On Valentine’s Day, a group of
children were asked, "What does 'love' mean?" Here are some answers:
·
Rebekah, 8, said, "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her
toenails anymore. So my grandfather does
it for her all the time—even when his hands got arthritis, too. That's love."
·
Bobby, 7, says, "Love is what's in the room at Christmas, if you stop opening presents
and listen."
·
Nikka, 6, says, "If you want to learn to love better, you should start with someone you
hate."
·
Tommy, 6, says, "Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still
friends even after they know each other so well."
·
Cindy, 8, says, "During my piano recital, I was on a stage, and I was scared. I looked
at all the people watching me and I saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the
only one doing that. And I wasn't scared anymore."
·
Jessica, 8, says, "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you
mean it, you should say it a lot."
Life in the ultimate sense or in
the most fundamental sense is about love.
According to our Christian faith, according to the Bible, what matters
most in life is love. Why, because God
is loving, because God created us to love, because God sent Jesus to show the
model of love, and to atone for our sins by his sacrificial death on the cross,
because God commanded us to love, because God wants us to learn the greatest
lesson in the short time we spend on earth, how to love.
Jesus commands us to love God and
to love our neighbors as we love ourselves.
Why? Because we strengthen our
love for God when we love our neighbor and we strengthen our love for neighbor
when we love God. We love because God
first loved us. Love is not an isolated
act; it’s interconnected, intertwined. When
we love others, God’s love flows in and through us in a free and powerful
way. When we love God in worship and
prayer, we are inspired and motivated to love others. We live a holistic life, when we share our
lives with others. Living a life of love
is life-enhancing and enriching, inspiring and rewarding. Living a loving life
achieves the purpose for which God made you and God made me. Scripture says faith, hope and love, these
three remain, but the greatest of these is love.
Of course we know loving others
doesn’t come naturally, it’s something we learn. It takes time to learn to love. Where do we learn it? Where have you learned to love? From people
who have loved us. We learn from Jesus
himself. We learn from the indwelling
Spirit who teaches and guides us in life.
It is not an easy task, because it runs counter to our self-centered
nature. God gives us a lifetime to learn
to love. Jesus never promised that
following Him would be easy. This is especially true when other persons hold
different values or different ideas.
Today is an extremely challenging
time. One example today is our intense
political differences. The challenge
appears to be nearly impossible for democrats and republicans, liberals and
conservatives, to listen to one another, to agree to disagree, to care for, to
compromise, to respect one another, to work together for the nation’s good.
There are constant personal attacks, rather than a robust debate on the merits
of the ideas. We see and hear such contempt,
heated rhetoric, distrust, charges and distain for one another, but rarely much
love. I have never seen America
Jesus sets the highest standard
and one that is daunting for anyone who strives to follow Jesus. Jesus says: “If you only love people who love you what is your reward?” Anyone, even tax collectors are capable of
that. “If you greet and welcome only your brothers and sisters, how hard is
that? Even Gentiles do the same.”
True, loving others is
complicated; if it was easy everyone would be doing it. Loving someone can evolve into enabling their
bad behavior. You find yourself being
manipulated, being used, becoming a co-dependent. Forgiveness is an expression
of love. But so is setting boundaries,
ground rules, ultimatums, and tough love.
Tolerating bad behavior is not love.
Allowing yourself to be bullied is not love. Saying no, not helping someone in the way
they expect, can be the most loving response, it can be just the thing to
change another’s bad behavior. Spoiling
a child or abusing a child is not love.
There are of course no cookie-cutter models for loving a family member,
a friend, a child, a colleague. It’s
case by case. That we are to love is indisputable, but how we are to love is
the question, and is open to debate and discussion. That's why we must rely upon God for courage
and wisdom, a deep and abiding wisdom.
