Greetings in the Name of the Lord, 

Just before my second son Henry was born I was a little nervous about having another kid. I worried about how it was all going to work out, how I would have bandwidth for another child. In the midst of all this I got into a conversation with a pastoral colleague of mine and he mentioned he had just gotten a new puppy, which is not particularly remarkable in itself, but he already had three kids. Speaking out of my own anxiety I asked how he was pulling that off, how he could balance all the insanity that must be ensuing in his home. I will never forget his response: "Love expands". He went on to explain that somehow, we increase our capacity to Love when we need to. 

Isn't it amazing how that happens, how Love finds a way to unfold itself into something larger? I can not help but remembering when my first son was born, and how I did not know I could love so much, and then a second son comes along and I find out I am capable of even more, as my colleague had correctly predicted!  This always strikes me as one of the greatest gifts from God, Love that can bloom and bloom and bloom again, to near infinite levels.

Which is why I was so struck when a national figure, who shall remain nameless, said that Christianity advocates for a hierarchy of Love, that one loves their family most, then their neighbors, then their community, and then, maybe the larger world, as if Love was some sort of limited resource.

This is not the first time arguments like this have been made. In fact in recent years there have been individuals who have tried to rationalize white supremacy and/or the maltreatment of immigrants with Leviticus chapter 19. (see this rather disturbing video, with a KKK leader quoting the bible starting at roughly 9:45 in) They point to a few lines in particular: 

"You shall not render an unjust judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great: with justice you shall judge your neighbor. You shall not go around as a slanderer among your people, and you shall not stand idly by when the blood of your neighbor is at stake: I am the Lord.

You shall not hate in your heart anyone of your kin; you shall reprove your neighbor, or you will incur guilt yourself. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.."  

     -Leviticus 19:15-18 NRSVUE

They say that this indicates a preferential treatment for family and one's own ethnic communities or "blood". What is interesting, is if they were to read on just a few more lines, they would find these words as well: 

“When an alien resides with you in your land, you shall not oppress the alien. The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the native-born among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." 

     -Leviticus 19:33-34 NRSVUE

These lines seem to counteract the idea that blood relation has anything to do with how one should extend love into the world. 

To be fair, if these were the only texts we were working from, I could concede multiple interpretations of these texts, but Jesus goes on in the gospels to clear up any confusion around how these statutes should be interpreted. 

In Luke 10:25-37 Jesus is asked about the most important commandment, with the correct answer referencing Leviticus 19:18: to love God and to love your neighbor as yourself. Of course the interaction does not end there, indicating that this passage must have regularly been a source of debate, Jesus is further pressed to aexplain who his neighbor is. 

In response Jesus shocks those listening with a story about a Samaritan. It is important to note that Samaritans were the arch enemies of the Judeans and were reviled and held in the lowest of regard. When Jesus uses the Samarian as an exemplar of what it means to be a neighbor, instead of the Levite or the Priest, Jesus is challenging his followers (and in turn us) not to limit who our neighbors are, and more importantly not to limit who we Love. 

By lifting up a Samaritan as the worthy neighbor, we are in turn told that we are to not limit our neighborly love to family, or blood, or community, or even just to people we have a favorable opinion of in the world.  Instead we are called to treat even our perceived enemy--even those who seem set out to destroy us--as a neighbor, with Love. 

Jesus never advocates for any sort of hierarchical love nor does he insinuate that Love is some sort of limited resource to be reserved for only a few.  In contrast, it appears Jesus understands Love's ability to expand exponentially, the infinite capacity that lies within us. As we grow our circle of who is a neighbor, we are given an opportunity to expand our capacity for Love, and to, in turn, bring even more love to those who are closest to us with that expanded capcity. 

In an effort to try and at least understand where a heresy like hierarchical Love could emerge from, what I think those folks are picking up on is the fact that when we share love with the world, we are instructed to begin with those closest to us. The problem that seems to create the heresy lies in not understanding that where we start and where we are headed are usually very different places. In the Gospel of Luke, when Jesus is giving last instructions to the disciples, he tells them to begin in Jerusalem and then to expand to the rest of the world. In Leviticus, the call to judge our neighbors justly is a call to practice right relationships, in other words if you can not be just with your neighbors, how can one expect to be just with those beyond our immediate circles. 

We are called to start where we are, we engage where we are. That does not limit us though. As we learn about more people, as we learn of the plight of others, we are called into as much compassion and Love for them as we can muster. Jesus is calling us to ever expand our circle, to open our hearts to more and more and more people, and in the process, as our capacity for Love grows, it impacts those closest to us, our Love for our inner circle grows as well.  What a gift we do receive. 

In Peace, 

Mike