Acts 14:21-27
Psalm 145:8-9,10-11,12-13
Revelation 21:1-5a
John 13:31-33a, 34-35
“Love One Another as I have loved you.” On the surface,
this seems like an easy command to follow- especially in today’s society, where
the word “love” is thrown around with an almost nonchalant air. “Let’s go to
Cheesecake Factory- I love that place!” “I love this new pair of Shoes!” “I
just met this girl, and I think I’m in love!!”
These are just a few examples of how “love” gets thrown around and used
in today’s society. However, if we are
to truly understand what Jesus is asking us to do, we need to unpack this
saying a little bit.
We can
start by asking ourselves What does love mean?
While the English word “love” serves as a sort of “catch-all” for many
different feelings, or types of love, the Greek language, which the New
Testament was originally written in, uses four distinct words, when speaking of
the different aspects of love. C.S. Lewis has given us a wonderful summary of
these 4 ideas in his Book “The Four Loves.” A brief summary of each is
warranted here.
First,
we have Eros, or erotic love. This love refers to romantic attraction towards
another. When many people say that they are “in love” with a person they just
met, this is often the type of love they are experiencing. This type of love can be very profound, but
it can also cause a person to act selfishly, to get what they want from the
person they are “in love” with. This is especially true when the sexual
overtones of eros are considered.
Another
type of love is Storge, which can also be called affection. This is often used
to describe the love between parents and Children- a bond which is present
without any coercion, and which presents a real fondness for the other person,
due to a level of familiarity which comes from being related to the other
person. In this sense, storge is the
most natural type of love, but even this love can be met with imperfections,
since it can be easily corrupted by Jealousy
Philia,
or brotherly love, is a strong bond between people who share common interests
or activities. Lewis states that it is the least natural of the loves, but at
the same time, it represents a higher level of love, because it is freely
chosen. But even this type of love is imperfect, because as we can see in so
many places in society, friendships are often prone to cliquishness, jealousy,
pride, and an unwillingness to allow others to enter into the friendship.
The last
type of love is Agape, or charity. This is the term used to describe the love
of man for God, as well as the love of God for man. This is the term most often
used for love in the New testament.
Philia and Storge are used rarely, and eros does not appear in the New
Testament at all. What can we make of this? C.S. Lewis here states that this
emphasis on agape love is specificially Christian- so much so that he views this
Agape love as the highest form of love. To achieve this love represents the
highest form of Christian Virtue.
So what does this love look
like? A development of this type of love can be found in St. Paul’s 1st
letter to the Corinthians. ]Love is patient,
love is kind. It is not jealous, [love] is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own
interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not
rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things,
hopes all things, endures all things. In short: Thomas Aquinas explains this
type of love as “willing the good of the other.”
This is exactly how Christ loves
us. He desires for us the good of eternal life with God, and he brings this
about by dying for us on the cross. This is more than just a “general feeling
of goodwill” towards another person- It is more than being attracted to a
person, or sharing common interests with them. This love is a love which
requires us to “lay down our lives” for the other person, by dying to
self-interests, and learning to truly serve others, and love them in the same
way that Christ loves us. When we get down to it, this command, which on the
surface seems to be a simple one, is very difficult to carry out! But with God’s grace, we can learn to love
others, just as Christ has loved us. This gospel gives us a chance to stop and
reflect- Have I truly allowed myself to experience Christ’s love, so that I can
share that love with others? in what ways can I be more loving in my life? In
what areas do I need to let go of selfishness? What people am I excluding, who
perhaps need to feel God’s love from others? If you spend even just a few
minutes every day reflecting on these questions, I promise that you will find
yourself growing in love of others, each and every day. And in this way, all
will know that you are a disciple of Christ- Because of your love for others.
No comments:
Post a Comment