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Love
as Power
May
6, 2007
John
13:1, 31-33a, 34-35
Usually
when we think of the word “love,” we think of romance, of
hearts and flowers. But love is more than warm affection and
sensual intimacy. There is a larger meaning to love which
is revealed in today's gospel. For in the gospel Jesus gives
a new commandment: we are to love one another as he has loved
us.
So
how has Jesus loved us? With warm affection? Of course. But
more than that, Jesus has loved us with action. Jesus has
laid down his life for our salvation. In this action of sacrifice,
in this action of love, God has raised him up and made him
the head of a new creation. In Jesus' active love, the reign
of God has begun in our midst. Evil is being destroyed. God's
will is being established among us. So in Jesus, love is more
than kind regards. Love is action. Love is more than amorous
feelings. Love is power, the power to change the earth.
Love
is power. In fact, there is no other power on earth for good
stronger than love. It is love that calls tired parents out
of their bed to care for a sick child. It is love that motivates
a hospice worker to be present to a dying woman. It is love
that leads a young man or woman to give two years of their
life in the Peace Corps, serving in an inner city or a third
world country. It is love that animates thousands of soup
kitchens and homeless shelters and AIDS hospices. Love is
a father or mother working two jobs to feed their children
and pay the rent. Love is the choice to forgive an enemy or
to sacrifice for peace.
Love
is what makes the real heroes of our world: a young man or
woman who could work in a prestigious law firm but chooses
instead to work among the poor; a firefighter willing to rush
into the World Trade Tower and rescue screaming victims. There
is no force for good greater in our world than the power of
love.
But
we do not have enough of it. For all the love that there is,
there is still not enough to bring about God's kingdom. For
some reason, we think that we should hold on to love, to preserve
it. But love only has power when we let it go and let it flow
out. It is then that it can make its effect upon others in
our midst. For some reason, we think we should limit love
to only certain groups, to our family and friends, to those
who think and act like us, to those who we know and with whom
we are familiar. But if we are to love as Jesus has loved
us, we must push beyond the limits which we place on love.
For who did Jesus love? For whom did Jesus give his life?
Jesus did not give his life only for his mother and his disciples,
only for the Jews and the poor, only for those who were gay
or educated, only for those who were black or those who were
good. Jesus gave his life for everyone, for all of humanity.
If we are to love as he loved us, then we must love in a way
which is wider and deeper than the way to which we are inclined.
We must push beyond whatever limits we place on love and join
ourselves with others who love, so that God's kingdom might
be built up, so that we might participate in recreating the
earth.
This
truth is expressed most beautifully by the Jesuit theologian
Tielhard deChardin. Over fifty years ago he wrote, “Some day,
after we have mastered the winds and the waves, the tides
and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.
And then for the second time in the history of the world,
humans will have discovered fire.” We need that fire, the
fire of love. We need that power, the power to unite rather
than divide, to build up rather than destroy, to heal rather
than attack, the power to work for justice rather than to
feed off greed. We need the power of love. We can release
it, if we love as Jesus has loved us.
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