John 15:9-17
I’ve noticed that most of the sermons I’ve given and many of those that I’ve heard over the years have been built around the love that God has for us. The word love is used 232 times in the New Testament, and 319 times in the Old Testament. We have talked before about repetition in the Bible. When something is repeated more than once it points up its importance to the message God wishes to deliver to us. I would think that repeating something 551 times definitely shows us the importance of the word love.
The concept of love is a slippery one, especially in English. When speaking of love among people I’ve noticed that we tend to have to talk all around it to get to the main point. In the English language we are restricted to one word, whereas Hebrew and Greek have many words to cover the idea of love.
In the Hebrew the words translated as love are ahab, ahabah, chashaq, racham and others. These words in Hebrew, or in Greek, agape, eros and filios, are used to mean specific types of love. It can mean a strong emotional attachment to and a desire for someone or an object; or the love of a man for a woman or a woman for a man. Or the love between a husband and wife as a general concept, including the sexual side of marriage; the joining of two people into one union. Or it can mean to have compassion toward someone, or feelings of mercy or pity.
The idea of love is like looking at a painting. Now, I may not have any idea of what makes up a good painting, but I know what I like. It may not fit the image in the mind of an art critic, or the painter, but when I look at a painting I know if I like it or not. I may not be able to put it into words, sometimes, but inside I know what is good from my point of view. It’s the same with the idea of love. I may not be able to describe it, but I know it when I see it. Love is a very personal emotion.
What brought this to mind was a little trip I made the other day. There is a gentleman at the Grassy Creek Mall, located in the old Roses store, in Spruce Pine, NC. He will mix up personalized perfumes and let you try it before you buy. He used to do this on a street corner, but now he’s inside. He also sells things like incense and incense burners, and other stuff. He gives everyone who visits his booth a gift.
He said he used to give away worry stones, but he didn’t like the name. He didn’t want to give away worry. So now he gives away little red hearts made of glass. They can serve the purpose of the worry stone, because they are very smooth, but they don’t have the stigma of the name. With each one he advises the recipient to carry it around until they have someone special to give it to. Then, he says, give them your heart and your love.
I have visited with him several times, and he has given me two of these hearts. The first one I gave to Betty, of course, for she is my love. I know to whom I’m going to give the second one, and have carried it waiting for the right occasion.
When I pulled it out of my pocket the other day, I noticed that it had become chipped and scratched bouncing around among all the other stuff I carry in that pocket. I had wanted to give it away while it was still unmarked. Then I realized that we never give away our heart without scratches and chips in it.
Sometimes the scratches and chips come before we give it away and sometimes the person we give it to is careless with it and causes the scratches and chips. Just like this little red heart, our heart is very tough. I could rub on it for years without making a serious mark in it. But, just like this heart, our heart is also very fragile. This one is made of glass and if handled carelessly it could break, just like our own heart. Most of us have had our hearts broken once or twice and remember what it felt like.
But, when a heart is given in love, and received in love, it doesn’t break; it grows stronger.
Romans 13:10 Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
The true fulfillment of the law of God came when He sent his only begotten son to us. God gave His heart to us. He gave it to us unbroken, unscratched, and without any chips in it. However, when we received His love, His heart, we didn’t handle it with love and we broke it, scratched it and chipped it.
Jesus, the Christ, came to us as a gift. Freely given, as we give our hearts to others. Given with love, as we give ours to another person. When we give our heart, our love, to another person we expect them to treat it with care. God knew that His heart, His Son, would not be treated carefully. He knew that He would be scourged and beaten and hung from a cross. But, still he gave us His love, His heart, His Son.
We are the children of God. And, just like our children have done to us from time to time, and we did to our parents, we broke God’s heart. We took His Son and treated Him cruelly. I say we, even though we were not there in person, it was our sins that caused Him to be given in sacrifice. And, as God’s heart hung on the cross, He lifted His eyes toward heaven and said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
But, just as parent can still love their children when they do wrong, God still loves us. Just as a mother waits at home for her wandering child, God waits for us to return to Him. He waited for thousands of years for the children of Israel to come back to Him. Time after time, they wandered away and then, after they had been taken as slaves to a foreign land, God would rescue them and they would return to Him, only to wander again.
Finally, after all that time, He sent His heart, His Son, to us.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.
He knew that His heart would be broken. But, He gave us the chance to return to Him cleansed of all sin. To do this He took all of our sin and placed it on His Son, offered as a blood sacrifice for our salvation. He accepted the broken heart because He knew that it would lead us back to Him. Just as parents we accepted our broken hearts, and prayed to God that our children would return to us.
Whenever I see this glass heart I think of the sacrifice that was given for me and for you. I think of the pure unmarked heart, sinless and pure, that was nailed to that cross so many years ago. When I give this heart away, it will be to someone I love. It may be scarred and marked with tiny chips from bouncing around in my pocket, but it will still be given in love.
Whenever I see this heart, it reminds me of my mother, waiting up at night until we boys came home. She gave her heart to me, and I carried it around with me all these years. It took me a long time to learn to handle the heart with care, not to just slip in into my pocket to bounce around with my spare change and my pocket knife.
Hopefully, by learning to care for the heart my mother gave me, I can also care for the heart that God has given to me. I don’t want to put any more scars on it. I don’t want to chip it any more. I especially don’t want to break it.
The heart my mother gave me was precious. The heart that God has given me is infinitely more precious. He gives this heart to you, also. Handle it with care. Hold it close with your love that you give to God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We learn as we age that giving our heart to someone can sometimes be a chancy situation. But let us return what God gave us, and give our hearts into His care. He will not chip it, He will not break it, but, instead, He will fix it and hold it close in the palm of His hand.
Accept God’s heart, our Savior Jesus Christ, and give Him your heart in exchange. It’s a win-win situation, for no one will care for your heart more tenderly, or with more love than our God.
