Love Won
Rosa & Virgina
It was December, 1955, when Rosa Parks found herself sitting in a jail cell in Montgomery, AL. Her crime? She was arrested because she was unwilling to give up her seat on a bus to a white person.
I grew up in Montgomery, AL. In some ways, the city has come a long way. In other ways, the deep roots of racism still exist as they do in many places across this country and across the world. But in 1955 there were people who were working to make a difference in the world.
I really can’t imagine how hard it must have been for those heroes, some of which we know by name and many of which we will never know by name, who worked tirelessly, suffered incredibly, for the sake of racial equality. For the purpose of creating a world where every person created in the image of God is seen as a person created in the image of God.
Most of you, if not all of you, probably know the name Rosa Parks. You probably know her story. But you may not know the name Virgina Durr.
Virgina Durr was brought up in the traditions of the Old South. She came from money and lived among the upper class. When you think about a well to do, has it all together, Southern Belle, living the dream in the high society of south Alabama… that’s Virginia Durr. Her husband Clifford was a successful lawyer.
When Rosa Parks found herself in a Montgomery jail cell because she was unwilling to give up her seat on the bus, Clifford and Virgina Durr were the ones who were there to bail her out. Because of this they became outcasts. Clifford lost most of his law practice. All their friends abandoned them.
Not only were they shunned on the streets because of their support for Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus boycott, but in those dark and dangerous times in Montgomery their lives were at stake. Their children’s lives were at stake. They were willing to risk everything to do the right thing.
And on that day, LOVE WON.
Nadine, Ethel, and Dylann
60 years later, on June 17, 2015, 9 people were killed in Charleston, SC during a Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. You may remember the name Dylann Roof. He was 21 years old. He was welcomed into the church and attended the Bible Study before he started shooting.
You may not remember the name Nadine Collier. She’s the daughter of Ethel Lance who was killed that day. Nadine was present in the court room the day Dylann Roof appeared for the bond hearing.
Chief Magistrate James B. Gosnell Jr. presided over the hearing. Dylann was not there in person, but appeared via a video feed in the courtroom. There was a camera on his face but he stood with his eyes cast down and only spoke to confirm his age, his address, and to state that he was unemployed.
Gosnell began the hearing by saying that there was pain on both sides, both for the victims and their family members, as well as for the relatives of Dylann Roof who were stunned by what had happened. Gosnell read the names of each of those killed that day inside the church, and after reading each name he asked if any relatives wanted to make a statement.
After he read the name Ethel Lance, Nadine Collier spoke. She said, “I forgive you. You took something very precious from me. I will never talk to her again. I will never, ever hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul.”
On that day, LOVE WON.
Love Changes Everything
I share these stories today because we live in a world where it seems like, more often than not, hate wins. Violence wins. Darkness wins.
These are just two examples from thousands that we could have used today to highlight the pain and suffering in our world, the injustice and hate that is present. You can see it not just in our country, but in every country in every time, in every generation in every place.
But sometimes, not always, but sometimes something amazing happens. Sometimes hate doesn’t get the final word. Sometimes death isn’t the end of the story. Sometimes people like Virginia Durr rise up and risk everything, people like Nadine Collier speak up and say, “I forgive you.”
And when that happens everything changes. Because when that happens, Love Wins.
When love wins, when someone is willing to risk everything to do the right thing, when someone is willing to forgive someone who has hurt them, people take notice. Because that’s not normal. That’s different.
And that kind of love while it is sometimes present in this world, it is not of this world. It comes from God.
The Day Love Won
There’s another story about this same kind of love that happened about 2000 years ago. This story, for many of us, hits a little closer to home because in this story… we realize that we’re the ones who needed someone to risk everything for us, we’re the ones on trial for what we did wrong.
This is the story about how ONE DAY changed everything for everyone everywhere in every time. At the time, many thought it was just another day. A day like any other day. But it was not.
Luke 23.13-21, 26, 33-34, 44-47
13 …Pilate called together the leading priests and other religious leaders, along with the people, 14 and he announced his verdict. “You brought this man to me, accusing him of leading a revolt. I have examined him thoroughly on this point in your presence and find him innocent. 15 Herod came to the same conclusion and sent him back to us. Nothing this man has done calls for the death penalty. 16 So I will have him flogged, and then I will release him.”
18 Then a mighty roar rose from the crowd, and with one voice they shouted, “Kill him, and release Barabbas to us!” 19 (Barabbas was in prison for taking part in an insurrection in Jerusalem against the government, and for murder.) 20 Pilate argued with them, because he wanted to release Jesus. 21 But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!”
26 As they led Jesus away, a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, happened to be coming in from the countryside. The soldiers seized him and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus.
33 When they came to a place called The Skull, they nailed him to the cross. And the criminals were also crucified—one on his right and one on his left.
34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.
44 By this time it was about noon, and darkness fell across the whole land until three o’clock. 45 The light from the sun was gone. And suddenly, the curtain in the sanctuary of the Temple was torn down the middle. 46 Then Jesus shouted, “Father, I entrust my spirit into your hands!” And with those words he breathed his last.
47 When the Roman officer overseeing the execution saw what had happened, he worshiped God and said, “Surely this man was innocent.”
