Sixth Sunday of Easter
Acts 10: 44-48
Psalm 98
1 John 5:1-12
John 15:9-17
©Suzanne Grimmett
This week I have had the privilege of spending time in conversation with Dr Mazin Qumsiyeh, a Palestinian scientist and author and founder of the Palestine Museum of Natural History and the Palestine Institute for Biodiversity and Sustainability. He is also a Christian and was born and grew up near the ‘Shepherds’ Field’ of Bethlehem. He is a man who loves the land and its diverse peoples, and so as he speaks of the current suffering of those in Gaza and on the West Bank, he also speaks of the crying out of the land, its creatures and ecosystems. Carpet bombs, the destruction of aquifers, and the leveling of vegetation and release of hazardous substances have all been part of the military action that is destroying the environment and its ability to sustain life even as it so tragically takes so many human lives. Yet he is not a man to give up, and so works with great will and energy for the vision of peace amongst diverse peoples and religions. Where so many understandably despair, at the Palestine Institute they plant gardens, promote projects which give back to local communities and cultivate an ethic amongst all staff and volunteers of respect for themselves, others, and creation as they work for a sustainable environment for all living things. Dr Qumsiyeh uses the phrase “a pessimism of the intellect, but an optimism of the will”, and he seeks to follow this ethic and work for a better world. This synergy between environmental and human need is most starkly evident in places of violent conflict, but it is always the case that our well-being is tied to the well-being of creation. Relationships of love and respect instead of dominance and control are what should be defining characteristics of our humanity. Indeed, Dr Qumsiyeh uses the words ‘Stay human’ to sign off all of his correspondence.
‘Stay human’ could also be a central ethic for us in Australia as we seek to respond to the scourge of Domestic and Family Violence. This week we dedicated the Red Bench as a visual reminder of the presence of abuse in our communities. Christian faith is incarnational- God fully present in this man Jesus of Nazareth, teaching us to love one another as we are loved. But not only does the incarnation show us the nature of God, Jesus the Christ reveals what it means to be fully human; living out a way of gentleness and humility, overcoming boundaries between peoples and drawing the oppressed and marginalised into the centre of love and empowerment. Despite this, Church teaching on marriage has led many to mistake a self-negating, passive acceptance of abuse for an expression of Christian love or forgiveness, causing untold harm. It is not loving to remain in a situation of abuse when the most life-giving response is to get out of harm’s way. We may be pessimistic about the statistics of abuse in Australia, but we can hold an optimism of the will by turning from habits of dominance, treating others with radical dignity and cultivating an ethic of honour to self, others and creation in all our relationships.
In these last two weeks we have had a feast of readings centred around love and what it means to love; from both John’s Gospel and the first letter of John. We talk a lot about love in the church, but I wonder sometimes if we truly believe it to be the only power that can transform us, or if we secretly believe we need something more forceful. But love itself puts power on trial, revealing its incapacity to serve love’s purposes.[1] Our culture and indeed our church so often misguidedly believe that love can still be present where one group or individual dominates another. It is as if love is a kind of add on softening agent to the divine power which ultimately controls our lives. But Scripture never says “God is power”, but rather “God is love”. Love does not balance out the dominating power of God, but rather love is the power of God.
The human will to colonise and control cannot coexist with the way of Christ and the power of God which is love. The first letter of John tells us that the commandments are not burdensome, reminding us of the beautiful invitation of Jesus to ‘come to me, you who are weary and heavy laden.’ Unlike systems of dominance, a kingdom of love enables the oppressed to go free, and the abused to find rest for their souls. In the reference to Jesus as the one who came by blood and water, we are reminded of birth- his birth in Bethlehem and the new life made possible through Jesus’ crucifixion where blood and water are again a sign of the birth of a new humanity.
But the mantra of “All you need is love” (whether that be in the lyrics made famous by the Beatles or in preaching by the church) should never be interpreted simplistically. John’s Gospel describes a love that is first modelled between the Son and the Father; ‘as the Father has loved me, so I love you’ says Jesus. This love gives birth to friendship, communion and community. We can abide in the love of God- Creator, Word and Spirit- creating one body of Christ that bears the sufferings of the world in solidarity and shares a diversity of spiritual gifts, building up the new creation. This communion of the body of Christ carries with it in the world a reconciling presence and practice that can confront and transform situations of hatred, injustice, violence, oppression and apathy. Reconciliation and peace are to be the fruits of our lives. Love is not simply a nice feeling or emotional state but a transformative way of being in the world.
Love is what makes us human. It is also a high bar when we consider that we are called to love God and one another as Christ loves us. I think if we are wondering how we can possibly achieve this, it might help us to remember that to love as God loves is both a command and a grace. God is at work in us, calling us to the possibility of acting through love and for love in every present moment. Of course, we miss so many of those possibilities- or at least I know I do. That is where we should recall those birth metaphors in the letter of John, pointing to the Spirit’s capacity to bring new life to birth in us, even in our moments of great failure.
When we interpret love as an emotion we can miss the grace of its transformative power, creating possibilities for life even where all hope has been lost. ‘Pessimism of the intellect’, while speaking the truth of horrific violence, need not be the only word spoken when love beckons us to will and to live into a different way. Listening to Dr Qumsiyeh this week reminded me of our mutuality and interdependence across the globe. It also underlined for me the urgent need for the power of love to transform all of our relationships- most fundamentally, our relationship to power. To stay human is to live by the discipline to relinquish dominance in every present moment for the sake of humanity and the sake of all creation. It is this kind of conversion we need in this country if we are to see a change in the terrible statistics of gender-based violence. It is also in “obeying love” as the letter of John counsels, that we can have life.
The stakes are too high for love to be left in the territory of sentimentality or romance. Love calls us to the discipline of its humanising power, and as disciples of Christ we are to submit ourselves to its demands. As we lament and grieve so much pain in the world, may we choose each day to see the truth of the violence we do to one another, even as we will something different through the everyday choices and daily actions of a life surrendered to love.
Stay human.
+Amen.
[1] Keller, Catherine, On the Mystery: Discerning Divinity in Process, (Fortress Press, Minneapolis: 2008) 94