On A Radical Kind of Love

On A Radical Kind of Love

On a Radical Kind of Love
Traceymay Kalvaitis
November 3, 2024

Psalm 119:1-8

Happy are those whose way is blameless, who walk in the law of the LORD. Happy are those who keep his decrees, who seek him with their whole heart, who also do no wrong but walk in his ways. You have commanded your precepts to be kept diligently. O that my ways may be steadfast in keeping your statutes! Then I shall not be put to shame, having my eyes fixed on all your commandments. I will praise you with an upright heart, when I learn your righteous ordinances. I will observe your statutes; do not utterly forsake me.

Mark 12:28-34

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; 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 other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question.
***

Today’s sermon is titled On a Radical Kind of Love.

Friends, there are so many kinds of love, as we well know. The Greeks had 6 distinct words for various kinds of love. “Philia describes intimate, authentic friendship. Eros describes romantic, passionate, sexual love like you can’t get enough of someone. Ludus describes playful, flirtatious love. Storge is love between family of origin, or family of choice, characterized by loving one another in spite of our faults and short-comings. Philautia is self-love; it can be a healthy love or an unhealthy, self-obsessed love. Pragma describes a committed love for the long haul, based on shared understanding, shared goals and shared values. Lastly, agápe is a spiritual, inclusive love for God, nature, strangers, and the less fortunate. It involves caring for and loving others without expecting anything in return.” * It is the word agápe that is used in our scriptures for today to describe love of God and love of neighbor.

This is ancient Jewish wisdom that Jesus pulls from the First Testament books of Leviticus and Deuteronomy. Jesus says in the book of Matthew, verse 20, that on these two commands, love of God and love of neighbor, hang all the law and the prophets. The order is important here. Jesus says first comes love of God. Why is this? I think love of God must come first because we are largely incapable, on our own, to love our neighbor. Theologian John Knox describes it this way: “Think of drawing a circle with a compass. Get the center right and the circumference will come right. Love to God will result in love to neighbor.”

I have mostly had good relationships with neighbors throughout my life. I lived in a commune with 17 other people for nine years in my twenties and that certainly had its challenges, but we had weekly meetings and a process in place for conflict resolution, so we were able to work through our difficulties. My most challenging neighborly relationships were definitely during my last year of college when I rented a trailer in a trailer park in Greenville, North Carolina. I rented the trailer because it was right on the banks of the Tar river, the rent was only 150 dollars a month, and the trailer came with the use of a canoe. The challenge was living in a neighborhood of about 50 other trailers, each only 20 feet apart, if that. Suffice it to say that there are very few secrets in a trailer park. The full range of the human experience was all within earshot and mostly on full display. It was enlightening, to say the least, for a 22 year old debutante from the city, thinking she knew a thing or two. Living in that trailer park put my ability to love my neighbors to the test, I tell you.

In a Bible study this past week we attempted to define what loving your neighbor might look like. One Friend suggested that to love your neighbor might mean to hold your neighbor’s interests (meaning their needs, desires, hopes and fears) on the same level as we hold our own needs, desires, hopes and fears, knowing that ours are no more important and no more valid than theirs. I would say that would be an excellent place for us to begin.

I warn us, Friends, the instant we see a person or a group of people as somehow less than ourselves… less important, less deserving, less intelligent, less able…as soon as we see someone as less than, we become part of the problem that has always plagued humanity…our inability to see someone as fully human, someone with a life story, someone with a family history, someone with needs, desires, hopes and fears that are just as real and true as our own.

This is what our scriptures today invite us to do; they invite us to truly see one another. With the love-that-is-God at the center of our lives, we are more able to truly see one another, not just by the color of our skin or the country of our origin, not as male or female, gay or straight or trans, not as Republican, Democrat, or Independent, not as Christian, Jewish, Muslim or Atheist, not as Catholic or Protestant. Love your neighbor, no exceptions. This is a radical form of love we are called to. This is a radical love that is transforming us and it is transforming our society as we struggle to grow into a diverse democracy unlike any other. It takes work, Friends, tolerance, civility, clarity and compassion. Most of all it takes love, agápe love, love of God, love and care of one another without expecting anything in return. Love like we heard about today from Friends of the Oglala Lakota. Love like we will remember as we share in Communion. Love like we hold for those saints who have gone before us.

In closing, I will be the first to admit, it is not easy work, but it is well worth the effort. The health of our families depend on it, the health of our communities depend on it, and the health of our democracy depends on it. Put your faith into action as you vote. And please, Friends, begin the work now of laying a foundation for healing in the future. Begin now the work of truly seeing one another, not as enemies, but as neighbors and friends. So be it. Amen.

*https://www.wellandgood.com/greek-words-for-love/

Pastoral Prayer
Lord of all things, we find ourselves in tumultuous times. Your presence is often difficult to sense among the news headlines. Guide us to the silent places within where we may sense your peace. We pray for a heightened awareness of how we may be instruments of your goodness and your peace. Help us to still our bodies and minds so that we may respond to your guidance, Lord. Spark our memories, that we may be reminded of all the saints who have come before us in this world. Make us ever-mindful of the sacrifices and achievements of others that add quality to our lives today, especially those who displaced from their native lands, and those who toiled and labored in the bonds of indenture, slavery, and for insufficient wages. May the lessons of our past inform the choices of our present so that our future may be marked by progress and prosperity for all people. Turn our minds and hearts to the power of prayer, as we pray for ourselves, and as we pray for our sisters and brothers around the world. We pray in Christ’s name. Amen.

Benediction
I leave you with these words from the book of Ephesians, chapter 3:

“…may you be strengthened in your inner being with power through God’s Spirit, with Christ dwelling through faith in your hearts, so that being rooted and grounded in love, you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know Christ’s love which surpasses knowledge, in order that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God…Amen.

Archives