Jude, God's Love, and Community

The book of Jude packs as important message in its few verses. The first verse, as we noticed last week, makes a radical statement about our being servants, but the radical notions of Jude don't end there.

Jude 1
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,
To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ...

The words, "To those who are called, beloved in God the Father..." are words that challenge our individualism. The love of God is first of all not for individuals but for a people called out of darkness and into his marvelous light. The words always assume a community of faith, a people who are called out to become part of a new community. There is no notion, understanding, or even room for a person to believe that he/she is a Christian by him/herself. Jude would not comprehend nor condone the idea that as long as I have my relationship with Jesus all is well. God's people are a called out people, a people who are to form and be part of community. What may surprise us even more is that there is only one place in all of the New Testament where we find love individualized: Paul, in the book of Galatians, talks about himself and says that God loved him and gave himself for him. Other than that one time God's love is spoken in the context of community. The reality of the words of Jude and pretty much everywhere else this topic comes up in the New Testament tells us we need to have a strong focus on the community when we speak of God's love (think of Paul's words in Romans 5.8, "--but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us."). We can only imagine what would change in our lives and in our community of faith if we began to speak in ways and believe in ways that reflected "Christ died for us" rather than our overwhelming focus on "Christ died for me".

Babette's Feast

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Heart of an Artist
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Jude, that strange book

Just before the book of Revelation there is one of the shortest books in the Bible: Jude. For being short it is one of the most interesting books in the Bible and leaves one with a lot of questions. I thought it would be worthwhile to take a closer look at this book and discover how it can shape us. For the next weeks I will be doing a once a week post on Jude.

The Opening:

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ:

² May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

The very first fun fact in the book of Jude is that his real name (in the Greek) is Judas. In reality this should be the book of Judas but long ago church leaders were concerned about attributing a book to Judas (even though this Jude is obviously not the one who betrayed Jesus) so they shorted the book's name to Jude.

The idea that Jude is a servant of Jesus Christ carries two different and opposite ideas. The first idea is powerfully countercultural. The Greeks valued freedom highly. One book describing this desire for freedom says, "Greeks have a strong sense of freedom. Personal dignity consists of freedom. There is thus a violent aversion to bondage. Service may be rendered to the state, but by free choice. Slavery is scorned and rejected. This explains the fierceness with which the Greeks fought for political independence. The only slavery Plato will allow is to the laws." Jude's willingness to be a servant of Jesus puts him at odds with his culture as he willingly lives under the rule of and for the purposes of another. Since we in our day live in light of what the Greeks considered important we live in a culture that also highly values freedom. To put ourselves in submission or servanthood to Christ is not something that comes easily and to some seems just plain foolish and weak. Second and opposite, to be a servant of Christ is a high honor since one is a servant of the King of kings. This understanding of being God's servant finds its roots in the Old Testament in the life of people such as Moses. When Moses is called God's servant it is a mark of honor.

The question facing us is, "How will we view servanthood?" Is it something that robs us because we live under the rule and for another or do we see it as a mark of honor because we serve the King of kings? How we see servanthood will both shape how we live our lives and the joy we have as we serve.

My Best Gift

During the Christmas season one of the best gifts I received was a letter from my son Chris. The letter, which a friend helped him write, talks about his response to my biking accident this past summer. Several people who have seen the letter encouraged me to share it with the congregation. So here it is:

Dad,
I love you and appreciate you. It was hard for me when I heard about your accident from mom. Immediately my hands were shaking and I felt sick. Over the next few days I spent my time with Grandma, Grandpa, and friends worrying about your health. I was so excited when I finally saw you in a wheelchair at Mary Free Bed. It scared me, but I was happy that you were alive. I had a balloon, picture, and a “welcome home” sign ready for you when you came home. I was so happy you were home, but scared that you couldn’t walk and that you had the halo on. I still think you looked like a guy from Star Trek. The first time you preached with Tom I was crying and was really happy to see you up on stage. I’m so glad that you are walking today. I know this was a hard summer, but we made it through together.

Love,
Chris