Meditation for January 21, 2009

From The Rev. Peter A. Munson

Ephesians 4:31-5:2

31 Put away from you all bitterness and wrath and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice, 32 and be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.  1 Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

"For as much as government can do and must do, it is ultimately the faith and determination of the American people upon which this nation relies.  It is the kindness to take in a stranger when the levees break, the selflessness of workers who would rather cut their hours than see a friend lose their job, which sees us through our darkest hours.  It is the firefighter's courage to storm a stairway filled with smoke, but also a parent's willingness to nurture a child, that finally decides our fate."

        - From President Barack Obama's inauguration speech

The Fragrant Offering of Love

On that historic day yesterday, when Barack Obama became the first African-American President of our country, Mr. Obama spoke of many things in his inaugural address.  He said we are "in the midst of crisis".  He said that we gather on this day because "we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord."  He said "... the time has come to... carry forward that precious gift, that noble idea, passed on from generation to generation: the God-given promise that all are equal, all are free and all deserve a chance to pursue their full measure of happiness."  He said that greatness must be earned - that it is never given - and that "... it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things... who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom."  He said that earlier generations "understood that power alone cannot protect us, nor does it entitle us to do as we please.  Instead, they knew that our power grows through its prudent use; our security emanates from the justness of our cause, the force of our example, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint."  He talked about responsibility.  "What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task.  This is the price and the promise of citizenship.  This is the source of our confidence - the knowledge that God calls on us to shape an uncertain destiny."

And he also spoke of kindness and love and selflessness, as seen in the quote at the top of this meditation.

President Obama's words are words of faith and hope, words of responsibility and freedom and equality and hope and love.  He may have been applying them primarily to our nation, and to the ideals that our nation was founded upon, but make no mistake, these are words and ideals that go way beyond our own nation.  For these are words that are all inextricably tied to the reign of God.

Faith, hope, and love are all hugely important, and they all abide, but as St. Paul reminded us, "the greatest of these is love." (1 Corinthians 13:13)

I believe we have been put on this earth to learn how to love - to "do" love, to walk in love, to "live love", as we read in Ephesians 5:1.  And there is one measuring stick for us, in terms of what love looks like.  And it is not found in some romantic Hollywood movie script.  It is found in the sacrificial life and death of Jesus, who "loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God."  Love involves sacrifice and giving one's self up, which is why President Obama's examples - of offering hospitality to a stranger, giving up hours so a co-worker can keep a job, running up a smoke-filled stairway, and a parent nurturing a child over many years - are so spot on.  And when we follow in Jesus's steps, and love in this way, we, too, are a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

To torture another human being is not love.

To judge another person only by looking at the color of his or her skin is not love.

To adopt a Ponzi scheme and to be motivated by greed is not love.

To pronounce that another person is going to hell because they are of the wrong faith is not love.

To look the other way when people are starving, or suffering any kind of injustice, is not love.

To say, in one way or another, "I've got what I want; who cares about you?", is not love.

Love has more to do with selfless serving, being tenderhearted and patient and forgiving, and caring for the other as least as much as you care about yourself.  And lest we forget the greatest commandment, love has to do, first and foremost, with loving the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. (Matthew 22:36-37)

With God's help, let us try to learn how to love one another.  Then, you and I will be well on our way to helping our new President, as we resolve - with him - to move through our current crisis, and become a great nation again.