Radical Love

Romans 12:9-21
Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them; if they are thirsty, give them something to drink; for by doing this you will heap burning coals on their heads." Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Forty eight years ago today, these words from the book of Romans were lived out by a group of people seeking life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These people were led by a Baptist minister from the south, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It was on this day, August 28, 1963 that Rev. King led the March on Washington and delivered his “I Have A Dream” speech.

What an amazing speech. Each time I read it I see something new, I understand something deeper, I am inspired and I am humbled. In my lifetime, albeit barely for I was only three months old, there was an uprising of the oppressed that has, just as Rev King predicted, gone “down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.”

I have met people who were on that march and who heard Rev. King that day. I have heard people speak about being there. I have friends for whom that march was a turning point in their lives. This is history that is meaningful to me in an immediate and relevant way. It is also hope for a future that I can grapple with and make sense out of. Furthermore, it relates to me now as I look around and see the plights of which Rev King spoke. I understand his metaphors, his references, and his idioms.

So much of history we understand as stories from the distant past. We relate to them in a more detached way and try to apply their theories or teachings to our lives today. This is especially true of our most ancient sacred writings. The Bible that guides us and helps us shape our lives was written so very long ago and over a long span of time. It has been translated, interpreted, and retranslated. We work hard to understand the various writers, their audiences, the way their cultures worked, their metaphors, allegories, references, and idioms. Our lives are so much different now. Medicine, travel, communications, food, and so many other aspects of our lives are beyond what our ancient sacred writers could have anticipated. We look for the core values presented in these writings and build our lives on them.

Sometimes it’s a struggle to attach our lives to our sacred writings. We try to figure out how what was written so long ago can be relevant for us today. Even out of our reading today from Romans, something that seems pretty core-value oriented, I have heard a variety of interpretations. Some have used parts of this passage in counseling to insist that an abused woman stay in her home. “Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.”

I have heard leaders tell those who are victims of racism to not stand up for themselves but to let God handle it. “Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God; for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord." No, "if your enemies are hungry, feed them.”

These kinds of interpretations only serve the powerful. They leave those who are oppressed and struggling; those who are victimized and abused with no autonomy or agency. But that is not how Jesus lived. Neither did Paul or Peter live that way. Our Christian ancestors were people of action. They addressed injustice. That was part of the good news. After all, in Luke chapter 4 we hear Jesus proclaim, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. God has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." This is the good news!! It’s also a lot of work … a lot of action!!

Martin Luther King, Jr. took on the call of Christ. He spread the good news through his speaking, preaching, writing and actions. From his “I Have A Dream” speech I think we can understand the heart of what Jesus proclaimed in Luke and what Paul wrote to the Romans.

There was an urgency with which Jesus, Paul, and Rev King spoke. Jesus says the spirit of the Lord is upon him. We know from other times in scripture that when the spirit of the Lord is on someone they act with passion, intention, and urgency.

Paul writes, “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord.”

Dr. King writes, “We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God’s children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.”

Now is the time. Do not lag in zeal. Be ardent in spirit. God sends us to proclaim and take action. Understanding what was happening with the oppressed in Jesus’ time and Paul’s time is not always easy. As Christians today here in the United States we don’t have the same obstructions to our faith. We freely come and go to church. We can have conversations about our different denominations, argue about theology with one another, and generally assume that we can live out our Christianity in the open. Jesus and Paul did not have the same luxury. Both got into trouble with some frequency. Sometimes they had to sneak away because people were coming after them to send them to jail, beat them or kill them. This is troubling and we can appreciate what they went through, but it is not our experience.

Dr. King’s speech, spoken only 48 years ago, was delivered to our people. He spoke of how the Emancipation Proclamation was signed 100 years prior, and yet, he said, “we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination.” Although much has improved in the last 48 years, when we look around we can still see “manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination” holding our sisters and brothers of color. In spite of the fact that we have a black president, that Oprah is one of the most celebrated and wealthy people in the world, and that we laud the accomplishments of Nelson Mandela, still Sunday morning worship is the most segregated time of the week. It is still too often true that when a white person and a black person walk into a hospital, the white person will be seen first. It is still too often true that when a person of color is shopping and a white person is shopping, the person of color is followed as if they are going to steal.

This brings alive to me the words of Paul, “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor. Do not lag in zeal, be ardent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints; extend hospitality to strangers.” Here is the relevance that we need to attach our lives to these ancient scriptures. Rev. King was reaching backward and forward, holding together these ancient commands with our present day trials. He applied the core values from the messages of Jesus and Paul to the needs of the day.

