17 You
shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your
neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. 18 You
shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you
shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Leviticus 19: 17-18
36 “Teacher,
which commandment in the law is the greatest?” 37 He
said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with
all your soul, and with all your mind.’ 38 This
is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And
a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’40 On
these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
Matthew 22: 36-40
I therefore, the prisoner in the Lord, beg you to lead
a life worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with
all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,3 making
every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Ephesians 4: 1-3
“Call”. It is such a
big word. I have heard it used in
numerous contexts over the last few years, and Rebekah did a sermon series a
few months ago that I was very honored to assist with as we thought about
different ways we can be called- as a servant with our willingness and
obedience; as a steward, being profitable and fruitful for Christ’s kingdom; as
either a shepherd leading the flock or a sheep acting within the flock; and
finally as a seer as we see through Christ’s eyes to handle challenges and have
courage in the midst of change.
This past year specifically has been one of great
discernment as I tried to figure out just where and what I am called to
do. I wasn’t sure how I would have time
to sit down and really figure it out when things began- I was working on
developing a curriculum for our youth group here at Bethlehem, following the
theme of “Gather Together” that many of you heard about a few weeks ago when
the youth led worship. I was busy
reading and writing about congregational leadership and how to bring people of
different backgrounds together for a successful session meeting. I was having meetings with Union students to
discuss how we can embrace the diversity on our campus so that it enriches our
community rather than dividing the community.
Then I found myself writing ordination exams about how to reach out to
the greater community through both our faith AND works. Finally, I travelled to Haiti on a mission
trip that had as its focus, building relationships. As I sit back and look at all of that, I
can’t help but have a strong idea of what I am called to do- to simply be in
relationship with others and to show love for them. And that is what we are ALL called to do in
the long run.
Our three scriptures this morning have played a significant role
in my own discernment of how to be in relationship this past year as they all have
one focus- showing love to one another.
Our Old Testament text is one that most of us can probably recite in our
sleep. The original “Golden Rule”
scripture is one that is so widely known and recited, I remember when my middle
school used it as a monthly theme in their character trait challenge. This text is even the basis for much of
Jesus’ teaching about our obligation to others.
However, there is great debate over what this verse is actually saying when
it reminds us to “love your neighbor as yourself”. According to commentator Rodney Sadler, this
charge is initially and at its most basic, a charge to members of the community
of YHWH to acknowledge an obligation toward other members of the community of
YHWH. It goes deeper though- to
understand this charge we have to understand a few other things first… the very
first of which is something so easy, yet so hard to answer- what is love?
The Greek language tends to allow us to get a grasp on what
type of love scripture is talking about- eros, being a more romantic and erotic
love; philo, being a brotherly love; and agape, being the love that is most
commonly used in relation with God.
However, it is not that easy to decipher in the Old Testament. Ahab (Ah-hav) is a love suggesting a strong,
affectionate relationship and this is the love that we are charged with in
Leviticus. The charge is made stronger
with the use of a preposition, truly making this not just a suggestion, but an
order… “LOVE your neighbor”. In this
text, Sadler tells us that love is in fact an obligation to perform tangible
acts on behalf of another who is in need- and that need is never defined,
leaving the door wide open.
When we love our neighbor, it is easy to think that we are
simply loving someone who, just like us, is created in the image of God… if
only it was that easy though! Sadler
continues in his commentary suggesting that when we truly LOVE our neighbor, we
are offering beneficial acts that sustain one’s existence- both our own and our
neighbors But IT IS HARD!!
This heart wrenching, other-focused love is not easy… which
is probably why our Leviticus text went as far as including that preposition,
emphasizing the importance that rests on this act. In a world where the word “love” is thrown
around without thought, men and women try to find love with one of 25 people
while on TV, weddings are more about reputation than the couple, and the
divorce rate is increasing almost to a point that surpasses the average cost of
those weddings… how can we embrace this deeper, more affectionate love for our
neighbor that is commanded in this text that is thrown around just as easily? I
had a hard time grasping that until I thought back on my experience in Haiti
this past March.
My trip to Haiti pushed me beyond any comfort zone I thought
I had. I have travelled to developing
countries before, but I had never experienced anything like what I experienced
in that one very long, yet very short week.
On our second day in Haiti we visited Mother Teresa’s Baby Hospital
where young children were treated for any number of illnesses- some able to run
around their small playground and laugh while causing all kinds of trouble, and
others unable to do anything beyond simply being held as they struggled to
breathe. Upon our arrival we were taken
into a nursery for children somewhere in the middle. As the Sister explained in broken English what
was going on, one little girl reached out for me. The Sister assured me that I could pick her
up, and that was the last time she left my arms for a few hours. I didn’t know her name. I didn’t know what was wrong. I eventually learned that she was two years
old- yet the weight of a one year old.
That morning we wandered the playground, watching the other kids play,
as she held tightly to a diaper as if it were her teddy bear. She took brief naps in my arms and tried to
steal my sunglasses. She opened me up to
a love that I never thought possible and still don’t completely understand. When her mother arrived a few hours later and
I handed her over, the experience did not come to an end. I thought about that little girl for the rest
of the day- the feeling of her sleeping in my arms and the immediate, intense
love that she showed me from the moment she reached out for me to pick her up.
