Acts
17: 22 – 31
Psalm
66: 7 - 18
I
Peter 3: 15 - 22
John
14: 15 – 21
This
is the homily given at St. John, Huntingdon, Pennsylvania on Sunday, May 14,
2023 by Fr. Gene Tucker.
“LOVE RECEIVED, LOVE OFFERED”
(Homily text: John 14: 15 – 21)
There are some things in life that defy
definition. But, even though we might not be able to completely define what
they are, we can recognize them when we encounter them.
For example, we can identify kindness
when we encounter it. The same is true of cruelty or inhumane acts.
The same is also true of love. The
dictionary offers us a lengthy definition of love, and the Greek language
(unlike English) has four words[1] for
the different types of love that human beings can experience and can know.
So, in today’s appointed Gospel
reading, we hear Jesus’ words, “If you love[2] me,
you will keep my commandments.” If we check a good concordance to see how many
times the word “love” appears in John’s Gospel account and in his letters, we
see that we encounter it eight times in the Gospel, and eighteen times in First
and Second John.
John describes our Lord Jesus Christ’s
relationship with God the Father and with us in terms of being a conduit, a way
for the Father’s love to be given to us. We are in the receiving end of that
immense, wonderful love, that sort of generous (to an extreme) sort of love
that seeks our welfare, not God’s necessarily. That sort of love is agape
love, the same Greek word used in the opening verse of today’s appointed text.
So, for example, in last week’s Gospel
text, we hear Jesus say to Philip, “Do you not believe that I am in the Father
and the Father is in me? The Words that I say to you I do not speak on my own,
but the Father who dwells in me does his works.”[3] The
implication here is that Jesus came to reveal the Father, the Father’s will,
and the Father’s love, to us.
What are we to do with God’s love?
One possibility is that we could hoard
it, treat it as if it was our possession to enjoy, to the exclusion of others.
Another possibility is to become proud
of the fact that we’ve received God’s love and God’s approval, Oftentimes, when
Christians fall into this trap, they begin to act in very unloving ways.
Still another possibility – and really,
the best one and the one that the Father would want us to follow – is to
receive God’s love, to be thankful for it, and then to turn around and share
that love with others.
Notice the dual focus in that last
statement. It requires us to keep our focus on the Father and on the Father’s
will and the Father’s love, but also on the love that we pass along to others.
It’s a difficult task to maintain a
healthy focus on the Father and also – at the same time – on those whom the
Father also loves.
Perhaps because it is a challenge to
look to the Father and to others, Christians might tend to look one way and not
the other.
For example, oftentimes those who
uphold the received truths of the faith, and who value the Church’s traditions
and the authority of Holy Scripture might tend to cast their eyes (mostly or
even exclusively) toward the Father. One word to describe such an outlook is to
say that such persons are “traditionalists”.
Other Christians who harbor a deep
concern for the care and the welfare of individuals, might look in the
direction of individual persons, again mostly or exclusively. We might
characterize such an outlook as being “progressive”.
(I hope I’m not engaging in
generalities which fail to adequately consider the various positions that
Christians might hold.)
Now, what is – given the possibility
that Christians might look one way or the other – our Lord’s example?
I think it’s clear that our Lord looked
to the Father, but also to the welfare and care of individuals. He looked both
ways. So, using the categories described above, our Lord is both a
“traditionalist” and a “progressive”, all at the same time.
Such a balance and such a dual focus is
our calling, I believe. With the assistance of the Holy Spirit (that Comforter
that Jesus talks about sending to His followers) and the example our Lord set
for us, we are to receive the Father’s love, to follow the Father’s will and
commandments, and to harbor a deep and abiding love for the Father and for
those whom the Father loves.
It won’t be an easy task to put into
action and into our expectations such a perfect model as our Lord has given us.
But with the Father’s help, the example set for us by the Son, and the
assistance and guidance of the Comforter (the Holy Spirit), we can succeed.
AMEN.
[1] The Bible uses three of those four words for love.
[2] The Greek word for “love” in this verse is agape, that
self-giving sort of love.
[3] John 14:10
