the God particle: Love

from my message on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2012, from Mark 12: 28-34

You are loved.  No matter what else you get from this message, don't miss this, you are loved.  That's what God was trying to say to us in Jesus Christ, that we are loved.  God became flesh, to meet us where we are to show us we are  loved.  You are loved, whether you are a Republican.....or a Democrat.  You are loved whether you are a Texas Longhorn or an Iowa State Cyclone.  I am not even going to talk about Texas A & M.  Yes, you are loved even if you are an Aggie.

Last week we started a sermon series on the God Particle, the Higgs Boson.  This subatomic particle seems to have mass and it seems to provide attraction forces within the atom, in short, it holds things together.  I was reading an article this past week that was trying to come up with an analogy for the Higgs Boson.  The article called "cosmic molasses," something sticks things together.  My analogy is that Jesus is our God Particle.  Jesus brings God and humanity together.  Jesus brings us together, and makes us community.  Jesus holds us together by his love.

In this scripture passage Jesus is challenged to summarize the law into one commandment.  Many religious leaders had been trying to entrap Jesus in his speech, but this seeker seems to be sincere.  It was a common debate question among religious scholars of that time.  Jesus could not be limited to one commandment.  He needed two.  The first is love God with all of one's being, and the second is to love one's neighbor as oneself.

You may find yourself resistent to being told that you must love.  Can love be commanded?  One on-line commentator I really like is Brian Stoffregeg, a Lutheran pastor.  He imagines the following scene:  A girl and a boy are on their first date.  She looks over at him.  She is thinking to herself:  I like this guy. He is handsome, charming.  I could see life together with him.  How to get him to love me?  She then says in a strong, stern voice:  I command you to love me.  You will marry me.  We will live happily ever after!

Does that work?  No.  We remember that God commands us to love, because, and only because, God has first loved us.  You remember the 10 commandments.  They were expanded to 613 commandments (applications) in the Old Testament.  The question is not an idle one about which is the greatest.  But the context of the commandments is always love.  When God gives the 10 commandments, it is like this:  I am the God who saved you, I delivered you out of bondage in Egypt.  The 10 commandments are literally in Hebrew the 10 words.  They are the words of life.  When children in Godly Play learn about the 10 commandments, they are called the 10 best ways of living.  God loves us first.  God wants us to live.  We can love God and others because God first loved us.

I can't make you love.  I can invite you to love.  I can challenge you to love.  That's why we emphasize a path of discipleship.  We want you to fall in love with Jesus.  We want you to grow your soul so large in love, that this love spills over your life into the lives of others. 

It is hard to love others.  It has been especially hard lately.  Something happened this past Tuesday that was very divisive.  As Americans, we have been engaged in bitter rhetoric in these elections.  Watch this YouTube video of this little girl.
(little girl crying because she is sick of hearing about Bronco Bama and Mitt Romney.  The mom assures here that it will soon be over."

We have been driven to tears.  Maybe it hasn't been too bad here in Texas.  Thank God we don't live in a battleground state like Ohio or Florida....robocalls, TV and radio ads....neighbors not being able to talk with neighbors...family members alienated from one another.  Did you get the imagery?  Battleground states.  The metaphor is that of war.  We are trying not just to win, but to defeat, to destroy the enemy.

Is there any way out of this?  I think a clue may be found in this particular day, Veterans Day.  I did the research:  World War I ended at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month in the year 1918.  It was called Armistice Day.  It was to mark the end of the "war to end all wars."  That name continued until 1954 when it was renamed Veterans Day.  This is not to be confused with Memorial Day, a day to remember those who died in war.  Veterans Day is to remember all those who served in the military.

Do those who serve in the military serve the Republican party?  or the Democratic party?  or the Libertarian? or the Green?  No, they serve their country.  They serve a higher purpose.  They serve a cause greater than themselves.  They lay their lives on the line.  They sacrifice.  Their example of serving comes so close to the example of Christ who offered his life for us.  Veterans give us a way to love one another beyond our differences.

Today, can we love veterans?  I would love for you to make me wrong in my research.  Of homeless men in the USA, 33% are veterans.  There is PTSD, post traumatic stress disorder, something that has only been recently diagnosed.  There are brain injuries and all other manner of wounds.  Veterans have a higher rate of depression, economic troubles, suicide.  If we want to fight about something, let's fight for understanding, education, inclusion of returning veterans.  

I am glad that some of you have become advocates for veterans.  You have worked with the Red Cross.  You have worked with programs that use horses to help veterans literally get back in the saddle and gain confidence.  You have worked with dogs and other pets as a way of connecting with veterans.  You have hired veterans in your firms.  You have shown love.

I have a great quote from Frederick Buechner that captures what Jesus our God Particle was trying to communicate to us:

“The love for equals is a human thing--of friend for friend, brother for brother. It is to love what is loving and lovely. The world smiles. The love for the less fortunate is a beautiful thing--the love for those who suffer, for those who are poor, the sick, the failures, the unlovely. This is compassion, and it touches the heart of the world. The love for the more fortunate is a rare thing--to love those who succeed where we fail, to rejoice without envy with those who rejoice, the love of the poor for the rich, of the black man for the white man. The world is always bewildered by its saints. And then there is the love for the enemy--love for the one who does not love you but mocks, threatens, and inflicts pain. The tortured's love for the torturer. This is God's love. It conquers the world.”

I have seen you love one another.  I have seen the God Particle, Jesus, in our midst.  May we live into our identity.  May Jesus hold us together.