Thursday after Epiphany
I like to think that I love God a lot. I mean, that’s my intention and desire. At face value it seems like a rather simple thing to do: to love God who is our creator and savior. Today’s first reading (1 John 4:19-5:4), however, brings me to pause and consider how much I truly love God. It challenges that if we say “I love God” but then hate our brother, then we are a liar, for “whoever does not love a brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.” (vs.20) This reading is saying that our love for God is shown in our love for one another. Wow. If that is the measure of my love for God? Then, I have to honestly say I’m not sure how well I do that.
So, the First Letter of John reminds us that the commandment that has been given us is that whoever loves God must also love their brother. We are called to take Christian love out of the abstract and into the concrete of daily loving one another, and this is how we love God. So, what does this love for God look like?
Today’s Gospel reading from Luke (4: 14-22) helps us answer that question. Jesus reads from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah in the synagogue in his home town of Nazareth. The familiar passage refers to being anointed by the Spirit of the Lord to “bring glad tidings to the poor…proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind…let the oppressed go free….”(vs.18) Jesus’ ministry fulfilled this prophecy and is an example to us as to how we are to love God by loving one another.
Luke’s gospel emphasizes how Jesus loved the poor, the oppressed, the marginalized, the social outcasts, the suffering and the sinners. And as followers of Jesus and lovers of God, we are called to do the same. It’s not as easy as simply saying “I love God.” It’s challenging and it’s not always popular.
Initially after Jesus’ reading in the synagogue, he was admired and spoken highly of, but in the verses that follow today’s passage (23-30) we hear that the people quickly became angry and rejected Jesus, which can be taken as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ entire future ministry. At first the people flocked to Jesus and he was gaining popularity and admiration, but we know how the tides later turned and he had very few follow him to the cross.
And that is the challenge. Are we willing to follow Jesus to the cross? Are we willing to risk our popularity and reputation, maybe even our status in this world, in order to love our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, even our enemies, as Jesus showed us the way to truly loving God?
Let us pray for the strength, the grace, and the wisdom to truly love God by loving one another, even those who are most difficult to love.
-Eileen Miller