins of Passover. Important to the forming of the habiru/desert wanderers of Egypt into the People of Israel, this story unfortunately doesn’t much show love to the Egyptians. Despite Joseph’s insight into hospitality, the text portrays a vengeful and nasty understanding of YHWH. How can we make this “right”? Richard Rohr, again: “the Crucified and Risen Christ uses the mistakes of the past to create a powerful future, a future of redemption instead of retribution. He does not eliminate or punish the mistakes. He uses them for transformative purposes.” (op.cit., page 72)
Paul continues his examples of the Christian Ethic in Romans 13:8-14. “The commandments…are summed up in this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’. Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.” Doing our part in the mission of Christ is valid only as we interact with our neighbor in love. Moreover, this interaction prepares the disciple for the ultimate fulfillment of the Kingdom: the believer is urged to “live honorably”, putting aside selfish traits which will harm the community. Is this a glimpse of Heaven?
Many individuals and congregations have misused Matthew 18:15-20. Here Jesus tells us to communicate with each other–if there’s a problem, talk about it! He warns that communities can be broken when conflicts or hurt feelings are allowed to fester–so here’s his formula for resolving tempests in teapots before they blow down the foundations! “If another (member?) sins against you, go and point out the fault when you are alone.” If no resolution happens, get a couple of mutual friends to intervene and come up with a compromise. If still no mutual ground is reached, bring it to the attention of the whole faith-crew… and only then “let such a one be to you as a Gentile or a tax-collector”. Even so, there’s always HOPE for the Gentiles, for the tax-collectors…and thus the offender is still offered the chance for restoration.
Loving ALL is difficult, a fact that should be acknowledged. Broken friendships and hurt feelings happen every day; just read the Advice Columns in your newspaper. We who try to be disciples of Christ are no different: the human condition is loaded with fragile egos. Perhaps these readings will put these problems into a more loving perspective? Valerie Bridgeman writes in SOJOURNERS (September/October 2020, p.48), “We are called to live honorably, which means to love righteously by ‘putting Christ on’ and being the active love of God in the world by our deeds.”
In the process of unfolding Horace Brown King
My ruminations on scripture passages assigned to the upcoming weekend can be found every Tuesday at this spot on Facebook or at horacebrownking.com
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