Where is Love?

Today I read a story about the Virginia woman whose actions led to Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev finally being buried. Her actions have been maligned by officials in her town, some cemetery neighbors, and online. The AP report quotes her as saying she has no regrets.
     "Any time you reach across the divide and work with people that are not like you, that's what God calls us to do." (AP, Doswell, Va., Friday May 10, 2013) Tsarnaev was buried quietly at a small Islamic cemetery in rural Caroline County. He was buried May 9. He died April 19. Cemeteries in Massachusetts and other states refused to accept the remains. This lady was in Starbucks when she heard the news. "My first thought was Jesus said love your enemies...I thought someone ought to do something about this - and I am someone." She worked with Islamic Funeral Services of Virginia, who arranged for the burial plot. "Nobody is without sin," she said, "Certainly this was a horrific act, but he's dead and what happened is between him and God. We just need to bury his body and move forward. People were making an issue and detracting from the healing that needed to take place.
     Wow. This really moved and motivated me. When someone wrongs us, is our first thought Matthew 5:43-44? "You have heard the law that says, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!" It was for this lady. Christians are under attack and persecuted all the time, and we have been for centuries! Jesus was pretty clear about how to handle that. He taught us things like: "If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also." (Matthew 5:39b) Or "I tell you the truth, when you refused to help the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were refusing to help me." (Matthew 25:45) And then there's the great commandment: "You must love the Lord your God with all you heart, all your soul, and all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: Love your neighbor as yourself. The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments." (Matthew 22:37-40) Finally, John 15:17 tells us some of Jesus' last words to his disciples: "This is my command: Love each other."
     Jesus often aligned himself with those who were left out. He ate with sinners. He hung out with lepers and tax collectors and people with less-than-stellar reputations. I think if we ask ourselves in every situation, "What WOULD Jesus do?" we might live a little differently. We are all sinners, trying to get better. Some people say the church is full of hypocrites. So was the "church" of Jesus' time. Paul wrote letters to many of the churches, trying to settle them down and learn how to "love each other" even though they came from different backgrounds, cultures and religions. Isn't that what we are faced with now? The church is struggling to learn how to get along with our Islamic neighbors. We are sinfully ignorant of their beliefs and culture. Things like refusing to bury an Islamic extremist make Christians look prejudiced, judgmental and hypocritical. Jesus called out the hypocrites of his day and challenged them on issues of race, gender, immigration - all still hot topics today.
     What would Jesus do? He would offer them love. The command didn't say "Love each other inside the church." Or "Love each other just within the Christian community." No, he said "Love each other." Period. Even when we are in shock and horrified by what we see around  us, we are still called to offer love. We are still called to be the hands and feet of Christ. We are still called to minister to the least of these. And sometimes that means burying a terrorist. Jesus calls us to do the right thing for the right reasons - even in the face of sure persecution. Jesus calls us to be willing to die just because we are his followers.
     I'm proud to relate that the woman who stepped up and buried Tsarnaev was a United Methodist! I'd like to say that I'm a woman of faith who just might have done the same thing. I hope and pray I would have had the courage to do so. "I thought someone ought to do something about this - and I am someone." Those words are deep in my heart. There is hunger right here in Waxhaw. Someone ought to do something - and I am someone. There is homelessness right here in Waxhaw.  Someone ought to do something - and I am someone. As we live our lives, there are people all around us who need to know they are loved by someone. And we are someone....