Speaking the Language of Love
Indianapolis First Friends Quaker Meeting
Pastor Bob Henry
February 16, 2020
Mark 1:40-45
40 A leper came to him begging him, and kneeling he said to him, “If you choose, you can make me clean.” 41 Moved with pity, Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, and said to him, “I do choose. Be made clean!” 42 Immediately the leprosy left him, and he was made clean. 43 After sternly warning him he sent him away at once, 44 saying to him, “See that you say nothing to anyone; but go, show yourself to the priest, and offer for your cleansing what Moses commanded, as a testimony to them.” 45 But he went out and began to proclaim it freely, and to spread the word, so that Jesus could no longer go into a town openly, but stayed out in the country; and people came to him from every quarter.
We have spent several weeks talking about peace, and last week we continued those thoughts as we celebrated our Scouts and their peacekeeping efforts. This week, it seems appropriate to talk a bit about love, especially since Friday was Valentine’s Day.
To begin, I want to lay a bit of a foundation. From all my studies, I have come to believe love to be the “native language” of the universal church. Jesus said everything, all the Law and prophets, could be summed up in two phrases: Love God and love your neighbor as yourself (that in a nutshell makes love the key action). I have also at different times learned that…
Love is the wind that fills us!
Love is the fire in our hearts!
Love is the language that transforms!
And the main query I want us to ponder today is, “Do I speak love?”
I spent some time this week pondering that query – Do I speak love? As a pastor, I not only do a great deal of speaking, I also spend a lot of time listening. I often find myself wondering if others are “speaking love” or if they are relying on something else. I found the best way to work through my pondering was to turn the tables on myself and ask, Do I speak love? What I realized was, speaking love, depends on several factors.
Who am I engaging?
How open are they to my brand of love?
Are they worthy of my love?
Have they rejected my love before?
Is our relationship damaged making it harder to love?
Could I be unwilling to love them?
I find myself often turning for advice to the American Trappist Monk, Thomas Merton (who’s mother ironically was a Quaker and greatly influenced how he saw the world). Merton once said,
The beginning of love is the will to not let those we love be perfectly themselves, the resolution not to twist them to fit our own image. If in loving them we do not love what they are, but only their potential likeness to ourselves, then we do not love them: we only love the reflection of ourselves we find in them.
Merton’s words speak to the depths of my being.
Maybe you wrestle with some of the same questions and thoughts that I do. In our world today, it seems very easy to write people off and give an excuse as to why they are unworthy of our love for a multitude of reasons – ultimately making them into lepers.
For example: Just the other day, I heard someone say, I could never love my child if they were a Republican. Really, your own child? Wow!
Yet, Sue and I have heard something similar to this before. We helped youth in Silverton, OR who were homeless because their parents said they could no longer love or accept them because of their sexual orientation. (Did you know that The National Coalition on Homelessness reports that 40% of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ and 62% of them attempt to commit suicide each year.)
In Jesus’ day the people most difficult to love were the lepers (mostly because of their rare disease which was visibly off-putting and seriously contagious). Jeff read to us one of the briefer stories in scripture about Jesus healing a man with leprosy. Even though it is brief, there is a great deal to ponder in those 5 short passages about how we speak love to those most difficult to love in our lives.
So, let me begin with lepers and then move to looking at Jesus.
To look at lepers, I think expanding the category may be helpful in our day. To do that, I would like to turn to Roger Landry who gives us a wider perspective of lepers to consider, he says,
“…what Christ is calling us to do is to love the outcasts with the same love that He does…The following are some of the outcasts we may be called to love with Christ's love:
[Please note: Roger gives us some new categories of lepers to consider – I found these helpful for building an awareness of how easily we remove people from our lives.]
The bodily leper: those whom the world considers ugly or unattractive, or those whose illnesses are so long-lasting that few want to care for them;
The psychological lepers: those with mental illness or mental disabilities, about whom others make jokes, but for whom they make no time;
The spiritual or moral lepers: those who have committed very public and embarrassing acts, and those who think that they cannot be forgiven.
The economic lepers: the homeless or the very poor, who are shut off from society and the things most of the rest of society take for granted;
The racial [or ethnic] lepers: those who are discriminated against because of their nation of origin or the color of their skin.
The emotional lepers: those who, because of their own psyche or others’ actions, feel completely alone and abandoned.
These are among the ones Jesus wants us to reach out to and heal through our very human touch.
Sadly, it has too often been the institution of the church that has labeled and removed the “lepers” for us. Many denominations, religious groups, and politically focused Christian groups have labeled “lepers” as either “in or out.” This has created an us verse them mentality, erasing the opportunity for you and I to see the “lepers” in our lives with our own eyes - allowing us to decide for ourselves. I am so glad that First Friends continues to work and hone our love for outcasts, but also I want us to be aware of and remember the responsibility that loving the “lepers” of our world demands.
I will have to say, some of the greatest people I have come to love and build friendships with are not like me at all and many would be considered “lepers” by many other people I know. Actually, when I really think about it, I too have been considered a “leper” to people. Maybe you have, too.
