Love one another
4 April 08
One of the best holidays I’ve ever had was when my friend and I went on a budget road trip. Two of us, a 2CV, a tent, a rubber dinghy and a crate of food (sounds a bit like The Life of Pi without tigers). It was an awesome trip, and easily the cheapest one I’ve ever had!
But then you get to the end of the holiday and divvy up the costs, and somebody owes somebody something. When we added everything up, it was me that owed the money; not loads, but enough to be useful. Anyway, this was in the days before internet banking, and despite my best intentions I somehow never drew the money out of my account. I just forgot. I think it was about 18 months later when my very gracious friend cancelled the debt as part of a Christmas present – a very gentle reminder that whanged straight to my heart. It wasn’t a huge deal and we’re still great friends, but I still get the urge to look down and shuffle my feet when I think about it.
You see, you don’t expect that to happen. When you lend stuff, you expect to get it back; when you’re lent stuff, you expect to give it back. It’s just and fair – that’s the way things should happen, right? But Jesus’ radical, scary, earth-moving kind of love is way above that. Jesus tells us to love our enemies, pray for those who persecute us, go the extra mile with people and give them even more than they’ve asked us for, give up our shirt as well when someone takes our hoodie. Jesus even says that if someone mistreats you and hurts you for doing the right thing, you’ve got to carry on doing the right thing, and give them the opportunity to mistreat you and hurt you all over again.
What does it look like to love like that? It seems crazy at first glance. Why would you open yourself up to that kind of treatment? Does that really mean that you have to continue being respectful to that tutor who bullies you? To pray for that lecturer who always picks on you and tries to humiliate you because they know you’re a Christian? To buy a coffee for that person on your course who you suspect nicked your mobile last week? Tough questions! I’m guessing you’re looking at those situations and thinking, “Just hold on a minute! That’s not fair! What about justice?”
Let’s take a step back and have a think about this. It’s Jesus that’s saying this stuff about turning the other cheek, right? OK, so let’s see if he practised what he preached. He gave his life for people who hated him; he had more wealth and power than our tiny minds could possibly comprehend, and yet he gave it all up for humiliation, torture and death. He was God, and he became a helpless baby, born to a poor teenager in a stable under a bit of a scandal (being pregnant before marriage meant stoning under Jewish law), in occupied territory, to a people group who experienced discrimination. Why would you do that?? Well, out of love for us, according to the Bible. ‘For the joy set before him, Jesus endured the cross’ (Hebrews 12:2) – and that joy was getting you and me back. For me that shows two things: firstly, how much Jesus loves us; and secondly, just how high the price of sin is. Love is costly.
So if we’re going to follow in Jesus’ footsteps, we need to have that love that turns the world upside down. My friend cancelled my debt, and I know that cost her something in forgiveness as well as in money. Not only do we need to be generous, but we need to be prepared for the fact that people won’t always treat us as our generosity deserves. Some Christians see literally what it means to be beaten for acknowledging Jesus, and see what it costs to stand up and acknowledge him again, knowing what the result will be. Here in the West, most of us don’t face that kind of situation –
but we’re all called to have that kind of love.