The church members were aghast. Saying goodbye to the pas tor with flowers was one thing, but $20,000 worth of flowers?
This was Pastor Tom Phillips' last sermon in this church, and the farewell committee had planned to place several extra-large bouquets in front of the pulpit. But when the committee members arrived at the church, they found that someone had been there before them—flowers filled the entire sanctuary. They flooded the rostrum, hid the sides and back of the sanctuary, and even covered the ends of the pews. And these weren't just common, ordinary flowers. There were rare orchids from the Orient, exotic roses, unique dahlias imported from Mexico—the list was endless. Stepping into the church was like entering a per fumed Shangri-la.
As the members gathered for this fare well service, an incredulous murmuring could be heard. "You say she spent $20,000 on these flowers—a year's salary?" "Isn't she the one who seduced a high official in the government, black mailed him, and then sold state secrets to enemy agents?" "Those flowers will be dead in a few days. That money would have been better spent in our inner-city mission."
The pastor's sermon began, " 'Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends' (John 15:13, NIV). God worked through me to save Helen from a life of debauchery and hopelessness. Only those of you who have been where she has been can appreciate how she feels now. She could not lay down her life for me to show her gratitude, so she made another great sacrifice—she spent her life's savings on these flowers."
This analogy to Mary's anointing of Jesus is imperfect, but it does illustrate our innate proclivity to judging and condemning. We recite, "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son," but neglect the next verse: "For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved" (John 3:16, 17).
Peter wrote a startling statement along these lines: "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8, NIV).
"Oh yes," we respond, "we must love the sinner and condemn the sin." This is one of the most tired of Christian cliches; it is used to justify all kinds of condemnation. Those on the receiving end seldom experience the fine distinction.
"Love covers over a multitude of sins." What does Peter mean? The previous verse supplies a context: "The end of all things is near" (NIV). At Christ's coming, the key characteristic of those who are ready and waiting for Him is not that they have won many people or entered many countries with the gospel or reached perfection of character; it is that they love much.
Jesus emphasized that the greatest commandment is love (see Matt. 22:37- 40) and that it is by the love His disciples have for one another that the world will know who they are (John 13:35). In his great paean, Paul reminds us that with out love, tongues, prophecy, faith, generosity, self-sacrifice, and indeed every other attribute is worthless (1 Cor. 13)!
What, then, is love? It is more than an emotion—it is a principle of life. It is the unconditional acceptance of another individual. God accepted Jacob the polygamist, Rahab the prostitute, the self-indulging Samson, the slave-holding Israelites, the doubting Thomas, and the thieving Judas.
Jesus modeled this kind of love; that is why it was heaven to be in His presence. There, though people recognized their sinfulness, they felt hope rather than condemnation. They knew that Jesus understood them. Jesus did not censure human weakness. His mission was to nurture the emotional, physical, and spiritual growth of others. To bring about this growth, He showed that He cared.
We, on the other "hand, see acceptance as condonation—and we certainly don't want to give the impression that we agree with the deviant behavior. After all, didn't Jesus confront sinful people such as the Pharisees? Yes, but only after He had demonstrated self-sacrifice and renounced pride and self-glorification. And when He confronted people about their sinfulness, it was with tears in His voice.
We convey to those we meet, however subtly, either outrage or acceptance. Love is the path that leads people to Jesus. When we focus on sins, people only despair the more. That is why Peter said "love covers over a multitude of sins." Love shifts the focus from the actions to the person. Only when we have demonstrated that we love the person will we have earned the right to speak concerning his or her behavior.
We help people solve their problems, not by dwelling on the problems, but by demonstrating the same caring, accepting love Jesus, our Friend and Saviour, possessed. Let us love people to Jesus. —J. David Newman.