There is a caution though. With a zealous heart and spirit many have succumbed to the use of force and violence to bring about the peaceable kingdom of God. This doesn’t work. Jesus knew that. Paul knew that too. He writes to the Romans, “Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them.” Paul also says, “Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly; do not claim to be wiser than you are. Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all. If it is possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave room for the wrath of God.” Sometimes our emotions become so strong that we think whatever we do for the cause is the right thing to do. Be zealous, but don’t let your zeal confuse you. In our attempts to be good allies with the oppressed or when we are working for our own liberty, we can do foolish things that are not spirit led.

Rev. King knew this too. He said, “In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. “

Jesus, Paul, and Rev King espoused non-violence as a way for people of faith to address oppression and violence. As we unfold the stories of Paul and Rev King in parallel, let us consider the words of Gunnar Jahn, Chairman of the Nobel Committee. In his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize presentation speech to Rev. King he said,

“He is the first person in the Western world to have shown us that a struggle can be waged without violence. He is the first to make the message of brotherly love a reality in the course of his struggle, and he has brought this message to all men, to all nations and races.
Today we pay tribute to Martin Luther King, the man who has never abandoned his faith in the unarmed struggle he is waging, who has suffered for his faith, who has been imprisoned on many occasions, whose home has been subject to bomb attacks, whose life and the lives of his family have been threatened, and who nevertheless has never faltered.”
To this undaunted champion of peace the Nobel Committee of the Norwegian Parliament has awarded the Peace Prize for the year 1964.”

Paul says of himself when writing to the church in Corinth,

“I am talking like a madman—I am a better one: with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless floggings, and often near death. Five times I have received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked; for a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from bandits, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers and sisters; in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, hungry and thirsty, often without food, cold and naked.”

Jesus, Paul, and Rev King were willing to go through whatever had to happen as they came against violence and oppression. I do not believe that we all have this kind of calling. Some of us are called to work at the foundations, offering support and strength. Others of us are called to assist with the details. Still others have a calling to prepare the way. Whatever the calling, the core values of Christ remain. We hear these values in Paul’s words today and we hear them and see them in the life of Rev King.

Paul’s words are inspiring and challenging, but sometimes they sound so far away. It is easy to consider them theoretical and ideals. Looking at the ministry of Rev. King we see these ideals and theories put into practice. We are challenged in a different way, in a practical way. It makes me wonder for myself, “Can I make this my life? Do I have what it takes to be the follower of Christ that I want to be?’ Then I look at Rev. King and realize that I have to at least try. I read the words of Paul and remember Christ’s words of good news in Luke. I know that I am standing on the shoulders of centuries of the good witness and faithfulness of the children of God who said, “Yes.”

Then I wonder, where am I going to find the strength? Where are we going to find the strength? Where did they find their strength? For me, the strongest answer is love. Not emotional love that comes and goes depending on circumstances. Not that which is called love but is often guilt or acts of will. I find my strength in the radical love of God. I see the love of Christ toward us as he endured the cross. I see the love of Christ in Paul as he endured beatings, prison, and more. I see the love of Christ in Rev. King as he endured bomb threats, prison and attacks on his life.

Paul’s instruction to the Romans is his instruction to us today. “Let love be genuine; hate what is evil, hold fast to what is good; love one another with mutual affection; outdo one another in showing honor.” In 1st Cor 13 Paul writes, “If I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing”

We don’t even have to like one another to love one another, although it is much more pleasant when we do. We don’t have to know one another to love one another, although it is much more inspiring when we do. Radical love is showering each other with mutual affection and honoring one another above ourselves. Radical love will cause us to run out in the middle of the street to save a child from an oncoming car. We don’t always call that love, but I contend that it is. Radical love will lead us to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep. Rejoicing and weeping with people means that we have heard their stories, we are honoring their experiences, and we are one with their response. How can we take on the call of Christ to “proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor,” without first weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice? Without radical love, how can we “Live in harmony with one another; … not be haughty, … associate with the lowly; … not claim to be wiser than (we) are?” Radical love enables us, as far as it depends on us, to “live peaceably with all.”

Living peaceably with all is the dream of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It is what Paul wrote to the Romans. Living peaceably with all is the good news that Jesus proclaimed. It isn’t just a theory or an ideal. It isn’t something so far off that we cannot attach our lives to it. Living peaceably with all is the goal of our Christian faith. When we live in radical love, we will find the strength and the passion to live this dream and to proclaim this good news.

As he wrote to the Ephesians, with Paul I pray that, according to the riches of God’s glory, God grants you strength in your inner being with power through the Holy Spirit. I pray that Christ dwells in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love.”