Don Friesen
Today is my birthday, and it's like the best day ever! I get to spend the morning with you, have lunch with friends, take a nap, and spend the evening at a Bob Dylan concert! Now, Bob isn't everyone's cup of tea. Some say his poetry is confusing. Some complain that he mumbles a lot. In fact, Weird Al Yankovich has done a video parody of Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues" in which he holds up cue cards with the words of the song on it, only Yankovic's cards are all nonsensical palindromes clever, but nonsense, nonetheless! All very Dylanesque.
On the back of one of Dylan's record albums there is a parable of three kings who come to see a man named Frank because Frank is the key to understanding Dylan's poetry. The kings ask Frank to explain it to them. "Can you open it up for us?" they ask.
"And just how far would you like to go in?" asks Frank.
To which they reply, "Not too far... just far enough so that we can say that we've been there."
Today's biblical theme is like that. Love. It's a theme that has common currency, and unlike many other biblical themes it's not a conversation-stopper! Whether understood at a deep level, or at a surface level, it is real. We talk, for example, of puppy love, referring to feelings of love between young people, an immediate yet intense feeling that leaves a young person walking around in a daze and with a perpetual smile plastered on his or her face. During Elizabethan times it was known as "calf-love". Jaded veterans of love may smirk at such infatuation, but it is real to the puppies, and has inspired many a song, everything from the Beatles' "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah" to the BeeGees' "How Deep is Your Love?" Well... ...not all that deep, but still, it is one form of love.
Romantic love is just a tad deeper, but it is another expression of love. We speak of romanticizing something as if it were a bad thing, but it's an important element in marriage, for example. It carries us through many a bad patch. And remember when a romantic love of your own went unrequited; it hurt! Romantic love has bequeathed us many a poem, many an opera, many a song. With-out romantic love, would we have Shakespeare's sonnets? Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice?
A General Feeling of Love
Romantic love may be but a tad deeper than puppy love, but it too is an expression of love, and it's included in the Scriptures! The Old Testament's Song of Songs waxes poetic about lovers and the pleasures of love. What possibly could have motivated Jacob to work for seven years in order to win Rachel's hand in marriage, except romantic love?
The Scriptures also extol more generalized, non-romantic expressions of love. The New Testament, for example, encourages us to "love one another with mutual affection...." (Romans 12:10) "Let all that you do be done in love," it says (1 Corinthians 16:14), and, "...let us consider how to provoke one another to love and good deeds," suggesting a love beyond and deeper than romance. (Hebrews 10:24)
"Love the family of believers," the New Testament tells us (1 Peter 2:17), extolling the "love that (we) have for ...the saints...." (Colossians 1:4) And the Apostle Paul tried to do just that, though he found it easier to love some congregations than others. To the congregation in Philippi, he wrote, "my brothers and sisters, whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord, ...my beloved." (Philippians 4:1) And to the Corinthian congregation he wrote, "What would you prefer? Am I to come to you with a stick, or with love in a spirit of gentleness?" (1 Corinthians 4:21) which, despite its suggestion of love, sounds remarkably like a threat!
Leo Tolstoy tells the story of an evangelist who expressed her love for humanity in general with passion, only she couldn't stand to be in the same room with any one particular human being. One slurped his soup, another talked too loudly, another was ugly, and so on. We tend to disparage general expressions of love because they need to be authenticated by particular expressions, but we should not altogether discount them.
Phyllis McGinley tells of a friend, a believer but not an extraordinarily religious woman, who had a most extraordinary experience, in church. Suddenly and for no apparent reason she was swept by a wave of love. "I'm a self-contained sort," she confesses, "and not much given to emotion. But this was something outside myself. For a brief time I knew what it was to cherish the world. Everything seemed endearing. I loved the pastor, the congregation, the wriggling children back of me, the woman kneeling beside me, the man in the seat ahead coughing into his handkerchief. I wanted to hug them all. The feeling left me almost as soon as it had come, but it is something I wish never to forget." (Saint-Watching, 1969)
I confess to similar moments and feelings, times when I am in love with you all, and though these moments pass quickly, they are real, and they sustain many a moment when our life together is not all that it should be. These more generalized expressions of love may not be as rapturous as romantic love, but they too are an expression of love. Like Dylan's parable advises, it just depends how deep you want to go.
Love for Equals
I find Frederick Buechner helpful in distinguishing various levels of love. (Frederick Buechner, The Magnificent Defeat) There is, for example, the love for equals. This is the love of a friend for a friend, a sibling for a sibling. This is reciprocal love, an I'll-look-after-your-house-while-you're-gone-if-you-look-after-mine type of love. I'll love you until the first time you cross me! At most, I'll give you three chances! After that, I cut you off!
