“For God so LOVED the WORLD…”

Two words have stood out to me during the last week: “loved” and “world.”  Maybe it’s due to the world situation; maybe it’s because of the people I’ve communicated with and been around; maybe it’s because today is World Cancer Day or because it’s Heart Havens Month; or maybe it’s just where I am in my faith journey.

The word “love” as it is used is not love as an emotion or feeling or concept.  Rather it is love in ACTION; love that is willing to become vulnerable – even to suffering. God’s only son, Jesus, was sent into the world so that EVERYONE who believes can have eternal life. There are no limitations put on God’s love.  It is for the whole world, not a single state or country; not a specific group of people or faith community; not for those who have certain gifts and abilities; but for the entire WORLD.

When Jesus touched lepers, when he healed on the Sabbath, when he ate with those who were outcast from society, when he marched into Jerusalem and confronted the religious leaders, when he did these things and so many more, he became vulnerable to pain and suffering.  That’s what genuine love does. It takes risks.  And it has to start where we are, with the person sitting next to us in church, with the person walking beside you down the sidewalk, with the person living next to you in the community.

When we love one another, we show that we are no longer motivated by fear. You see, fear often holds us back from loving each other.  We fear people who are different from us, so we stereotype them instead of love them.  One of my favorite lines from a movie comes from the film, My Dog Skip. Skip is a Jack Russell Terrier puppy given to a young boy named Willie.  As both of them grow, they learn many of life’s lessons together.  At one point in the movie, Willie’s father is talking to a neighbor who has recently returned from World War I.  The father makes the statement, “Give a man a label and you never really have to get to know him.”  How often do we do that – give people labels so that we do not have to get to know them?  

This past Sunday was Disability Awareness Sunday in the Virginia Conference UMC.  While my church did not recognize this special Sunday, we did celebrate Holy Communion.  I was reminded of how personally meaningful taking part in Communion services was at my home church in the Danville District when Kira Lynn was a server.  We grew up together in the church and at the local swimming pool where I can still remember Kira Lynn trying to teach my mother to swim.  Her father was the doctor that brought me into this world.  There was always something very special to me about being offered the bread or juice by Kira Lynn who, by the way, has Down Syndrome.  It was a living reminder that we are all brothers and sisters in Christ; that our differences don’t matter.  It was a reminder of the gift of God’s unconditional love and acceptance AND the responsibility that comes with it to live our lives according to the example of Jesus.  Each time I received the elements from her, I realized once again that God doesn’t care what we look like, how much money we make, where we live, or how much education we have.  What matters is that we carry the same type of love into our world today that God showed to us in offering Christ for our sins.  

Fear or love? Only you can decide, but the world is waiting.