Whether others or ourselves, let’s be honest, “lepers” are most of the time created by our fears. I am sure if we searched deep inside ourselves, we would find the fear that causes us to reject or remove certain people from our lives.
So now let’s turn to Jesus.
In our scripture for today it says that “Jesus was moved with pity.” In the Greek it would be translated that Jesus was INDIGNANT to the depth of his bowels. Yes, the Greek actually speaks of it literally going that deep.
Add this depth to the definition of indignant:
“Feeling or showing anger or annoyance
at what is perceived as unfair treatment”
and you get a different perspective of the passage. Jesus was so troubled by the unfair treatment of this leper that he overflowed with compassion for him to the depth of his being.
Remember, the religious authorities of Jesus day had labeled who were “in or out.”
Prostitutes were out.
Gentiles were out.
Tax collectors were out.
Demon possessed people were out.
Samaritans were out.
Lepers were out.
And the list went on…and they continued to add to it.
What I find really interesting is the fact that the people the religious authorities said we were out, were the same people Jesus attempted to bring in. [Repeat] That is until Jesus became the “leper” and then they wanted him out – ultimately dead.
But Jesus was indignant – so much so that he made himself unclean for the sake of this leper. Jewish history was clear that by just touching the leper, Jesus had committed a horrific sin. Jesus too would have to be removed from their presence because of this.
Just think about that for a moment. Jesus was willing to sin in the eyes of the religious authorities and their followers for someone to be loved, healed, and accepted into the fold.
Folks, the love of God (the native language of the universal church) transcends our ideas, our parameters, our understanding of who is accepted and who is not.
Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 21:31?
“Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.”
I sense the reason it is so difficult to “speak love” is because we, the church, have spent way to long living in a system of fear that closes the door and turns more and more people into “lepers.”
I believe the picture Jesus shows throughout scripture is an INCLUSIVE LOVE.
I cannot emphasize this enough in this political year. As Quakers, as Christians, as religious and spiritual people, we should be about speaking the language of love that Jesus modeled. We need to be vocal in this time of great division, in this time when people are being categorized, labeled, and told their place by politicians, churches, religious groups, and even our own relatives and families.
It reminds me of something Ronald Rolheiser says in the book “The Holy Longing.” You have probably heard me quote this before, but it is so important to remember today. He says,
“When Scripture tells us that, in Christ, there should be no male or female, no slave or free person, and no Jew or Gentile, it is telling us that there should also be no liberal or conservative, white or colored, new or traditional, feminist or antifeminist, pro-life or pro-choice, Democrat or Republican, Tory or Labor, or any other such ethic or ideological pocket that matters in terms of church. John Shea once suggested that the heavenly banquet table is open to everyone who is ready to sit down with everyone. That names the inclusivity required of any church member…The task of the church is to stand toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder, and heart to heart with people absolutely different from ourselves.”
It is clear from the record of scripture that Jesus lived this life.
Jesus was willing to clean the leper and touch him.
Jesus was willing to stand between the stoning crowd for the prostitute.
Jesus was willing to invite the tax collector to be his disciple.
Jesus was willing to talk to and acknowledge the Samaritan women.
Jesus spoke the language of love.
People of First Friends, we have such a beautiful opportunity as a Quaker Meeting during these crazy times. Our testimonies or S.P.I.C.E.S. support this being a place where we can stand toe to toe, shoulder to shoulder, and heart to heart with all types of people…We have the opportunity to love like Jesus, to clean, to touch, to stand between, to invite, and to talk and seek to understand the outcasts and lepers around us. Yet, I will be the first to say, learning to speak our native tongue is not easy. That is why we need our community (each other) to challenge and support us. We need them to help us understand and identify those we treat as “lepers” and call us out when we do. And we need them to help keep us accountable to speaking our language of love so EVERYONE may have the opportunity to sit-down with EVERYONE else.
Now, let’s talk very practical. Since we are aware that speaking love is a vital topic, especially in this politically divisive year, we have decided to partner with the Indianapolis Peace and Justice Center for a night of challenging, supporting, and learning to speak our native tongue as it specifically relates to politics – a topic sadly known for producing “lepers.”
On Thursday, February 25th from 7-8:30 we are inviting you to join us in our fellowship hall to play a game that actually (if you can believe it) makes political conversations fun, instead of aggravating or intolerable – and I have a sense it will teach us how to, more appropriately, speak our native language. The game is based on conversations around a family dinner table. Each person plays a role while tackling some of the thorny issues we face in this difficult political year.
So, I officially invite you to join us for “Reclaiming our Democracy: One Dinner Table at a Time.”
Now, let us enter into waiting worship. There are some queries to ponder on the back of the bulletin this morning. Please remember that waiting worship is not a time for announcements or personal commentary – if you need help with discerning if you need to speak, take time to review one of the cards in the pew in front of you to see if you are really being led to speak.
Who do I need to work on “speaking love” to this week?
Who, because of my fear, have I made a “leper” in my life?
How can First Friends become even better at speaking our native tongue – love?