Sunday, May 2, 2010

Toleration?

John 13:31-35

“At the last supper, when Judas had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”

During the “questions and concerns” reflections of today’s sermon an authentic question was asked: how does our idea of love differ for that of the Greek- agape? Agape is God’s love; which is not at all comprehendible to us today. It is love out of words and deeds. Somehow toleration was brought up. Christ did not tolerate the stupidity of mankind; thus in the temple he flipped over tables and went crazy on those who were making a market out of the temple. However, I don’t think Jesus likes or who even use the word tolerate or not-tolerate.

If we look at the works and teachings of Christ, he is a hard-ass. Plain and simple he tells us exactly how idiotic we really are. To tolerate something means that we accept it how it is, we put up with whatever we dislike or agree with. This idea is really unsettling to me. By tolerating something we “love” because we are command to, not because we want to. Jesus did not flip over the tables in the temple because he was not tolerant of their behaviour, but because justice has to be served. My dad did not spank me because he wasn’t tolerant with me hitting my brother or swearing, but because justice had to be served in order for me to understand what love looks like under hard circumstances. If he had done it because he was not tolerant with my behaviour, then it would not have been done out of love and his actions would have been meaningless.

If I was to tolerate “sinners” then I would accept them as well as their sin. I would see the “sin” but love the “sinner”. But that isn’t what Christ is commanding us to do. He is not commanding us to be tolerant with people but to love them. He is asking us to take away whatever “sin” we attach to people and simply love. Not love the “sinner” and not the “sin”, but to flat out love. Not love because we are tolerant, but because justice and grace prevail.

I don’t think that it would be fair of me to say that I love someone because I have been told I have to. I don’t love my brother simply because he is my brother, just like I don’t love my friends only because they are my friends. In the same way I cannot love the poor because they are poor or love the drunk because he is drunk. If I did, that is toleration. I accept the fact that you are poor because I must love you; or I simply feed you because you are poor. However, if we are tolerant we overlook the person within. We feed the hungry in order for the hungry to have food, but the hungry is not just hungry for food, but for love. We can feed them physically, but it is the food made up of love and justice that matters.

Jesus told Peter he would deny him, and he got pissed at the Jews who made a mess in the temple, and the Pharisees who did not understand the law. He did not do this because he wasn’t tolerant of their behaviours or wrong doing, but because justice had to be served. Justice puts us to rights; in-toleration simply puts people to shame. Toleration is done out of necessity and because we have to, where justice is done because we love. There has to be a different between toleration and justice. We cannot say that Jesus was not tolerant with the Jews, we cannot say that Jesus is or is not tolerant; toleration cannot be used in the same sentence and Jesus.

Jesus got pissed at people because they needed to learn, and maybe even physically demonstrated his frustrations. In the same way my dad spanked me when I was a kid; I needed to learn. This is done for the sake of love and grace; justice is done for the sake of love and grace. Jesus was not a man of in-tolerance but a man of justice. That is how Jesus loved us and how we are commanded to love others. Love others justly.

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