How Love Gets You Killed
Within days of Alec Baldwin's tragic accidental killing, his enemies were at work.
Baldwin, who was acting on a movie set, shot a prop gun that had mistakenly been loaded with real bullets, killing a cinematographer and injuring a director.
While the actor has been visibly distraught and penitent, his enemies are choosing to kick him while he's down: Donald Trump, Jr. started selling t-shirts on his website that read 'Guns don't kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people.'
And while these t-shirts give us pause to stop and think about Trump, Jr., we do well to pause and think... about Jesus.
After all, while Christ was at his lowest, hanging on the cross, a helpless victim, watching his enemies draw lots over his belongings, all the while mocking and cursing him, what was his response?
Jesus looked upon his enemies not with hatred and vengeance, but with love. 'Forgive them,' is all he said.
He didn't hit back, scream obscenities, or print t-shirts.
Jesus loved.
Everybody.
My friend Bob says, to love God is to love the things God loves.
And God loves people. All people.
Sure God hates lots of the things we do, our lying, cheating, selfishness, and indifference to suffering, but God does not hate us. Any of us.
This weekend at church we will hear Jesus affirm the two commandments upon which our faith rests: that we love God and love our neighbors as ourselves.
When we unpack this, we realize Jesus was not put to death for being hateful, aggressive, or violent, but for loving. He loved the poor and downtrodden enough to speak up for them. He loved fairness and equality enough to champion it. He loved people who had done despicable things enough to dine with them - tax collectors, prostitutes, and sinners - everybody.
No matter what others thought, Jesus loved people. All people.
So we cannot love God and hate people.
No matter who they are or what they've done, our work is clear.
How can we trade in our tendencies to mock, denigrate, belittle, hit back, and take vengeance... for love?
If this is hard for us, relax, it's supposed to be.
Loving without bounds is how we carry the cross.
It's how we share in the passion of the Christ.
It's the hard work of following Jesus.
Can we do it?
With God all things are possible.
