As I listen and read, I am always fascinated by the word “love.” It has so many meanings in our society. We “love” hotdogs. We “love” a movie. We “love” doing certain things. We “love” our dog, our friends, our spouses or significant others… we love “love.”
It is always possible to overuse an item or a word or a description to the point of depleting the meaning. Perhaps this has happened to the word “love.” When I was studying at seminary, one of my professors spent an entire Old Testament class teaching us about the word “love.” It took him as entire class to unpack the word for us. That one class effected me very deeply. Subsequently, I have never thought of “love” in the same way again.
“Love” is a word of “position,” not emotion. “Love”, as understood biblically, is not a word that describes a feeling or an emotion. Apparently, the best way to understand “love” is to think of it in terms of a motion or a direction. More specifically, “love” is understood by a forward motion toward its object. In other words, when we are instructed to “love” the Lord our God with all of our heart and mind and strength, the instruction is about movement, not feeling. To “love” God is to engage in a forward movement toward God. It is a change of position and direction, NOT A FEELING. To “love” God requires a change in the state of mind, and thus a change of direction. To “love” God means that you or I move TOWARD the object of our “love.” When I love God, I move in God’s direction. I make a conscious effort to care about God, to be in God’s presence, to allow God to move toward me, to…yes…invite God in. Hmm…
When we are instructed to “love” our neighbors, the implication is a movement TOWARD our neighbor. It is not about having a warm, fuzzy feeling about them. Loving neighbor is about moving toward…with the intent of having a relationship with them. It isn’t about “liking them,” but moving toward them…being there in their presence… In short, loving neighbor is about caring about them, looking after their welfare, hoping for God’s best for them, and doing all we can to make that happen. It isn’t a static “Oh, I love my neighbor” with no acknowledgement of who “neighbor” is, with no conscious effort to be a part of the neighbor’s life in a positive way…to…ah, yes…invite my neighbor into my life.
In our anxious society today, we need the encouragement of the words “Love God, Love Neighbor.” It transcends religion, churches, groups, sects, and division. It is simple. Love God. In other words, let us move toward God… whether it is the God Christians claim, the God Jews claim, the God claimed by Muslims…which oddly enough, all stem from the same Fertile Crescent of ancient history, and from the same roots. (The story of Abraham is a part of the history of the Jews, the Muslims, and the Christians. Abraham is the father of Ishmael first, and Isaac second [chronologically]. Ishmael is the Father of those who hear the prophecies and teachings of Muhammed. Isaac is the Father of those who hear the prophecies and teachings of all the prophets of the “Old Testament.” And Jesus, who is understood as God’s Son by Christians, is of Abraham’s lineage, and considered by all three religions, deified by one.) The Supreme Being who defies description, understanding, and control, appears in all religions. We hope beyond hope that Someone “out there” is at the very least subliminally in control of Creation. Let us unite as we move TOWARD this God. It doesn’t matter what we think about this God. What matters is that this God loves us and wants us to return that Love. Let us unite as we move toward this God…and we just might discover that it changes how we moved toward each other.
We live in a world in which too much movement is AWAY…away from God…away from each other. We justify ourselves by accusing others of stuff we’d never do and turn away. We segregate ourselves from folks we don’t “like” because of long laundry lists of reasons to move away. 1) “They” don’t believe like we do. 2) “They” don’t look like us. 3) “They” don’t come from “here.” 4) “They” dress differently from us. 5) “They” speak a different language. 6) We’ve heard a lot of scary stuff about “them.” 7) The news media has aired several stories about people like “them.” 8) They like things we find abhorrent. It is interesting that every religion claims to have the monopoly on God. Jews are the chosen race and loved by God in a special way. Christians are saved (and no one else). Muslims believe that their relationship with God is paramount and unlike anyone else’s. The “other” is the infidel. Most religions form some sort of exclusivity. And thus, individuals are justified in moving AWAY from “the others.”
And instead of moving toward God in anticipation of relationship, we try very hard to force God into little boxes or into controllable locales that we can control. We’ve been doing that for a long time. The Israelites tried by putting God in the Holy of Holies in their temple. Christians place God in the heart or an interesting place like a church-building…or even in the “Church Universal.” (Jesus is in my heart…God has filled my heart…etc.) [A disturbing example of putting God in a box: The gospel of prosperity which is so popular in America where “profit is king”, places God in the position of being beholden to believers and expected to make them prosperous just because they ask and use certain words and techniques.] Muslims place God above the heavens. (That is interesting. The understanding of the heavens was “above” the sky in 570 CE, the year Muhammed was born. Much like the Israelites and the early Christians, earth was the center of creation and everything else was either above or around, so God must be, too. It wasn’t until Copernicus upset the early Church leaders with his theory about the Sun being the center of the solar system that one could question the understanding of God being “above” all of us. And most leaders back then didn’t want to be challenged.) We want God to be where we want God because then we have control of the situation. But, what God desires is that we move in God’s direction…to love…to open our hearts…to reach out…to be transformed by God’s creative energy, enormous love, and care for all of Creation. We struggle against that. We don’t want God to be anywhere and care about any one or group that might make us uncomfortable. We don’t want God to be a part of or concerned about individuals we find distasteful. We want God to love us “best.”
To love neighbor is pretty simple. We move toward the neighbor…whether neighbor exhibits different looks, skin color, language, dress, gender, sexual orientation, faith, economic status, ability, etc. We move toward them in anticipation of making some connection with them, meeting some need, striking up a conversation, building a friendship, or making a discovery about them. We move toward in anticipation of a relationship. This “love” is unconditional, just like the “love” shown to us by our amazing God…the Creator…the One who understands Creation better than we because God has been “there” from the very beginning. Love is not “work.” It is a simple movement.
Can this love be messy? Sure. Life is messy. Differences abound. Fear springs from that which is different. Differences can make us uncomfortable, apprehensive…afraid. But the perfect love that emanates from the God of Creation supersedes that fear. That Love can strengthen us to “love” in the way that our Creator God loves.
Will we always do it well? Probably not. We are flawed and broken. Our own imperfections combined with the imperfections of those we move toward can sometimes explode. We won’t Love well. But not loving well is no excuse to stop loving. It just means that we need more practice.
Right now, in our anxious, fearful world in which all sorts of negativity abounds, we have a glorious opportunity. We have the opportunity to turn around, to ponder, to take a leap to discover our many neighbors. We GET TO love one another. Period. Notice God never said we had to like each other. We don’t. We won’t. But God commands us (with the understanding that we have the ability) to love. It is a command that MOVES US toward God and toward each other.
We can’t lose…unless we choose not to love neighbor. We can’t lose…unless we choose not to love God. If we allow ourselves to be consumed by anxieties and fears, to be distracted from life-giving energy all around us, to be crippled by negativity, we can lose. If we plant our feet in the hardening cement of hatred, bigotry, intolerance, and self-righteous judgment, we can lose. If we stop thinking, asking questions, exploring others and this world, and stop growing and expanding our experience on this earth, we can lose.
But take heart. The command is two-fold but simple. Love God. Love neighbor. Yes, we can lose sometimes. We won’t do it very well. But thankfully, we cannot be lost. We have a God who has promised to come looking for us when we get lost in the world’s ugliness. And since God is the master of the universe God created, God will find us. Thankfully, God loved and loves us…first.