Unconditional Love
The Gospel today initially put me in a bit of a quandary. I have always thought of God’s love as unconditional, without bounds or limitations of any kind. And yet in today’s reading, from the Gospel of John, Jesus seems to be telling us that God’s love (His own love) is conditional on listening to His Word and following His commands. It is written in a very “this for that” propositional way. The reading says, “Jesus said to his disciples: “Whoever hears my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. Whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him.” That sounds like conditional love for me. Not so different from a parent saying to a child, “You know what I want, I have told you what I expect. If you do what I told you, I will love you.” I found myself recoiling from this vision of God’s love.
So, I tried another tack, with much more success. I asked myself, “How do I love God?” Not love the idea of God, but actually know and love God. Certainly, the easy answer is that I love God through how I treat other people. My responses to the needs of others that are presented to me are loving God. My willingness to look beyond the obvious, to find those who need, who for whatever reason, cannot ask for help is the love of God. Not only is it an easy answer, but it is also a true answer. It is just not a complete answer. I realized that my love for God is more intrinsic than that. It is a part of my DNA. My love for God is not about the stuff I do, the doing of things, knowing the proper theology, and having the appropriate words and correct answers. The actions are a visible sign of love or the outpouring of love, but it is not the love itself.
Our love for God is bound up in our relationship with God. Relationship is the key. When we love another human person the love we have can’t be contained in a few words or actions. The deepest and truest love is cellular. It is loving with every fiber of our being. In some ways it is not being able to even see ourselves except through the eyes of the Beloved. Love becomes intrinsically entwined in our DNA.
No wonder we use a heart as a symbol of love. The heart pumps the life blood through the body and gives the body life. When we love God, that love is in our very life blood. It is “the source and summit” of our love.
Ahh now I feel like I am getting somewhere. The words of our language limit our understanding. Jesus is saying to his disciples love me in the very core of your being. When you love me so much that my blood becomes your blood and my body becomes your body then we are one in love. Sounds like Eucharist doesn’t it. When our love is that intrinsically wedded to Jesus (God) then our actions can only reflect his commands. We personally are the embodiment of Jesus’ love.
What Jesus is promising in this reading is a mutuality of love. He promises a two-way street of loving. We love him and grow every day in that love. God loves us without question, doubt, or condition. Our passion becomes one in the Father and the Son. The Spirit wraps us in the mutuality of that love. The Holy Spirit reminds us of the unfathomable depths of God’s love and calls us more rooted in our love for God.
Whew! What started as angst with this reading somehow became awe. It became the confidence to know we love God, and God loves us. It became a fantastic knowledge that we are one.
In God’s Unending Love,
Gwen
