NR 27-01-07
1 Cor 13
Story: I came across this true story - that happened during the Holocaust of the Second World War.
Solomon Rosenberg, his wife and their 2 sons were arrested, together with his mother and father for the crime of being Jews.
They were placed in a Nazi concentration camp.
It was a labour camp, and the rules were simple.
"As long as you can do your work, you are permitted to live. If you become too weak to do your work, then you will die."
Rosenberg watched as his elderly father and mother were marched off to their deaths.
He knew that David - his younger son would be the next - because David had always been a frail child.
Every evening, Rosenberg used to come back into the barracks after his hours of hard labour and search for the faces of his family.
When he found them they would huddle together, embrace one another and thank God for another day of life.
One day Rosenberg came back and didn’t see those familiar faces.
He finally discovered his oldest son, Joshua, in a corner, huddled, weeping and praying. He said, "Josh, tell me it’s not true."
Joshua turned and said, "Dad - it is true.
David was not strong enough today to do his work. So they came for him."
"But where is your mother?" asked Mr. Rosenberg continued .
"Oh Dad," Josh said, "When they came for David, he was afraid and he cried.
So Mum said, `There is nothing to be afraid of, David,’ and she took his hand and went with him."
Now - that’s love – that’s a sacrifical mother’s love – that’s a selfless love.
Mrs Rosenberg loved David so much that she was willing to sacrifice her life to comfort her son.
It is a love that transcends human logic – but it is powerful
It is a love that is so strong that she would willingly sacrifice her life to comfort her child.
I wonder if that was the type of love - you thought about - when our lesson from 1 Cor 13 that famous Chapter directed to love – or as the Authorised version calls it Charity
I wonder what the Pharisee/ who asked Jesus the question -
Teacher which commandment in the law is the greatest? -
thought when Jesus replied:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind. This is the greatest and first commandment.
And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself. On these commandments hang all the law and the prophets.” (Mt 22: 38-40)
The love Jesus is talking about is more than a Valentine’s card.
It is more than a warm feeling
Love is an act of will – for it was love that took Jesus to the Cross
It was love that allowed Jesus to say in Lk 22:42 “Thy will be done” in the Garden of Gethsemane
It is a commitment in the same order of magnitude that Solomon Rosenberg’s wonderful wife showed to her son, David.
It was the same love for God and neighbour that caused the Reformers to go to the stake for translating the Bible into the English vernacular from Latin
There are four words in Greek that are translated by our word: Love
Agape (ἀγάπη agápē):
This is divine, unconditioned love.
It is the unconditional love that we as Christians receive from God as agape love.
Eros (ἔρως érōs):
Romantic love. Often equated in ancient Greek, with desire. Sometimes this is also equated with "lust".
Philia (φιλία philía):
Philia expresses love and friendship which is "platonic".
Storge (στοργή storgē)
This love is best translated as natural affection.
(my thanks to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greek_words_ for_love)
But of these four loves -it is the “Agape” Love that goes to the very heart of the Gospel.
God doesn’t want us to run round keeping lots of rules and regulations.
He does want us to wear ourselves out - by observing various extravagant religious practices – however good they may be.
You don’t have to achieve in God’s eyes – it’s your attitude of heart that He’s interested in
But we are called to love Him
If we love him, we will do what he asks us to do – however humble.
If we really love God we will seek to have Jesus’ heart for the lost .
And that will drive us to pray for the salvation of the nations
And look at this rather interesting passage from the Book of Revelation Chapter 5
The background to the passage is that we are introduced by John to Jesus standing in the Throne room of God, encircled by four living creatures and the elders.
And as the elders fell before the throne
“Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. (Rev 5:8)
If you ever go to a church swinging incense – remember that this should be a call for you to PRAY
Don’t ever underestimate the power of prayer.
Don’t let the devil deceive you into thinking YOUR PRAYERS are worthless. They are powerful – because Jesus has chosen to run his kingdom on them. You can really make a difference.
If you love God – you will pray
And if you made a commitment to pray – we can expect to see revival break out on the Marsh
That is the sort of commitment that Jesus was looking for when he told them that “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, with all your mind…. your neighbour as yourself.
It took me many years to appreciate that love was an essential part of the Christian gospel.
I used to think “love” was soppy and sentimental and just for girls. But it isn’t.
Love can be very masculine as well.
Love caused Jesus to die on the Cross in our place – for our sins, because there was no other way for us to be reconciled to God.
St . Paul recognised the responsibility to love when he said: “Therefore love is the fulfilment of the law”. (Rom 8:10b)
Conclusion:
I’d like to conclude with a few thoughts.
1. Jesus is not looking for achievement but at attitude. He is not looking at the deeds themselves but the motivation behind them.
2. Jesus is not interested in sterile religion – in keeping the rules - but rather in a living relationship
He does however want us to love God and to love our neighbour
Love is about relationship
3. If we get the upward relationship right – between ourselves and God, then that is going to affect our horizontal relationships – with our fellow human beings. It just has to!
Sign: And what do these two movements form – (A vertical sweep and then a horizontal sweep)
A Cross. Come to think of it - wasn’t that the reason Christ died? To reconcile us with the Father and so we could be reconciled to one another too?
St John put it forcefully in his first letter:
Dear friends, since God has loved us, we ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us (1 Jn 4:11-12 NIV)
A friend of mine, John Gaughan – formerly of the band “Herman’s Hermits” wrote a powerful song, which he called: Love is the Key.
I’d like to read it to you “LOVE IS THE KEY”
LOVE IS THE KEY, LOVE IS THE KEY
THOUGH I SPEAK IN TONGUES OF ANGELS
LOVE IS THE KEY
LOVE IS PATIENT LOVE IS KIND,
NOT SELF SEEKING LOVE IS BLIND,
LOVE IS TRUTHFUL LOVE IS TRUST,
TO LOVE YOUR BROTHER IS A MUST.
LOVE CAN BREAK, BUT LOVE WILL MEND,
LOVE IS STRAIGHT, BUT LOVE CAN BEND,
LOVELY IS THE HEART THAT GIVES,
I LOVE HIM SURELY AS HE LIVES.
(copyrighted by John Gaughan)
Doesn’t that sum the Gospel up.
Let me leave you with some words from St. John:
“This is how we know what love is : Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.....
Dear Children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth (1 Jn 3:16-18).
We have come a full circle, because our actions should NOW spring from the right attitude – the attitude that loves God and neighbour so much that we will respond to what ever actions Jesus calls us to do.
Quite a challenge isn’t it?
