St John's Anglican Church

VALENTINE’S DAY                                                                                                               14 February 2010

You are God’s Valentine Angela Brown

I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that today, the world, and I really mean globally, the world celebrates Valentine’s Day. …… the celebration of romantic love As Christians there is a greater depth to love than the romance of pink fluff, hearts and chocolates …… there is the unfathomable depth of God’s love for us – We are God’s Valentine’s.

Have you ever wondered how Valentine’s Day got started?    Wonder no more …… I’m going to tell you.

Approximately 250 years after Jesus was born in Bethlehem, there was a holy man, teacher and healer, by the name of Valentinus.  He lived in Rome, and at that time, Claudius was the Emperor of Rome.  People referred to him as Claudius the Cruel.  Nobody liked him.  To protect his empire, Claudius needed a huge army.  He thought men should just volunteer to join, but many men just didn’t want to leave home and go off to fight in wars.  They didn’t want to leave their wives.  This Infuriated the Emperor.   Then, he had a crazy idea that if men weren’t married, if they didn’t have wives, then they would be more inclined to join his army.   So Claudius decreed that there would be no more marriages.  Valentinus thought  the law against marriage was not only cruel, but ridiculous.  One of his favourite duties as a holy man of the time,was to perform marriages.  Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, Valentinus kept on performing marriage ceremonies – but in secret!   He would whisper the words while listening for the sound of soldiers on the steps outside.

One night, Valentine did hear footsteps at his door.  The couple he was marrying escaped, but he was caught.  He was thrown into jail to await his punishment …… death for defying the Emperor.

While he was in jail, many young couples came to visit him.  They threw flowers and notes into his window.  They wanted him to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the blind daughter of the prison guard.  Her father – a compassionate man – allowed her to visit Valentinus in his cell and they often sat and talked for hours – discussing the Scriptures, and praying together.

On the day that he was scheduled to die, Valentinus left her a note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty.  He signed it “Love from your Valentine”.  He had enclosed a flower and as she opened the note, the flower dropped out and her sight was restored.

That first note was written on the day he died – 14 February 269 AD.  And the tradition of exchanging love notes – on Valentine’s day – has continued with growing momentum over the centuries, until it is the huge commercial thing it is now.

WHY?   Because we all need to be loved!

I think John Lennon got it right – more than he thought – when he wrote that song in the early 70’s -  ‘All you need is love ……… love is all you need’.

He probably wasn’t thinking of the Biblical teaching of Christian love, but the words apply anyway.  The lyrics of most songs refer to love ….. you either have it,  or you want it …. Or you have just lost it!!

In the western world, when we say ‘love’ we can mean so many different things. Love is a word we kind of throw around:

I  love pasta, I love  my husband, I love my friends,  I love my job, my country, my favourite rugby or cricket or football side .. I can love my car, BUT,…….. I don’t love my husband Geoff, in the same way that I love my children,  pasta or my car …, it can all be quite confusing!

The Litany we have just prayed through tells of the types of love referred to in the Bible.

1. The Agape Love shown to us by God through Jesus.
2. Koinonia & Storge which is that caring & compassionate  love which is in action in the world.
3. Philial love is very similar  – it’s the love we have for our brothers and sisters & friends in the family of Christ.
4. Eros is romantic love. Lt includes the sexual expression of  love that God created us to share within the sanctity of marriage between a man and a woman.

The Greeks thought that this Erotic love provided the ultimate ‘religious experience’ , and this was the problem that Paul approached in his first letter to the Corinthians.  In Corinth, there was the Temple to Aphrodite, the Greek goddess of love and beauty and fertility – along with about 1000 temple prostitutes – so Paul found it necessary to explain what the higher forms of love were for the Christian – and the living out of that love shown by God for His people.

There is nothing at all wrong with Eros love – the sexual love – when it is appropriately expressed – after all God created it.  As Nicky Gumbel says in one of the Alpha sessions – God didn’t look down on his creation of men and women and wonder ‘what on earth are they up to now?’   Enjoyable sex was part of his plan, but certainly not the whole plan!

The Greeks held Eros love as the highest form of love or religion in action whereas for Christians, the highest form is Agape love.  It stands at the heart of what is commonly referred to in all the Biblical teachings on Christian love – and includes all love for neighbor, friend & family.

Jesus explained the self-sacrificial nature of Agape love in John 15 : 12,13 when he said

This is My commandment, that you love one another, just as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends.

Agape love means to have at heart, the genuine welfare and the best interests of the one who is loved.  ….. kindness, respect and loyalty and it includes commitment and motivation to maintain a relationship even in the face of problems.

Take this couple –  with no extra cash to outlay on expensive gifts or even to spend on Valentine’s Day cards –  so what did they do to share their love?

Off they would go to Cardies and stand together at the Valentine’s Day card section, and he would read the verses on the cards to her & she would pick some to read to him.   It worked really fine for that loving couple, but I have a feeling that not many women, or men,  would accept that!

Even though it’s not easy to admit, Human love is largely conditional.

©       I love you because you’re cute

©       I love you because you take care of me

©       I love you because you are fun to be with.

And because human love is based on feelings, it can change from one moment to the next – especially in women.  [tell me I’m right guys!]

God’s love on the other hand – God’s AGAPE love for us is so far beyond any human definition of love that it is hard to comprehend.   It is totally unconditional.

In 1 John 4 : 8 we read ‘Whoever does not have love, does not know God because God is love’ – that is His nature – unchanging – just the pure essence of love. …… and we are the objects of that love ….. and that is the nature of the love we are to share one with another.

God loves each one of us and has sent us each a Valentine’s Day card – it’s in the form of the Cross.

I believe that we can only really understand the truth of God’s incredible love for us in relation to the Cross of Jesus.

John 3 : 16

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Jesus Christ – the Son of God- died for our sins – died in our place – out of absolutely incredible love for us – love that we don’t deserve  at all.

It is truly an amazing love!

Romans 5 : 6 – 8

You see at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly.  Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.  But God demonstrates his own love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

AND God’s love has no conditions at all.   Nowhere does God say:

I’ll sacrifice my Son, if you promise to love me.

Or……..

As soon as you clean up your act, I’ll love you!

We didn’t have to get clean and get super good –  and we didn’t have to make any promises to God before we could experience His love.

God’s love for us has always existed and because of that , He did all the giving and sacrificing long before we were even aware that we needed His love!

God’s love is just so different from human love.  He doesn’t love us because we’re lovable,  or because we make Him feel good – God loves because that is His nature – He is love – our human logic can’t understand that sort of love – we just have to experience it.

We were created to live in a loving relationship with God – just as in the beginning there was that relationship with Adam and Eve.  God gave His only Son, who willingly died for us, to restore that relationship when it was broken through their selfish greed for godly power and wisdom.

God’s Love is the greatest thing we can possess as Christians ….  It lasts forever.

Unlike the Valentine Cards which some may receive and others not, God’s Love is not just for a few.

God’s love is for you and for me and for everyone!

AND, it’s not just for February 14^th – God’s love is for every day of the year.

Each day is Valentine’s Day when you are the beloved of God.    All you need is His love -   God’s love is all you need!

Receive it and share it – don’t keep it a secret!

AMEN