Wha Do You Love Me? Do ya love me…
Wha Do You Love Me? Do ya love me…
Now that I can dance….Watch me now…
The Beatles and a hundred other artists have sung the same song. Peter, the Rock, and a billion Christians have danced around that question.
Three times Jesus asked, “Do you love me?” Peter said the right words back each time. That sounds like a conversation between me and my wife. She usually has to tell me she loves me first if she wants to hear me say it to her. “Of course, I love you. You know I love you.” I’m so bad. Of course I love her. So why don’t I take more initiative and say it before it’s required of me? Must be about self-centeredness, as usual.
We know the right words to say to Jesus when we are asked. “Yes, we love you Jesus.” Then Jesus says, “Okay, if you love me, then this is what I want you to do. Feed and tend my sheep. Take care of them.” Take some initiative. Love is more than words. Love is verb. Love is an action. Love is a commitment of time, money, and energy to feed and tend his sheep.
Okay, who are the sheep? I suppose that’s a question just like the lawyer’s question, ‘who is my neighbor.’ So I won’t go there.
One of the major and recurring themes in Martin Luther’s sermons was his emphasis that we love God best, most directly, when we love our neighbor.
I think John Wesley summarized the Old Testament commandments well – in just three words – “do no harm.” That’s a good synopsis of the wisdom of the ages for helping people to get along with each other in peace and harmony. Do no harm. Wesley did not claim that this was the sum total of the Law. It's part of the way there. Doing no harm is a glass that’s half full.
Jesus on the other hand gives us clear instructions in what to do if we love him. The other half of the glass requires that we take the initiative to care for our neighbor who is in need, and the stranger among us, and in Jesus’ interpretation: even for our enemies. “Feed my lambs. Tend my sheep. Provide for their needs.”
‘Feed my lambs’ doesn’t mean we should just let the hungry and poor alone so they can fend for themselves. Loving Jesus is not about “If they can make it without me causing them harm, good; but if they can’t make it, it’s not my problem.” That’s dancing around the question. It is our problem if they are hungry. The book of James tells us that if we know the good we are supposed to do and don’t do it, that is sin (James 4:17).
People should be able to look at your life and know if you love Jesus. We should look at our own lives every week and be able to tell whether or not we loved Jesus this week. He is in the sick, the poor, the hungry, the naked, the imprisoned.
Do your actions reveal your love for your Lord? Or are you dancing around the question? Instead of saying, “Of course I love you Jesus,” say this to him, “Watch me now…”
Blessings,
PWM
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