First, I want to say that I have not “moved on” from what is still preoccupying my mind – and I imagine the mental space of so many of us: Haiti. As I said on Sunday, we should not, we cannot forget. It would be moral cowardice to do so. In the strange workings of the spirit, we realize that the life and work of our church is now even more intertwined with their life, their pain, their rebirth.
But so much of life consists of holding things in tension; the paradox of suffering in Haiti. The paradox of the infinite God become human, to suffer on a cross.
And so we hold life in such tension. And we move on to other subjects…for now.
This Sunday I begin a new sermon series on the theme of love, called “Love by Any Other Name.” I will be reflecting on the three words in ancient Greek for love: Eros (romantic love); Philia (friendship love); and Agape (self-giving love).
Having an understanding of love helps us to practice it. And learning to love is like learning to play the violin: you need to understand the dynamics and theory of music to play that – or any – instrument.
In this case, your life is the instrument. Love is the music to express that song that has been placed inside of you – and in every human – whose expression represents our highest desire and purpose. And as the writer of 1 John says, when we love, "God abides in us." God takes expression in and through us.
This Sunday we begin by exploring a certain kind of love: Eros. Too often maligned, we will begin to appreciate that Eros is a gift of God to humans—a God who has created us to desire each other. And desire, even erotic desire, is the beginning of all love, whose true object, whether we realize it or not, is God.
So, this Sunday we will explore the question: what does it mean to “fall in love”? And what does this experience have to do with Christian life?
Our text is John 1:35-39. Please read it, and think about the question Jesus asks in verse 38 (“…What are you looking for?”). Note: The Greek word Zeteo can be understood as “seek” or “desire”. How would you answer this question?
And finally – you can help me out by responding to this question here: If you have fallen in love at least once in your life - how would you describe your experience? Did it make you behave in a way you would not otherwise? I know some will email - but post here if you can....
Thanks – and see you Sunday.
Jeff
Posts
5 comments:
When I fell in love with Carolyn 22 years ago, I remember doing strange things.
We were in college, and during the time between her acceptance of our first date and the date itself, I walked all the way around her dorm every time I passed it in the hopes of bumping into her. I believe today that would be called "stalking". :-)
One of the most important things that we did as our love matured was to build our own traditions. Friday night take-out dinners in college, and our just-us time for every New Year's Eve are two.
I don't know if "fall in love" is appropriate for me and Mike... Our relationship sort of "evolved into love". I do remember having a crush on him in 5th grade and my friend Rachel calling me "Mrs. Carrie Hotchkiss". Of course, to him, I was just that silly 11-year-old girl...
I think my favorite memory from our "early" couple-hood (I was 17, he was 19) was our practice of making "complete stops". We made it a habit to sneak a kiss at every stoplight and stop sign. I still get giddy thinking about that. We don't observe our "complete stop" practice anymore... Perhaps we should; perhaps that's a metaphor for most adult relationships. We need to stop, kiss, and truly enjoy another.
That said, I think I can safely say that our love definitely encompasses the three "types" of love, which I think is key to a good, strong relationship. There is nothing he can do that would make me love him any less, and I am confident that he feels the same.
By the way, I actually proposed to him-- we had been in different parts of the country for oh-so-long, and were finally back in the same town. I said, "Mike, we just need to get married so that the next time one of us moves, the other has to go along too." His response? "When can I talk to your dad?"
Like Carrie, Dave and I "evolved into love" (great expression, btw), having been friends in college. I will leave out the sordid details, but he and I did not speak for about 10 years thereafter, until he sought me out. After dating for a while, I remember clearly waking up one morning just so completely at peace and at ease that I actually thought that if he never proposed and things just stayed the way they were, that would be fine.
I don't remember doing anything crazy when I fell in love with him as much as when I fell in love with each of my children - a very different kind of love. I have found myself in crazy mama-bear protective mode an uncountable number of times.
Thanks for the stories and the insights!
Love is not unique to humans, nor to Christians for that matter. All dog owners are aware of this fact (though I have my doubts about cat owners).
Further, love is hardwired as a survival mechanism between mother and child. It does not need to be learned - it is built in. And I am not enamoured with the classical greek "trifecta" categorization of love - human emotion is biological and very complex.
That being said, it is clear that sacrificial self-giving is not simply part of the Christian message - it IS the Christian message. Jesus did not do much to demonstrate any particular love of family (he was dismissive of his mother and brothers) or any apparent interest in romantic love. But his love of humanity was demonstrated when he "paid the debt" to restore the balance after the Fall of man. So there it is. Christianity is a "directive" to affirmatively sacrifice yourself for others as an act of worship of God. That's Christianity in one sentence. That idea of self-sacrifice is not unique to Christianity, but the degree of self-sacrifice and more importantly its role in the act of worhip is what sets Christianity apart. In my opinion, Jesus demonstrated that the "act" of self-sacrifice is the ultimate act of worshipping God, and to me that is what fundamentally distinguishes Christianity from other religions.
Post a Comment