In its best form, reciprocal love may be the "mutual love" which the New Testament encourages. (Romans 12:10; Hebrews 13:1; 1 Peter 1:22; 2 Peter 1:7) It isn't too hard to love what is lovely, loving, and lovable, especially if it loves you back! As long as the concept of reciprocity is not stretched too far, this level of love works well and all that it requires is a calculator and a ledger, so as to keep things fair!
Love for the Less Fortunate
If the reciprocal love of equals is easy to maintain, a slightly more challenging level of love is love for the less fortunate. This level of love is based less on self-interest, and in its noblest form is a beautiful thing. The Scriptures speak of it often, encouraging love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, for the sick, the failures, the unlovely. We call it compassion, and it touches hearts. It's what motivates our own commitment to refugee resettlement and fair trade, and it strikes a chord with many, whether or not they are religious.
Sometimes we call it charity, a word currently held in low esteem, and to be sure, in its worst form it can reek of condescension. Token acts of charity have less to do with the welfare of the recipient than they do with our own pangs of conscience. Our disillusionment with charity began in earnest in the nineteenth century, when Shelley (1792-1822) referred to it as a "complicated sentiment." John Ruskin (1819-1900) split hairs by pointing out that in Scripture "it is written, not 'blessed is he that feedeth the poor,' but 'blessed is he that considereth the poor,'" which seems by far the more economical option.
Love for the More Fortunate
Love for those less fortunate is certainly a costly love, for love motivates the impulse to share, but what about another level of love, love for the more fortunate. Sometimes it's easier to love the less fortunate than the more fortunate, for the latter often engender feelings of envy and jealousy in us. I'm sad to say that resentment burns most brightly in my own heart when I have helped someone who needs it less than I do.
Love for the more fortunate may be rare, in fact, for it asks us to love those who succeed where we fail! Who among us has not enjoyed the humiliation presently being heaped upon Lord and Lady Black, who are receiving their comeuppance in spades! It takes a saint to spare any love for those two!
Love for God
The Scriptures, of course, speak of quite another level of love, love for God. Our Old Testament reading commands us:
Imprinted upon the Old Testament mind, however, was God's desire for an all-encompassing love, the love of heart, soul, and might a command that Jesus expanded to include the mind: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." (Mark 12:30) God wants our whole-hearted love, love in all of its emotional, spiritual, intellectual, and physical dimensions. By now we're waaaaay beyond puppy love, way beyond romantic love, beyond reciprocal love, beyond compassion.
In some ways it seems much easier to love God than our fellow human beings. It's also easier to hate God, however, to make of God a convenient target of all our unfulfilled desires, our frustrations, our resentments and petty jealousies. To love God in a meaningful way is a challenge, for it has to arise from deep within oneself.
Love for the Neighbour
To the basic commandment to love God, Jesus added another level of love: "You shall love your neighbour as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these." (Mark 12:31) Matthew writes, in his Gospel, "On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40) Or as another translation renders it, "On these two commandments hinge ...the Law and the Prophets." (Marquart) The whole Judeo-Christian religious tradition hinges on these two core commandments!
Well, if the word, "charity," has caused thinkers to scurry this way and that seeking to diminish its impact, the word, "neighbour," has inspired similar evasive action, starting with the lawyer who asked Jesus, "And who is my neighbour?" (Luke 10:29) Jesus not only rearranged the hierarchy of values in combining love of God with love of neighbour, he took the notion of neighbour to the next level, expanding it to include not just one's friends the ones fond of reciprocal love but anyone in need.
The Scriptures tell us that the lawyer asked Jesus to clarify the definition of neighbour because he wanted "to justify himself". (Luke 10:29) It may be for the same reason that some have sought to discount the New Testament emphasis upon love by pointing out the contradiction of issuing a command to love. On the level of romantic love, for example, we talk of falling in love. It just happens! Surely love shouldn't have to be commanded! Even if you get past the notion of puppy love, of a warm, gooey attraction to another person, and think of love as an act of the will a commitment that is not dependent on how we feel a command to love sounds somewhat oxymoron-ic! It's a little like telling your child to say thank you, which doesn't ensure that there is an ounce of gratitude in his or her heart! A command to love sounds like a deity saying, "I want you to do such-and-such, ...and like it! Nay, love it!"
