Keeping the Spirit of Love
Rev. Randy Hill, Pastor, Gaylord Community Church
I call it the Love Factorial Greeting: “Let love be multiplied to you!”[1]. The spirit of this greeting is that God might multiply the love you receive by a factor of infinity. Seventy times seven or seven hundred, seven thousand, times seven[2]. The greeting subtly reminds us that “if we are forgiven much, we will love more,[3]” and that the debt of love is never discharged[4]. Paul prays that [our] love may overflow with more knowledge and full insight[5], that we might use responsibly the gift of God which is the “spirit of love[6].” To share the gospel is to struggle together and stand united in love, side-by-side, with one spirit and one mind.
“May forgiveness always be ahead of your sin.
May the absolute value of love always supersede the modulo of your traumas.”
The author of First John opens up the possibilities of that spirit: God’s love abides in those who see the world’s need and respond with help[7]. It is through that same spirit that we know that we have passed from death to life. The author of Hebrews challenges us to a competition of love: how to provoke one another on to love and good deeds, not unlike Islam’s ‘race to the good[8],’ and offering an engagement with empathy: “to remember those in prison (or being tortured) as though we were in prison (being tortured) with them.[9]”
The spirit of love is active today as we celebrate one small victory for black-lives-matter in a Minneapolis courtroom and the possibility for a turning-point in the common fight to root out systemic racism in our policing. It is active in the veto (and in the defeated override attempt) of transgender discrimination legislation. It is active in the efforts to turn back mass incarceration practices. It is active in extravagant welcome that is open and affirming. It is active in the mitigation practices for the covid-19 pandemic and in the efforts to vaccinate our way to herd-immunity. It is active in the humane treatment of adults and the hospitality shown to children at our southern border.
If love defines us, then we choose to act in loving ways. God’s Love-in-Action (Ps. 48:9; damah) must give life and shine light. It is the opposite of being hard-hearted; it is having a circumcised-heart[10]. Love-in-Action writes the way of love on our foreheads and our hearts. It hears the neglected voices and responds to their cries. It upholds truth and integrity. God’s Love-in-Action is dynamic and formidable. It feeds on peace, joy and hope. It circumscribes our hearts with nurturing warmth. Love inspires the action; the action inspires the love.
The Kabbalah teaches that love is a weapon of light. When we offer love to our enemies, we destroy their darkness, which is the reason they became our enemies in the first place, and we cast out the darkness inside ourselves at the same time. The twilight of love bridges the breach between the midnight hour of prayer and the acedia of high-noon; what’s left are two souls, who now recognize the spark of divinity they both share. To paraphrase a great master teacher of the Kabbalah: The sublime mystery of the ages can be summed up in the words: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the rest is commentary. Now go and learn.’
[1] Jude 2
[2] Gen. 4:24; Mt. 18:22
[3] Lk. 7:47
[4] Rm. 13:8
[5] Phil. 1:9
[6] 2 Tim. 1:7
[7] 1 Jn. 3:17
[8] Surah al-Baqarah 2:148
[9] Heb. 13:3
[10] Dt. 10:16; Rm. 2:29