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May 6, 2007
“I give you a new commandment, that you
love one another. Easier Said Than Done John 13:31-35 Why does God command us to do certain things and to behave in certain ways? Maybe it’s because if it were left up to us, we would be too easy on ourselves. We would give ourselves a break and make excuses for not doing the right thing at the right time. The new commandment is really a summary of all the other commandments, but with an edge: Love one another as I have loved you. Loving one another is one thing, but loving as Jesus loves is quite another. Jesus laid down his life for us. Are we willing to lay down our lives for one another? Jesus said that no one has greater love than this. I believe that God commands us to love as Jesus loves because it’s good for our souls. Not only are we made in the image of God, but our creator God is continually at work forming in us the image of Jesus Christ. How can this be? Left to our own devices, we would see this as impossible task. But we must remember that Jesus came to earth, lived and died, and was resurrected from the dead in order to invite us into the life of God. The life of God is a life in community. In community we live out what we really believe. The early Christians tried to figure out how best to live the Christian life. Their experiments ranged from the New Testament gatherings from house to house, continuing in the Apostles’ fellowship, the breaking of bread and the prayers to later monastic communities in the deserts of Egypt. As in every household, the leaders came up with some rules. One of the most practical rules was the Rule of St. Benedict of Nursia, whose (c. 480-550 A.D.). If you are an Episcopalian, you are living out the Rule of St. Benedict at least in some general way through prayer and church attendance. Benedictine living is living in the present moment. The Rule of Benedict provides us with loving ways to resolve conflicts, and with ways to have a prayerful life with a laser focus on Jesus Christ. The central activity is prayer and worship. Episcopalians are not very good at knocking on doors and sharing their faith. We are good at inviting people to worship with us. This is the best way to share our faith. Each time we come to church on Sunday, we get a little slice of the church year. We hear scriptures that we might not read on our own, we get covered over in prayers, and we get Holy Communion. This is very Benedictine. We have also tried to live out Jesus’ command to love by formulating standards of behavior. Why do we attempt to behave according to certain standards, and who sets those standards? And what happens when we fail to live up to them? I believe our ethical norms of Christian behavior are somehow an attempt to respond to the love of God outpoured on us in Jesus Christ. I used to get a personal sense of this at Sewanee. In the Chapel of the Apostles, where we had services of Morning Prayer, Evening Prayer, and Holy Eucharist five days a week, there is a larger-than-life crucifix behind the altar. It is impossible to be in that space for very long without having one’s eyes swept upward toward the cross, seeing Jesus hanging there. Through the seasons, through the glass walls of the chapel, as we watched summer turn to fall, and winter to spring, Jesus was still hanging there. One morning at the end of Morning Prayer, I was looking at the cross out of habit without thinking about anything in particular. Suddenly I was overcome with a profound sense of embarrassment. We had an unwritten rule on campus – “no PDA’s” (public displays of affection). Jesus’ public display of affection was too much for me. I knew I did not deserve that kind of love and I wanted to pay it back somehow. Or worse, I wanted to earn it. Both options are impossible. So what should my response be? I accept that salvation in Jesus Christ is a gift of God’s grace, yet in gratitude I can attempt to conform my life to the standards set by the Galilean Carpenter. But that is risky. Look where it landed him. Still the question remains, “Why do I as a Christian have it as my goal to observe certain behavioral standards?” St. Augustine said that because we know we are going to die, we want peace in our rational soul. In describing Christian standards, St. Augustine says that we view all peace, of body or soul, or of both, in relation to that peace which exists between mortals and Almighty God. He says that we do so in order that we may exhibit an ordered obedience in faith in subjection to the everlasting law. In other words, we strive to do the right things rather than just hearing what those right things are. What is the everlasting law? Is it natural law – that which our conscience teaches us, or is it the teaching imposed upon us from without? I think it is a combination of the two. Will observation of this law give us peace in our rational souls? If we are to love each other as Christ loved us, there are two norms that we can observe: 1) Do no harm to any one (this is reflective of the Hippocratic Oath); and 2) Help everyone whenever possible. These two norms can be compared to a peaceful river which flows along and nourishes everything in its path. But how can we let these two norms govern us? One answer could be virtue-based ethics, or standards of behavior. By way of clarification, the cardinal virtues are temperance, courage, prudence and justice. Christians have baptized these ethics and adopted them, but we hold even higher the theological virtues of faith, hope and charity. Charity, or love, has them all covered. So let us hold love as our highest goal. I would suggest that the door of the cardinal virtues swings both ways – that if we do no harm to anyone and help whenever possible, we will live lives of temperance, courage, prudence and justice, guided by faith, hope, and love. In the midst of all this, we must be clothed with humility, or else our virtues could turn to vices if we try to impose them on others. Humility means knowing that all virtues come from God. The ideal of the Christian character is the earthly life of Jesus Christ. Even those who were opposed to Jesus conceded that “He has done everything well.” These Christian ethics are leanings in our own hearts that cause us to be passionate to create and live into the right habits. These habits would include giving “justice to those who are oppressed, and food to those who hunger.” (Psalm 146:6) These are habits of the heart of God, and thus they become our habits as well. Every Sunday when we say the “Our Father” we pray that God’s kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. If the Kingdom of God were to come, what would it look like? What would it be like to live in a community where there was no crime, where everyone reached their highest educational potential, and where there was no poverty? Well, we don’t. To my knowledge, no one does. It is possible? Even though we cannot attain to these ideals all the time, just having the standards set before us gives us a chance to repent when we fail to live up to them. Do we have peace in our rational souls because we try to conform to the norms of behavior set by Jesus, or do we try to conform to those norms because through faith we have peace with God? And last but not least, is it possible to make these ideals our norms of everyday behavior? Does it all come down to asking ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” And how can we be sure what Jesus would do? Jesus would love. And it’s easier said than done. Amen. .
On the grounds of Honey Creek
The Rev. Linda McCloud, Pastor |
