Greater Love

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."  John 15:13

 The above Bible verse is one that I remember learning as a child.  It is a great example of the kind of selfless, sacrificial love to which God's children are called to show one another.  And it used to be pretty much the cultural norm, that the strong would protect the weak, a man would protect a woman, everyone protected a child.  Those who did so were hailed as heroes, honored, respected, held up as role models.

Lately, though, I have been feeling as though self-sacrificial love, laying down one's life for another, is not only being discouraged, but punished.

Consider, please, the following stories:

1. From San Francisco, June 2011:

Fire crews and police could only watch after a man waded into San Francisco Bay, stood up to his neck and waited. They wanted to do something, but a policy tied to earlier budget cuts strictly forbade them from trying to save the 50-year-old, officials said

A witness finally pulled the apparently suicidal man's lifeless body from the 54-degree water.

The man, later identified as Raymond Zack, spent nearly an hour in the water before he drowned.

The Coast Guard was called to the scene, but the water was too shallow for its boat. A Coast Guard helicopter arrived more than an hour later because it had been on another call and had to refuel.

As for police, they didn't have the gear for the cold water and couldn't risk being pulled under.
"Certainly this was tragic, but police officers are tasked with ensuring public safety, including the safety of personnel who are sent to try to resolve these kinds of situations," Alameda police Lt. Sean Lynch said.

2. From Monterey County, California, May 2012:

 Safeway has suspended an employee at a Monterey County store, despite being called a hero by police for stopping a domestic assault in the store last month.
Ryan Young, a meat clerk at the Safeway in Del Rey Oaks, said he was doing his job when he saw Quyen Van Tran beating his girlfriend, who is six months pregnant.
“Every few seconds he would turn around and push her and then he actually kicked her,” Young said. “I told him to calm down and he was just irate.”
Chief Ron Langford of the Del Ray Oaks Police said if Ryan did not intervene, things could have become much worse for the victim.
But Young said Safeway has suspended him without pay, for supposedly violating company policy. The store has not given word on if or when he will be allowed back.

3. From New Jersey, May 2012:

A dad jumped into action to save his son's life and ended up getting two tickets from a traffic officer because of it, according to a Monday report.
Frank Roder took his son to a park in New Jersey to feed the ducks.
He was inside his Jeep when he noticed his son running toward a steep embankment that plunged down into water.
Frank reacted quickly.
He leapt out of the vehicle, ran after his son, and grabbed him just feet from the edge.
He must have had a sinking feeling in his gut, when he turned around and watched his Jeep roll down the same embankment.
Adding insult to the injury to his vehicle, Frank was ticketed by a police officer, not once but twice.
The first ticket was for failure to use his parking brake, the other was for failure to produce his insurance card, which was in his waterlogged vehicle.

4. From Hampshire, England, February 2012:

A man who fell into a lake drowned after firefighters called to the scene said they could not enter the water if it was higher than ankle deep for health and safety reasons, an inquest has been told.
Simon Burgess, a 41-year-old charity shop worker died at Walpole Park, in Gosport, Hampshire, on 10 March. He is believed to have had an epileptic seizure either before or after falling into the water while feeding swans.
Witnesses raised the alarm, but the hearing was told on Tuesday that members of a fire crew refused to get to him because the water was more than ankle deep. Instead, they waited for a specialist water rescue team and Burgess was only taken out of the lake 28 minutes after the alarm was raised.

So, what does this say about "laying down your life for your friends?"  And what is happening in our culture that Policy is so much more important that saving lives?  How can we have rescue workers who cannot rescue?  Are we so concerned with our Lives and Liabilities that we are afraid to be sacrificial?

The second and third stories have men who were willing to lay down their lives - one to protect a pregnant woman, the other to save his son's life.  They have been punished for doing so, but say they would not have done anything differently.  But in the first and last stories, the rescuers allowed themselves to stand by and watch men drown, in order to save - not their own lives - but their jobs.

Even more disturbing are the stories where people go beyond simply standing idly by, their instinct instead being to record violence on their phones to post later to YouTube.  Probably the most disturbing to me was the story of a young woman beaten in a Maryland McDonald's until she went into a seizure.  Not one person stood up for her.  Not one person tried to stop the attack.  Instead, it was recorded and posted, and the attackers were warned to leave before the police arrived.

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." 

