Experiencing and extending the love of Christ.
Love and roofs
In 1 Corinthians 13, Paul gives us an extensive list of love’s characteristics. He registers “roofing” as essential to God’s love. Really?
Picture love as a house. First, twin great porch lights, “patience and kindness,” welcome us. Even in darkness, their humble and tender beacons light the way to love’s household. Next, we find handrails up the steps and a rail around the porch. These are eight ways God-conscious love does not behave. We need such warning/protection/boundaries.
Then, we find four ways true love “always” conducts itself.
First, “It always ‘protects'” (“stego” in Greek). Resiliently merciful, “stego” roofs over, holds out, endures.
Inferior roofing
Consider South Carolina’s Poet Laureate, Archibald Rutledge’s (1883–1973) ancient home. Since the 1700s, his family called this place home.
In 1937, Rutledge, surveying needed restoration work, wrote: “I put a slate roof on this house. This roof has done more to preserve our home than anything else. We took off seven roofs. It seems every time the house leaked, a new roof of cypress shingles was put on, right on top of those already there” (Archibald Rutledge, “Home by the River” 1941, p.55). Before the slate, leaking water weakened plaster that could fall on unsuspecting inhabitants – at any time!
Our “house”
Love’s home helps us remember what Rutledge’s friends taught him: “Those whom we love have the most power to hurt us. We lay our sleeping lives within their arms.” Rutledge comments: “In a real sense, I laid my sleeping life in these friends’ arms. They cradled it with that sagacious and unselfish tenderness we call true love.” True slate.
In 1977, when Via and I first moved to SC, my salary as an associate pastor was $11,500. The following year, one of the church’s leaders, Lanny, said: “Steve, we underpaid you. I’m suggesting we raise your salary to $16,500.” Wow!
The first of many, Lanny literally put a “roof” over our heads. While other leaders looked at an uncooperative “bottom-line,” Lanny chose to live by faith and love. God honored. “The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love” (Gal 5:6).
Better than slate
Let’s turn to Jesus. We wonder: “Why would he leave a place where no roofs are needed to come to a war-ravaged/tornadoed/hurricaned/weather-impaired world where all roofs are damaged?”
The Bible shows us that the Father, Son, and Spirit conspired in love.
But for them to re-roof many houses, the Son had his “roof” ripped off on the cross.
Astonished, we recognize the limitations of other roofing contractors and ask Jesus to do his work.
When he re-roofs sinners like us with his slate, we become like four men in Capernaum whose paralytic friend had no hope of getting through a packed crowd to be healed by Jesus. Creatively, they got their friend up on the roof, made a hole, then lowered him down on a mat.
Mark 2:5ff “When Jesus saw “their” (!) “faith” (what slate!), “He said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.’ So that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins…” He said to the paralytic, “I tell you, get up, pick up your mat, and go home.” Immediately the man got up, picked up his mat, and walked out in front of them all.”
Friend, Jesus is better than slate!
Counting the cost
But who paid for the Capernaum roof repair? Most likely/most happily, the former paralytic, his family, friends, people in the crowd, and townspeople.
Friend, let’s also “stego” those who deliver the good news of True Slate, Jesus.
Steve Bostrom is the State Capitol Minister for Helena, Montana. You can learn more about his ministry by following this link and you can read more of his written work by visiting his website, stevebostrom.com
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