I touched on it last week and left off there, but I also promised to come back to it and so, being one who likes to live up to his promises, I am going to talk about love again today. If you are thinking to yourself that the passage from 1 John is the same as last week, you are right. It is the same by a twist of fate, because I use both the revised common lectionary and the one in the prayer book. I am allowed to do that, and last week s epistle from the revised was this week s epistle from the prayer book. And it seems appropriate to hear it again today.
Love is a topic that is ageless and it is no less of interest in biblical stories either.
Just how God loves us, how we love each other, even those we consider our enemies, is constantly being mulled over. And this interest has continued through all of time. We have heard the cry through the centuries, even in recent times, Make love, not war, All you need is love, With a little love, all things are made right, Teach love, not hate, and the list can go on and on. But the truth is just more and more confusing since every time each of us hears the word love , it means something different sometimes subtly, sometimes markedly different. For instance, when the Southern Baptist Convention stated something to the effect that Jews are in need of God s salvation, and that they should be loved by Southern Baptists in order for this salvation to come, one rabbi was heard to say, Perhaps, we Jews need a little less of your love.