We are in what the Christian calendar calls Advent. In a recent blog, I mentioned the Christian worship practice of lighting a candle each Sunday of Advent each signifying the four traditional Advent themes: Hope, Peace, Love, and Joy. Last week I reflected on peace; today, love.
The Apostle Paul wrote to the Galatians, “But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. The great preacher, G. Campbell Morgan, called this “the sublimest statement… concerning the issue and finality of Christianity.”(Galatians 5:22-23).
Note Paul doesn’t say fruits of the Spirit, but rather fruit of the Spirit. He has talked about the works, plural, which he calls “works of the flesh,”; but now he concentrates on the fruit of the Spirit. That easily leads us to see that the fruit of the Spirit is love, and each fruit of the Spirit which the list is another expression of love.
What the world needs is love, and this is the finality of Christianity. If you are not participating in worship where a candle is lighted for love, somewhere and somehow today light a candle for love.
For now, reflect on two pictures from two of the world’s greatest Christians; the first, Albert Schweitzer. Someone once asked him to name the greatest person in the world. Many would have designated Schweitzer himself for the honor. The good doctor without a moment’s thought, replied, “The greatest person in the world is some unknown individual in some obscure corner of the earth, who at this very hour has gone in love to be with another person in need.”
The other picture is from Mother Theresa. In the little book, Something Beautiful for God, she tells the British journalist, Malcolm Muggeridge, that her aim is to help those whom nobody else will touch, the outcasts, the destitute and diseased who have been left for dead on the streets of Calcutta. She says, “The biggest disease today is not leprosy or tuberculosis, but rather the feeling of being unwanted, uncared for, and deserted by everybody. Nowadays for all kinds of diseases there are medicines and cures. But for being unwanted, except where there are willing hands to serve and there’s a loving heart to love, I don’t think this terrible disease can ever be cured.”
Deep down we all know it, don’t we? Our need, the need of everyone, is to be loved. Likewise, to be whole we need to be lovers ; we need to love others. Stop now and think for just a moment. Someone in your life will never know the redemptive love of Jesus Christ unless it is shared through you. Who is that person? Call them now by name, silently, to yourself.
“If you are not participating in worship where a candle is lighted for love, somewhere and somehow today light a candle for love. Maybe contact that person you thought about a moment ago.