Dear friends,
The Gospel message is one of love. It is in this love that we find our strength and our mission to live this life in peace and justice. The love of God is not just offered to us as cool refreshment. We are commanded to love. If we are going to accept this God, in all free will, then we will love:
- Matthew 22:36-40, Master, which is the great commandment in the law?
Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart,
and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
This is the first and great commandment.
And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.
(The Summary of the Law)
- John 13:34, A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
(Jesus died for us, but did not kill for us.)
- Matthew 5:38-45, Ye have heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth:
But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.
And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloke also.
And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.
Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
(Matthew 5 is very important to setting our course of love in this life.)
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, God the Son, can command/demand this of His followers for He was sent by God the Father:
- John 3:16, 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.
I grew up thinking that love had something to do with girls, cars, and popular music. I wasn’t entirely wrong, but I certainly was limited. Then, when I was 18, my friend and I were given a recorded copy of C.S. Lewis’ “The Four Loves.” It was amazing to listen to. It was an actual recording of Prof. Lewis reading his book. First, I had to get past his wonderful articulation. I was then able to start listening and learning. He returned to the ancient Greeks to bring four different loves to our awareness:
- AGAPE – “Godly love,” Storge, Philia, and Eros are not self-sufficient in and of themselves. Decency and commonsense to goodness to one particular relationship, only God can sustain love.
- EROS – “between man and woman,” that part that is unique to humans, beyond biological impulse (though not excluding it), two as one in heart and mind.
- PHILIA – “friendship,” the most un-natural of the loves, the least needed and recognized, and real friendship is rare!
- STORGE – “affection,” as an adult to a child or a person to their pet. It is the humblest, most modest and comfortable of the loves.
Through Prof. Lewis we see how love grows from good and gentle affection, to friendship, and the love of spouse to the source of all love. We know through experience that the journey is not a straight line or locked steps. We also know that some don’t reach full knowledge and sometimes we stumble. It is such hard work. It is the fuel, though, that allows us to worship our God and try to do his will. Without love we cannot sustain the hope that drives us to work for peace and justice.
Loving in and of itself is great power. It also shows the evil one and those who do his will which side we are on. We know as those who have chosen this path that we must love, and that it will be used against us, as a believer or as a friend/lover. "To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken." C.S. Lewis.
I continue to read about love, because we must continue to grow in our knowledge to understand what we are to work towards. In some sources “agape” is the part of God’s love that we are allowed to understand. In other sources, looking at their definitions, they seem to have combined “storge” and “philia.” Another writing talked about “agape” is the love of “charity,” and is free of emotion (as if emotion is bad). I will continue to study.
In all our reading and worship we must try to love and forgive ourselves, and then get to work. I read the following and jotted it down on a scrap piece of paper: “For most it is not a struggle between loves and which love will get our attention, but between ourselves and love.” (I think it is Lewis, again.)
Faith, hope, and charity are fuel for our work of peace and justice. They sustain us, as they are from God, and are reflected to us from others who have chosen to believe. It is in love that we become the Body of Christ on earth, the Church Militant. I Corinthians 13:13, And now abideth faith, hope, charity (love), these three; but the greatest of these is charity (love).
Live a life in God’s love, have faith that He knows your needs and will be there in the right way for you, and know there is always hope in Him who loves you. You don’t have to take things into your own hands. In all of this read the Gospel with new eyes, and seek God’s hope and truth, not man’s wishes and delusions.
In Christ’s love,
Fr. Robert Pax
BOOKS: “Christian Attitudes to War, Peace, and Revolution,” by John Howard Yoder; “The Politics of Jesus,” by John Howard Yoder; “John Howard Yoder: Spiritual Writings,” edited by Paul Martens and Jenny Howell
QUOTES: “The crucified Jesus is a more adequate key to understanding what God is about in the real world of empires and armies and markets than is the ruler in Rome, with all his supporting military, commercial, and sacerdotal networks.” John Howard Yoder
“How inappropriate and preposterous was the prevailing assumption, from the time of Constantine until yesterday, that the fundamental responsibility of the church for society is to manage it.” John Howard Yoder
