One can hear all sorts of things about the individual human being. Some people stress the individual in all areas of life. Some others react by downplaying the importance of the individual; they may stress the human group- family, community, society, nation, or humanity. Depending on the circumstances, both emphases can be appropriate.
However, in light of today's Gospel from the beginning of St. Luke 15, let us think a bit about the spiritual value of the human individual. One lost sheep is important enough to leave the rest of the flock to find. One soul that repents leads to heavenly rejoicing. This passage points to a general teaching of Scripture: the supreme human value of the individual soul and his/her relationship to God.
Scripture is the basis of any true Christian individualism. While the value of each person may have an impact in all areas of human life, Christian individualism is not about philosophy, politics, economics, psychology, or societal building blocks. True individualism is spiritual; it is about God the Father reaching out in grace through Christ and the Holy Spirit to save individual souls that He created in His image- souls that He seeks to bring into fellowship with Him.
This blog follows traditional one-year lectionaries.
Monday, June 18, 2018
Friday, June 01, 2018
Trinity I- "Love, Love, Love"
Many human beings over the centuries have talked and sung about love. Especially
since the late 1960's, popular culture has included a lot of talking and
singing about love. A characteristic example is John Lennon's “All You Need is
Love.” And the churches have been influenced by this popular culture. Of
course, Christians have always spoken of love, but much religious talk about love in recent
decades has been far from Christian ideals.
Today in contrast to such
popular nonsense, let us spend a few minutes thinking
about some New Testament views of love. We begin by highlighting the
beginning verses of our Epistle from I John 4:7-11, “Beloved, let us love
one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and
knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. In
this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only
begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. Herein
is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be
the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we
ought also to love one another.”
In this passage, the Greek term used for “love” is agape'.
In Christian Greek, this word for love became clearly distinct from eros, “desire”
and philos, “brotherly love.” This kind of love has its source in
God; it is an attribute of the divine nature. “God is love.” Divine Love is
creative and unselfish.
Agape' is not some naive and syrupy
sentiment. It is not weak. It does not tolerate evil. It is powerful, holy, and righteous. It is not selfish but it reaches out to care for the universe and
created beings. According to divine wisdom, God's love may be applied in
differing ways according to the circumstances. It may lift up the humble and
bring down the proud. Love may strengthen the faint-hearted and punish the
sinful. Divine love means that God is concerned about the true well-being of
the one loved. He cares about our souls and works for our salvation, even in
the worst worldly circumstances.
The clearest indications that human beings have about divine
love cannot be separated from the life and saving work of Jesus Christ. As He Himself
told us in the Gospel of John, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his
only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have
everlasting life” (John 3:16). The ultimate goal of love is salvation and
eternal fellowship with God. We see this in Jesus. In love, He helped the poor and weak,
and He rebuked the rich and proud. He chastised the self-righteous, and He
forgave penitent sinners. He blessed those with even a trace of child-like
faith in Him and His Father. And in love, He gave Himself over to suffering and death
for all who would turn to Him in faith.
Divine love is always there, and God's creatures benefit
from it before they are even aware. Love only asks one thing to start with: to
accept it in faith. And once accepted, divine love should have results in our
human lives. “..If God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.”
Although our particular expressions of love need wisdom, guidance, and concrete human expressions, true love does not start with us. It starts with God, especially
in Christ, and asks us to respond. Because God first loves us, we love Him in
response, and like Him, we love His creation and His creatures.
Like divine love, our love should be powerful, committed, and unselfish.
Unlike God, however, we remain fallen and fallible. Sometimes, we do not love as we
should. And even when we do love, we don't always do so with strength or
wisdom. At times, we love naively or inappropriately. Sometimes, we may not be tolerant enough,
or we may be too tolerant of the wrong things.
St Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:15 that we should speak “the truth in love.” We often have trouble keeping love and truth together in the best ways. When we speak the truth, we may not be very loving. And when we try to be loving, we may hesitate to speak the truth. Although Christians seek to be kind, there is a difference between being superficially polite and being loving. True love is more concerned about the long-term and eternal well-being of others than about their temporary and temporal comfort.
St Paul tells us in Ephesians 4:15 that we should speak “the truth in love.” We often have trouble keeping love and truth together in the best ways. When we speak the truth, we may not be very loving. And when we try to be loving, we may hesitate to speak the truth. Although Christians seek to be kind, there is a difference between being superficially polite and being loving. True love is more concerned about the long-term and eternal well-being of others than about their temporary and temporal comfort.
Therefore, let us heed Scriptural teachings about love. Let
us avoid straying to the right or to the left. We must not avoid the danger of
true divine love, and we must not substitute some cheap political tolerance or
sentimental nonsense. If we must be foolish in loving, let it not be some worldly ways from the movie romances or political correctness. Rather if we are foolish, let it be the foolishness of the cross of
Christ, the perfect love of God.
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