Love Always Lights the Way

Advent Week 4 – LOVE

By Paul Steiner, pastor, Tree of Life Church

John 8:12

Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

 Ephesians 5:8

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light

Colossians 1:3

He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son

 Matthew 5:14-16

You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house.  In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

John 15:12-13 

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.  Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

 

Love Always Lights the Way

By Paul Steiner

I grew up Baptist. That meant that I grew up with a sense of certainty about spiritual things. We Baptists were right, others were wrong, and we prioritized our mission to convert others to our way of believing.  We lived in the light, they lived in the darkness. We could see, they were “blinded by the god of this age.” Thinking back to those days it’s easy for me to miss that we Baptists were also on a mission to love. We weren’t just right, we were loving. At least that was my experience. I was loved well in the church. I gave my life to Jesus, twice, because he loved me, not because it was the right thing to do. All my doctrine and theology came afterward. The foundation was love.

The names and faces of the people from Calvary Baptist Church are etched into my whole being. (Sunday School teachers, deacons, choir members, and my friend’s parents were genuinely loving.) It was a week-by-week sacrificial love. Sunday School teachers taught at 9:30 AM after preparing on Wednesday evenings. The choir sang during the 11 AM Sunday service but always rehearsed on Wednesday night. Those who didn’t teach or sing met for the weekly prayer meeting. Deacons went door to door on Tuesdays to check on the congregation, especially if you had gone missing (smirk). The love didn’t start and stop at the church doors. Friday nights families gathered to visit until way too late at night. Sunday nights teens crashed at someone’s house when church let out at 8 PM. We went into the mountains together every winter for a family retreat. We went back in the summer for a week of family camp. It was imperfect, but it was rooted in love.  It was a two-decade long bubble of goodness for one experiencing so much chaos outside of the church. It was my light of love in the darkness.

During the last week of Advent we light a candle for love. It is a form of this prayer: God bring the light of your love into our darkness. And yet the answer to that prayer is often and literally you and me. Yes Jesus will physically return to the earth and we eagerly wait for His return and the full manifestation of his love. But in His absence, the Holy Spirit fills us with rivers of love to pour out. You and I are the carriers of the light of love. What we have freely received, we are to freely give.

It may be a bit more daunting to love others in 2022 than it was years ago. For many reasons we are divided, divisive, and exhausted in our decades of affluence. And this is true inside and outside the church. But just because it’s easier to see the enemies of Christ or our personal enemies, doesn’t mean we withhold love. The standard of love doesn’t change because someone rejects us or Christ. Its form does, but the substance remains. Jesus literally warned that we would be persecuted, admonished us to love our enemies, and assured us that His kingdom will not fail. We can’t control the world or the people that wish us ill, but we can pray for light in the world. And we can be His light in the world. 

His light isn’t a political movement or Christ would have left a political party as His body on earth. His light is the church. We can stay informed and vote, but we’re also to serve, practice hospitality, and help those who don’t like us, our ideas or our God. The plan is not to plead with darkness to leave. The plan is for us to shine our light, and where light shines darkness no longer exists. Let me say it one last time: until Christ returns, turn your love on and let it shine. Darkness doesn’t stand a chance against a church committed to loving well.

It’s toward the end of Advent. May you be filled with hope, peace, joy, and love. Christ has come, and he will come again.

Reflect:

In case you hadn’t noticed it’s not just those “out there” that need love. It’s also those “in here.” Perhaps this season you could ask God where you are to shine his love among Tree of Life, along with asking Him where to shine his love in our Valley. 

Let’s Pray:

God, guide us to the people and places that our light is meant to shine. Give us the courage to step out when we hear your prompting. So our light may shine in the darkness, remove all fear and replace it with love. We trust you; help us to trust you more.