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"What is love?"This was the question the enthusiastic young preacher started his Valentine's Day sermon with. He took a few moments to reminded us that the Ancient Greeks had four words for love: agape, éros, philía, and storgē (Greek Words for Love). Agápe is the word for the "transcendent "love that we associate with God; his love for us, our love for him, and love we have for our brothers and sisters.
The text for this sermon came from I Corinthians 13:4-8a (NIV):
"4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.8 Love never fails."
The preacher described six characteristics of love as outlined in the passage above.These are all evident in God's love for us and can serve as a reminder of how we should love others. Love is:- Creative
- Faithful
- Provisional
- Sacrificial
- Ethical
- Eternal
As "take-a-ways" the preacher offered the following:
- Do not leave things unsaid or undone-say it/do it today.
- Remember that love is the most powerful weapon against evil.
- 'Speak the truth in love'. Neither truth without love nor love without truth are correct or beneficial.
- Forgive others as God has forgiven us.
At the end, the preacher encouraged the congregation to "spread a little love" and he held up the jar of peanut butter that had been on the pulpit ti remind people to bring canned goods for the food drive they were having.
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Those who were gathered on this cold February morning to sing songs, to take the Lord's Supper and listen to a lesson were a racially mixed group of mainly middle aged and older adults. Except for the one couple who had five of their seven grandchildren with them, most of those in attendance seemed to be focused on the preacher and what he had to say. I learned that the church had been there for over a hundred years and at one time, as depicted in the black and white photographs on the wall, it had been a vibrant and large church that served the community. It now claims a small space of land up against the interstate that runs through the city, sandwiched between the expanding city center and the more seedy and depressing areas on the other side of the interstate. Like many churches where the membership has shrunk, leaving only a trickle of human and financial capital to support the needs of the congregation, this lovely late 1800's church building is quite obviously in need of refurbishment and repair. When I asked about this, I was told there was a committee that was beginning to look into applying for grants since it was on the historic registry. None-the-less, this small group who had gathered there on a cold Sunday morning were no doubt the core of the faithful and committed to keeping the church 'alive'. They were friendly and welcoming to me as a visitor.
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Ultimately the world needs to recognize how much God loves. The bible tells us that "God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son..." (John 3:16). The world does need love. As believers and followers of Christ, our response to God's love is to be loving, as the scripture says, "We love because he first loved us" (I John 4:19). A good reminder for Sunday February 14, 2016- Valentine's Day.
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