Do You Know Love?
Lent 4b15, March 15, 2015 (Numbers 21:4-9; Ephesians 2:1-10; John 3:14-21)
Do you know love?
I am not asking, "Do you know about love?"Instead I am asking, "Do you know love?"
This isn't an easy question because love is darn difficult. Love demands the giving of our lives, taking risks in and through which we have no guarantees. Such love is not primarily a thought or even feelings. If love were merely feelings, it would be too easy. Feelings come and go, like the Maple Leafs playoff chances, like so many promises from so many people, like houses in Richmond being torn down. Here today, gone tomorrow.
I am talking about LOVE. A commitment of ourselves, all that we have and are and will be, to another person or people, to a cause we believe in, regardless of the cost. I have seen such love. I suspect that you have too.
Love is a couple journeying together on the path called life. The road isn't smooth. Each of them make mistakes that hurt their beloved and their self. Some of the mistakes are made intentionally. Many of their mistakes are accidental. Either way the mistakes hurt. And yet they keep on caring. In their living they try, so very hard, to work for each other's well being.
They actually know each other, as they really are – the wonderful stuff and the less than wonderful stuff. Still, they keep on caring, day after day, week after week, month after month. They bind each other's wounds, often figuratively, sometimes literally. They listen to each other even when they are tired. After all is said and done one of them may end up standing or even lying beside the other as that other person is dying. Then they will listening some more, care deeply, remembering so much. Then they may celebrate all that has been. And they may again for forgiveness of their beloved for the times they hurt that one. They may even deeply long for more – more time or have come to terms that this is the end of their time. This is love – far from perfect; anything but easy; living with profound vulnerability, because you have let, maybe even welcomed the other one in to whom you are – your strengths, weaknesses, even the things that you can't stand about yourself. The loved ones are allowed to see the wondrous things about each other – things you might not have even known about yourself – but together on your lifer journey are birthed, perhaps even a patience and kindness that we didn't know was within ourselves.
Such love is exhausting. Some days we may just want to throw our hands up in the air. But such love is also good. Such love flows from the very heart of God.
Love is aching with the other or others over losses, failures, disappointments. Love is sitting together when the other or others are sick. Love is dancing with the loved one or ones when they dance, even if it's just in your mind, because you can't dance the way you'd like to or they are half the world away. Love is praying for the other's safety, wisdom, faith – even when they may not know that they need any of that. And love is having a tiny or large hole in your heart – when the one whom you love or those you have grown to love leave, die, or spread their own wings.
Sometimes love means going to the hospital when one of your beloved has made a foolish decision. At other times love means flying across a continent or ocean because you recognized a hopeless tone in the voice of the one you love.
Sometimes such love is not returned. Even though that deeply hurts you keep on caring because this love is more than a feeling –it's part of, essential to who who you are.
Do you know love?
Today Jesus encounters us as he meets with this interesting character Nicodemus, "a leader of the Jews". Nick comes at night claiming to know something about Jesus. But I don't think that Nick knows Jesus at all. But Jesus wills to lead Nick (and us!) into knowing God in God's mystery – into experiencing the love of God, into then living from that reality. Yet at this point, Nick is lost - literally and figuratively. He doesn't "get" Jesus at all.
We are so much like Nick, often in darkness of our own making. Still Jesus loves him! Through Jesus deep and abiding love Nick is eventually moved beyond himself to the much grander dream of God– the deep, the difficult, the wondrous reality of life and love.
Jesus shows Nick the truth about himself. It's more than an inconvenient truth. The light of Jesus' love begins to shine upon and quicken Nick's life – even late that very first night. The light of Jesus' love shines upon our lives, individually and collectively, now. In Him we begin to see what and whom we are called to truly love, what and whom we really don't care that much about right now, regardless of what we say or think. In the love of Jesus we begin to see where we are caught – the various truths of our minds and hearts. The light and love of Jesus show us our Visa and Mastercard statements, our priorities – revealing an honest inventory of the expenditure of the time entrusted to us. As the light begins to shine on Nick, he is frightened. Are we any different as the light of Jesus' love completely illumines us?
But Jesus doesn't give up on Nicodemus because of Nicodemus' comprehension or flight. Nor does Jesus give upon us. "Hallelujah" even in Lent, particularly on some Sundays in Lent.
So, let me ask again, "Do you know love?"
Let me assert again - In Jesus, we are known by God's love!
Can you imagine – having a husband or wife, close friend or child – who continually wanders off, pushing you away? Can you imagine having a husband or wife, close friend or child who will not talk to you for days or months, or years on end? Can you imagine having a husband or wife, close friend, son or daughter who sometimes purposely, does exactly the opposite of what you had had hoped for, instructed, even prayed for.
Such a person is bent on doing their own thing – eating too much, drinking too much, spending what they don't have, even poisoning the very air that they and others need to breathe. Such a person forgets or disregards their own brothers and sisters, sometimes even steals from their siblings. All that seems to matter to such a person is their own limited understanding of "today", or in some weird turn of terms, their "rights". Who will rescue them from this body of death, this reality of their own making? Can you/ would you keep loving them? Would you give your all for them in the hopes that they would know your love – and be transformed? Would you love them that foolishly, without any guarantee?
Yet this is the way that God miraculously loves us and all people, all creation. This is at the root of it why Jesus is lifted up on that tree.
Dear people – do we know love? God, almighty God, Creator of the universe loves us – not with fleeting feelings or merely in his or her "head". God loves us and the entire world so much, that God becomes One of us. In this emptying love of literally giving Himself/Herself over to death, God shines the light both on whom we are – and upon whom God is. Will we be loved and loving? Or, will we run away pretending that things are OK by trying to hide in the shadows of our delusions and rationalizations?
Dear people, be opened to the love of God in Jesus Christ, the One who is lifted up on the tree. Even now, He reaches out to love us. Shine, Jesus shine. Transform us, freeing us from ourselves, our delusions in the midst of all reality – to know and live from your love. Amen