The Template for Our Love--May 2, 2023

The Template for Our Love--May 2, 2023

"For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps.  'He committed no sin, and no deceit was in his mouth.' When he was abused, he did not return abuse; when he suffered, he did not threaten; but he entrusted himself to the one who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the cross, so that, free from sins, we might live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." [1 Peter 2:21-24]

Jesus isn't the exception--he's the rule.  And the way of suffering love that Jesus chose was not a random accident or a glitch in the system--it's the pattern for the community of his followers, too.  So when Jesus made the conscious commitment not to return evil for the evil shown to him, he set a course for all of us who bear his name.  Like the second-century church father Tertullian, echoing the near-consensus of the early church, said, "When Jesus disarmed Peter, he disarmed all Christians."  Jesus' refusal to sink to the level of hatred and violence is our call to do the same.

That might seem obvious if we are actually reading First Peter here.  But to be honest, for a lot of Christian history, we've made a major error in bad theology and told ourselves that Jesus' path is different from ours.  The thinking usually goes something like this:  "Well, of course, Jesus had to humbly submit to the abuse of the crowds and the empire, because he had to die on the cross to pay for our sins... but since none of us is Jesus, and none of us has to die in order to save the world or redeem people's sins, then we can't be expected to do any of this turning-the-other-cheek nonsense.  That's just for Jesus... or weaklings and losers, I guess."

Maybe it's not usually phrased so baldly like that, but this is actually a pretty important question for us to consider: are we supposed to be "like" Jesus in his way of loving others, even to the point of not answering their abuse with abuse of his own, or is that a "just for Jesus" sort of thing? Is the cross a glaring exception to the usual protocols and ways of God, or is it the clearest expression of what God's heart and character are really like?  Is it an unexpected accidental note in the melody, or is it the very key-signature of the song God is singing?

I've got to admit--it can be really tempting to say that all of that love-your-enemies, don't-return-evil-for-evil business is just exclusive to Jesus.  It can be really easy to say "That's just how it had to be for Jesus, but the rules are different for him from the rules for us.  He had to suffer... y' know, for our salvation.  But for us, you gotta git them before they git you."  The trouble is that's precisely NOT what the New Testament says.  It's certainly not what Jesus says [ahem, "Anyone who wants to me my follower must take up the cross and follow me daily..."  and "But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you..."].  And it's very clearly not what First Peter is saying here, since our author explicitly says that Jesus' refusal to answer violence with violence is Christ "leaving you an example, so that you should follow in his steps."  Jesus is the pattern, the template for our love, not the outlier we can ignore.

When we talk about how Christ-like love "does not keep record of wrongs," as we have been doing all this Eastertide, it's easy to reduce that just to an emotional or psychological response.  It's easy to hear that as only saying, "We're not supposed to hold grudges, or it will make us bitter and resentful in the long run."  And of course, that much is true--it's not good for our souls to hold grudges.  But more than that, it's about the pre-emptive commitment not to return evil for evil, abuse for abuse, or hatred for hatred.  It's about the choice not to treat people the way they have treated us, which leads to a cycle of revenge the moment I feel like I've been wronged, but rather to treat people the way we WANT them to treat us, which opens up the door to new beginnings.  Pay attention to that distinction, because they sound similar but really point in opposite directions. The teaching of Jesus we call "the Golden Rule" is NOT that you treat others the way they have already treated you, but conversely, that you treat others in the way you would want them to treat you--whether or not they have done it to you yet [or if they ever do].  That means that loving in Jesus' way takes the shape of actions and habits--what we do, and what we are committed NOT to do to others in the world, no matter what they may or might do to us.  Being people who don't keep score or hold grudges isn't just an emotional thing inside our heads--it's about how we conduct ourselves in the world, and how we respond to the abuse, hatred, and violence that is so easily thrown around in that world.

All of this is to say that the Christian life doesn't start with lobbing out hypotheticals, like, "What if that stranger turns out to be a deranged crazy person--don't you have to take them out first before they hurt you?" or "What if they hit you first?" but rather with clarity based on the way and character of Jesus.  We start with something solid--the real, human life of Jesus, and say, "What would it look to love like him, in this situation?  Who would Jesus kill?  Who would Jesus hit back?  Oh, nobody?  I guess we're clear on how we respond, too."

Once we are done looking for ways to let ourselves off the hook, or to make Jesus a devation from the norm rather than the example we follow, we can see just how powerful Jesus' kind of love really is.  It has the capacity to transform everything, and us included, from being a deadly circle of endless revenge fantasies, to something new, creative, and grace-filled.  That's what happens when dare to follow, as First Peter says, in Jesus' steps.

Lord Jesus, give us your bravery to see clearly what your love looks like in the world, and to see where your footsteps lead.