This weekend includes Valentine’s Day. There are more flowers and chocolates sold this week than any other time of the year. It’s good to be the owner of a florist or a candy shop this time of year, to be sure! I imagine that lots and lots of shoe boxes are emptied from our closets in order for our children and grandchildren to make Valentine Card boxes for school.
There are many things that daily remind us of the love between others: candy, roses, special dinners, parties at school – the list goes on and on. Many of us, in our childhood, remember receiving a note, written out on those large lined tablets we used to use in elementary school with the words (or something similar to it): “I like you. Do you like me? Check yes or no.” (There would be little boxes drawn next to those two responses for you to check and secretly return to the sweetheart who sent it.) If you had responded “yes,” then it was official—you now had a girl/boyfriend!
We witness many, many signs of God’s love every day. Each Sunday, the task of worship is to express the true love of God for all of His children. Of course, after making our confession, the rest of the worship experience is all about God’s forgiveness, mercy, and compassion. As we remind the children of our congregation, we have a “valentine” every time we walk into the nave: in our rose window – which depicts Martin Luther’s Coat-of-Arms” – we can see a heart in the center of the picture that bears a black cross. At the heart of our theology stands the cross – black to represent the sin that Jesus bore on our behalf – and yet the cross is empty pointing to the hope we have in Christ – who died to give us eternal love and life.
This Sunday is the day of the Transfiguration of our Lord. It is one of the most beautiful and yet most mysterious stories of the whole Gospel. It’s hard to know exactly what happened that day. One thing we do know is that Jesus’ heavenly Father reminds our Lord of His love for Him. At His baptism, God told Him that Jesus was “His beloved Son, of whom He was well pleased.” (Mark 1:11) God is always encouraging to His children. If we follow His word, we can live well in this life. As Jesus is transfigured – changed completely – Mark says that Moses and Elijah appear in this almost magical apparition. How they knew it was Moses and Elijah is also a mystery. There weren’t any physical accounts of how they looked in those days. Somehow – probably by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – they just knew who they were.
With the great Law Giver and the great Prophet standing with Jesus, the Father says to the Son: “This is My Son, whom I dearly love. Listen to Him!” This message was directed to Peter, James, and John, who were also with Jesus on the mountain at this time. But it is also a message for each of us to heed – “Listen to Him!” is the command of the Transfiguration! In love and reverence to Jesus Christ, we are to go and love others in the same way! The Bible is God’s constant “note” saying to us every day: “I love you. Do you love me?” There is no place to check “yes” or “no,” only to respond in love to our neighbors. Let us do likewise – love as He has loved us (John 13:34). So—this Valentines weekend – love one another!
God loves you and so do we!
Pastor Jim