SUNDAY SERMON: Love is patient, kind and endures all things
Are you one of the millions negotiating heavy traffic every day? PHOTO | FILE
What you need to know:
- Next time you’re caught in a jam, ready to tear someone’s head off, ask God to help you calm down.
Are you one of the millions negotiating heavy traffic every day? A friend of mine commented idly over dinner, “It’s a good thing we don’t have guns. I probably would have killed at least three people today while driving home!” He was joking. But like every joke, it tells us something about the anger and frustration we feel.
It’s easy to be kind to others when you’re sitting at home, reading the newspaper and listening to your favourite music. It’s easy to be kind to others when you’re on holiday at a nice restaurant and feasting on your favourite food. And yet, even in those idyllic situations, we quickly become impatient and say harsh words if someone interrupts.
St Paul famously wrote: “Love is patient, love is kind.” It’s part of the Hymn to Love in First Corinthians. Some people have a poster hanging on the wall with a picture of a sunset, featuring all 13 verses. The text speaks about “love” being the “best way of all” and the “greatest gift”. It is not just any love. It is the “love of God which has been poured into our hearts by the Spirit.”
This gift from God is a special kind of love. It’s not the love we feel when we say something noble like “I love my country”. It’s not the superficial thing we feel when we say: “I love chocolate.” It’s not the love that comes from romance, although God’s love can make a married couple more deeply committed to each other. This divine gift is different precisely because it is a gift. You cannot buy it. You cannot demand it. You cannot force yourself to feel it. It’s something so different from other kinds of love that we normally don’t feel it even if God has given us this gift in abundance.
More than feeling this kind of love, you will notice it because it leads you to be kind—and kind not only when you’re feeling great, but kind at the very moment when the rest of world is seething with anger, shouting “Eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth!”
Next time you’re caught in a jam, ready to tear someone’s head off, ask God to help you calm down. Repeat the words of Scripture: “Love is patient, love is kind ... love endures all things.” Jesus wants us to live in peace with one another and to love one another—not just when we’re gathered together for prayer on Sunday but also when we’re driving down the road any other day of the week. So repeat those words. It really works. It’s one of the goals of Christian faith, and Jesus is eager to help you put it into practice.
