This Is Love
It's amazing how the Church focuses our attention on the robust definition of love from God's perspective as we approach Judgement Sunday!
“Love is a many splendid things…” or so the song goes. And we hear a lot about love repeatedly, don’t we?
But what if our definition of love is wrong or too small? What if we get love wrong? What if missing the real meaning of love has such dire consequences that it ends up being the exact opposite of true love?
It sounds like we had better get this right, dear ones. The stakes are too high to mess this up.
God isn’t silent about this. He even reveals to His Beloved Disciple John that He IS love. So, we can rest assured that how God defines love is how love really is. Our humble willingness to embrace this love is the only issue to be settled.
Look at our Lesson today in 2 John 1:1-13:
The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth, and not only I but also all who know the truth, because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us for ever:
Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.
I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children following the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father. And now I beg you, lady, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we follow his commandments; this is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you follow love. For many deceivers have gone out into the world, men who will not acknowledge the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh; such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Look to yourselves, that you may not lose what you have worked for, but may win a full reward. Any one who goes ahead and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God; he who abides in the doctrine has both the Father and the Son. If any one comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into the house or give him any greeting; for he who greets him shares his wicked work.
Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink, but I hope to come to see you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.
The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.
This is the entire “book” (better to say “Epistle”) of 2nd John, which turns out to be a letter to a “lady” and her “children.” Many have concluded that St. John refers to the Church of a particular area and its congregation. So, that would mean that the “elect sister” he refers to at the end of this letter is also a church, probably the Church at Ephesus, where John was at the time.
But notice St. John’s warning in this letter. Again, John, known as the Apostle of Love because of his emphasis on love in his writings, does the same here. And he uses strong language when he writes that he begs the Church to remember our commandment since the beginning: Love one another.
St. John goes on to insist that when we love one another, we should:
Insulate ourselves from wrong theology, precisely wrong beliefs about Who Jesus is!
He says that anyone who abandons the “doctrine of Christ,” that is, the consistent understanding of Who Jesus is preserved in the Church, actually becomes an “antichrist.” And just what identity of Jesus is John referring to? Simply this: Jesus Christ has come in the Flesh. In other words, theology is the belief in the Incarnation. This fidelity to the message of the Church IS what true love looks like!
Preserve and promote the consistent teaching of the Church regarding the The Lord’s Identity, that teaching that says that Jesus Christ is God in the Flesh, born of a Virgin, lived a sinless life, died an actual death on the Cross, buried in a real tomb, and physically resurrected, seen by His disciples and others alive after His crucifixion, taught the disciples after His resurrection, ascended in His flesh, His resurrected physical body to the right hand of the Father, and Who will come again in that same physical body a second time to gather His Body, the Church to Himself and cause the general resurrection of the dead of all of humanity.
This is what Love looks like. This is True Love!
It turns out that true love isn’t some emotional feeling or a romantic situation. True Love is the embrace of God sending His Son to make us humans who we were meant to be—the eternal and loving companions of our loving Creator!
St. Timothy the Righteous was an Italian monk towards the end of the 8th century. He entered monastic life at a young age and was single-mindedly focused on being obedient and pious. His dedication to the disciplines of the ascetic life distinguished this man in his humble and simple piety. So much so that he was given the gift of healing the sick and casting out demons. He spent many years as a hermit wandering around Mount Olympus, where his monastery was. He would constantly pray and minister to anyone who came across his path. He reposed in peace “at a great old age,” according to his peers. This hero of the Faith embodied this heavenly definition of love.
Today, what do you believe about Jesus Christ? Without this foundational teaching, you will never understand the Church’s wisdom in seriously practicing Great Lent! Truthfully, anyone can see what you believe by how you live. So, the better question is, what does your way of life say about Who you believe Jesus Christ is, and do you know what true love is? The answer determines whether you are a Normal Orthodox Christian or not!
P.S. You did rise up from the East like a most bright star, shining with the splendor of the virtues of your miracles within the hearts of all faithful men, O wonder worker of godly mind, Timothy.
Fr. Barnabas Powell is the parish priest at Sts. Raphael, Nicholas, and Irene Greek Orthodox Church in Cumming, GA. He is also the founder of Faith Encouraged Ministries and produces the Faith Encouraged Daily Devotional on Substack. Watch the Faith Encouraged YouTube Channel here - https://www.youtube.com/@FaithEncouragedTV
