Religion is for Lovers

Last updated on: October 28, 2016 at 12:33 pm by Dr. James Wellman

Religion is for Lovers 2016-10-28T12:33:48-06:00 Dr. James Wellman

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These are dark days folks. Everyone is just a bit down. (Thank God for the Cubbies!) Cynicism, as they say, is intellectual depression. There are no innocents in this political election season, there is very little hope and so I think we need a good and kind and loving word to be sung, to belt it out with all our hearts! Hey, what is the good news? Is there any good news of hope out there?

It is not often that I read a book that makes me sit up and say, “Wow.” Especially to read a book by an academic who is a philosopher and theologian. But that is what happened when I read John Caputo’s book yesterday, On Religion: Thinking in Action. It gripped me like nothing I’ve come across recently.

Listen:
“Religion is for lovers, for men and women of passion, for real people with a passion for something other than taking profits, people who believe in something, who hope like mad in something, who love something with a love that surpasses understanding. Faith, hope and love, and of these three the best is love, according to famous apostle (I Cor. 13:13). But what do they love? What do I do when I love my God? That is their question. That is my question” p. 2.

Whoa, yes RELIGION IS FOR LOVERS, for people who believe in the IMPOSSIBLE, says Caputo. Religion is to love God, but really this means we love love itself. The very essence of our faith is to love the source of love, who is God itself. For me that form comes in the Triune God calling us to love, calling us to be LOVERS. Yes, yes, to this incredible calling to love the world NOT for the sake of profiting from the world, but for the sake of serving the world. In my tradition of Christianity, my religion is for lovers, “Whoever does not love does not know God” (I John 4:8).

Love is always our guide, our standard and our goal. There is nothing else. As Cuputo says over and over again, “We fall for love, we love God for love, we see God as love, love is God.” We cannot separate the two. This is such good news. We live for this love, and are called in no uncertain terms to love for this God; otherwise we have no business in this religion of love.

Not only is this religion for lovers, but to follow this religion is “to tremble with the possibility of the impossible.” This comes from Jesus’ words to the disciples: “For mortals it is impossible, but not for God; for God all things are possible” Mark 10:27.

As doers of love, as lovers of God, as followers of the one who calls us to love, we are to do the impossible, because in this God of love all things are possible. So, we who are lovers of this love let us come together and say, stop the madness of hate between us and for others. Stop cussing the other side, scapegoating those who are less, thinking so little of “our enemies.” Let us believe in the impossible, that we can come together as a nation, to care for the widow, the orphan, the refugee, the babies, the children, the poor, our brothers and sisters of color, those who are different, the LGBTQ community. It is overwhelming clear to me that our faith as followers of the God of love, calls us to love without restraint, without prior judgment, without getting their passport, without checking their identity, without knowing their political affiliation, without asking anything but what do you need?

This is the radical good news that we are called to—the rest is just dust, and wind—or, as St. Paul would say (using my own translation), the rest is just “shit” (Philippians 3:8).

There is a radical and winsome and powerful message in this religion that it is for lovers, that we have nothing to lose except our own souls. That when we judge first and love second, we sacrifice the very soul that is given to us to love—so we have not only no right to judge others, but we condemn ourselves by doing so. And I’m sure that I have done that myself. So, I ask forgiveness from anyone who has felt judged by me.

Religion, my religion is for lovers, for people who have let go of needing to be right, who believe in the impossible that all people are made in the beautiful image of God, which translated really means all of us are made in the image of love. Tap this link to check out a video to see and experience real beauty, which was hard for me to watch at first, but at the end felt liberating.

And my religion, the religion that loves Jesus, the one who bore our weaknesses, the religion that loves this lover of humankind believes that ANYTHING is possible.

We can turn our country around, we can make all people welcome;

we can create an economy that makes opportunities for everyone;

we can create a community where all families, whatever their structure, can work;

we can make justice for the indigenous people of our land;

we can create medical care for all;

we can make our inner cities safe and flourishing;

we can stop guns from killing our people;

we can have a foreign policy that seeks that best for both sides.

We can do these things if we give up being right, and work on simply loving what is good and beautiful and true and believe that anything is possible, because we love and follow the one who can and will make all things possible.

I know, some of you are saying, “Oh, Jim, so idealistic, so innocent, so hopeful, haven’t you been watching the news?” Yep, it is exactly for that reason that I’m saying these things. Let us shut down our TV’s and go out and love others, especially those who are in the deepest need.

Religion is for lovers. Let us go out and love with abandon; love into being what no one thought was possible; love in ways that no one even considered loving; let us think of new ways to show love, to be love, to speak out love, to make love.

My question is to each of you, why not? What do you have to lose? Yep, as the ancient scriptures says, “your very soul.”

There is something on the line and it’s big. Love does win, if we only do it!

Grace and peace and love to you as you follow your calling to love.

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