The Cross was Undefeated
That day, you would have thought the cross won. The cross always won. It was undefeated. People don’t come back from crucifixion. That’s the end of the story.
That day, you would have thought the darkness won. You would have thought the Empire won. That hate won. Vengeance won. Violence won.
You would have assumed that those who had the most power that day had won. You might have thought that shame had won. Humiliation had won. You would think the grave won. It always won!
But this story isn’t like every other story about a cross. Every other story about a cross ended with death, darkness, and defeat. But not this story.
A man by the name of Joseph from Arimethea went to Pilate and, at great risk to himself, asked for the body of Jesus. After Pilate confirmed that Jesus was dead, Joseph had permission to take his body down from the cross. He wrapped him in a linen cloth and then laid him in a new tomb.
The tomb was then sealed by a large stone. That was Friday. At sundown, Sabbath began. There wasn’t time to properly prepare the body for burial with the normal spices and ointments they would use. That would have to wait until Sunday at dawn.
The Grave was Defeated
Some women were on the way to the tomb at first light that day. They were unsure how they would remove the large stone at the entrance of the tomb but they had to get there to tend to Jesus.
But when they arrived they were surprised. They were still some distance away when they saw the tomb and they saw the stone… it wasn’t in front of the tomb anymore. Someone, somehow, had moved it. The tomb was open.
Something isn’t right. They hurried to the entrance to the tomb, hoping against hope that the body of Jesus would still be there. Hoping that no one had taken it, stolen it!
They entered the tomb and in that moment, their worst fear was realized. The body of Jesus was gone. But in the next moment, two men appeared in dazzling light and they spoke to them. They said,
“Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!” – Luke 24.5-6
This was the plot twist NO ONE saw coming. Because on this day hate didn’t win. The cross didn’t win. The grave was defeated.
On this day God did something that had never before. He resurrected Jesus from death to eternal life never to die again.
On this day, LOVE WON.
We Need More Love Than We Deserve
In his book, The God Who Won’t Let Go, Peter Van Breemen quotes German philosopher Jorg Splett who once wrote,
“Every person needs more love than he or she deserves.”
Jorg Splett
It’s an important idea because it’s rooted in what Christ did for us. It’s rooted in what happened 2000 years ago on the Day that Love Won.
The apostle Paul said it this way…
Romans 5.8
But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.
Did you hear that? Sometimes we gloss over it. Sometimes we forget about it. “… while we were STILL SINNERS Christ died for us.”
Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. Maybe you thought you had to have it all together before you could come to Christ. Maybe you thought you had to be perfect, or at least less sinful than you think you are right now.
But Paul says that while we were still sinners, helpless, unable to save ourselves… Jesus risked everything for us. Gave up everything for us. And even though when we stand before a Holy God, we stand before him full of guilt, Jesus says, “Father, forgive them.”
And what’s so amazing about this love is that it’s extended to Virginia Durr, to Rosa Parks, and to the people who arrested Rosa and put her in jail. This love is amazing because it’s extended to Nadine Collier and Ethel Lance and it’s extended to Dylann Roof.
And you may not believe that, but Paul says it so clear, Christ died for sinners, Christ died for the ungodly, Christ died for his enemies. Jesus, from the cross, cries out and says, “Father forgive them.” Forgive who? The people that just a few hours ago were crying out, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” The soldiers who drove the nails in his hands and his feet. The disciples who fled in fear.
Forgive them.
And this is what is so amazing about Jesus. This is what is so different about His love. If you’re a follower of Jesus, you’ll spend all your life trying to wrap your heart and mind around this love. If you’re not a follower of Jesus, this is why you need to become a follower of Jesus. Because there is no love like this love.
Hurt People Hurt People
We live in a world that says, “Hurt people hurt people.”
That’s how this world works. You hurt me, I hurt you back. You hit me, I hit you back. It’s an eye for an eye world. If you wrong me it’s my right to wrong you back. And what’s worse, we call this justice.
But this isn’t justice. Justice is about making things right. Not about retaliation and payback.
But the way of Jesus is different. Instead of living in a world where hurt people hurt people, we live in different world, we’re citizens of a different kingdom where forgiven people forgive. Where loved people love.
Like Jesus, we love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us or do us wrong. Like Jesus, we don’t retaliate when we are hurt, we respond in love. And yes, sometimes that means that we might get killed, we might get hurt, we might have to make sacrifices along the way.
I think Virginia Durr knew this. That’s why she and her husband were willing to risk everything, sacrifice so much, and be labeled outcast by their community because they knew this truth, loved people love people. I think this is why Nadine Collier was able to forgive her mother’s killer. Because forgiven people forgive people.
As a follower of Jesus here’s what you learn….
You can hurt me but I don’t have to hurt you back because Jesus was hurt and he didn’t hurt those who hurt him back, he loved them. And as I am becoming more and more like Christ, I choose, like Christ chose, to love those who hurt me. To forgive those who wrong me. To die for those who need someone to die for them even if they are my enemies.
Because…
Loved people love people.
Loved people love people.
I am loved. You are loved. We are loved.
So anytime you’re hurt, don’t hurt in return. Instead, forgive. Love. Let love win. Even if it means self sacrifice.
Even if it means going the extra mile again.
Even if it means turning the other cheek one more time.
Even if it REQUIRES a cross.
Let Love Win the day.
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