we know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. how does god’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. and by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for god is greater than our hearts, and she knows everything. beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before god; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey god's commandments and do what pleases her.
and this is god's commandment, that we should believe in the name of his son jesus christ and love one another, just as god has commanded us. all who obey god's commandments abide in her, and god abides in them. and by this we know that god abides in us, by the spirit that he has given us.
for me, this passage speaks to more than a pietistic "be nice" attitude. this is serious! we're talking about dying here! now, granted, i have no idea what i would be willing to die for. let's face it, until we're in a situation and faced with death, we can never know exactly how we will react.
even so, for me this goes back to my j-term class, called "urban peacemaking in a culture of violence." in the class we talked a lot about nonviolence as a way of life. we met with people from ceasefire, a group working to end gun violence by interrupting conflict before it gets the chance to escalate and by educating youth. we met with christian peacemaker team folks who are invited to conflict ridden areas to intervene, or get in the way, to help those who are in danger of violence. we met with all sorts of people who are living nonviolently, or at least trying to.
one of the most profound things i took from the class was the realization that nonviolence is not a hobby, it's not easy, and it's certainly not without risks. committing my life to nonviolence is not about being safe, it's about being willing to take the risks that those who use violence, in wars, in neighborhoods, in lives, are willing to take. if i am not willing to risk my life to stop war and end conflicts nonviolently, then how much can i complain about war and the lives risked to stop war and end conflicts violently? i have to be willing to put not necessarily my money, but my body where my mouth is; to lay down my life for another.
is the goal ever to die? no, but if i'm not willing to do it, then the impact of my nonviolent actions is severely limited. the impact of my love for another just as jesus loved me is lessened if my love does not include my life.
it doesn't have to start huge. maybe it starts with intervening when a parent is at the end of their rope and yelling at the kid and just giving the parent a moment to breathe. maybe it starts with intervening when somebody's kicking a dog. like almost any time i've ever tried to follow god's call in my life, it starts small, but with a mind shifted and committed to nonviolence, then god gets to work and makes it huge. god is amazing. she always finds a way to make anything i try bigger and bigger until it really is a way of life for me; a part of who i am.
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