Happy Valentine’s Day!

It’s interesting, we don’t know a lot about the actual Saint Valentine. We only know that he was a priest or a bishop who was known to have cared for persecuted Christians and that he was eventually himself martyred somewhere around the year 250. That’s about the extent of it.

Well, I should add that we also know that from the late middle ages, his Feast Day, which is today, has been associated with love. And that he also happens to be the patron saint of epilepsy. Not real sure about the connection there…

But if it’s true about Saint Valentine, his love of Christ which led him to serve selflessly and ultimately to give his life for his faith, then the focus is appropriate. And it is especially appropriate for us as this is type of love that has long defined the Christian life.

The Apostle Paul writing to a very contentious church put it this way:

If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

And then, Paul adds these beautiful words:

 Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;  it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. 

And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

The great pastor and author William Sloane Coffin once wrote, “While Abraham lived to be a ripe old age, Jesus died young. “But didn’t both show us that it is by its content rather than by its duration that a lifetime is measured? Love and you are a success, whether or not the world thinks so. The highest purpose of Christianity… is to love.”

Let us pray: Holy God, We remember today, that you so loved the world that you gave your only son. We rejoice in your love for us – a love that walked this earth, that touched and felt human pain, that finally shattered the power of sin and death. We respond by loving you and by loving our neighbors; through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Some of the women in our church have developed a wonderful ministry. They make beautiful quilts that are then given away. Several years ago, two of our women sewed quilts for every veteran in our congregation. They keep up every year with new members. Some of their work also goes to women and children who are taking shelter from abusive relationships.

Furthermore, this group of women has created special prayer quilts for folks who are going through tough times. When they learn about someone in need, they place them in our church narthex. These quilts have loose strings hanging from the edges. Friends and fellow church members are invited to take a couple of the loose strings and tie them into a bow. As they do so, they pray for the person. By the time they receive a quilt, the quilt itself is full of prayers!

Renowned theologian, Karl Barth once wrote, “To clasp the hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.”

Let us pray, We thank you, O God, for all the people over the years who have prayed for us. We thank you for the ways in which prayers bind us closer to one another and to you. And we thank you for the way in which by being bound together, we find the seeds of healing, salvation, and peace. We entrust our loved ones again this day to your care; through Jesus Christ. Amen.

Albert Schweitzer, was a remarkably gifted author, thinker, musician, and theologian. He could have excelled in any one of those areas. In fact, before he was 30, he was a respected writer on theology, an accomplished organist, and an authority on the life and work of Johann Sebastian Bach. Instead, he chose to work in an African mission hospital as a doctor. He went to medical school for that purpose alone. For his many years of humanitarian efforts, Schweitzer was awarded the 1952 Nobel Peace Prize. He used his $33,000 Nobel Prize to expand the hospital and to build a leper colony.

Speaking to a graduating class of college students, Schweitzer once said, “I don’t know what your destiny will be, but one thing I know: the only ones among you who will be really happy are those who will have sought and found how to serve.”

I believe it. Here is someone of deep thought, tremendous intelligence, and integrity who practiced what he preached. I have also seen this played out over many years of ministry. Those who find a way to serve and give are by far the people most at peace.

Schweitzer also offered this piece of advice, “Do something for somebody every day for which you do not get paid.”

Beautiful!

Let us pray: Gracious God, you give and you give and you give. Your blessings rain down around us on every side. Thank you for creating us in your image. Thank you for the peace and joy that come with generous living. And thank you for people who inspire us to be the kind of people you created us to be. Today we especially pray for those who give sacrificially to us. We lift up teachers, nurses, firefighters, police officers, women and men in the military and their families back home – and others who serve us regularly. Bless them, protect them, and give them your grace. Amen.

I am reminded that Mr. Roger’s used to say that when tragedy struck, his mother always said, “Look for the helpers.” I think that is powerful in and of itself. But we might also ask ourselves, “How can I help?”

Yesterday, I mentioned holding on to the daily mantra, “How can I help?” I believe this was first coined by Ram Dass. Though he comes from a different spiritual tradition, I find it quite compelling.

There may very well be times when all I can do to help, is pray. But there are plenty of other times when I can jump in and help. There are times when I know I can make a contribution, and times I know I can actually make a difference.

What if we were to repeat this mantra to ourselves throughout the day, every day? Think about how repeating this to ourselves might change the way we see the world, and how it might change the way we see problems, conflict, and everyday need.

How can I help?

John Wesley once wrote, “Do all the good you can; by all the means you can; in all the ways you can; at all the times you can; to all the people you can; as long as ever you can.”

Let us pray: Loving God, in this world with so much suffering and need, there is still much goodness and love. We do need you. And today we ask for your healing and grace in our lives and in the life of the world. Fill us again with your Spirit, that even as we are being healed and made whole, you would use us as instruments of healing for others. We ask in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Today I want to suggest an exciting idea – I want you to try giving yourself away.

I once knew a man who suffered a nervous breakdown, during which he sat for months in gloom and mental darkness. One day I suggested he try to turn off his dark, depressing thoughts by practicing thanksgiving. I said, “Start thinking of people who greatly helped you in your life.”

So, he wrote an elderly school teacher, a Miss Elaine Smith, who had been a positive influence on his life. A reply came, written in the shaky handwriting of an aged lady. “Dear Willy,” she wrote, “When I read your letter I was blinded by tears, for I remember you as a boy, and as I think of you now I see you as a little fellow in my class. You have warmed my old heart. I taught school for fifty years. Yours is the first letter of thanks I ever received from a student, and I shall cherish it until I die.”

Friend of Dial Hope, writing a letter of thanks – a project like that – may involve taking a little time – but it’s an opportunity to give a little of yourself, and really that’s the best you can give. Strangely, when you give yourself, you find yourself.

Let us pray: God of hope, we come to you when our hope is vanquished, and our faith is small. We come to you when the promise of the “good life” has been found lacking when clothes and cuisine, cars, and cappuccinos become insufficient nourishment for the hunger of the human spirit. We come to you because we have nowhere else to go. O God, save us from ourselves; from self-indulgence, and self-idolization. Heal us from the sickness of the body but even more from the sickness of the soul. May we get caught up in the current of your compassion, the flood of your forgiveness and so lose ourselves in the wide ocean of your love. In the name of the risen Christ. Amen.