The following day we visited the Brother’s of Mother Teresa
Home for the Destitute and Dying. This
clinic provided health care for patients with HIV among other illnesses. Those who were contagious where in a separate
unit where we could not have contact, however those who were in less serious
condition and able to be around us were in large, open rooms. Beds lined the walls and almost every bed was
filled. Just in case I thought I was going
to see my comfort zone again in this trip, God went on and erased that idea
when we were told that we were going to massage these patients… patients that
we very likely would not be allowed to see if we were in the US. I took a deep breath, tried to remember my
very little bit of French, and began massaging a young girl who couldn’t be
older than 17. I joked in broken French
with her mother and sister as I massaged lotion into her very dry, cracked skin
while she winced from the pain of my light touch. She, and the other women in the room, very
rarely got out of bed so these massages were desperately needed to keep their
muscles working. I had no way of knowing
what was physically wrong with them, but I could tell immediately that what
they needed most was the LOVE that is received through this human contact.
Whether it is holding a young child and sheltering her from
the heat of the sun, or massaging the weak muscles of a bed-ridden young woman…
these are acts that sustain existence.
These boundary breaking acts are what this morning’s text was trying to
get to. However, I think this love takes
on a whole new meaning when it is simply WHO YOU ARE- every aspect of your life
and being is because of and for this love.
That is what I saw in my time at St. Joseph’s Home for Boys and Wings of
Hope.
St. Joseph’s Home for Boys was started 25 years ago by
Brother Michael- a man who heard his call and left the Monastery to answer it,
despite all of the hurdles thrown in his way.
After witnessing the number of children living on the streets and in
slavery in Haiti, Michael found a way to begin taking them off of the
street. He started with one, then five,
and has had as many as twenty young men under the care of St. Joseph’s since
the start. While there, these young men
receive education in all forms as they help to work in the kitchen, clean,
welcome guests, and even attend school.
Those young men embody the love that they have learned from Michael’s
teachings and examples of his own Biblical understanding, truly embodying the
charge to love one’s neighbor. Whether
Michael and the boys of St. Joseph’s are welcoming guests at the gate with
cold, purified water before carrying their luggage up seven flights of stairs
or leading worship in the open air chapel no one can deny that they aren’t just
showing love, they are LIVING love.
Wings of Hope is an off-shoot of St. Joseph’s and provides a
home and care for children with a range of disabilities. Whether they have cerebral palsy, autism, or schizophrenia
these children have found not just a home but a family at Wings of Hope. Caring for these children is nothing less
than a challenge- every morning at 8am, guests and teachers parade up
incredibly steep wheel chair ramps built on top of staircases and take time to
sit with each child, one on one, to at the very least help them eat if not feed
them. Following morning worship, these
same guests and teachers travel with the children through physical therapy,
math class, alphabet class, and recreation... or they find themselves washing
dishes, preparing lunch, and hand washing yesterday’s clothes and hanging them
to dry for the next day. It is nothing
less than exhausting. When the
exhaustion hits, all one has to do is to look into the eyes of one of the
twenty-four children to see the complete, infallible love of God that they
embody. And if their eyes are closed
because they are humming a song for you, or they are moving to fast, just wait
until the Friday dance party when they won’t let anyone sit or stand still out
of their own joy and desire to share their love with you!
I really could go on for hours about all that I learned
about real love from those who I met while in Haiti. However, what is important this morning is
not what I have experienced, but rather how each one of us is going to experience
and share this love in our own lives, living it out when we walk out of those
doors today. Our New Testament texts
this morning serve as a reminder of the importance of the charge to love our
neighbor. How many ways can we be told
how important love is? Well, in just these two texts we venture away from the
charge of Leviticus into not just any commandment to love, but the GREATEST
commandment is to love, and finally we are CALLED to love. We have no excuse to think anything other
than that LOVE is the answer! LOVE is the call!
Haiti wasn’t the first time that I experienced this
incredible love though. I experienced it
back in September when I first joined you here at Bethlehem. The way that you opened your doors, arms, and
hearts to me was incredible. The support
that I have received from this congregation over the last nine months is
nothing less than the love that we have thought about all morning. We have all experienced this love and
celebrate it today as we remember those who lost their lives fighting for us. However, my question for you this morning is
if opening up to a new intern is enough?
How can all of us here at Bethlehem live out the commandment and call to
love in our daily lives, away from the church?
We are called to different roles and places in life-
teacher, accountant, farmer, politician, minister, musician… and I think that
is where so many of us get hung up, especially myself. The WHERE and the WHAT of the call. When I have been asked about my call, I
always went immediately to explaining the form of ministry- associate or solo
pastor… but that isn’t the point of the call.
This morning, Paul reminded us in his letter to the Ephesians that no
matter where we are called, the HOW of our call is LOVE. Christ reminds us that the greatest
commandment is to LOVE. The law reminds
us to actually ACT in LOVE.
Last week Rebekah preached about how we respond to the resurrection through our belief- isn’t responding with LOVE for one another one of the greatest ways through which we can share our belief and respond? If belief comes from hearing and experiencing, why don’t we take Rebekah’s challenge to read through the Bible the summer one step further- read the Bible, and then share the LOVE that you find in those pages with the world, loving one another as children of God just as we are not just commanded, but called to do. Our love can be expressed in a number of ways- whether it is words between neighbors, cold water to welcome, dancing for joy, or washing buckets of dirty laundry. No matter HOW you love, make it all that you do. LIVE your call, LIVE the commandment, LIVE so that others receive the same charge. LIVE LOVE.
(Photo credit: D'Angelo Dia)
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