Loving Our Brothers And Sisters

         This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. (I John 3:16)

 

            Let the battle begin. I ought to lay down my life for my brothers and sisters? But even doing that will never be enough. I’m too much of a coward. I’m too stupid. I’m too judgmental. I’m too distracted and busy. And all those people for whom I’m supposed to be laying down my life… how would that do any of them any good?

            Notice what happened there? “We ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” This is love.

But…but…but…

I…I…me…my…

                             I have nothing worth giving…

          Then, there’s the response described by one of my pastors. He would gladly do battle with a dragon for his beloved wife… but take out the garbage?

          So let’s go back to the verse. “Jesus laid down his life for us.” Even if it weren’t Good Friday, I suspect our immediate understanding of this involves the crucifixion. He laid down his life for us. He died for us. He fought the dragon and won. Praise Him! All honor and glory belong to Him. Yes, that is very true.

          But before He walked the Via Dolorosa, suffered, died, and rose again, He laid down His life. He was God, doing all those God-things that a god’s gotta do. And, when the time was right, He took off His crown, put down His scepter, and took on humanity. Ultimately, He walked the Via Dolorosa, suffered, died, and rose again, but if we get stuck on that as the definition of laying down our lives, it kills the love we are supposed to give.

          Laying down our lives doesn’t mean – or only mean – dying for someone else. It also means dying to self for someone else. It means muting and putting down the cell phone. It means not saying, “My show is on!” It means putting down that first (and oh, so needed) cup of coffee. You may never be called on to die for someone else, but laying down one’s life is handling those interruptions to your plans.

          Here’s another idea to consider. We’re supposed to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters – every one of the more than two billion Christians alive today. We’re supposed to give everything we have – our very lives – for them. In 1996, David Spathaky and Debbie Woolley spun 108 plates on sticks for the world record. Only one-hundred-eight. Imagine if they tried to spin a million. They’d fail. Of course, they’d fail. Yet this verse suggests that we should somehow tend to our love for billions of people. 

          But what if David and Debbie had a billion assistants? What if we aren’t being called to love everyone, all the time? These billions are what I call “virtual people.” It’s not that they don’t exist, but are we so focused on some unknown brother or sister’s needs thousands of miles away that we don’t even notice the hurting person in front of us? Or are we so keyed up by our failures to solve the huge problems of the world that we either drown in guilt or discount the need of the person in front of us because their needs don’t measure up? We’re too busy helping those folks “over there” to lay down that self-affirming activity?

          When Jesus laid down His life and walked among us, He didn’t heal every person. He didn’t solve every problem. He didn’t overthrow the Roman Empire and set up His eternal kingdom on Earth in a physical sense. He didn’t do it all. He left work for us to do. When we think we are supposed to do everything, we kill our ability to do what’s in front of us.

          This goes back to what I recently shared about living in the day instead of worrying about tomorrow. If we can do something productive toward tomorrow, that’s great, but if we worry so much about tomorrow that we miss out on today, we’re not doing anyone any favors. If we can do something to help those folks over there, that’s great. But if our concern for them gets in the way of loving a brother or sister nearby, we’re not doing anyone any favors. And this is especially true if we can’t actually do anything about those folks over there.[1]

          In addition to living in day-sized boxes, we would do well to pay attention and respond to those who cross our paths.

 

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[1] This isn’t a dismissal of the power of prayer. Our prayers for anyone can accomplish much, but are we so busy praying that we can’t take the time to be the answer to prayer for someone?