Yesterday was - as you all know – Valentine's Day.
February 14 th , for most of us - means cards, candy, flowers and cupid, but does anyone actually know who St. Valentine was? I, for one, did not, so I wanted to find out and this is what I found:
…that according to church legend, St Valentine was a priest near or in Rome in about the year 250AD during the reign of Emperor Claudius. Valentine was loved by the young and the old, the rich and the poor – people of all walks of life attending his services.
At this time Emperor Claudius was heavily recruiting men to serve as soldiers for his war, but without much success. The men preferred not to leave their wives, families and sweet-hearts to fight in foreign lands. Claudius became angry and declared that no more marriages could be performed and that all engagement were cancelled.
Valentine thought this was unfair and secretly married several couples. When Claudius found out, he threw Valentine in jail where he died. Friends of the priest retrieved his body and buried it in a churchyard in Rome .
Another version had St. Valentine jailed for helping Christians. While Valentine was in prison he cured a jailer's daughter of blindness. Claudius became enraged and had Valentine clubbed and beheaded on February 14 th , 269AD.
Yet another story claims that Valentine fell in love with the jailer's daughter and wrote her letters that were signed “From your Valentine”.
Before that it was called The Feast of Lubercus. Lubercus was the ancient god who watched over shepherds and their flocks of sheep to keep them safe from wolves and every February the Romans celebrated a feast called Lupercalia to honor Lubercus. During Lupercalia, but in honor of the goddess Juno Februata, the names of young women were put into a box. Names were then drawn and matched with boys. The boys and girls would be considered partners for the year, which began in the month of March.
The Europeans also believed that on February 14 th the birds began to choose their mates.
In 496 Pope Gelasius declared the day in honor of St. Valentine and through the centuries the holiday became a time to exchange love messages and St. Valentine became the patron saint of lovers.
OK – history lesson is over! I will start my message with a poem (author unknown):
Heart prints
Whatever our hands touch---
We leave fingerprints!
On walls, on furniture,
On doorknobs, dishes, books,
As we touch we leave our identity.
Oh please God, wherever we go today,
Help us leave heart prints!
Heart prints of compassion
Of understanding and love.
Heart prints of kindness
and genuine concern.
May our hearts touch a lonely neighbor
Or a runaway daughter,
Or an anxious mother,
Or, perhaps, a dear friend!
We shall go out today
To leave heart prints,
And if someone should say
"I felt your touch,"
May that one sense be...YOUR LOVE
Touching through YOU!
Amen.
One day Abraham invited a beggar to his tent for a meal.
When grace was being said, the man began to curse God, declaring that he could not bear to hear His name. Seized with indignation, Abraham drove the blasphemer away.
When Abraham was at his prayer that night, God said to him: “This man has cursed and slandered me for fifty years and yet I have given him food to eat every day. Could you not put up with him for a single meal?”
On this St. Valentine's Day (or rather the day after) I want to tell you just this – love each other!
Love each other – not with the kind of love that depends on chemistry, moods and romantic feelings – not even with the kind of love that depends on the way the other person behaves, but with the kind of love that Jesus refers to in the Sermon on the Mount or the instructions from Paul to the Church at Ephesus .
Ephesians 4:31-32 is a verse that can apply to any relationship:
31 Stop being mean, bad-tempered and angry. Quarreling, harsh words and dislike of others should have no place in your lives. 32 instead, be kind to each other, forgiving one another, just as God has forgiven you because you belong to Christ.
Those words are so simple and yet so wise and profound.
I am sure you know exactly what kind of love I'm talking about:
It is the love that goes beyond what seems right according to the letter of the law and enters into the Spirit of what God wants for us
• the love that enters into feeding others, into healing others, into showing grace to others, into giving peace to others
• the love that value others, regardless of who or what they have or what they have not done.
Someone once caught W. C. Fields reading the Bible.
“What are you doing?”, asked the person.
“Looking for loopholes!”, growled Fields.
With love there is no loophole, no escape hatch, no clauses that say the deal can be revoked if this or that condition it not met.
Love is total – it is unconditional – or it is not love at all.
The Sermon on the Mount is addressed to people used to compromising – to altering love's demands as they are found in the Law of God so that those demands would be easier to fulfill.
• You have heard it was said you shall not murder – but I say to you that if you are angry with your brother or sister – you will be liable to judgment.
• You have heard that it was said, you shall not commit adultery, but I tell you that everyone who looks with lust at another has already committed adultery…
• You have heard that it was said, you shall love your neighbors, but I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you…
There are no loopholes to be found in Jesus' words.
No compromises,
No deals,
No escape hatches.
What Jesus does is making it crystal clear. We know without a doubt exactly where we stand and exactly what we need to aim for on the issues involving loving God and our neighbors.
Where do we stand – where do you stand? Think about how you love others and ask yourself if your love is up to the standards set by Jesus…
• If you haven't killed someone – whom have you called a fool or an idiot? What kind of emotion did you pour all over him or her when you got angry with them?
• If you haven't committed adultery – and felt good about this – consider what you maybe wanted to do…..
• Or think about who could hold a grudge against you because of something you did – something for which you have not apologized?
• or again – what promises and vows have you broken and then justified yourself in doing so?
• When were the last time you criticized immigrants for stealing all the jobs in this country, or expressed your dislike for the person who took the promotion that you thought belonged to you?
Those examples are maybe not the best, but most of us love only our friends and family – and we are not sure about family sometimes…
We greet those who greet us,
We do good to those who do good to us,
We lend to those who will pay us back,
We welcome those who welcome us.
As for everyone else – well – if asked, most of us have a reason for what we do, and an excuse for what we do not do.
What do we need to aim for?
Forget about excuses – they are only that
We are all equal in God's eyes – and therefore we should treat each other based on that.
An old pilgrim was making his way to the Himalayan Mountains in the bitter cold of winter when it began to rain.
An innkeeper said to him, “How will you ever get there in this kind of weather my good man?”
The old man answered cheerfully – “My heart got there first, so it's easy for the rest of me to follow.”
The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches that we can meet all the demands of love that are expressed in the law in one way – and only in one way – we can do so if our hearts go there first.
Today – the day after Valentine's Day – let your hearts go. Love God and love each other as deeply as you can.
When you do – you will find that no matter how many mistakes you might make on the way, that goodness and blessedness will blossom along your path, and all that God has planned for you will come to pass.
A train was filled with tired people. Most of them had spent the day traveling through the hot dusty plains and at last evening had come and they all tried to settle down to a sound sleep. However, at one end of the car a man was holding a tiny baby and as night came on the baby became restless and cried more and more. Unable to take it any longer, a big brawny man spoke for the rest of the group. "Why don't you take that baby to its mother?" There was a moment's pause and then came the reply. "I'm sorry. I'm doin' my best. The baby's mother is in her casket in the baggage car ahead."
Again there was an awful silence for a moment. Then the big man who asked the cruel question was out of his seat and moved toward the man with the motherless child. He apologized for his impatience and unkind remark. He took the tiny baby in his own arms and told the tired father to get some sleep. Then in loving patience he cared for the baby all through the night.
L et my heart be the vessel of God's Love.
Let my thoughts be the blossom of God's Love.
Let my words be the expression of God's Love.
Let my actions be the fulfillment of God's Love.
Amen.
Anne Jorgensen
February 15, 2004