Let me offer several explanations for this seeming contradiction. For one thing, Jesus himself wasn't issuing the command to love; he was reciting a command from the law of Israel as an answer to a question. I may be starting to sound like the New Testament lawyer, but in the command recited by Jesus the emphasis of the command is actually on "Hear, O Israel." (Deuteronomy 6:4) We are commanded to hear, and then follows that to which we should be attentive: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (6:5)
The grammar of this important text actually conveys an ambiguous blend of promise and implied command. The imperative tense used is not the usual one, so the meaning of this text is an interesting mix of "You folks are commanded to love," on the one hand, and on the other hand, "Listen up, folks! There's good news! The day is coming when we will all love God and love one another." (adapted from Nathan Nettleton)
One implication of this command-promise combination is that there is always room for improvement in love. A surface appreciation of love may be a pleasurable experience, but there are higher levels of love to which we can aspire. No matter how saintly we may be, there is not a person on the planet who comes even close to the full measure of love God revealed in Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 4:13)
The promise part of this command-promise combo changes the whole feel of the command. The promise tells us that our striving to love is not in vain. The promise tells us that every step forward in learning to love is worthwhile because it is preparing us for a promised future when love will come to fruition. The promise tells us that every time we push ourselves to the next level of love, God's full reign of love dances a little closer. No wonder Jesus said love was the greatest commandment of them all! Paul says that of all the great Christian virtues faith, hope, and love the greatest of these is love! (1 Corinthians 13:13) As a child might say, "This is the greatest commandment in the whole wide world!"
Aspire to the Best, the Most Excellent, the Greatest!
Reading through the New Testament epistles, one can not be blamed for thinking the Apostle Paul a somewhat competitive person. I myself play crokinole for the pleasure of it, but some players are extremely competitive. I think Paul would have been a fierce crokinole opponent. He once got into a contest with some other church leaders, claiming to have suffered much more than any of them, and then he goes on to rack up an impressive list: "Are they ministers of Christ? ...I am a better one: with far greater labours, far more imprisonments, (and) with countless floggings, and often near death. Five times I have received ...forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters...." (2 Corinthians 11:23-26)
Okay, Paul. Yes, I think he was competitive. He pushed himself to grow in faith. "Not that I (am) perfect yet," he wrote. "I have not yet won, but I am still running, trying to capture the prize for which Christ Jesus captured me. ...I am far from thinking that I have already won. All I can say is that I forget the past and I strain ahead for what is still to come; I am racing for the finish, for the prize to which God calls us...." (Philippians 3:12-14, JER, 1969, 1985)
Today Paul would probably have been an avid participant in extreme sports, but he pushed himself spiritually. He stretched himself in things of the spirit, and he urges us to do the same. Having provided an impressive list of the spiritual gifts God gave to the Church, he urged believers to "strive for the greater gifts." (1 Corinthians 12:31) "I will show you a still more excellent way" (1 Corinthians 12:31), he wrote, and then went on to write his Ode to Love in 1 Corinthians 13, in which he says that all manner of impressive achievements are worth zip if you don't have love! If you're an achiever, then try the challenges of love, and not just the lower levels! He also advised the Roman Christians to "outdo" each other in showing love, honour, and affection. (Romans 12:10)
Love is challenging! There's no doubt about it. Mark Twain acknowledged its daunting challenge in his book, Innocents Abroad (1869), when he wrote, "I trust I am a humble and a consistent Christian. I try to do what is right. I know it is my duty to pray for them that despitefully use me;' and therefore, hard as it is, I shall still try to pray for these fumigating, maccaroni-stuffing organ-grinders."
The Ultimate Test: Love for the Enemy
If you've managed to fall in love, with puppies or with other adorable creatures; and if you've managed the odd moment of affection for humankind, in general; and if you've done okay with loving your equals; and if you've mastered love for the less fortunate, and the even more difficult level, love for the more fortunate; if you've grown in your love for God, such that it captures not just your emotions but your mind and heart and will; and if you've gotten the hang of neighbourliness, in all of the depth that Jesus envisioned for us; if you're aspired to the best, the most excellent, the greatest the way of love then, and probably only then, are you ready for the ultimate test of love: love for the enemy!
For those who can't follow a simple story like the one that Jesus told the New Testament lawyer, Jesus taught, in his Sermon on the Mount, "You have heard that it was said, You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you...." (Matthew 5:43-44) This is love for the one who does not love you, the one who mocks you, threatens you, and inflicts pain upon you. This is the tortured one's love for the torturer.
This is love of a depth that is not easily separated from the object of its love. All manner of hardship, distress, persecution, famine, nakedness, peril, or sword (Romans 8:35) may threaten it, but it stands firm. This is the love whose breadth and length and height and depth can only be imagined! (Ephesians 3:18-20) This is the love, of course, that Christ showed us when he died for us. "No one has greater love than this," say the Scriptures, than "to lay down one's life for one's friends." (John 15:13) AMEN
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)
This commandment was seared on the minds of every Jew, and it is a most remarkable command, for what self-respecting deity would care whether one's subjects love you. A Creator might expect obedience of His subjects, His creatures; a god lowercase or upper case might expect gifts, offerings, and sacrifices, but love? No.
All quotations of Scripture, unless otherwise noted, are from the New Revised Standard Version.