Valentine’s Day
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. – 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Dear Friends,
The day I write this letter is St. Valentine’s day.
I have a friend who believes this day was hijacked by card, chocolate and flower companies to make money. His restaurant will be packed and crazy tonight.
Saint Valentine’s Day is an actual observance on the church calendar. William C. Weedon in his book Celebrating the Saints writes about Saint Valentine:
What is known is that Valentine ended life confessing Christ to the last, dying a martyr’s death in Rome under Emperor Claudius II around AD 270. The very day that Valentine was to face his martyrdom, he is said to have brought consolation to the daughter of his jailer by writing to her a small note of encouragement. Hence, the custom of St. Valentine’s day notes arose, which has spread far and wide. From the relative obscurity of his life, we may learn a valuable lesson: God remembers what people forget. Baptized into Christ, marked with the holy cross as the Lord’s own, fed with the body and blood of the Savior, Valentine lived and served, loved and died a witness to the invincible love of God in Christ Jesus. – Quoted from Weedon, William. Celebrating the Saints. Concordia Publishing House. Kindle Edition. ©2016
Today, instead of honoring the strong deep faith of this Saint, we instead become weighed down by mushy expectations about love and the like.
In the New Testament, there are three words for love.
One is eros. This word comes to us in English as ‘erotic’. It is a selfish love. I use the example of food. I love my wife’s green beans. I love it in a selfish way. When I am eating the green beans, I do not care about how the green beans feel. I only care about how the green beans make me feel.
Another word for love is philos. This word comes to us in the English word ‘philanthropy’. It is mutual love. It has the understanding that we love those like us.
Then there is the word agape. The word does not come to us in the English language. (There is “agape” meaning “mouth wide open” but this word has a different root.) It is often understood as unconditional love.
I like to explain it as a love that loves people as they are.
I like to think of this love as a love that reaches across the barriers we have as human beings.
It is the love with which Jesus loved us.
It is to this love we are called to love others; even our enemies.
Peace
Ricky Adams
Pastor
Peace Lutheran Church
Mill Valley, California