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Love Them; Don't Leave Them (1 John 4:7-21)


Perfect love drives out fear: People have been filled with so much fear and hate in this country that it is not only driving out love but it is also clouding our reason - at least mine. There is lots I do not understand. Look at our rules still in place right now about Covid-19. I don't understand them.


People are now allowed to be in bars dancing and drinking and being in close contact with one another. You can be crammed in a seat in sports game so close to someone else that they can spill their drink on you or spray the food from their mouth all over you. 


At the same time, in our province, one must be vaccinated to eat at a restaurant where the server takes your order from the table. The waiter, however, who goes from table-to-table does not need to be vaccinated. If unvaccinated people are more likely to carry the virus, then the legislation is putting all the customers and especially the staff at risk; if not, then what is the point of the passport - to keep unvaccinated patrons away from unvaccinated waitstaff? 

 

There is more: like we just said, one must be vaccinated to eat at a restaurant where the server takes your order from the table; however, you don’t need to be vaccinated if you place your order at the counter and then the same waiter brings the meal to your table. The waiter still comes to the table so why do we need a passport in one case and not the other?


A line that comes to my mind is one that Plato, in his Republic, put in the words of Socrates. When facing his questioners he said, "I am too stupid to be convinced by you". I think this is me relating to our current (especially vaccine) regulations.

  

Wearing masks, washing one’s hands, and social distancing all make a lot of sense to me when trying to avoid a flu, a cold, or Covid-19. Closing borders and limiting travel are great ways to stop the spread of a global pandemic. Wearing masks, washing one’s hands, social distancing are all things we do here to help the vulnerable stay safe because we love them. We also still check people’s temperatures, and we have plexiglass separators everywhere. At the soup kitchen we even have them on every table separating each diner from the person in front of them. I might even go so far as to recommend that everyone who can be, be vaccinated: I have had 3 shots now!

 

The reason that I have had three shots is the same reason why I personally am struggling with the vaccine mandate – I am trying to figure out how I love my neighbour. I am vaccinated because I feel that I need to do everything out of love;  I do realize however that there are people who cannot be vaccinated for health, mental health, moral and ethical reasons. I cannot possibly be a part of forcing someone to violate their deeply held moral convictions, can I?


The key, I think, for those of us alive at this juncture in history is to not let the devil tempt us into fear and/or hatred of anyone. Like our scriptures today say, there is no fear in love and God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God; if we love one another, God lives in usWhoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love; whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God.

 

Anyone here who is on social media should check your posts. If you have posted something that demeans or belittles proponents of an opposing view, take it down. At the very least, commit to only building one another up in the future. If you find yourself getting worked up while you are watching the ‘news’, turn it off. If you find yourself getting worked up while chatting with someone else, take a breath and say a silent prayer for them – or better yet, acknowledge the heart of a person you many disagree with and say a prayer with them. That is an act of love and whoever loves God loves their neighbour. God is love.

 

At this time when our country is seriously and passionately divided, we Christians need to be united in love; we need to remember when walking with one another that:  

 

·        God loves us all (even the other guys!) so much so that He sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins and if anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.  

·        There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 

·        And whoever does not love, does not know God, because God is love; whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God. 

·        For, God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them; if we love one another, God lives in us.

 

Let us go from here out into this world of hate and fear and let us be different. Let us refuse to hate one another; let us refuse to fear one another. And let us refuse to ‘other’ one another, and may we always, as brothers and sisters, live and walk in the love of God. 



 

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