Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, February 10th, 2019

Fifth Sunday after Epiphany, February 10th, 2019

On February Fourteenth of every year we celebrate St. Valentine's Day.  But the majority of the world seems to leave off the "Saint" part of it and simply celebrates "Valentine's Day."  As soon as the Christmas displays come down in the stores, the "Valentine's Day" displays goes up and the shelves are filled with candies, heart-shaped boxes, balloons, stuffed animals, etc.  The stores would have us believe that we show off our love by spending the most money.  But, truth be known, they also have this attitude when it comes to Christmas as well:   . . .  if you REALLY love that person, spend LOTS and LOTS of money on the most expensive gifts.  Commercialism has ruined most holidays, it would seem.  Let me go out and buy flowers, . . .  candy,  . . .  jewelry, . . . a meal at an expensive restaurant, . . . .  a Hallmark card, . .  . . etc, etc, etc.    I don't think there is necessarily anything wrong with buying someone you love a nice gift but love should be measured by more than how much money we spend on a gift.  It is good to love.  It is good to show love.  But the point I am trying to make is that love is not shown solely and exclusively by purchasing the most expensive gifts.  Additionally, love is something that we should work on doing all year long and not just around the Fourteenth of February. 

If we read the Thirteenth Chapter of St. Paul's Letter to the Romans, we hear the following:  " OWE no man any thing, but to love one another . . . ."  Then St. Paul goes on to say that if we love one another we have fulfilled the law (Chapter 13:8)  This advice seems pretty simple but it also sounds pretty difficult at the same time.  In other words, it is really easy for me to show love to those who are good to me.  It is really difficult, on the other hand, to love those who really tick me off.  And yet as Christians we know that Our Blessed Saviour did not make a distinction between the two: those that are easy to love and those who are difficult to love.  It's easy to love those that are good to us, that treat us well, that are fun and naturally happy.   It's easy to love those who do nice things for us and treat us nicely.  It's very easy to love people like that.  But as I say, St. Paul never made a distinction between how to treat nice people as opposed to how to treat not-so-nice people.  And I am not aware of Our Lord making a distinction, either.  In fact, in the sixth chapter of St. Luke's Gospel, we hear Our Lord speaking:  "But I say unto you which hear, Love your enemies, do good to them which hate you, Bless them that curse you, and pray for them which despitefully use you." (St. Luke 6: 27-28)  And then He goes on to say:  "And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise.  For if ye love them which love you, what thank have ye?  for sinners also love those that love them.  And if ye do good to them which do good to you, what thank have ye?  for sinners also do even the same."  (vv 31-32)  And, finally, Our Lord states plainly:  "But love ye your enemies, and do good and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest . . . " (v. 35)

We are indeed children of the Highest if we follow His commandments in our lives.  And following the commandments of God is sometimes pretty easy and straightforward.  But other times, following Our Lord can be a bit trickier like showing love to those whom we admittedly do not like very much.  But going back to what we were saying earlier:  we are commanded by Our Blessed Lord . . . . again, He does not suggest . . . He does not recommend . . . He does not state to only do when we feel like it . . . . He commands us to love one another:  "A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another." (St. John 13:34)  Certainly, Our Blessed Saviour, as I like to say, "talked the talk and walked the walk."  In other words, Our Lord preached not only through His words but also, first and foremost, by His actions.  And He wants us to do the same as faithful, committed Christians.  He wants us to love not only those who love us but to also love those who do not love us in return.  Again, He wants us to love our enemies.  Isn't this what He did?  He showed love to those who were His enemies.  In fact, once again, He told us to do likewise:  "But I say to you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which spitefully use you, and persecute you . . . " (St. Matthew 5:44)  Certainly, this is not easy to do and it is something we will often fail at.  But if we want to grow in our Christian fidelity . . . . if we want to grow in our faithfulness . . .  if we want to be more Christ-like . . .  then we should be willing not only to follow Our Lord's advice,  His commandment, and His example:  to love those who love us . . . . to love those who hate us . . . to love those who do not love themselves.  And by doing this we are showing the world a reflection of God's love found in us.  February Fourteenth, Saint Valentine's Day, is a good reminder that we should love and that we should show love all year around.  We should show the love of God the whole year long to everyone we come in contact with.

St. Margaret Church meets each and every Sunday morning at 9:30 AM.  We worship at the beautiful Chapel at Marquette Manor, located at 8140 N. Township Line Road on the Northwest side of Indianapolis.  We use the King James Bible and the 1928 Book of Common Prayer.  Come join us as we listen to God speak to us through His Word.  At Communion time, we receive the Precious Body and Blood of Christ to nourish us and give us strength for our journey called life.