Give Yourself to Love
1 John 5:1-6, John 15:9-17
May 17 2009
Caroline Anders.

"Love one another as I have loved you." Now, I'm guessing that all of you have heard that quote before. I wouldn't be surprised if love is Jesus' favorite word. In the Gospel from today, Jesus says love 9 times! Of course, that is nothing compared to the number of times the word or meaning of love is used in the twenty-first century. Everything seems to be love related somehow whether it be songs that get stuck in your head, TV shows that leave you on the edge of your seat, the books on the best seller list, or even the comics in the Sunday paper.

EVERYTHING seems to be love. But even though everyone seems to be interested in love, almost everyone at one time in their life has to decide whether to love or not. Do I buy a pet, even though I know it will chew up all my furniture? Do I go out with him or her even though he or she might end up breaking my heart? Do I try this disgusting creation that my mom calls food just to make her feel better? So why should we love? Isn't it easier to just not love and not have to worry about all this stuff? Just to care about yourself and nobody else?
The answer as you probably have guessed is yes. Love is a big hassle and a big pain. Supposedly 60 percent of marriages end in divorce and over 50 percent of women who are murdered are killed by their spouse or boyfriend. So why does the human race still fall in love?

Saint Augustine of Hippo said something important about love which is often attributed to the poet Alfred Lord Tennyson, "It is better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all."

Writing this sermon, I started thinking about all the love in my life, and I realized how true that statement is. "It is better to have loved and lost then never to have loved at all." One of the main places I see love in my life is in my gerbil, Leo. I keep asking myself, "I know Leo is going to die someday and I'll be broken-hearted. So why did I get him in the first place?"

Then I read Luke 6:38, which says, "Give, and it will be given to you," and I realized that in loving Leo, or anything else for that matter, I not only get the love in return, but I get more. The love that I send to Leo comes back to me multiplied. By having Leo as a pet, I also realized how good it feels to be loved. I can tell just by the way Leo looks at me as he eats seed after seed that he loves me very much. Yeah, he has escaped from his cage and chewed on the furniture, but the amount of trouble he creates in no comparison to the amount of joy he brings me. Even when he hides under my bed and I can't get him out, I still love him, and I know that he still loves me. Love gives me the energy to make a difference in the world.

Robert F. Kennedy said, "Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly." Even if Leo were to die in five seconds, I wouldn't have failed.. I would have achieved love.

The chorus of one of my favorite songs goes like this: "You must give yourself to love, if love is what you're after. Open up your hearts to the tears and laughter, and give yourself to love, give yourself to love." I really have given myself to love. To the love of my family, dance, music, the little baby plants I'm growing, and so much more. Of course all of these things are a pain sometimes. But you see, I have given myself to love because love is what I'm after. And the love I get in return is so much more than I can describe.

The last verse of the same song is a bit more confusing. It goes like this: "Love in born in fire; it's planted like a seed. Love can't give you everything, but it will give you what you need. Love comes when you are ready; it comes when you're afraid; it will be your greatest teacher, the best friend you have made."

Wait a minute... after all the good things I said about love, this verse doesn't sound so uplifting. Love can't give you everything... love comes when you're afraid... that doesn't sound so good. So, with all the love there seems to be in the world, how come the world isn't perfect?

I think the answer is this: If the world were perfect, we wouldn't know how lucky we are. We'd be so used to love that we wouldn't know how lucky we are to have it. We wouldn't realize all the love in songs that get stuck in your head, TV shows that leave you on the edge of your seat, the books on the best seller list, or the comics in the Sunday paper. One day would just be the same as the next: love, love, and more love.

These lyrics don't mean that love is bad. They mean that the love of God will take care of you no matter what happens. Love can't give you everything... and love comes when you're afraid... mean that the love of God gives you just enough so that you can learn how to love one another. The world wasn't made to be perfect. It was made so we could learn how to make it the best we can. It was made so that we can give ourselves to love.


©2009 Caroline Anders.