I keep thinking about a class on the Gospel of John with Dr. Sharon Ringe at Wesley. She talked about the translation of John 15:13, "No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." That the verb there (tithemi in the Greek), means more like "appoint" or "ordain," literally "to set down." That this verse, rather than some glorification of death and suffering, is an invitation to consider what we can "set down" in order to care for our friends.
She asked us to think about this question: what can we set down, appoint, or ordain in order to preserve life rather than destroying it?
And I can't think of a clearer meaning of "setting down our lives for our friends" in this sense than to make the tough choice to cancel in-person gatherings, avoid going out in groups, figure out how to do things like classes and worship remotely, in order to slow the spread of a virus that could be really, really dangerous for beloved members of our community.
We are setting down a lot of things in our lives right now, and that is hard. There is real sacrifice in that. But we are doing it to preserve life. And that is good news indeed.
What greater love can there be than this, to set our lives down in this way for our friends?
