Sixth Sunday of Easter

Lectionary: 56

Beloved, let us love one another,
because love is of God;
everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God.
Whoever is without love does not know God, for God is love.

I sometimes like to listen to Blues, Jazz, Soul, or even Hard Rock. The music may fit my mood while I'm driving or practicing drills on a pool table. But I don't go there when I think about love. Those genres misconstrue love as lust, desire, need, conquest, control, and submission. Which are, of course, precisely the opposite of love. Love cannot abide lust or conquest. It despises every attempt to own the beloved. 

But it's a lot easier to say what love is not than to say exactly what love is. Like every mystery which concerns the Lord God, love is ineffable, an enigma more hidden within dogmas than revealed by them. The Church's definitions often pronounce anathemas on those who would define God, Christ, truth, or love because their words, drawn from human wisdom and human philosophies, only obscure the radiant light which is God's Word. 

If a man is asked why he loves his wife, he should know better than to answer. It’s a no-win situation. If he says anything he’ll be in trouble for a month of Sundays. Everyday mysteries like marriage defy words, descriptions, and definitions. 

Saint Paul made the boldest attempt to describe love with words in his oft-quoted First Corinthians, chapter 13: "Love is patient, love is kind...." 

But then he immediately reverted to saying what it is not: "...it is not jealous, pompous, or inflated. It is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury."

Struggling to say something positive, he finally said, "...love does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth." And then, triumphantly, "It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things." I'm not sure what all that means but it sounds great! 

But if we hear First Corinthians thirteen only at weddings, we still come away with a skewed vision of love. What does a pretty couple in radiant wedding costumes know of the challenges, confusions, misunderstandings and betrayals that will make married love shine like a beacon in a subterranean cavern? Come back in fifty years and tell us about it then! 

Saint John begins at the beginning of this ineffable mystery when he names the source and origin of love as God. He says, "...everyone who loves is begotten by God and knows God." But the skeptic will ask, "What is God?" and we're back to square one. 

John speaks of those "begotten of God." They are given and they know the new life of Baptism. Adopted into the family of God, they breathe like newborn infants in an atmosphere which knows no sin. Their only fears are the fear of God and the fear of displeasing God. We call that fear piety, devotion, and holiness. We would be holy like our God, especially because we hear his command, "You shall be holy as your God is holy. 

In that fear we are consecrated. But make no mistake about that. This is a joyful fear, for those who fear God fear no one else. They enjoy the freedom which knows nothing of weapons, defensive or offensive. It cannot be bothered with fighting when God is their champion. God's love would go to a Muslim family and say, "Welcome to our neighborhood." which is far cheaper, safer, and more dignified than buying guns -- as some people are doing. 

Love wants to welcome; it's curious and hospitable, friendly, helpful, and eager to introduce the presence of God into every human circumstance. Wherever we go, God is present; and we are welcome wherever God is welcome. Our mission is to hallow God's name by the faith, hope, and love which we carry in our persons. 

That, by the way, is not idealism. There is nothing idealistic about the gospel because idealism says, “This is the way life should be, but everybody knows it can't be.” 

We know we can love because we know it's not about lust, need, ownership, or control; and we can live the Gospel because as Saint John says in that first same letter, 

What was from the beginning,

what we have heard,

what we have seen with our eyes,

what we looked upon

and touched with our hands

concerns the Word of life—

for the life was made visible;

we have seen it and testify to it

and proclaim to you the eternal life

what was with the Father and was made visible to us,

what we have seen and heard

we proclaim now to you,

so that you too may have fellowship with us;

for our fellowship is with the Father

and with his Son, Jesus Christ.

We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.