NO GREATER LOVE: GIFT AND TASK

When the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Trinity, washes the feet of the Apostles at the Last Supper, (Jn 13:1-20) this was not a “random act of kindness”. The Lord’s cleansing of the dirty feet of the Apostles was a Gift to his closest followers which prefigures His Gift of cleansing humanity of sin by shedding His Blood on the Cross. This is a Gift which must be received in faith. We must recognize our need for this Gift and believe that He is the One, the only One, who could bestow it. Yet, right after He washes His Apostles’ feet, He tells them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you.” (Jn 13:12-15). The Task which the Lord gives us is summarized in the “New Commandment”. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (Jn 13:34-35) The Lord suffered an excruciating death on the Cross for us. How can we possibly “love one another; even as I have loved you.”? Has Jesus laid an impossible burden on us? 

The answer is no. In Jesus of Nazareth, Pope Benedict XVI explains why Gift and Task cannot be separated. The Fathers expressed the difference between these two aspects, as well as their mutual relationship, using the categories of sacramentum and exemplum: by sacramentum they mean, not any particular sacrament, but rather the entire mystery of Christ---his life and death---in which he draws close to us, enters us through his Spirit, and transforms us. But precisely because this sacramentum truly "cleanses" us, renewing us from within, it also unleashes a dynamic of new life. The command to do as Jesus did is no mere moral appendix to the mystery, let alone an antithesis to it. It follows from the inner dynamic of gift with which the Lord renews us and draws us into what is his. 

This essential dynamic of gift, through which he now acts in us and our action becomes one with his, is seen with particular clarity in Jesus' saying: "He who believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I go to the Father" (Jn 14:12). This expresses exactly what is meant by "I have given you an example" from the account of the foot-washing: Jesus' action becomes ours, because he is acting in us. 

The Task the Lord has given us, to love one another as He has loved us, can be done and has been done for the last two thousand years because of His Gift to us. The Task He has given us, the “New Commandment” is not just a “higher” morality than is proclaimed in the Old Testament in the Mosaic Law. Many of the laws of the Mosaic Law such as those concerning release of slaves or of returning property which had been purchased to the original owners were not followed in ancient Israel. The Mosaic Law was not that easy. Also, much of what the Lord taught can also be found in the Old Testament. In St. Matthew’s Gospel we read: “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.” (Mt 5:43-45) However, we also read in the Old Testament Book of Proverbs: If your enemy is hungry, give him something to eat; if thirsty, something to drink. By this you heap red-hot coals on his head, and Yahweh will reward you. (Pr 25:21-22) The newness of the “New Commandment” is not a “higher morality” but rather the means that we have to fulfill this “higher morality”. This means is the Lord’s Gift to us, what Pope Benedict teaches us is the sacramentum, Christ’s fulfilled mission for us from the Father. 

This union of Gift and Task, sacramentum and exemplum is hard to maintain, and many have denied it. The gift of the Lord’s Life and Death on the Cross must be accepted in faith. Task is detached from Gift by the doctrine of “faith alone.” This doctrine, which originated with Martin Luther, teaches that the Lord’s Death on the Cross, the Gift, accepted by us in faith, is all we need for salvation. Our righteous deeds are “filthy rags”. It is not possible for us to love each other as He has loved us. However, our righteous deeds are not ours, but His. “He is acting in us” as Pope Benedict stated above. Of course, Luther did not believe this. Christ’s righteousness is imputed to guilty sinners and thus we can be saved. Does Christ’s living in us actually make us righteous or are we simply declared righteous because of faith in His Gift? Are our righteous deeds Christ’s deeds or are they just “filthy rags”? Do Gift and Task really belong together? Do our sins really matter since Christ’s righteousness has been imputed to sinners? 

Those who teach this use St. Paul’s letters to support the separation of Gift and Task. “For we hold that a man is justified by faith apart from works of the law.” (Rom 3:28) Has St. Paul separated Gift from Task? No. This letter was written during the early decades after Christ’s Death and Resurrection, when it was not clear whether Christianity was a Jewish sect or new religion. Jews were trying to make the new and very fast-growing Christianity a part of Judaism by requiring that Gentile converts to Christianity must in essence become Jews by being circumcised, observing Jewish festivals, and following the other dietary and ritual requirements of Judaism thought to be required for salvation. St. Paul vigorously denied that Gentiles had to become Jews. In the following verses St. Paul states: “Or is God the God of Jews only? Yes, of Gentiles also, since God is one; and he will justify the circumcised on the ground of their faith and the uncircumcised through their faith. Do we then overthrow the law by this faith? By no means! On the contrary, we uphold the law.” (Rom 3:29-31) Does this means that God imputes righteousness to us through faith, but our deeds of righteousness are just “filthy rags”. No. St. Paul teaches us: “I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me; and the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose.” (Gal 2:20-21) The grace of God is Christ actually living in us and not just Christ’s righteousness imputed to us. Pope Benedict is saying the same thing when he said that “Jesus' action becomes ours, because he is acting in us.” 

Did St. Paul believe that we cannot obey Christ’s new commandment to love each other as Christ has loved us, and our righteous deeds are just “filthy rags”? No. Once we have repented of our former sins and now Christ lives in us because of our faith, we cannot return to our sins. “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?” (Rom 6:1-2) Later in that same chapter, Paul says “What then? Are we to sin because we are not under law but under grace? By no means! Do you not know that if you yield yourselves to any one as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one whom you obey, either to sin, which leads to death, or of obedience, which leads to righteousness?” (Rom 6:15-16) St. Paul concludes chapter six of Romans with: “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Rom 6:23) St. Paul is telling us that we cannot continue to live in willful mortal sin and still have Christ living in us. The Lord calls us to repentance, and when we repent, He returns to us. 

There is another way to separate Gift from Task, called “deeds not creeds”. In this way of thinking, what one does is more important than what one believes. There are so many different religions, creeds, or doctrines which are sometimes contradictory. These differences are believed to be a source of war and conflict. We should ignore these differences and work together with all people to build a better world of peace and justice. Of course, the issue immediately rises: what do you mean by “better”? What is peace, justice, or good? The answers to these questions ultimately depend on one’s religious and philosophical ideas which often turn out to be godless. Here again, personal sin is not an issue. The structural evils and sins are of more concern than the evil which lurks in the hearts of men. 

This is why Gift and Task must be kept together. We can ignore the Task of actually being righteous, using the excuse that we are all sinners and true righteousness is impossible. We can ignore the Gift of the Lord’s saving Death and Resurrection and build our own righteousness on the values of the world such as autonomy and self-determination. Both paths spurn the Gift the Lord has given us, the very Gift of Himself. –Jim Nugent, CfP