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Romans
12:9-16

 

Let love be genuine. Abhor what is evil; hold fast to what is good. Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor. Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Contribute to the needs of the saints and seek to show hospitality.

 

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse them. Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be conceited. (ESV)

 

 

What Love Is 

The Visitation

31 May 2012

I know very well how easy it is to talk about the fruit of the Spirit in a legalistic way. To my shame, I've done it! It is not so simple as delivering the list, and then exhorting people to do the things in the list. In the first place, lists are problematic. It is hard to juggle all the things in a list so as to get them all right. This is why we actually write lists. My wife is a tenacious list-maker. She steadfastly refuses to go grocery shopping without a well thought-out list, saying, "If I don't have a list I will not get everything I need." So just knowing that there is a list of things necessary, doesn't mean that we will remember what is in the list.  Second, while a list may be a summary, a summary always implies what it summarizes. In other words, a list points to a larger complex of meaning that stands behind the list. For example, that is what is so powerful about Paul's "love chapter" in 1 Corinthians 13; it implies the whole work of Jesus Christ, who is Himself love in the flesh. The whole chapter exudes the presence of God's Son. The next time you read it substitute the precious name of Jesus for the word "love," and you will have a clear idea of what I mean.

 

It is much easier to remember a list with but one element. This is why in Gal 5:22-23 Paul begins his list of the fruit of the Spirit with its most important element: love. The list thereafter is merely an expansion on what love actually looks like in concrete terms. Notice too that Paul calls the list 'the fruit of the Spirit,' not the fruits of the Spirit. "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law" (Gal 5:22-23). This is a unified whole, united in love, which is at the head of the list. What is this love like? Like Christ, the church's children seek to give themselves away to all and especially to their fellow believers. What does it look like? It looks like Christ, who loved those who hated Him, dishonored Him, mistreated Him, mocked Him, and crucified Him, namely us. They certainly did not merit His love, but He offered it to them, despite and even because of their hatred of Him.

 

So much of the love talk today is about merit in the beloved. We choose to love others because they meet a standard that can be reduced to a check list: "She is beautiful. Check. She can cook. Check. She has good humor. Check. And she thinks I am wonderful. Double check!" Finally, such a list indicates the very opposite of love. Love can never be merited, because it is such a costly gift. And it is a gift. It can only be given, never earned. To earn love is simply a subtle prostitution. If others serve us we consider them worthy of our regard, whereas love always regards others as more worthy than ourselves. That is the regard which God has for us in Christ and thus the regard we have for others who share in the life of Christ with us. That's what love is. 
 

Martin Luther

 

"It is sufficient to set forth love alone. For it expands into all the fruit of the Spirit, as in 1 Corinthians 13 Paul attributes to it all the fruit, which are created by the Spirit, when he says, 'Love is patient and kind, etc.' (1Co 13:4). Here (Gal 5:22-23) Paul particularly wants to count love among the fruits of the Spirit and to place it at the head of the list, so as to encourage Christians that above all they should mutually love one another and outdo one another in honoring each other through love and each consider the other to be more outstanding than himself. This happens on account of the indwelling of Christ and the Holy Spirit, which the Christian has because of the Word, baptism, and the other divine gifts."

 

Martin Luther, Lectures on Galatians, 5.20  

 

Prayer                          

Almighty God, You chose the virgin Mary to be the mother of Your Son and made known through her Your gracious regard for the poor and lowly and despised. Grant that we may receive Your Word in humility and faith, and so be made one with Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

 

For the shut in members of Memorial Lutheran Church, Juanita Duffala, Vivienne Kasper, Irene Schroeder, Helen Brezina, Joyce Backs, and Don Porter, that the Lord Jesus would continue to give them patients in the midst of their tribulation

 

For the District Conventions of the LCMS, that they may be for the mutual consolation of the brothers and the upbuilding of the body of Christ

 

For those who despise the mystery of the holy Trinity, that the Holy Spirit would give them understanding of and confidence in the divine promises
 

Art: GANDOLFI, Ubaldo The Visitation (c. 1767)

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