FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH, 2021 LOVE WINS

 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 5TH, 2021 LOVE WINS

On Friday, I get spiritual - generally following the theme of LOVE WINS.

Today, from 1 John 2:

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.  But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.

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There is an old story of the newcomer to Heaven and St. Peter is showing them around - the streets paved with God, the fountains, the mansions, and absolute beauty.  They come upon an area that has a fence around it.  The newcomer asks St. Peter what that is for, and St. Peter answers “That is for the Baptists <or any group>.  They think they are the only ones in Heaven”.

Sometimes we make barriers.  “Oh, those are the Catholics, they think they are so good”, “Those are the Pentecostals, what a crazy group talking and praying in tongues”; “Those are the Methodists, they were baptized as children, that can’t be right”.

Can I love all brothers and sisters - regardless of some particular viewpoint that they have adopted?  The verses (above) suggest that if I hate a brother or sister then I am in darkness.  1 John 3:15 says it this way “ Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.”

Hate is equated with being a murderer!!!  (Ouch).

Thus, I am not allowed to hate.

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I am in a fairly unique position - some people hate me because I have become a woman.  I have been told that I’m going to hell by some well-meaning Christian friends. They probably don’t really “hate” me - they might actually ‘love’ me and by their reasoning have deduced that I am wrong and need to find the light and the truth again. 

History has a list of atrocities of hatred.  Northern Ireland pitted Protestants against Catholics.    Even within denominations, there are splits and sects.  

“There are many different types of Lutherans such as the WELS, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America or ELCA, and the Missouri Synod. These types all follow the same ideas and have the same beliefs, the only differences are some synods are liberal and some are conservative.  The conservative groups take potshots at the liberal groups and vice versa.  

We like labels - put a label on a person and we know “ALL” about them.  Evangelicals are conservatives, Presbyterians are liberals.  The XYZ group does baptism wrong; the MNO group does communion wrong.  (And, since a group does something ‘wrong’, they are to be shunned and hated!!)

But, we get around the hate issue by saying we love the person but hate their belief system.  From the verse above“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness”.  I don’t hate the liberal or conservative Christians, I love them, but their theology is wrong.  

[Aside - this is also (in my opinion) true in politics.  In my part-time work, one of the persons I visit watches a particular “news” channel that continually endorses a viewpoint and abhors any viewpoints that are different  This person that I see on my work schedule seems to agree with the viewpoint and thus seems to be loving his views and hating the other views.)

I started the week with a story of how two people were looking at a painting and had very different views. How can we agree to disagree and still love one another?  

I remember singing 1 John 4:7-8:

“Beloved, let us love one another, one another. For love is of God. and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who loveth not, knoweth not God, For God is love. Beloved let us love one another. First John Four Seven and Eight!

(Video of that verse: 1 John 4:7-8 Beloved Let Us Love One Another - Psalty lyric video - YouTube) 

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  (1 Corinthians 13:4-6)

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So, can we really LOVE?  Can we really put differences, ideologies, and viewpoints off and embrace each other. 

(Note - I am still working on this!!!)

LOVE DOES WIN!!!  LOVE, NOT HATE

Karen