"The Biblical Concept of Love"
In Koine Greek (the common language of the people of Jesus' day and the language of the New Testament), there were three words for love. The first is eros, from which we derive the word "erotic." It is the love of attraction and sexual passion. Eros in Greek mythology was the son of Aprohdite, the god of lust and sexuality. This word for love is not found in the New Testament. The second word for love is philos, often called filial love, is love for those you have special relationship and affection, family and close friends. It is the word from which we get the city name, Philadelphia, "the city of brotherly love." This one is found a few times in the New Testament. Notice that both erotic love and filial love require a sense of mutuality, a give and take relationship. The one most often found in the New Testament is agape, which was quite rare in secular use, sometimes referring to affection for the gods. Christianity took this word as their own, redefining it as sacrificial love that did not require attraction, affection, or even mutual give and take. It is this kind of love that scripture calls for when we "love our neighbor," a love that acts and speaks for the good of someone else whether or not they return that love. This kind of love is what Roman society shunned as weak and stupid - "Behold how they 'love' each other" (with utter sarcasm).
Matthew 5:13-20
Loving as Christ loves is a powerfully counter-cultural move on our parts. We are to be salt in the world - adding flavor, preserving and curing those around us. We are to be light - making truth visible and sharing the good news of God's love and how it overcomes our darkness. I have had people say to me, "My faith in God is a very personal and private thing." I want to say in return, "Not if it's Christian faith." Our love for Christ, while deeply personal, is not a private matter. It must go public in practical and transforming ways. As Jesus says in verse 16, "...let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."
Jesus then talks about the "fulfillment of the law," which is a theme for the rest of the chapter. The rest of the chapter is a commentary on the 5th, 6th, 7th and 9th of "The Ten Commandments". It is worthy noting that Jesus gave commentary on the remainder of the commandments in other places. Jesus, while not in harmony with the Pharisaical interpretations of the law, did believe in the law and saw his ministry as a fulfillment of it. But Jesus was not a legalist. What the "Sermon on the Mount" pushes for is a return to a regard for the law as a condition of the heart and mind, more than just following dos and don'ts. The law was given to Israel as a statement of relationship with God and to give them an identity over against the polytheistic and immoral ways of those around them. This is important for Christian-Jewish dialogue, for I fear that much Christian teaching has disparaged the Torah (as empty legalism) and not seen it for its greater value, for Jews and for Christians. A good faith check here would be to examine whether we have turned our own faith into legalisms rather than a growing relationship with Christ.
I John 2:18-3:10
Jesus wasn't the only Messianic figure out there proclaiming to be "the son of God." The Roman emperor at the time of John's writing had himself deified and declared "Kings of Kings and Lord of Lords." For John, the appearance of anti-Christs was a symbol of the imminent return of Christ. The truth is that every generation has its anti-Christs, those who claim to finish or even correct the work Christ didn't get done. In my own life-time, there has been Jim Jones, David Koresh, Sung Yung Moon and a host of others. Each of them followed the way of I John 2:19, starting in traditional situations and breaking away to form their own movements. There are some popular "new age" authors and personalities that come dangerously close to following the same pattern. John encourages his readers to hold fast to the truth they already know and not be led astray by something that is the latest and most popular.
One of the things to hold on to when there is confusion is what John calls "the anointing from the Holy One." In the Old Testament, a leader was anointed as a symbol that God's presence was with him. Anointing was also used medically for healing of people and animals from wounds. In James 5, as we read earlier, people anointed each other with oil during prayer as a sign of God's healing (which is still often done today, and occassionally right here at St. Luke's). Anointing was also a way that the early Church talked about people receiving the Holy Spirit. It seems that John could be referring to all three of these things. He is appealing to their life-changing experiences of God's presence as evidence that they have received the truth already and have no need for that which the antichrists bring. John will return to this later in his discussion of "testing the Spirits."
In verse 28, John returns to the theme of the Second Coming. While we may not know when Christ is coming, one thing we do know, it is closer today than it was yesterday. Because many preachers have used the second coming of Christ as something to scare people into heaven, it is worth noting John's emphasis. The second coming is not a threat, but rather a statement of victory and source of comfort. People have asked, "What if Jesus comes again and I am doing or saying something sinful? Will I get to go to heaven?" I believe the answer is "yes." We do not cease to be God's children when we speak or behave sinfully. This does not give us reason to be immoral or live our lives as if the standards of God don't matter, but we are not continually "at risk." As the old hymn sings, "The grace of God is greater than all our sin."
Having said that, we are invited into a growing relationship with Christ, so deepening and improving our daily walk is essential. We continually strive to become more like Jesus in what we think, say and do. United Methodists call that process sanctification and it too is a great work of the grace of God. Such a process means contending with the devil both outside us and within. Anyone that has been involved in the church very long eventually contends with the devil there. I have had seminary friends who said they didn't believe there was a devil and then became fast converts during vicious church conflicts. I remember an African-American female preacher who energetically said, "You know, I have discovered that the devil can get right in this pulpit and preach a sermon at times." The loudest amens to that statement came from the preachers. One thing for sure, if you are not contending with the devil in your world and in your own mind, you are probably losing the fight by forfeit. And one of the ways we show we are losing the faith is when we do not love our brother our sister. More on that, tommorow.
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