Transforming Love

Rockville United Church
The Rev. Suzanne Rudiselle

May 21, 2006

Jesus said, “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.”

Simple! Of course! We learn in our earliest Sunday school days, “God is Love.” We sing “Jesus loves me this I know…” If we are blessed we heard our parents or grandparents say, “I love you”. Perhaps later there is a special someone who says that as well. The bible tells us that love comes from God - a steadfast and tangible love that continues to seek us out and offer us forgiveness and reconciliation.

Children learn quickly what love is and are sometimes profound in their insight. One 4 year old named Billy said, “When someone love you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth.”

8 year old Rebecca said, “When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love.”

“All you need is love, la de da de da. All you need is love, la de da de da. All you need is love. All you need is love.” (Thank you George Harrison of the Beatles) We know that’s all we need - or do we?

It is easy for a sermon about love to become trite and cute. It’s easy for us to cite sweet stories and smile, but love is powerful and transforming and sometimes not sweet at all.
Look at the examples of Jesus’ love: driving the money changers out of the temple where they had usurped the only place that non Jews could come to worship - and turned it into a marketplace - probably a corrupt one; entering into a conversation with the Samaritan woman, something unheard of for a Jewish man; the non-judgmental protection of the woman caught in adultery, when her accusers were using her as an object of scorn and entrapment; comfort of Martha at her brother’s death, and the shared tears with Mary. Love? Love expressed in anger at injustice. Love shown in relationships with an outsider. Love and acceptance without judgment. Love with compassion and shared sorrow. Love that led him to call his sometimes thick-headed, not-always-lovable disciples “friends” and trust them with his Good News; love enough to lay down his life for these very people - and us.

Love isn’t a sweet syrupy smaltzy feeling. This is commitment and relationship and an act of will. Love isn’t merely kind words to a few friends. 6 year old Nicki said, “If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend you hate.” We need a lot more Nickis!

Frederick Buechner writes: “Of all the powers, love is the most powerful and the most powerless. It is the most powerful because it alone can conquer that final and most impregnable stronghold which is the human heart It is the most powerless because it can do nothing except by consent.”

Love may break you heart and challenge your resolve as you work and sacrifice for the good of another, some of whom will not be appreciative, some of whom will never know, some of whom will be skeptical or take advantage. And some will be inspired to love in return. Love is practical and demanding and wonder-filled and rewarding - all at the same time. Samuel Crossman in 1664, wrote the beautiful hymn, “My song is love unknown, my Savior’s love to me; Love to the loveless shown that they might lovely be.”

Love needs implementation - living out in the rough and smooth of daily life with all kinds of people in all kinds of circumstances. It requires that you invest in another without strings attached and expectation of return. It needs your hands to reach out to touch and guide and comfort. It needs your feet to go out into the neighborhood to meet and greet and invite the strangers into fellowship. It needs your voices to speak out for those whose voices have been ignored or muted; voices to insist on justice and equity for all people. It needs your ears to listen - really listen - to the concerns of those marginalized folk who are quickly put away out of sight or ignored because they are too old or too young or don’t have any political clout. Love is risky and costly - it might cost your life. Love has consequences.

Dr. William Miller served as a Christian missionary in Iran for 46 years. When the Ayatollah Khomeni came to power Americans were told to evacuate. Most did but Dr. Miller refused to go saying that his life and friends were there. The new fundamentalist regime put a price on his head as an infidel, but Dr. Miller was hidden and protected, not by his Christian congregation, which had been dispersed, but by a group of Muslims. When one was asked why they risked their lives for him, the man said, “because he loves us.”

Love is what Jesus commands us to do. “This is my commandment, that you love one another.” Commands! He says, “Abide in my love - keep my commandments”. Why? Why not? Is there any place safer to be than enveloped in God’s love in Christ? Oh, if it were that easy. We have the model. We have the example and the scriptural reference. Do we have the heart and the will to be obedient? Will they know we are Christians by our love?

This weekend your RUC Council has been on retreat learning and relearning about leadership in this time of transition. They have given up two days with their families and precious time for all those things which don’t get done during the busy work week, to come together and work hard to be the best leaders you could possibly have. They do it out of commitment and out of love. They have been called by God through the voice of this congregation to serve in a variety of ministries; to use their gifts for your benefit and in service to this community of faith and beyond. And you know what? After long days, jam-packed with information, study, and planning, they are filled with enthusiasm and joy!

Little Terri said, “Love is what makes you smile when you are tired.” Nehemiah writes, “The joy of the Lord is your strength.” Imagine. Love produces joy and joy is strength! Love! Jesus says, just as I love. Love, and you will find a joy that comes from and through my love. Love and you will find your own joy complete.

The Psalmist says, “O sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things… Make a joyful noise… and sing praises to the Lord.” More evidence of that joy that comes from the deep wellspring of God’s love. “All you need is love, la de da de da. … Love is all you need”.