I begin this morning with a question . . . what do you fear?
Is it spiders and snakes? Lots of people fear spiders and snakes. Is it speaking in public? Trust me . . . you are not a minority when it comes to speaking in public. Is it storms? Storms can be scary. I especially get nervous when it comes to wintry weather and having to travel on snowy, icy roads. While living in Nebraska tornados put the fear into me. Maybe you have a fear of animals . . . or of heights. Could be that you are fearful of flying, riding in elevators, or being stuck in closed spaces. I imagine that all of us have some sort of fear of something . . . even clowns!
I thought about this question for a long time before I finally came up with my greatest fear. My greatest fear is conflict. I do not like conflict . . . mental, physical, or spiritual. When I am thrown into conflict, I can feel my body tense up, my mind begins to race, and my heart starts pounding. The old “fight or flight” kicks in with me wanting to hightail it out of the situation. Conflict is scary for me because I imagine in my head that I am going to get hurt . . . physically someone is going to get violent . . . mentally I am going to be yelled at and put down . . . spiritually—abandoned by someone I loved and trusted creating a sense of unworthiness.
The dictionary implies that conflict is a clash of interest. That clash of interest or conflict can come from a variety of areas . . . personal, class, racial, religious, politics—just about anything that can have opposing points of views. Because of this, I identify conflict as something that takes place between individuals or groups of people. And, if that is the case, then conflict occurs within a relational context . . . it is about relationships. For me conflict reflects broken relationships . . . or at least relationships that are changed afterwards. I really dislike it when people cannot get along in a loving and respectful way that strives to do the best for one another. For me, conflict seems to destroy relationships . . . thus, I fear conflict.
So, what do you fear? Think about it.
The writer of our scripture reading this morning throws out a solution to all that we fear . . . love. Throughout the whole reading he rambles on about love . . . God’s love, Jesus’ love, love for one another. The writer states: “There is no fear in love.” The fear spoken about here is not about spiders and snakes or speaking in public. No, what the writer is eluding to is the fear that comes in relationships . . . between us and God, us and one another. The writer is speaking about that which separates, divides, and creates conflict. The fear that abandons God and God’s great desire for everyone to love everyone else . . . to be family.
Towards the end of the reading the writer tells us that we are love because God first loved us. This is demonstrated through Jesus. So, we are told: “We love because he first loved us. Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother or sister.”
The Beatles said it simply in their 1967 hit, All You Need is Love. We are told that love comes from God . . . in fact, we are told by our writer this morning that “God is love.” Plain and simple. This is how we know God: “. . . for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
God is love. To love is to know God. To know is to live in God. The mark of such love is the Spirit. It is the Spirit that prompts us . . . prods us . . . to do God’s will to love others. The Apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Corinth tells us: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres . . . love never fails.”
All you need is love . . . sounds so simple, but seems so difficult doesn’t it?
It has been said that we Americans live in a culture of fear. Everything from moral panic about immigration to gun control to anxiety about terrorism—both foreign and domestic—and natural disasters. Fear has become an obstacle with very real consequences in everyday life. Persistent fear negatively effects individuals’ decision-making abilities and causes anxiety, depression, and poor physical health. Fear also harms communities and society by corroding social trust and civic engagement. And we see it used effectively by politicians to garner votes and companies to leverage the sale of unnecessary products that promise protection from imagined or exaggerated harms. Fear has become an efficient tool to divide and conquer . . . to separate and create divisiveness . . . to keep the community from being community . . . and, to destroy relationships. Fear does not build, it tears down.
There is no room for such fear in God or God’s love. This does not have to do with spider and snakes, storms, or speaking in public. No this has to do with relationships between God’s children . . . and, remember we are all God’s children. All of us . . . red, yellow, black or white. Rich or poor. Educated or uneducated. Republican or Democrat. Male, female, or whatever. Religion or no religion. All God’s children are chips off the ol’ block . . . created in God’s image. Brothers and sisters. All deserving of our love just as God has loved us. As the writer tells us, “We love because he first loved us.”
And, Jesus shows us the way to live life in such love. Again, we are told, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.”
We are to do as Jesus did. We are to fulfil God’s command to love . . . to love one another. If we love God, we can do nothing less than that.
So . . . what do you fear? What do you fear in the light of our writer this morning who tells us: “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear . . .” What do you really fear?
As much as I fear conflict, I am learning that conflict is an opportunity . . . an opportunity at reconciliation and growth. Remember that reconciliation is not compromise. Reconciliation is working towards a common understanding in which all sides are heard and acknowledged working towards a unifying solution. It is discussion, discernment, and prayer . . . over and over again. It is not easy work . . . love is not easy work. Yet, to truly appreciate and respect and love the other, we must all be willing to sit down, talk . . . and, even break bread together. To love one another. That is what Jesus would do and what he did. He went about building God’s Kingdom.
As the followers of Jesus . . . the children of God . . . we have been called to go forth and do likewise. Fear is real . . . there is no room for it when we are grounded in God and God’s love. Echoing the words of the Beatles, “All you need is love.” In fact, the Apostle Paul tells us that nothing else matters. Paul tells us, “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Remember . . . “Love never fails.”
As the followers of Jesus let us set aside our fears and love. Let us love one another . . . love the stranger . . . love all of God’s children. It is the only way that God’s Kingdom will be realized. What else can we do? “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God . . . since God so loved us, we ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” Amen.
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