Mission Impossible 2
In the spring of 1947, the first of the two incidents occurred that changed the course of major league baseball. Jackie Robinson was called up to the Dodgers from Montreal, Brooklyn's top minor league team. Jackie Robinson was a talented young ball player, but he was an African-American man who stepped onto a playing field that, up to that point, had only been occupied by White players. When the news was released that he was on his way, a petition was drawn up by a group of mostly Southern Dodgers players that stated they would not take the field with a black man. Pee Wee Reese, the soft-spoken but respected team captain, with a Southern upbringing, perhaps surprised the petition-carriers by declaring that he would not sign the document. Reese's refusal to sign the petition, many believe, meant the end of the matter.
But it took a second incident to communicate the change to the fans. Jackie Robinson played baseball with the Dodgers that year and endured vicious abuse from opposing teams and from baseball fans, from beanballs and spikings to racial epithets and spitting. Robinson had promised Branch Rickey, the owner and general manager of the Dodgers, that for at least his first two years in the major leagues, he would hold his tongue and his fists, no matter the provocation. And one day – it was probably in Cincinnati – the attack was so nasty that Pee Wee Reese walked over to Robinson and put his hand on the black man's shoulder. “I will never forget it,” Robinson said later. "He didn't say a word but he looked over at the chaps who were yelling at me through him and just stared. The hecklers ceased their attack.
"Something in my gut reacted to the moment," Reese said. "Something about the unfairness of it? The injustice of it? I don't know." Whatever it was, that moment also changed a Southern boy. Over the years, Reese became perhaps Robinson's best friend on the Dodgers, though there were others who were reasonably close to him as well. But Reese's attitude, and that defining gesture of solidarity on the field that they were, in the end, teammates and brothers under the skin, changed major league baseball forever.
Several years ago, here in this sanctuary, I preached a sermon that I titled “Mission Impossible.” The sermon was about Doubting Thomas and the struggle for him and others to believe that Jesus Christ was alive. I named “Mission Impossible,“ because I really believe that it is difficult for Christians even today to believe that Jesus Christ is alive… that it is more than just a story. I believe that it takes a great deal of faith to truly believe that our Savior lives.
Well, if believing that our Lord lives was the first “Mission Impossible,” then this is the sequel, “Mission Impossible 2.” Jesus says, "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” There are no “ifs” “ands” or “buts”… no conditional clauses at all… just the command to love one another. Not to ‘like’ one another… not to ‘tolerate’ one another… not to ‘be nice to’ one another… but to love one another. And not just any kind of love, but to love one another as Jesus has loved us… totally… unconditionally… with no reservations … and with a willingness to die for the other. How is this possible? The answer is that it isn’t. It’s not possible for us to love one another as Jesus loved us… unless Jesus himself is part of the equation. For us alone, it is impossible… an impossible mission… but the mission of every Christian, none the less.
For many of us who grew up in the 1960’s and 1970’s, the television show Star Trek played a prominent role in our thinking, particularly of other races and cultures. Each episode of the program opened with the words: “Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before.” In these far distant places, confronted by creatures and situations that pushed the limits of our imaginations, Captain Kirk and his crew were guided by Star Fleet’s ‘Prime Directive’, which was that they not interfere with the development of any people or culture that they discovered during their travels. That policy of ‘non-interference’ shaped the outcome of countless episodes… episodes in which that policy was defended… and episodes in which that same policy was called into question.
I like to think that we, as Christians, also operate under a ‘Prime Directive.’ Our Prime Directive is this commandment of Jesus… that we love one another even as he has loved us. And our Prime Directive is as difficult to follow as Star Trek’s ‘Prime Directive’ was for the personnel of the Starship Enterprise. Love one another? We have difficulty loving those we come in contact every day… much less those parents whose advocacy of their children’s actions in athletic events sometimes leads to unsportsmanlike conduct… or those teachers and administrators who show favoritism to individuals… or those Christians who – in our opinion – don’t act like Christians… because we interpret their actions as self-serving or self-promoting. Then, there are those we may not know personally, but we hear about through the news media… those who have broken the law… those who have committed heinous crimes… those whose callous disregard of others has led entire nations into poverty… famine… anarchy… genocide… war… or worse. How can we love these as Christ has loved us?
