Cedrick Baker invites us to look at love in action as extreme measures for the welfare of the other. Reflecting on the extreme measures of the Incarnation and the Cross, we are called to bless the other at cost to ourselves.
Watch/Listen
Love’s Case for Extreme Measures
• Cedrick Baker
Guest Panelists: Greg Boyd, Shawna Boren
Show Extended Summary Hide Extended Summary
On MLK weekend, Cedrick Baker challenges us to look at the radical nature of love. Dr. King was driven by the claim that “darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that … Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” Cedrick draws from King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” where he responded to a public statement of caution from eight white clergymen who said King’s actions were “unwise and untimely.” These clergymen suggested things would work themselves out with time and “extreme measures are not justified.”
Our present conditions as exhibited by those who are dehumanizing, abusing, profiling and destroying others sets us in a time that calls for extreme measures. The reality is that we follow one who took extreme measures, going to the greatest distance possible to demonstrate the love of God for us while we were yet sinners. God loved and this love forced him to act. He “gave” (John 3:16). Jesus was hated by the religious leaders because he upset their social order, enduring discrimination, violence and being killed for a greater purpose. He didn’t take a passive approach.
God is calling us to take on that Kingdom approach to love others and show that love with a sense of hope and perseverance in the middle of terrible times. We are always called to love, but there are pivotal moments when our love is tested and viewed as extreme. Dr. King said that no one is free until we are all free because love is interconnected. He wrote, “I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”
Cedrick challenges us to take an extreme measure, to act in a radical way. Such measures cannot be prescribed. We must all seek the Lord on these matters. At the very least, we all can pray for peace (1 Timothy 2:1-2).
We can have different opinions on policy, but those opinions cease to have weight when it goes against the Kingdom’s call to show love. Any dehumanization of a person is not aligned with God’s Kingdom. It’s time for the church (people of God) to step up like never before. It’s time for extreme measures in showing love and doing for others. The love we show is rooted in our hope in Jesus Christ and that this Kingdom way wins in the end.
Hide Extended SummaryTopics: Love, Non-Violence, Sacrifice
Sermon Series: Wholehearted, Love Does
Downloads & Resources
Audio File
Study guide
Transcript
Group Study Guide
The MuseCast: January 20
Focus Scripture:
-
1 Corinthians 13:7
It [Love] always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
