Extravagant Evil or Extravagant Love?

The following will appear in the 14 July 2005 edition of the Powell Tribune, under the byline of David Hunter:

This past Sunday, I preached on the Parable of the Sower from Matthew 13. One of the things that has always struck me about the parable is how extravagant or wasteful the sower was with his seed. Seed was thrown on a path, on rocky ground and among weeds, but it didn't seem to bother the sower and it didn't deter a rich harvest.

Although Jesus offered an explanation of the parable that focuses on the soils, and that is the usual direction of most studies, I believe Jesus also gave us a deep insight into the extravagance of God's love. Perhaps Jesus was even saying a word to those who criticized his teaching and offering forgiveness, healing and caring to people they considered unworthy.

As we reflect on this theme, I can imagine a disturbing contrast between our call to share God's extravagant love and the extravagance of evil revealed in the most recent terrorist attacks in London. One of the reasons that Terrorism is so horrendous is that it is indiscriminate in its choice of victims. Age, sex, nationality, religion and moral character don't matter. While some of those characteristics may be influenced by the chosen location of an attack, terrorists don’t care if their victims are innocent or guilty; they don’t care who dies and who escapes. Terrorists scatter hate, hurt, and fear, with an indiscriminate extravagance that is not unlike the image of how the sower scattered God's word in our Lord’s parable.

Now I know this comparison may be upsetting, but my point is to suggest that terrorists may practice this principle of extravagance better than we do. Theirs is of course an extravagance of hate and that may be an easier task. But as Christians aren’t we called to practice an extravagance of love?

We are called to spread God’s love to other people whether or not we think they deserve it. We are called to declare God’s love to others whether or not they are like us. God’s love should be offered to all people, whatever their color, religion, nationality, financial situation or moral condition. Some people will accept it and others will not, but it isn't our job to figure out which is which in advance so that God's love (and our efforts) won't be wasted. If terrorists don’t care who gets hurt, why is it that some churches and Christians seem to be very concerned about who gets loved?

Holding the newspaper with its grim tidings of terror in one hand and the Scriptures with their message of God's love in the other, I can only believe that the best way for us personally to respond to all the hate and the evil in the world is still to answer it with the extravagance of God’s love.

Jesus taught, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Matthew 5:43-45 RSV) Now that’s extravagant love.

--David Hunter