And They’ll Know We are Christians

Last, But Not Least

Posted on by Betsy

Today we will finish our look into Psalm 63. You’ll recall that King David wrote this in a wilderness of despair, as he was fleeing from his son’s attempted coup. In this bleak situation, he sought God and was able to praise him despite his situation. Perhaps it was easier for David to do this because he had come to know God’s lovingkindness first hand:

Psalm 63 (Common English Bible)

3 Because Your lovingkindness is better than life,
My lips shall praise You.
4 Thus I will bless You while I live;
I will lift up my hands in Your name.
5 My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness,
And my mouth shall praise You with joyful lips.

The Hebrew word for lovingkindness in this passage is hesed. Hesed is one of the most fundamental characteristics of God, consistent with what we know about His covenantal nature. Hesed is “wrapping up in itself all the positive attributes of God: love, covenant faithfulness, mercy, grace, kindness, loyalty–in short, acts of devotion and loving-kindness that go beyond the requirements of duty,” elaborates Bible scholar Darrell L. Bock.

Throughout the Hebrew Bible, we see hesed translated in a number of different ways; steadfast love, mercy, kindness, and goodness. While these synonyms develop our understanding, they only just skim the surface of this multifaceted, rich word. It isn’t a romantic kind of love: indeed it is love in action, love given to the undeserving, love that is loyal to the point that it will never leave you. 

David learned about God’s deep well of hesed for him over the many trials and tribulations of his life. This “man after God’s own heart” pretty much broke all the 10 commandments during his lifetime, including adultery and murder, and yet could say in this moment that God’s hesed/lovingkindness is better than life itself, providing a feast of marrow and fat in the barren wilderness. 

Hesed was a mark of the early church. In the early times, there was a growing recognition of the uniqueness of the church in the general population because of the way Christians treated one another. Tertullian, who is called the Father of Western Theology, said, 

“It is our care for the helpless, our practice of lovingkindness, that brands us in the eyes of many of our opponents. ‘Look!’ they say. ‘How they love one another! Look how they are prepared to die for one another’ ”

It was the same reaction of the unbelieving Greek writer Lucian (a.d. 120–200) upon observing the warm fellowship of Christians: 

“It is incredible to see the fervor with which the people of that religion help each other in their wants. They spare nothing. Their first legislator [Jesus] has put it into their heads that they are brethren.”

I have a question for you this morning. Do you think that the church is still known for its extreme lovingkindness today? Do you think the secular world looks at us and can see how we help each other, sparing nothing, acting like brethren ready to die for one another? Or does the world see our in-fighting, our angry, accusing social media posts, and our schisms instead? Would they know we are Christians by our love today?

Church, this is a challenge to pick up the mantle of lovingkindness that David was writing about. We have received the greatest gift of God’s lovingkindness in the form of Jesus, who poured out hesed on the cross so that we might receive his love and his forgiveness of sins.

That is who we need to be to the world.

Ready to Hatch by Becca Ziegler

By Our Love

Posted on by Betsy

Growing up in the United Methodist Church, I spent a lot of time in VBS and Youth Group settings where singing was the norm. I like to sing, so this brought me great joy, even when the songs weren’t all that good. One in particular comes to mind: Not that the lyrics were bad, but the tune was a bit dreary and dirge-like. “And They’ll Know We Are Christians by Our Love” was written by a Catholic priest in the 1960’s and became very popular, despite its f-minor tune. Do you know this song?

We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the Lord
And we pray that our unity will one day be restored
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah they’ll know we are Christians by our love

We will work with each other, we will work side by side
We will work with each other, we will work side by side
And we’ll guard each man’s dignity and save each man’s pride
And they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our love
Yeah, they’ll know we are Christians by our love.

Paul makes the same point to the church in Thessalonica. He encourages them to stand their ground in their faith and be strengthened in their love for each other:

1 Thessalonians 3 (Common English Bible)

1So when we couldn’t stand it any longer, we thought it was a good idea to stay on in Athens by ourselves, 2 and we sent you Timothy, who is our brother and God’s coworker in the good news about Christ. We sent him to strengthen and encourage you in your faithfulness. 3 We didn’t want any of you to be shaken by these problems. You know very well that we were meant to go through this. 4 In fact, when we were with you, we kept on predicting that we were going to face problems exactly like what happened, as you know. 5 That’s why I sent Timothy to find out about your faithfulness when I couldn’t stand it anymore. I was worried that the tempter might have tempted you so that our work would have been a waste of time. 6 Now Timothy has returned to us from you and has given us good news about your faithfulness and love! He says that you always have good memories about us and that you want to see us as much as we want to see you. 7 Because of this, brothers and sisters, we were encouraged in all our distress and trouble through your faithfulness. 

8 For now we are alive if you are standing your ground in the Lord. 9 How can we thank God enough for you, given all the joy we have because of you before our God? 10 Night and day, we pray more than ever to see all of you in person and to complete whatever you still need for your faith. 11 Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus guide us on our way back to you. 12 May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you. 13 May the love cause your hearts to be strengthened, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his people. Amen.

 Look again at those last two verses: “May the Lord cause you to increase and enrich your love for each other and for everyone in the same way as we also love you. 13 May the love cause your hearts to be strengthened, to be blameless in holiness before our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his people” (1 Thessalonians 3:12,13). We are immediately reminded of the fact that love is an essential mark of the Christian faith. Jesus says it succinctly: “This is how everyone will know that you are my disciples, when you love each other” (John 13:35). Without love, we have no witness. Without holiness, we have no hope. We understand holiness to be a condition of being set apart from the world and for God and God alone. Truly this church was already experiencing alienation from their community and their neighbors, who persisted in their false idol worship. But holiness requires that we don’t look, act, behave, or think like the rest of the world.

John Wesley had a lot to say about our need for holiness. He understood holiness to be part of the way of salvation that begins with God’s wooing us through prevenient grace and ending in a state of “Christian perfection,” a phrase that describes the life-long process of justification, sanctification, and holiness. Wesley defined holiness this way: “It is purity of intention, dedicating all the life to God. It is the giving God all our heart; it is one desire and design ruling all our tempers. It is the devoting, not a part, but all, our soul, body, and substance to God.”

 Paul’s encouragement to continue their work in becoming blameless in their holiness is directly connected with his encouragement about the Second Coming. It is a good reminder to us, as we strive for that same alienation from secular behaviors and temptations, to keep our eyes looking forward and heavenward to the coming of Christ.

We live in a time when un-Christian things are being done in the name of “Christianity.” Purity of heart and intention are more important than ever if we are to woo the world for the sake of Christ. Look at your own behavior: Do people know you are Christian by your love? Are we really one in the spirit? Does our unity need to be restored?

May we be encouraged by Paul’s words today to act in ways that show the love of Christ in everything we think, say, do, and post.

By His Love by Kathy Schumacher