Loving others is never learned by
thinking alone; it is only learned by doing, which as you have probably
experienced is sometimes learned by trial and error. Loving your children as parents, at least in
our experience, involved a lot of trial and error. Loving grandchildren is much simpler. Simple acts of love can have a tremendous
impact.
A student sent a note to one of
his former teachers. He received this
reply: “Dear William: I can't tell you how much your note meant to
me. I am in my eighties, living alone in
a small room, cooking my own meals, lonely and in poor health. I taught school for 50 years and yours is the
first note of appreciation I ever received.
It came on a blue, cold morning and it cheered me up in a way you can
never know. Thank you with all my heart.” Bringing consolation to the lonely, a meal
to a neighbor, comfort to the grieving are ways of ministering to those who are
hurting.
Scripture says that loving others
is the primary witness to the world for Christians. Jesus said:
“Your love for others will prove
to the world that you are my disciples.”
I’ve had nurses in hospitals and staff in nursing homes say: “We are so impressed with the many caring
visits by the people of your congregation.
You have a caring congregation.”
Loving others is a powerful witness to Jesus Christ.
Scripture says that life without
love is really useless. Why? Because we were created to be used by
God. Relationships must be a top priority
in our lives. Scripture says: “No
matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love.” We talk about finding time for our children
or making time for people in our lives.
God says relationships are what life is all about. The 10 commandments include four in our
relationship with God and 6 in in our relationships with people. But all are about relationships. We learn to love God in worship and prayer
and we learn to love others by actions and doing. Busyness is the enemy of relationships. Yes, accomplishments, achievements, reaching
goals are important. But relationships,
loving others, trumps these things.
Scripture says love leaves an
invaluable legacy. How you treated other
people, how you encouraged, how you opened doors of opportunities for others,
how you listened, how you taught and trained others, how you shared your time,
talents and treasure with others, how you supported others is a powerful
legacy. Love is the secret of a lasting
heritage. Like one writer said: “I’ve
observed that when people are in their final moments of life, they don’t ask to
be surrounded with objects, their trophies, and diplomas, and symbols of their
accomplishments and successes, they want to be surrounded by people they love
and who love them. Don’t wait until you
are on your deathbed to discover this important truth – relationships matter
most.”
Scripture says that we will be
evaluated by God in the final judgment on our loving of God and others during
our lifetime. Recall Matthew 25. Jesus says: “Come you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you, for I was hungry, and you gave me food, thirsty and you gave me
something to drink, naked and you clothed me, sick and you to care of me, just
as you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto me.” In our text, John says: “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees
a brother or sister in need and yet refused help? Let us love not in word or
speech, but in truth and action.”
A woman whose husband had died
years earlier and who raised her teenage children alone, tells how difficult it
was when her children had all grown and left home. She writes:
“I felt so lonely and the house
was so empty. I didn’t know what to do,
where to turn. I felt worthless and
confused; my life didn’t seem to have any value, because I was no longer
focused on raising my children. When I
was away from the house I didn’t want to return home and when I was in the
house I could hardly stand the thought of leaving. I felt like I was living in a cocoon. So I began to pray, as I had done throughout
my life. And as the days passed, I began
to feel some stirrings inside of me, a kind of inner restlessness. I began to
see in my mind options for my life, people I could help, that I had never
before considered and for the first time since the children had gone, I began
to look ahead with some anticipation. I
didn’t know what was to happen, but I sensed God’s Spirit leading me and
calling me out of myself, and I knew that I was about to break out of the
cocoon I’d been living in and begin a new and meaningful chapter in my life.”
It’s true that time, time for
relationships, always seems to be in short supply. We are always pressed for time. “I wish
I had more time.” Are we victims of
time? Are we helpless to change
that? Pray to God to help you manage and
prioritize your time. Pastor Rick Warren
writes: “The best expression of love is
time. Relationships take time. Investing
in relationships takes time and effort.
Words alone, about how important relationships are, are empty. The best way to spell love is T-I-M-E and the
best time to love is now.” Amen!
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