The answer, as strange as it may seem, begins a lot closer to home. The first person that we need to love as Jesus loved is ourselves. Author and speaker Brennan Manning often used this saying during his speeches. He would say, "I am the one Jesus loves." It sounds a little arrogant doesn't it? Yet it also sounds familiar, doesn’t it? We are often led to believe that the disciple named John was Jesus' closest friend while he lived on earth. Why? Because in his gospel, he consistently identifies himself as "the disciple Jesus loved." I have often thought that John was an arrogant man for thinking that he was the “beloved disciple… the one Jesus loved.” I thought John was arrogant because I interpreted John’s words to mean that Jesus did not love the other disciples. But what if that is not the case? And we know it is not, for Jesus did love the other disciples. What if, by saying this over and over again, John was simply acknowledging Christ’s greatest gift to him… the gift of unconditional love? Jesus offered to all his disciples a love that knew no bounds… a love that drew them in… a love that was so great that he, eventually, laid down his life so that they might have life. But, isn’t this the same love that Christ offers to you… and to me? Could we not each say… in our own way… “I am the one that Jesus loves”? Does he not love each of us? Does he not offer his incredible love to everyone? Did he not die for us… so that we might live forever in him?
Brennan Manning said, "If John were to be asked, 'What is your primary identity in life?' he would not reply, 'I am a disciple… an apostle… an evangelist… an author of one of the four Gospels,' but rather, 'I am the one Jesus loves.'" What would it mean… I ask myself… if I too came to the place where I saw my primary identity in life as "the one Jesus loves"? How differently would I see myself? How differently would I think… or act… or respond… to situations and people that I encounter in my daily life? How would I evaluate my time on this earth… or the activities of each day at the end of each day… if I saw myself as “the one Jesus loves”? Would this incredible love that has been given to me call forth a response of love towards others from me… a love even for those who are “unlovable”?
In 1902, Charles Horton Cooley published the theory of ‘the Looking-Glass Self, which is now a standard part of the world’s understanding of socialization and its impact on individuals. The theory of the Looking-Glass Self states that each person is shaped by the opinions and judgments of the people in their lives who are important to them. In essence, we become what the most important person in our lives (father… mother… friend… husband… wife) thinks we are. Their opinion of us… and of our potential in life… shapes our opinion of ourselves and our belief in our potential. How would our lives change if we truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love… the love of Christ… if we looked in the mirror and saw what God sees in us? You see, God does not see the one who, in our eyes, is struggling through life… or overweight… or incompetent… or arrogant… or self-centered… or stupid… or unable to cope. God sees the one that was created in God’s own image… in love… in hope… in expectation… in longing… in joy. Through the eyes of love, God sees perfection in the making… you and me being shaped and molded by the days of our lives… and the life of our days… into something… someone… that we ourselves cannot see. God sees what only God can see… and challenges us to see that too… in ourselves… and in those around us. And we can go on to say that God loves those who only God could love… and then challenges us to love them too… in the same way that God loves us.
The practical application of Cooley’s theory of the Looking-Glass Self is simply this: If you want someone to believe something about themselves, then speak and act toward them as if it were true. At some point, the reality will become what you have created: ‘They will believe they are what your words and your actions indicate you believe they are… and they will become that.’ Then, what you have believed will be reality. In that same way, Jesus has believed in us… and acts toward us… that we might become all that he has seen in us.
1 John 4:19 says that we love because he first loved us. Do you remember the simple little song that we learned in Sunday School? “Jesus loves me. This I know, for the Bible tells me so.” Like the disciple, John, I am “the one Jesus loves”. I know that Jesus loves me because of all the things that he has said… and the things that he has done… that demonstrate his love for me. So, I am “the one Jesus loves”. Now, Jesus has commanded me to love others as he first loved me. My first step down this path is to say… and to do… those things that demonstrate my love for others. Do I love these others before I say or do those things… or do I come to love them because I say and do those things? Who knows? I think that is a chicken and egg debate. I only know that we love because he first loved us. The letter to the Ephesians says that we are to be imitators of God… as beloved children… and live in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us.
In 1947, Pee Wee Reese was the first Dodger at Robinson's first spring training camp to walk across the field and shake his hand. "It was the first time I'd ever shaken the hand of a black man," Reese said. "But I was the captain of the team. It was my job, I believed, to greet the new players." It was the first step in a friendship that lasted for twenty-five years. At Robinson's funeral, in New York City on October 27, 1972, Harold (Pee Wee) Reese, a son of the South, was one of the pall bearers. "I took it as an honor," Reese said.
I know that I am “the one Jesus loves.” I know that you are “the one Jesus loves,” too. And I know that every person I meet is “one that Jesus loves”. Try this little experiment: When you look at yourself in the mirror each morning for the next month, say these words out loud: “I am the one Jesus loves.” See whether your image of yourself changes with that knowledge. See whether your thoughts about… conversations with… and actions towards others are changed as well. We love because he first loved us. We are commanded to love others as he loved us. It is our Prime Directive. Let us all become the “Looking-Glass Self” that Jesus sees… that God has always seen… in us. Let us share that love with others. Amen.
John 15:9-17