Do you love me?

I’m re-reading Henri Nouwen’s In the Name of Jesus. There is some really good, powerful and timely stuff in there.

“Knowing God’s heart means consistently, radically, and very concretely to announce and reveal that God is love and only love, and that every time fear, isolation, or despair begins to invade the human soul, this is not something that comes from God”

Knowing God’s heart means knowing Jesus – “God’s heart as it has become flesh.” To know Jesus is to answer Jesus’ question – “Do you love me?” – in the affirmative.

When we love Jesus, “we cannot do other than bring healing, reconciliation, new life, and hope wherever we go.”

How many of us leave only healing, reconciliation, and hope in our wake? I’d say none. I try. Oh, how I try. But I have left more than a little hurt, agitation, and despair in my wake.

Does it mean I don’t love Jesus? It means I don’t do it quite right or every moment of every day.

Does it mean that Jesus doesn’t love me? Absolutely not. As Nouwen reminds me, God’s love is “unconditional and unlimited.”

And it is that love that keeps me moving toward true love of Jesus and true salvation. In the mean time, I hope to, as John Wesley says, “continue to evidence [my] desire of salvation.”

How? By allowing the Holy Spirit to work in and through me to lead and guide me in ways that bring nothing other than healing and reconciliation and hope. And to convict me and lead me to repentance when my ways bring hurt and agitation and despair.

What does this say about the current state of our world, our nation, our community? When I see the news out of Illinois, Kentucky, Montgomery...well, just about everywhere... I see that we have a long way to go. 

Jesus asks, "Do you love me?" Maybe our best answer is: "I try. Oh, how I try." Or maybe a better answer is "Jesus, I love you. Please, help me love you."