Love and Hate

We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death. All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them. We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. ~ I John 3:14-16

Briefly, then, to impress it unmistakably upon the common people, the import of the commandment against killing is this: In the first place, we should not harm anyone. This means, first, by hand or by deed; next, we should not use our tongue to advocate or advise harming anyone; again, we should neither use nor sanction any means or methods whereby anyone may be harmed; finally, our heart should harbor no hostility or malice toward anyone in a spirit of anger and hatred. Thus you should be blameless toward all people in body and soul, especially toward him who wishes or does you evil. ~ Martin Luther, The Fifth Commandment (Large Catechism)


How does it make you feel to see John connect hatred to being a murderer?

 He isn't the first to make that type connection. Jesus has some harsh words to say about anger. And Martin Luther had lots to say about it!

 Love your neighbor and don't hate them because hate itself is connected directly with death.

How much hate are we seeing in the world right now?

 What are the ways we are not loving our neighbor these days? For Luther, it wasn't enough to not hate your enemy. He saw Jesus' words as directly wanting us to speak well of them. And care for them. Can you imagine if we turned on the TV and saw politicians speaking well of each other?


In his book, Made for Goodness, which he wrote with his daughter, Mpho, Desmond Tutu reminds us that despite the evil in the world, and the evil that seems to reside in hearts of "our enemy," we are all created by God and filled with God's abiding Spirit.  All of us.

"Because God always dwells in us - in all of us - there is always hope," affirms Tutu.

Hope. There is always hope. Even when things feel the darkest or when the memories are tragic and violent.

Hope. Love. Faith.  On these we can still count.
Dear God, help me to love even when it's hard.  Help me to love even when I feel anger.  Help me to love even when I am sad.  And when love seems impossible, give me hope to lean on to see me through.  Amen.
Thoughts for engagement:

- Who are the "neighbors" you find hard to love?
- What are the ways we can show love publicly for neighbors during the pandemic?
- Look up all the places you can find in the gospels where Jesus says to love neighbors and love enemies.



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