Paul Walker, “Stop Making Sense”
Well, St. Paul urges us to take it seriously. In today’s reading from Romans, he continues his theme about what love is. “Owe no one anything, except to love one another, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.” He says that the 10 Commandments – and all other biblical commandments are “summed up in this word this word, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love sounds well and good, but this kind of love, seriously taken, stops making sense.
Take this potent example from Robert Capon, Christ Church’s oft-quoted theological muse. He juxtaposes what he calls straight line power – using your strength and authority to make people straighten up and fly right - with the love that bears all things and keeps no record of wrongs.
“If you take the view that one of the chief objects in life is to remain in loving relationships with other people, straight-line power becomes useless. Admittedly, you can snatch your baby boy away from the edge of a cliff, but just try interfering with his plans when he is twenty, especially if his chosen plans play havoc with your own.
“Suppose he makes unauthorized use of your car, and you use a little straight-line verbal power to scare him out of doing it again. Well and good. But suppose further that he does it again anyway – and again and again and again. What do you do next if you are committed to straight-line power? You raise your voice a little more nastily each time till you can’t shout any louder. And then you beat him until you can’t beat any harder. Then you chain him to a radiator till….
“But you see the point. At some very early crux in that difficult, personal relationship, the whole thing will be destroyed unless you – who, on any reasonable view, should be allowed to use straight-line power – simply refuse to use it; unless in other words, you decide of instead of dishing out justifiable pain and punishment, you are willing, quite foolishly, to take a beating yourself.”
You can apply this example to any number of relationships and situations in your life, I’m sure. But, just to be clear, I’m not using Capon’s example as a How To Guide To Parenting, although I do believe what he says to not only be true but to be the most effective way to remain in loving relationships. I use that example to show how exasperatingly impossible it feels to actually take the bible seriously. To actually love in the way that St. Paul proscribes. It just doesn’t make sense. I mean, who can love like that? Who can love in a way that actually fulfills the Law?
Well, no one. You can and should try. You can and will see moments of grace and hope and deliverance and well, love, bubbling up even in the most conflicting of situations. When you enter into a relationship with your white flag raised – the flag of surrender, the flag of not standing on your rights, the flag of forgiveness – you will experience moments of serious bible love. But can you do this all the time? I think not.
No one can. Well, not true. There was One who loved like that. There was One who, instead of dishing out justifiable pain and punishment was willing, quite foolishly to take a beating Himself. On the cross, Jesus not only kept no record of our wrongs, but he did also away with the whole system of scorekeeping. As Paul says elsewhere, He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; he has taken it away, nailing it to the cross.” Jesus has fulfilled the law for you. That is the gospel.
You know you are hearing the gospel when the gospel makes no sense. A God who takes the beating Himself for what we justifiably deserve. It makes no sense. A God who loves you so much that He sent His Son to die on your behalf. Seriously? Yes, thanks be to God, seriously.
Amen.
