26 October 2005

We will continue with this law of love and how Luther in one of his sermons makes it such a priority in our lives.

...it is certainly true that a person is not rightly fasting, praying, crying to God, and doing other things, if (he) does not first love God and (his) neighbor. If the works are not done out of love, then they are absolutely nothing; then there is nothing good in this love, and the outward works are performed and put on in order that the person may prove that (he) loves God or (his) neighbor and that in all these things he is devoting himself to them. (Luther's Work Vol. 51, p.105)

This says two things that I find important. On the one hand, there is nothing that we do that is of any importance if there is not love among us - that is the alpha and the omega of our character. On the other hand, this love is not a possibility for us. We can work like mad trying to be loving but this character is a gift given to us. It is only by the power of the Holy Spirit that we can love our neighbor. There is no reward for acts of love...for just as quickly as we act, we are not acting out of love but out of a desire for a reward...or recognition...or simply a nice warm feeling - for ourselves! Love is just as easily turned into something idolatrous as are the other things in our lives. Therefore, again and again, we face up to who we are and how we will remain people "turned-in-on-ourselves" even when we try to make it appear as though we are a loving bunch of folk. That doesn't mean we are not to be loving, on the contrary, we can expect that God will shaped us into a love that is completely beyond our capabilities. Love becomes not a work among us, it is the life of us and that life is always a gift. We are stewards of this loving Reign.

Connection: The most powerful thing we can do within this day is to give thanks to our God for the life we have been handed as the baptized community in Christ. From there, God already will be shaping and moving us. In the meantime, converse with one another about what this love of God means in terms of our daily lives.

Lead us, Loving Lord, even as we attempt to walk our own ways and claim that they are yours. The pathway of your love may not be the path we would choose for ourselves and yet we long to walk in your ways. Let your Spirit pull us into the vision and life of your love. Amen.