Sermon based on Luke 4:1-13
Today is the first Sunday of Lent. The start of a period of time when, traditionally, we give something up. With customs such as giving up chocolate or caffeine. It is also Valentine’s Day, a day when we traditionally celebrate love. So what happens on a day like today when these two events come together? The result is the question, ‘What would you give up…… for love?
Following the Boxing Day floods we have seen amazing acts of love and compassion where neighbours and strangers have helped people rebuild their lives. There were immediate acts of love where people gave up their time to help with the clean-up. They gave up their food and their money. I know that the Calderdale Flood Relief appeal has already raised over £1million. What amazing acts of love and generosity. These are examples of what people give up for love.
Your minister Justine (Luddendenfoot URC) recently presented at a Mission and Care group meeting that I attended. She told us of the devastation but also the encouragement that whilst physical bridges have been knocked down, new intangible bridges have been built here between the communities. Relationships have been built where they weren’t before or reaffirmed and now even stronger. Wonderful news!
These are examples of what people give up for love. But what about the examples which are life changing. The larger sacrifices.
We have already spoken earlier about the ultimate sacrifice. Out of love, God gave us his Son. Out of love, His Son died for us!
How much would we be willing to give up for love?
This question reminded me of a story that was in the local news recently. A former soldier from Leeds was facing up to five years in a French jail for what he says was a crime of compassion (an act of love) in trying to smuggle a four-year-old girl out of the squalid refugee camp near Calais. He was eventually acquitted a few weeks ago. But he was willing to risk giving up his freedom for love. To give up life as he knew it for this little girl.
I wonder how far we would have gone to help this little girl and what would Christ have done in that situation?
Before we decide, let me tell you a bit more about this little girl and the guy who tried to rescue her from her life at the camp.
The little girl is called Bahar and she lives in the squalid Jungle camp in Calais with her father Reza. Rob, an ex-soldier, was a volunteer at the refugee camp. He had gone there after seeing the news of the three-year-old Syrian boy Aylan being washed up on a Turkish beach. He decided to leave his carpet cleaning business, buy a van, appeal to the public for donations of clothing, sleeping bags etc. and then drive them down to Calais for the refugees. So Rob had already given up a lot for love, for the love of complete strangers.
Whilst he was there, Rob befriended Bahar and her father Reza. Reza begged Rob to take his daughter to relatives here in Leeds. At first he refused. But one night the little girl had fallen asleep on his knee and his paternal instinct kicked in. He knew that he couldn’t leave her to go back to sleep on that dump site.
But he was caught smuggling her out by the Calais border control. He faced a charge of aiding illegal immigration, which under French law carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of over £20,000.
Mr Lawrie knew that he had committed a crime but he appealed on the grounds that the only thing that he was guilty of was compassion. He just couldn’t leave Bahar to spend one more night in that horrendous place.
The story demonstrates a truly ‘human’ story and what it means to be human. It is full of human traits, including feelings of compassion, love, paternal instincts, relationships and community. Not surprising since we are made in the image of God. God who is love divine.
Yet in this ‘human’ story Mr Lawrie had to make a decision. Does he do what is illegal in the eyes of ‘human’ law or effectively break a ‘spiritual’ law of compassion by leaving the girl in the refugee camp?
Is a crime of compassion acceptable to God, even if it is illegal according to our laws?
To answer the question of God’s likely response, we need to look to Christ and his example. Rather than ask ‘what would we have done in Rob’s situation?’ we need to ask ‘what do we think Jesus would have done to help Bahar and her family?’
This story demonstrates the conflict of compassionate actions against the rules and regulations of the day. In the same way, we can recall many accounts of Jesus’ actions which conflicted with the Jewish Laws of the time despite being acts of love.
Jesus healed on the Sabbath; in the grainfield’s story, where he feeds the disciples, he is accused of both violating the Sabbath and stealing corn.
Was he breaking the law? Jesus was extremely careful to ensure that whilst challenging the Jewish practises, his revelations of God’s Kingdom did not violate the laws of the Old Testament. Jesus only violated an interpretation of what constituted ‘work’ and his picking of corn from the fields of others is allowed in the Old Testament and is not considered to be stealing.
