Lakeside
United Methodist Church
Love is in the Air!
Ah,
“love is in the air!” February 14 rapidly approaches, the day when Cupid’s
potent nectar runs freely. Lovers rejoice, dancing and embracing the
moonlight. Valentines, candy and flowers are sent and received, each an
expression of the virtues of love. It is impossible to avoid. Seemingly, one
and all are caught up in the celebration.
Unfortunately, in spite of all the hype, love has become in many ways a
useless and meaningless word. In our culture, it possesses a great deal of
sentimentality, but very little substance. One definition from the American
Heritage Dictionary only reinforces this mindset. Not surprisingly, it defines
love in terms of our two great cultural obsessions: sex and sports. Love is
defined as an “intense affection and warm feeling for another person; strong
sexual desire for, a strong fondness for or enthusiasm for; or a zero score in
tennis.” In short, love has become a warm, fuzzy catchall phrase, expressing
the pleasure or feelings we get from preferred soft drinks, favorite sports
teams or some partner-of-the-moment.
Such thinking cuts across the grain of our faith. For one moment, consider how
this contrasts with the Biblical witness. As the Bible defines it, God is
love. So, love is not some nebulous, ethereal, self-seeking feeling, but is a
Person. Indeed, for us as Christians, love is a flesh-and –blood person who has
a name: Jesus. He literally defines it for us. Love means self-sacrifice and
self-giving, doing the right thing no matter what feelings or consequences may
be attached to it. It means humility and service, generosity and hospitality –
not the sorts of things our culture defines as the benefits of love!
It is interesting to note that something like this occurred at the very
beginning of our faith. When the early disciples and followers of Jesus learned
of his life-transforming love, they at once knew that it was nothing like
anything else they had experienced. No word in their culture seemed to do it
justice. All definitions seemed to fall short. So, they basically grabbed an
old, archaic word for love from their past and “resurrected it!” The word was
agape,
and they used it in reference to God’s love for us in Christ. Instead of their
culture defining love, they let Christ define it. He gave love its meaning.
May Christ define our love, not the other way around! May
He be our example, depicting what love ought to mean for you and me in all our
relationships – whether it is with spouses, family, friends, neighbors,
acquaintances, fellow churchgoers or strangers. Indeed, may our heart’s desire
be that all would “know us by our love!”
In Christ’s Love,
Pastor Ken 
