Today's Scripture Reading (December 30, 2020): John 15
"A Nashville Christmas Carol" asserts
this sentiment; "There is no ghost of Christmas future. It is a song yet to
be written." The story of the "Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come"
is one that we are continually writing with every moment of our lives. What we
do today writes the song that we will sing tomorrow. How we finish this year
will lift us up into the joy of the next or make the trials of the coming year
even harder than they might already be. The reality of what the future becomes
is written in the words of the song, and to the tune, that we are writing
today.
For John, there was no doubt about the song
that Jesus was writing in the final moments of his life. Over and over again,
John stresses that the lyric Jesus was writing was one of the greatest love
songs ever sung. And he hoped that his followers would take up the lyrics of
the music and sing that love song loudly wherever the story of life takes us. If
there is a regret that we have, it might be that we haven't lived out those
lyrics in the moments and movements of our daily lives, regardless of what was
happening in the outside world.
Living out this love was precisely what Jesus
had done throughout his life. He loved. Jesus loved all of those with whom he
came in contact; the sick, the sinner, and the righteous could all find love in
the company of Jesus if they were willing to look for it and accept it. As his
followers went out into the world, he hoped that they would echo that love.
In a recent denominational meeting, there was a
mention that one faction of the denomination wanted to exclude another part, mainly
over what they described as unorthodox beliefs. It happens more often within
the Christian church than I would hope. We find fault and divide, hoping to
find our echo chamber where no one will disagree with us. The reaction to the
faction that wanted to exclude several churches was that maybe they should
leave. Perhaps we should total the number of people or churches in each of the
divisions and the one with the most wins. But that wouldn't have been a Jesus
answer.
As this discussion raged, I dared to voice my
hope. Not that anyone would be excluded, but that our tent was big enough to
include both sides of the argument; that in love, we could discuss our differences
and then meet at the table and eat the bread and drink the wine, sharing in Christ's
love.
Jesus had written the love song
throughout his ministry, but now was the time to show his followers how much he
loved them. I love the way that Adam Clarke sums up this passage. "No
man can carry his love for his friend farther than this: for, when he gives up
his life, he gives up all that he has. This proof of my love for you I shall
give in a few hours; and the doctrine which I recommend to you I am just going
to exemplify myself."
Tomorrow's Scripture Reading: John 16
No comments:
Post a Comment