Words of Life

In response to our most recent national tragedy in which madness armed with an assault rifle tore through hundreds of lives—those murdered, those wounded, and all of those who loved them—I found solace in the opening verses of the Gospel of John.

In the beginning was the Word; the Word was with God; the Word was God…

Before all things, there is God. If God is before all things, then God’s will for creation is before all things. Scripture is adamant that the will of God is always to be equated with love—that the whole process of creation will be incomplete until all that is resides in love that brings perfect peace and stillness, where all are safe, sound, and secure in the enveloping embrace of God. This idea lay at the very heart of sabbath. What we saw is counter to God, seemingly overwhelming God’s love, but the promise of God is still in effect—all shall be well; all manner of thing shall be well. God is God’s love—God is a verb rather than a noun. God is never separate from God’s action. We can distance ourselves from what we say and do—God does not. The promise of resurrection—hard to accept as it is in the midst of tragedy is that even the dead are with God, alive in God, and free from human evil that destroys life. Jesus reveals redemption. Nothing can counter redemption, for that is the core of the Word.

All things came into being through the Word; and without the Word, not one thing came into being…

All creation is an act of love. All that is came into being through the love of God. That means every human life is precious in the eyes of God, a treasure beyond measure. It means that God hurts when a human beings hurts. In theology, we call that theodicy. It means the heart of God can melt. Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus weeps with us. Jesus draws especially near to the families, friends, and dear ones in Florida—closer than we can imagine. God never rejects anything God brings into being, no matter how far we might fall.

In the Word was life…

God wills for creation to live. To breathe is to feel the very breath of God within us. To be fully alive is to live in accord with the love of God that brought us into being. Love is our end. Love is our hope. Love lived is the truest expression of being human we can imagine. For me, it is the truest definition of being in the Image of God. What we witnessed was utterly contrary to being in the Image of God. It was a moment when a human being—a child of God—rejected all that that implies. No religion argues that we live against the being of God. No religion argues that hatred, violence, or bigotry is the essence of faith. No matter what a person broken utters as they unleash their brokenness, God stands for love which is the life of all that God makes. God loves the people we despise as much as God loves us. God loves us—all of us—into being. As we see this, we find our hope and a way to move beyond this repetitious litany of tragedy.

The life was the light of all people…

As we begin to understand the ground and root of our existence—the love that is God—we find enlightenment. In this case—in this utterly tragic moment—enlightenment means perceiving a solution, acting on it, and realigning our human community to according to what we find. John was clear—the only real solution for anything that brings human suffering is total alignment with the life-giving love of God. Therefore, the moment to respond to a catastrophe is not just when it’s over, but to do all we can to heal the context before such a thing can happen. Does that mean rethinking guns and community? Of course it does. Does that mean rethinking how we deal with mental illness? Of course it does. Does that mean diving into what disenfranchisement does to the human spirit? Of course it does. Does that mean rethinking how religion expresses faith in God and how we, as the faithful, live? Of course it does. It means rethinking all we say and do, examining our culture, time, and place closely. It means listening, seeing, and being present enough in our communities to seek and find the lost before they act on their lostness. That is what it means to be enlightened—illuminated in and through the love of God. 

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it…

John’s closing thought brings us full circle. God is. Nothing is greater than God. Nothing is more powerful than God. Nothing can outshine or outlive love. This is why Paul would preach that of the three greatest gifts of grace—faith, hope, and love—love is the greatest of them all. Love is where the world gets transformed and transcended. Love is what will carry us through the tragic to find the place of redemption. Love is what can send the trains of evil off their rails. Love is what can lift us beyond ourselves. Love is the answer. Always. Forever. So, in love, move from where we are to where we can be. Move to a place where madness loses its force and power. Move to a place where we can reclaim life from the abysmal darkness that we so often create as we move away from God. Move into the kingdom of God.

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In this word, there is hope, healing, and the hold of God. Enter it.