Looking Back, Moving Forward

 The believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the community, to their shared meals, and to their prayers. A sense of awe came over everyone. God performed many wonders and signs through the apostles. All the believers were united and shared everything. They would sell pieces of property and possessions and distribute the proceeds to everyone who needed them.  Every day, they met together in the temple and ate in their homes. They shared food with gladness and simplicity.  They praised God and demonstrated God’s goodness to everyone. The Lord added daily to the community those who were being saved. (Acts 2: 42-47, CEB)

What do you think of when you hear the word "church"?  If you're anything like me, you probably think of a building with pews and a pulpit, the place you go on Sunday morning to sing hymns or worship songs and have Sunday school, or associated words such as "worship" and "prayer."

Next question: What do you think of when you hear the word "fellowship"?  That probably conjures up images of the periodic pot-luck meal in the church hall, the chatter that happens in the foyer after service, maybe even your small group gathering.

Go back and read the passage I began with, from Acts 2.  This passage describes the fellowship of the early church.  I have to be perfectly honest.  My mental pictures of "church" and "fellowship" don't bear much resemblance to the picture from Acts 2.

Now let me be clear on one thing: This is not a discussion of denomination, worship style, or congregation vs. house church.  Frankly, I think those arguments have become a distraction and a huge stumbling block.  What I want to discuss is Daily Living Church vs. Sunday Morning Church.


Currently, I am reading "Pompeii" by T. L. Higley, a Christian historical novel, set in the days of the Roman empire and the early church.  For some reason, this morning I started really thinking deeply about what I was reading, nd I realized something: The early church is described nearly identically in all of the novels in this genre, regardless of author.  And the "fellowship of believers" I read about bears very little resemblance to the "fellowship of believers" I see today.

Consider this excerpt from the book:

Discreet inquiries around town had uncovered more than concern for those possessed by evil, trapped in prison, or hungry.  It seemed they also cared for orphans or widows, shared their wealth with the poor, performed healings, and welcomed prostitutes into their midst... And above all this humanitarian effort, or perhaps behind it, was something even more.  It was the look he had seen on the faces of those [believers] who had perished in the games of the arena.  Their willingness to die for what they believed made him ache for something so powerful, so important, something to live for. (p. 148)

I don't know about you, but this novelized portrayal reads a lot like the fellowship I read about in Acts and the epistles of Paul.  They didn't put up fliers describing all the great things they were doing.  They weren't in positions of political power, trying to alter the policies to be more socially just.  They weren't in committee meetings, trying to define an exciting new program to get people interested in attending.  They didn't just get together once or twice a week for a nice sermon and some great music and three minutes of corporate prayer out of obligation or habit, and then set it all aside in the business of the week.   They were part of a Daily Living Church.

When I read in Acts and the epistles about the early church, I read about people who lived everyday lives.  There are people who are rich, poor, and in between.  There are people with character flaws, forgiven and forgiving.  There are people in power and people who are powerless.  There are people, in fact, just like us.

And while some of them preached in the square and the temple, most of them just... lived.  But they lived in such a way that people were drawn to them.  They were filled with peace and joy.  They were generous and compassionate.  They very quietly attended to the neediest in their society, without seeking either permission or attention.  They sought to treat everyone with love and respect, regardless of social or economic status.  Wouldn't you be drawn to someone who lived that way? 

Now imagine if you yourself were given the ability to draw people to Christ.  Imagine if you could make people so curious about a peculiar peace and joy, without a single program, or tract, or verbal testimony.  Imagine if you had the power to change opinions, hearts, lives, without any political platform or position of power or a single protest walk.  Imagine so close and deep and strong a fellowship that you can be constantly encouraged as you encouraged, constantly learning as you teach, constantly lifted up in prayer as you lift others up in prayer, constantly forgiven as you forgive.  Imagine a fearless faith, confident of being generously supplied with your needs as you generously give.  Imagine a community so infused with love that you desire to be with each other as much as possible, and involved in every facet of each other's lives. 

Look back.  It happened in the days of the early church. 
Look around.  It still happens in the church around the world. 

Look ahead.  It  can happen right where you are.

Can we move forward together, seeking this exciting, empowering, fearless, powerful Daily Living Church?  Can we move forward together, allowing others into our intimate fellowship?
Can we move forward together, seeking God's Word, His face, His Spirit, His presence, His power?
Can we move forward together, living lives so filled with love and compassion, so aware of and engaged with the needs of those around us, so passionate about demonstrating to others all the blessings we ourselves have received,  that we cannot be ignored?

Imagine.