Love and Hate

1 John 4:7-21
Like many of you, I’ve been reading news reports about the bombing in Boston on April 15, 2013. While the news is tragic and heartbreaking, I have been disappointed as well by comments left on various websites concerning the role of religion or politics in the event, even though no suspect or motive have been identified. As people of faith, we must take seriously the charges being leveled against us: that we are led to violence by our God; that our faith is one of hate and vengeance which––as one writer claimed––has overseen far more deaths than were caused by Hitler and Stalin combined; that were there no religions the world would be a better place. We need to hear these words not as truth, but as assumptions too often based on the acts of those who claim they believe in the God of Jesus Christ.

And when we have heard these words, we need to read from our epistle lesson for today: “We love because [God] first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love God,’ and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also” (1 John 4:19-21). Granted, to some these are just words on a page which is why we must learn to share God’s love unambiguously and without qualification. We must let the world know, to the best of our abilities, that God is love and that it is because of God that we are capable of showing love for one another even in the face of greatest evil.

One glimmer of hope to appear in the midst of yesterday’s turmoil is the renewed use of a quote from Fred Rogers, a man of faith who dedicated his life to enriching the lives of children. His mother’s advice to “look for the helpers” in scary times has resonated with many. You can find the original video of this quote at:

http://pbskids.org/rogers/parentsteachers/special/scarynews.html?guid=5dcfab82-485d-40e4-b398-6a8ed4eae64e

Rogers is not claiming that all helpers are people of faith, simply that there are always those who will show compassion in times of distress. Our job, as Christians, is to make sure that we are among the helpers, those who renounce acts of violence to embrace ministries of hope and reconciliation. This may not lead others to share our faith, but it will serve the will of a loving God and will help to push back the darkness of evil with the light of life.

Prayer: Lord, we pray for all those who are victims of violence and ask your peace to be upon all people this day, in Boston and around the world, so that all may enjoy your gift of abundant life, now and forever. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

No Way This Happens, Unless…

Isaiah 11:1-9
“The wolf shall live with the lamb, the leopard shall lie down with the kid, the calf and the lion and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. The cow and the bear shall graze, their young shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. The nursing child shall play over the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put its hand on the adder's den. They will not hurt or destroy on all my holy mountain; 
for the earth will be full of the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea” (Isaiah 11:6-9). These words from today’s Old Testament reading are filled with hope but also with almost comical imagery. Here is a scene that nature could never recreate: predators and prey, carnivores and herbivores, human children and the offspring of dangerous animals all coexisting in a way that even Disney’s “The Lion King” wouldn’t dare to suggest.

But then that’s the point, isn’t it? It isn’t natural, it isn’t an aspect of life as we know it, it isn’t the way things happen, but it is a parable about that which God is able to do. If we depend on ourselves we will fall short; the wolf will consume the lamb, the leopard will devour the kid, the lion will chow down on calf and ox and not think even once about straw; there will be pain and destruction all over the mountain if we try to pull this sort of thing off. Only God could make it work.

And only God could announce the approach of God’s reign with a baby born to humble parents in an out-of-the-way place and under extreme circumstances. What was God thinking? The arrival of God’s Son in the manger at Bethlehem isn’t natural, it isn’t an aspect of life as we know it, it isn’t the way things happen. If you want to bring lasting change you have to have a bigger stage and a wider audience than shepherds and traveling sages. So maybe the story of the birth of Jesus is a parable of sorts as well. Maybe it reminds us that with God all things are possible. With God love can overcome evil, pain can be soothed with mercy, poverty can be addressed with generosity, hunger can be assuaged with compassion. With God all things are possible and all things find their fullest purpose. So maybe Isaiah’s scene from the holy mountain is not as far-fetched as we may think. Maybe it really is a sign of what God is doing in our world.

Prayer: Lord, may all the world live in peace under your coming reign. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Fierce Compassion

Zechariah 12:1-10
There is a common misconception that God, as depicted in the Old Testament, is somehow limited to acts of rage and vengeance. While I would never argue that the Hebrew scriptures present God as merely passive or always peaceful, the truth is that God’s judgment is often a function of God’s grace. Our Old Testament reading for today helps to make this clear. “And I will pour out a spirit of compassion and supplication on the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that, when they look on the one whom they have pierced, they shall mourn for him, as one mourns for an only child, and weep bitterly over him, as one weeps over a firstborn” (Zechariah 12:10).

To enter into covenant with the God of Israel is to live as a blessing to the nations, even those whose enmity leads to conflict. To be a victor with God is to care for the vanquished and to share in their pain and loss.

Prayer: Lord, help us to reflect your love and your compassion to those around us, in times of peace and times of conflict. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Simple Compassion

Jeremiah 16:(1-9)10-21

John 6:1-15

In the reading from Jeremiah for today we find words of judgment and of warning. Because of their sinfulness, following after other gods, the Lord will banish the people from the land (Jeremiah 16:9). The details are gruesome as to what will happen, but tucked in Jeremiah’s account, just after the mention of unburied bodies and unshaven heads, we read, “No one shall break bread for the mourner, to offer comfort for the dead; nor shall anyone give them the cup of consolation to drink for their fathers or their mothers” (vs. 8). Even simple gestures of compassion will cease, says the Lord.

The feeding of the five thousand is one of a few accounts contained in all four gospels. But each gospel writer has a particular insight into the event. John alone provides us with this detail: “One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, ‘There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish. But what are they among so many people?’” (John 6:8-9). We have no way of knowing whether the bread and fish had been offered freely by the boy, or if Andrew had asked if he could take it. But no matter. This remains a simple gesture of compassion in the midst of a teeming crowd. I’m not sure what I find more important to the story, Jesus’ miraculous ability to feed the multitude, or the offering of fish and loaves by an unnamed boy.

The warning of the prophet was valid, and his word was true. But in the end, when God is at work, acts of generosity abound. Gifts are shared, wounds are healed, lives are changed for the better. In a moment of need someone steps forward and offers what they have, and by God’s grace it becomes enough. It is easy to condemn the church for its hypocrisy, for its divisiveness and its ugliness. But let us never forget the Spirit-filled acts of love that also spring from God’s people. The acts, like the people themselves, are imperfect, but in God’s hand they become limitless expressions of grace. There are those who will break bread for the mourner, who will give a cup of consolation to the one in distress. May we, too, share in this blessed activity, giving what we have to the work of God.

Prayer: Lord, help us to care for those who mourn and to offer what we have to those in need. In Jesus’ name. Amen.