Love Ye One Another
Read: John 17:20-26
I recently saw an article in the newspaper that was quite thought-provoking. The heading stated: “Snob within grows to include middle class.” The first paragraph read in part: “Once upon a time, snobbery was a bad thing, a character flaw indulged in by effete elites and condemned by everyone else. But is snobbery going mainstream? Are snob appeal and mass appeal converging? The country is on a status binge that has made the quest for luxury goods the new national pastime. And the rules of the game evidently are: No guilt, no limits.” Alongside the paragraph was a color photo of First Lady Laura Bush stunningly attired for a recent White House reception in an $8,500 Oscar de la Renta gown. As it turns out, three other women arrived at the event wearing the same red dress, causing Mrs. Bush to change clothes mid-party.
Status and prestige have probably always been part of human life, reflecting the ego's need for specialness – an elevated standing relative to others. The seemingly innocent and universal desire for luxury goods, with high profit potential, is a driving force in the economy. I believe, however, that all things are inherently neutral, neither good nor bad. It is their purpose that gives them meaning. When feeling the desire for something, we might well ask ourselves in a moment of thoughtful honesty: “What is this for?” A given object might be a blessing, a useful and comfortable tool for daily living – or a wedge that further separates us one from another.
Separation always leads to fear, the opposite of love. And where love is lacking, can intolerance and even hatred be far behind? Religious, racial, ethnic and ideological strife – to name but a few examples – rob much of humanity of joy and peace in daily living, and can lead to conflict of global proportions. The “Great War” was the “war to end all wars,” yet in a little more than two decades, there arose a second world-wide conflict of horrific and unprecedented destruction. The ongoing strife in the Middle East, to name but one example, should spark within all thoughtful persons the exclamation: “Enough! There must be a better way!”
Into this intractable situation, God sends His greatest gift to humankind – a Savior and Way-shower in the form of Jesus Christ. In the 17th chapter of John's gospel, Jesus prays for the spiritual unity of us all: “And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one.” If this be the divine plan, only folly would divide into separate and unequal parts what God would have as one. If we could lay hold of the idea that we are all brothers and sisters of one heavenly Parent, and equally loved and blessed by God, there may at last be a chance for a durable peace on this planet.
During this reflective period of Lent, let us take the time and put forth the effort to seriously reassess our view of each other with the goal of strengthening our relationships to each other and to our God. In this way do we honor our Creator: by loving and honoring what He created. “And God saw everything that He had made, and, behold, it was very good.” (Genesis 1:31a)
In the 12th chapter of Mark's gospel we read of the scholar of the scriptures who asked Jesus the question, “What commandment is foremost of all?” To summarize all the law and the prophets, Jesus replied, “The foremost is, 'Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord; and 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.' The second is this, 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no commandment greater than these.” When the scribe who asked Jesus the question agreed with his answer, Jesus told him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.”
Dear God, in the unsettled and unsettling world in which we live, we often feel the fear of being unloved and unloving. We forget that You made us in Your image and that Your love for us knows no bounds of time or space. Forgive us for not realizing that You have given us each other as help-mates on the journey back to You. Forgive us also for making the meager and temporal offerings of this earthly plane into substitutes for Your love. Help us to quiet our minds, our bodies, and our activities so that Your Voice can be heard above the noise and activity of this world. And help us to follow the two great commandments of love so that we, too, can be close to Your kingdom. We ask this with humble and grateful hearts. Amen.
Doug Dykstra
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