Telemachus, a monk who lived in the 5th century, journeyed to Rome. He went to the Coliseum where the bloody gladiatorial contests were waged, killing for public entertainment. The sight so deeply offended him that he jumped into the arena. There are several variations in the story of what happened next. In some tellings, he put himself between two gladiators shouting that the contest must stop in the name of Christ, and was run through with their swords. In other tellings he implored the crowds to go home and never return to the games. Their bloodlust was so great that they stoned the monk to death. Whatever account is true, the end result was that Honorius, the Emperor, was so moved by this display of sacrificial love that he put an end to the murderous games forever.
Such is the transforming power of real love! Jesus said that it would be the quality of our love that would be the undeniable distinguishing mark that we were His followers. In the first three centuries of the Christian church this was certainly true. Believers had no worldly power structure, no cathedrals in which to worship, no wealth with which to fund armies or professionals, no official hierarchy to promulgate the faith. Christianity thrived because those who put their faith in Jesus were radically changed by His love and went into a cruel and violent world armed with nothing but love. Followers of Jesus rejected any solution to evil that required power or violence. Instead they looked for the places where need existed and served sacrifically. The sick found compassionate care in the homes of Believers. The outcasts were welcomed. Abandoned children were adopted. Love was more than a feeling! Love was a verb that worked hard, at great personal cost. The world was changed by the power of love.
This quality is beyond the sentimental impulse so often confused with genuine love. It comes from a place much deeper than the warm fuzzy feelings produced by a greeting card poem. Transforming love is borne of an encounter with God. It is sustained by ongoing intimacy with God's Spirit where our heart is made tender by the application of His grace. "We love," John says, "because He first loved us." If this kind of love is cultivated and allowed to flourish in our lives, we will be transformed and we will become world-changers! Our children will not abandon our faith as so much silly and/or superficial ritual aimed at getting into Heaven, someday when we die, by and by.
Love will give our lives depth and texture that is so compelling that others will long to live with the same intensity. Was it her beauty, wealth, or political power that made Mother Teresa universally admired in the last two decades of the 20th century? Of course not! Her life was lived completely in the two loves that Jesus said were at the heart of a life rightly lived- love for God and love for others. Love compelled that little woman to serve the least, the low, the loveless and love gave her access to kings and Presidents whose power was eclipsed by that of a diminutive nun from Calcutta. Once when she was asked about her hard work, she said, I pray that you will understand the words of Jesus, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Ask yourself “How has he loved me? Do I really love others in the same way?” Unless this love is among us, we can kill ourselves with work and it will only be work, not love. Work without love is slavery.
I have much to learn about love! But I rejoice that I am not who I was, and that I am not yet all I will be! Thanks be to God who loves me with transforming love. He loves you, too. Are you letting that love change your heart?
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1 Corinthians 13 (The Message)
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.
Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete.
But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
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