‘Justice is What Love Looks Like in Public’
Romans 13:8-10
As I write this, I am sitting in Denver International Airport waiting to board a flight to Virginia where my family will lay my step-mother to rest. And sitting here is affording me an opportunity to reflect on just how bewildering my life has been these past few months—bewildering in good ways and tragic ways.
We have been bearing witness to a harrowing war in Europe. We are beginning to feel cautiously optimistic about the future regarding COVID-19. Our denomination has postponed our General Conference, setting in motion the inevitable schism in our church. My step-mother has passed away. My wife and I are expecting a baby. Our church has began an exciting new community garden ministry.
So many things, juxtaposing joy and victory with grief and pain. Our scripture passage for worship this week is a reading from the book of Romans. I sometimes struggle with Paul’s writing in scripture, but not with what he says here: "The commandments...are summed up in this word, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."
In both the joys and the pains of this roller coaster it seems life is, Paul reminds me personally that there is a thread that goes through everything--a strand of constancy that weaves itself in our victories and in our losses. Love!
As I sit in this airport terminal waiting to journey to where I will say farewell to my step-mother, the roller coaster continues as I reflect on the huge victory of decriminalizing vehicular based homelessness in Lakewood that occurred last night. Grief and triumph.
This victory is the culmination of conversation after conversation, many members of our church and our community speaking up and engaging with our elected leaders, and also the power of love that can move our hearts with compassion and righteous anger on behalf of the struggling and suffering whose tribulations we bear witness to daily.
Dr. Cornell West's famous quote reminds us that "Justice is what love looks like in public." And what I saw last night at our city council meeting was just that. Community members and city councilors all finding surprising agreement that, indeed, people experiencing homelessness are fully human, worthy of dignity and respect, and deserve access to services and housing and whatever tools we can find to help them escape the trauma of homelessness.
This wasn't just a practical victory, this was a moral one. I have not felt prouder for my city any more than this morning as I sit and reflect on the power of Love as it moves through us. Indeed, may it always be with our city that "love is the fulfilling of the law."
Glory to God in the highest!
