For nearly 35 years I’ve been a member of a number of Bible study groups. Over those years, we have studied most of the New Testament and many of the Old Testament books. We have been fairly thorough, using multiple commentaries, digging deeply, trying to understand the vision and God’s message contained in each passage. It has been exciting and enlightening and, while we still continue on, there is a building sense of what God is saying to us.
From all of our studies, we can see the consistency in all of scripture, from the beginning of Genesis through to Revelation 22, of God’s love for his creation. God is love. Not surprising, we’ve heard this over the years of our Christian walk. Some of the most familiar passages carry the message of God’s love: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) “We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.” (1 John 4:16) Or perhaps, one of my favorites: “for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13:12-13)
CS Lewis, in his essay The Four Loves, makes this statement about understanding the depth and the breath of God’s love: “We must not begin with mysticism, with the creature’s love for God or with the wonderful foretaste of God’s gifts in our earthly life. We begin at the real beginning, with love as the Divine Energy. This primal love is Gift-love.” What does Lewis mean by “Divine Energy”? Genesis chapter 1 has a vivid description of that Divine Energy. We might call it the Spirit of God, because that is what it is. God as Creator.
Easter and the season of Lent, is a solemn time for the church. As a preachers kid growing up I became aware that during the Lenten season my dad seemed to take on a more serious demeanor. Maybe it was because the scripture passages during the season are more somber. Maybe he, like the rest of us, was trying to resolve the seeming contradiction of God’s love on one hand and all the violence of that period. It is hard for us to imagine that the crucifixion is a mark of God’s love. How can that be? How can the most hideous and inhuman manner of execution be a mark of the love that God has for everything and everyone that he has created.
Recently I read an article explaining that many of the parables and stories in the Bible have a contrasting theme. The author pointed out that the Bible teaches through contrasts. What was the first picture of God that was planted in your mind when you were a child growing up? My picture of God was of a wonderful grandfatherly looking person who was full of love and compassion. I fully enjoyed the stories which presented God in the most positive way. I learned about Noah and his Ark with the cute pairs of animals entering the Ark. However, I recall no reference to the destruction all around the Ark as flood waters rose! Life and death. Good and bad.
Recently a Gospel lesson was the parable of the prodigal son, the prodigal father, and the prodigal older son. This is familiar to all of us, we have heard sermon after sermon preached on the various aspects of the relationship between the younger brother and the father. Between the father and the older brother. Between the older brother and the younger brother and the different attitudes that they shared. This is a parable which Jesus uses to teach. Contrasts. What is He teaching? Love!
When I read the Scriptures I try to understand the meaning behind the stories and the words but as a simple human I am limited by my earthly language, by my world-bound experiences, and by the influence that others may have on me.
In his great sermon, The Weight of Glory, CS Lewis, speaking on the topic of God’s gift love, makes this statement (perhaps with tongue in cheek): “(for some) the promises of scripture may be summarized in five points. First that we shall be with Christ; secondly, that we shall be like him; thirdly, we shall have “glory”; fourthly, that we will in some sense be fed or feasted or entertained; and, finally, that we shall have some sort of official position in the universe. Perhaps we shall be put in charge of a city, or we shall be asked to judge an angel, or perhaps we shall become one of the pillars of the temple.”
Lewis then goes on to ask this question: “can anything be added to the conception and goal of being with Christ?” He goes on to say that “he who has God and everything in the world has no more than he who has God only”.
What is the point of this essay? We started by calling love, God’s love, the divine energy. It was the love that created this world, this universe, everything. With our limitations of language, of experience, of what might be called divine imagination, we humans have defined love in a most limited way. If we were to know God’s full definition of love we might be amazed, or terrified, we might be reassured or confused, we might be all of those things and more. We might conclude that our earthly definition of love is amazingly inadequate and much too small to encompass the love that God has for us.
Lent is the prelude to the greatest event ever; the greatest expression of God’s love. Lent invites us to participate in that love; first by being introspective about our need for forgiveness and second by remembering that the love of God sent his son Jesus to provide that forgiveness. Faith tells us that once we have experienced that love, or have been reminded of that love, we can’t help but love others.
The question then becomes how do I truly love others as Christ has loved me? This is not a simple question, for Christ has loved us in ways that we do not know, at this time and place. Remember, for now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face-to-face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.God’s love and our faith…
Vijay Singh, in the midst of a slump, tells the story of his young daughter coming to him before a tournament, and saying to him “remember, daddy, to trust your swing.” He says that he started to pay more attention to his swing and gradually he came out of his slump.
We talk about our faith as if it is a badge certifying us as believers in God. Faith is an active condition. It is a verb that implies following Christ. Maybe we should take that little girl’s advise to remember to actively trust our faith.
May you fully experience God’s Love.
For What It’s Worth.
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