Jesus was also careful not to violate the laws of the land. When he was asked whether it was lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not, Jesus cleverly responded‘Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.’
From these examples we see Jesus demonstrating love and compassion, even if as a result of his actions he was challenged by the various authorities of his day. However he did not act illegally. Jesus said he came not to abolish the law but to fulfil it.
Rob and Bahar’s story is a wonderful demonstration of Jesus’ commandment “You shall love your neighbour as yourself.” However unlike the story of Rob and Bahar, Jesus’s actions were never illegal. I believe that Jesus, with God’s wisdom, would have found a legal way of bringing relief to Bahar and her family. Without having to give up for love his freedom and resort to illegal actions.
However, is the answer to never act illegally that cut-and-dry? What about the smuggling of Jews out of Germany in WW2. That was illegal but I’m sure we all agree that it was the right thing to do. So how do we decide? We need God’s wisdom.
Now I doubt that we will ever be in a situation where we need to decide whether to act illegally. However we make decisions almost every moment of every day and all of those decisions must be made in love.
If we are to love our God and love our neighbour as ourselves, love must be at the heart of all our decisions.
Through this story we have seen the power of love but also the impact of not using it wisely. Through Christ we have unlimited access to the power of love but we must also tap into our unlimited access to God’s wisdom. So in deciding what we would give up for love, we must also understand and pray for God’s wisdom.
But how do we recognise God’s wisdom and where do we look for it?
In our gospel reading today we read the familiar story of Jesus being led by the Spirit in the wilderness and tempted by the devil. First the devil dares Jesus to use his power to satisfy his hunger. The devil said to him, ‘If you are the Son of God, command this stone to become a loaf of bread’. But Jesus responds with God’s words from the book of Deuteronomy chapter 8, ‘It is written, “One does not live by bread alone.”’
The devil then shifts the focus of his attack and he offers Jesus all the world’s kingdom now. But what he is offering doesn’t belong to him. Jesus rebukes him with God’s word from Deuteronomy chapter 6 ‘It is written, “Worship the Lord your God, and serve only him.”’
Finally the scene shifts to Jerusalem. The devil invites Jesus to test out his sonship by putting God to the test. Again Jesus uses words from Deuteronomy chapter 6. Jesus answered him, ‘It is said, “Do not put the Lord your God to the test.”’ Then, ‘When the devil had finished every test, he departed from him until an opportune time.’ He’d be coming back!
At each temptation Jesus draws on God’s written Word. That is one place where he found God’s wisdom and strength to resist the devil’s temptations and this is where we should always look first to find God’s wisdom. It is what Jesus did and therefore we should follow his example.
In deciding what we should give up for love, we prayerfully ask for God’s wisdom and our first port of call should be to God’s written word in the Bible.
But we must also draw on the Holy Spirit. The first line of our gospel reading says, ‘Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness, where for forty days he was tempted by the devil.’ Jesus was full of the Holy Spirit.
There is a powerful passage for us today to draw on in Corinthians chapter 2 that I will read to you. I’ll read it slowly as it is quite deep thinking but it contains some powerful truths. It is entitled, ‘The True Wisdom of God’.
‘These things God has revealed to us through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches everything, even the depths of God. For what human being knows what is truly human except the human spirit that is within? So also no one comprehends what is truly God’s except the Spirit of God. Now we have received not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit that is from God, so that we may understand the gifts bestowed on us by God. And we speak of these things in words not taught by human wisdom but taught by the Spirit, interpreting spiritual things to those who are spiritual.
In summary, we have access to the mind of God through the power of the Holy Spirit that resides within us. God’s wisdom is within each and every one of us.
Love is the probably the most powerful thing that we experience. Through Christ our hearts are now reconciled with God. We can now love God and each other, unconditionally and without exception, but we also need God’s wisdom.
It’s like owning something as powerful as a car but without having the wisdom to know how to drive. The car can bring much pleasure but it can also cause complete devastation.
Every decision we make needs to be made with love and with God’s wisdom. We need to look for God’s wisdom through prayer; by knowing our bible; and by discerning the Holy Spirit.
As we enter Lent we reflect on who we are in God. God is love, so we are love and the challenge to us today is, ‘what would we be willing to give up for love?’ Amen
Debbie Story 