This morning, a Sunday morning, my
Sabbatical continued. Instead of
preaching at HillSong Church, my family and I worshipped for a 4th
week in a row at Citywell Church in Durham, NC.
Pastor Cleve May delivered a remarkable sermon on creation (Genesis 1). He made the case that the creation account
actually comes out of the writings of Jews in the exile, 6th century
BC. The account is a response to the
violent origins story of the Babylonian god Tiamat. In the Tiamat creation drama, humans are the
result of violent conflict among the gods.
In the Genesis story, the universe, the earth, and human beings are all
created as expressions of “God’s overflowing abundance.” A key quality in the creation is
relationship. God is relational. The Genesis story flows from God’s love and
shouts of God’s yearning for relationship.
Pastor May’s thoughts on Genesis,
and more importantly on the relationship of God and human beings, aligns well
with the writing of the great author, pastor, and Bible translator Eugene
Peterson. In his sermon on Psalm 116 “Land
of the living,” he says, “Every word [from God], every phrase, every sentence,
every silence must be received relationally.
God does not reveal himself impersonally.”[i] Creation is something God does. Relationship is something God initiates. We are created, but out of love, not violence. We are invited, but not coerced.
The key is love – love between God
and humans and love humans show to one another.
A Common Word (edited by
Miroslav Volf, Ghazi bin Muhammad, and Melissa Yarrington) is a compilation of
essays written to reflect upon the October 2007 letter written by Muslim
leaders to Christian leaders. The
essence of the letter is that Muslims and Christians both have at the center of
their respective faiths two central tenets or commands – to love God and to
love neighbor. Mark 12:29-31 is one of
many places in scripture that make plain the centrality of these commands for
Christians. The Muslim authors who
contribute to the A Common Word letter
and essays to the book by the same title exhaustively demonstrate that similar
commands are operative in Islam. While
both the Christian and the Muslim authors in the book recognize the likely irreconcilable
differences in the two faiths, including nuanced understandings of “love,” both
demonstrate that love is the key.
Furthermore, the Christian and Muslim authors make a compelling case
that love is the ground upon which Muslims and Christians can meet in
friendship and peace.
The key is love – in creation, in relationship,
in drawing together parties that have experienced mutual enmity. The theologian Miroslav Volf writes one of
the Christian responses. His essay is a
tour de force of theological explanation as he explains the trinity even while
demonstrating why the trinity cannot be explained.[ii] On the love of God Volf writes, “God loves
irrespective of the existence or non-existence of creation; … the contingent
world is created by a God who is
always love and just because God is
love” (italics Volf’s).[iii]
One of the points of emphasis in my
Sabbatical is a study of the differences between people and how those
differences can be overcome for the sake of beautiful friendship, and more
importantly that differences be overcome because we are family – brothers and
sisters in Christ. Admittedly, I have
devoted much of my reading and conversation to the divide between European
Americans (white) and African Americans (blacks) while knowing there are other
divisions separating people. I felt the
black-white divide demanded my attention.
But, the animus many American Christians feel toward Muslims needs to be
abolished too. And maybe my study of A Common Word will yield reminders of
the call of Christ to love that can become identity markers in interracial
friendships and encounters in the church I pastor. We Christians are called to, commanded to
love our neighbors. The church is to be
the community that witnesses to the world the unity and diversity of the body
of Christ. We can do this when, within
the church body, we see sacred neighbor love so powerfully that all who come in
know from the start they are welcome and are at home among people who deeply
care for them.
From Pastor May’s word on God’s love
as the basis for creation to Eugene Peterson’s display of God as the supremely
relational One to Dr. Volf’s smart, straightforward account of God as God is Love, the point is abundantly
made. The root of who we are is love –
God’s love. My son and I saw Wonder Woman, and we thoroughly enjoyed
it, but I snickered at the end when her final conclusion was “the most
important thing is love.” I smugly
thought, “Well that’s just Hollywood cliché, its vapid fluffiness on full display.
Wonder Woman kicks some serious bad guy butt and then in a reflection both
hopeful and melancholy concludes, ‘the most important thing is love’? Seriously?”
Now,
I’m saying the same thing.
I am because it’s how I was
made. I was created by love (you know, 1
John 4:16, ‘God is love’). I was made in the image of the One who is
love. He who made me knows me and in spite
of my selfishness and impatience commands me to love my neighbor. He pours His Spirit and His love into
me. Created and commanded, I must
love. Also, I know that the hope for our
church (HillSong) and for the church (Christians everywhere) is that we be the
living embodiment of God’s love. Only
then are we truly God’s church. And for
peace and flourishing and joy, the world needs the church to truly be the
church.
I can’t believe I am going to say it,
but I have Cleve May, Eugene Peterson, Miroslav Volf, and Diana Prince’s
endorsements (not to mention the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit’s). And, seriously, who am I to question Wonder
Woman? The most important thing really
is love.
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