Lead with love - April 21

Lead with love – April 21

Today’s Readings: AM Psalm 38; PM Psalm 119:25-48; Dan. 5:1-12; 1 John 5:1-12; Luke 4:38-44

As I was wrapping up to go home yesterday, I opened up my web browser to check the news of the day – to see what was happening outside of the walls of Saint Stephen’s. I saw the headlines that the Minneapolis jury had reached a verdict in Derek Chauvin’s trial after 10 hours of deliberation. The verdict had not been announced, and so I tuned in to a news radio station to listen. One of the reporters in the field recounted a conversation she had, just moments before. She was speaking to a pastor and his wife who served in a church near the site where George Floyd died. When told that the jury had wrapped deliberation and were returning to the court room to deliver their verdict, the minister gasped. He shared that his prayer, regardless of the jury’s decision, was that all people would “lead with love” in their reactions. Those words echoed peacefully and slowly in my ears – lead with love. I wrote them in my notebook that holds reminders, reflections, and grocery lists. Lead with love.

When the judge read the verdict “guilty” for all three charges against the former police officer, I felt a mixture of relief and sadness. I felt for the family of George Floyd. I felt for the family of Derek Chauvin. There were no winners, for one man’s life was extinguished on May 25, 2020, and another’s life is forever changed because of his forceful actions. And, to me, the pastor’s plea to lead with love felt like the truth to be proclaimed widely in all the headlines.

In the first letter of John, we hear today this rousing proclamation to lead with love because of our belief in Jesus as the Messiah:

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For the love of God is this, that we obey his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, for whatever is born of God conquers the world. And this is the victory that conquers the world, our faith. Who is it that conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?” (1 John 5:1-5)

We love the children of God when we obey God’s law. By obeying the divine commandments to love God, ourselves, and one another, our faith will bring us to completion and victory – not in a winning that is of this world, but a success that is for the life of the world. That success – albeit countercultural – is in the life and ministry of Jesus.

I leave you with this parting thought, as this is the day in the Church when we remember Anselm of Canterbury (1033-1109). Of the many bits of wisdom and theology he penned in his life, A Song of Christ’s Goodness is a lovely prayer of healing and a way to lead with love. When it is sung as a canticle, the antiphon repeated through the piece is “Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us: in your love and tenderness remake us.” May Jesus bring us peace and healing, reminding us to live in love and tenderness each day.

-- Katherine+

Questions for Reflection

What does leading with love look like in your life? What is an obstacle? What makes this easier?

Daily Challenge 

Sit with this prayer from St. Anselm, A Song of Christ’s Goodness. Read it below, or listen to a children’s choral recording from Wakefield Cathedral in the United Kingdom. Reflect on how it moves you. Share it with a friend.

A Song of Christ’s Goodness 

 Jesus, as a mother you gather your people to you: 
  you are gentle with us as a mother with her children; 
 Often you weep over our sins and our pride: 
  tenderly you draw us from hatred and judgement. 
 You comfort us in sorrow and bind up our wounds: 
  in sickness you nurse us, 
  and with pure milk you feed us. 
 Jesus, by your dying we are born to new life: 
  by your anguish and labor we come forth in joy. 
 Despair turns to hope through your sweet goodness: 
  through your gentleness we find comfort in fear. 
 Your warmth gives life to the dead: 
  your touch makes sinners righteous. 
 Lord Jesus, in your mercy heal us: 
  in your love and tenderness remake us. 
 In your compassion bring grace and forgiveness: 
  for the beauty of heaven may your love prepare us.