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Easter Six - The Ethic of Love

We talk about love a lot but often as though it is only a feeling. We may find it helpful to think about love as an ethic that guides our actions and thoughts as well as our feelings. (John 14:15-21) 

Sentence:

‘ “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” ’ John 14:15

 

Collect:

Gracious God,

who by the power of love you brought the world in to being.

We give you thanks that you have made yourself known in the love of Jesus for us and that you have called us to make this love real to our neighbours near and far.

Open our hearts and minds that we might perceive the gifts of love all around us and those in need of them.

In the name of Creator, Redeemer and Spirit. Amen.

 

Reflection:

Love is one of the most commonly used words in the New Testament and yet I am not sure that I, or many of us, are confident that we truly understand what is offered and asked of us. Part of the issue is undoubtably that we ask one word to encompass all we mean. And I suspect that we focus almost exclusively on the interpersonal or human-divine relationships. Valerie Kaur says it this way: “If you cringe when people say love is the answer, I do, too. The problem is not with love but with the way we talk about it. We mostly talk about love as a flood of emotions. But feelings are fickle and fluid …”

 

You may like to read my reflections on the gospel from a few years ago.



Or you may wish to read my reflection on the words of Paul in Acts.



While I often reflect on love as the dynamic at work in our relationships with the Divine and with one another, this week, I want to focus on Love as an Ethic that informs how we live, move and have our being. This is not, for me, instead of love as a feeling but beyond transient feelings, which fluctuate incredibly. To speak about Love as an Ethic is to speak of love as the driving force in our personal relationships and our actions in the world, including a commitment to social justice, environmental considerations and geo-political actions.

 

While all things, and therefore all topics, are interconnected for ease of conversation and sharing ideas I will reflect on Love as the Ethic of our relationship with the Divine; our relationship with the Creation; with our Neighbours; and with our Selves. (As the Two Great Commandments would have us do!)

 

Still in the season of Easter we are exploring the central mystery of our faith that the Divine One, the Creator of all, loved humankind so fully that the divine came amongst us and lived, died and rose again as an expression of love that could not be killed and that has become our very food and drink. Love is the God given ethic at the centre of everything and most certainly at the centre of who, how and why we worship and seek to be disciples.

 

Therefore, love must be the frame of reference in our relationship with creation – with matter itself and all creatures. The creation story in Genesis says that God found, at the end of each day of creation, everything to be good. The ethic of love in relation to creation invites awe and wonder, care and respect, and a lightness of touch which is less about ownership and want and more about sharing with delight and deference what is not ours but for our enjoyment. The ethic of love means we must consider our impact on land, water and the air now and into the future. And this means considering what we consume, where we invest, and how we share the bounty of creation with other peoples and all creatures.

 

An extension of this is to reflect on love as an ethic that guides our relationships with our neighbours near and far. Which takes us into the area of social justice and geo-political relationships. For most of us our impact lessens the further from home we look, but for us in the relatively wealthy west our impact is often further that we think. Just as we desire educational opportunities, good health care and plenty to eat and drink, art to inspire, and the freedom to seek entertainment, self-expression and places of worship – so do others! Does the way we live, work, consume, invest and play allow others to also enjoy life? Thinking of love as an ethic invites both passion and also respect and diffidence: a moving toward others in generosity and a degree of tentativeness that allows and respects the ‘otherness’ of our neighbours to be who they are and to determine what they want rather than what we think would be good for them.

 

And let us not forget love as an ethic to guide our relationship with our selves! Do we think, feel and act with tenderness and care and respect in regards to our selves? If we accept that we are Beloveds of God then we are worthy of treating ourselves well and with care. This may include the occasional ‘treat’ but is much more about treating ourselves as ‘temples of the living God’ as Paul expresses it. Taking ourselves seriously and allowing light heartedness and joy; living life with meaning and intention and with playfulness; encouraging our selves to keep going through what is hard and being compassionate and patient with what is slow to change or broken.

 

When we think of love as an ethic, a principle of action, the work and focus of our life, hopefully we will not be so subject to the vagaries of emotion which flows and ebbs. While loving feelings are a joy and a great energiser, the love of God as commanded by Jesus, cannot be reliant on our feelings only. And curiously when we ask ourselves what would love look like in this situation the action we take may just stir up in us, and maybe even in the other, the very feeling of love we were seeking. Maybe this is close to what Jesus meant when he said: “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me, and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” (John 14:21)

 

Intercessions:

Creator God,

you have made with love all that you have made.

Awaken our senses to your many gifts and to the cries of your creation.

Give us a heart for wild places that still bear the imprint of your touch and for creatures and peoples who still live upon your earth and in your waters by instinct and in respect.

We particularly pray for those places where there is desolation and destruction.

We pray for those who seek to bring restoration and repair.

Help us all to seek be custodians of your precious world.

Creator of all that is,

Hear our prayer.

 

Jesus, teacher of radical love,

Convert us from our too small concerns and open our hearts and minds to the gifts and needs of our neighbours.

Help us learn the discipline of humility and compassion.

We particularly pray for those who are suffering in body, mind or spirit – may there be peace and hope.

We pray for those in dispute and unrest – may there be safety, respect and reconciliation.

We pray for all agencies of care that seek to make real the love of God.

Jesus, radical love,

Hear our prayer.

 

Spirit of transformation and new life,

Come renew, refresh and recreate all that is tired and broken in our world.

We particularly pray for healers, peace makers, artists and those whose story inspires.

We pray that those who have gone from this world are at rest in the brightness of your presence and all heartache and pain has been healed.

Spirit of transformation,

Hear our prayer.

 

Living God,

Loving Creator, Teacher of Radical Love, and Transforming Spirit,

We pray in the name of the Risen Christ, who calls us to make real the Ethic of Love. Amen. 

This is my work informed by all that I have heard, read and experienced. I am indebted to the wisdom of others. This week I am especially grateful to the work of Richard Rohr.

 

which reflects on the writings of bell hooks

 

which reflects on the writings of Valerie Kaur

 

 

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