From the beginning: love one another
For the sake of my relatives and friends
I will say, ‘Peace be within you.’ Psalm 122:8
Read 1 John 3:11—18
My first reaction to this reading is that its language is quite graphic. I would almost say over the top. Just because I don’t love someone, am I to consider myself in league with Cain? A murderer?[1] I had not been inclined to be nearly so harsh with myself. Truly, I had thought little of it — assumed life’s like that. You hit it off with some, not with others. The language of life and death, murder and hatred, is a little untoward. As I reflect on this, I realise this language picks up words of Jesus himself.[2] And, really, this command to live in love: it is no incidental matter. It is living within the flow of the very life of God. It is not an option or even a choice. It is how I live by faith. And the alternative is not even to be contemplated. There isn’t one.
My prayer, God my Father, in the light of your command to love, really must be a confession tonight. I am a human being, and I am so hard for you to change. I have taken you so lightly. I have treated the word of Jesus as a friendly tip. But I see love as command. As the only form available for living in Christ. And as the motive that moves. As act. As identification. As giving of myself. As sharing of my time. As re-ordering my diary. As being there. As being where you lead, and where your Spirit is.
[1] Genesis 4:1—16
[2] Matthew 5:21—26