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 A collective reflection on Hope, Peace, Joy, and LoveFriday, December 27, 2024 |
| Loving Others as Jesus Loved John 15:9-17 About a year ago, my parents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary, and it was a privilege to share in their joy with many friends and family. As they shared some memories of their life together, it was clear there had been a few grand displays of love between them over the years: a surprise trip to Hawaii, a few gifts of fancy jewelry, faithful attendance at a hospital bedside during a prolonged illness. However, what struck me most was how those grand displays were the exception, not the rule. Over the course of 50 years together, my parents’ love had more regularly been shown through what David Foster Wallace calls “being able truly to care about [each other] and to sacrifice for them over and over in myriad petty little unsexy ways every day.” I couldn’t help but think of that kind of daily sacrificial love as I reflected on Jesus’ words in John 15 when Jesus tells us that his “command is this: love each other as [He] has loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” This command can feel like it requires a grand gesture from us, perhaps some public, large-scale sacrifice of our life for another. And indeed, there are exceptional circumstances where such a sacrifice might be required. But for most of us, most of the time, I think the laying down of our lives for our friends is a much more mundane, much more daily kind of act. The kind where we love one another through the delivery of a meal, the generous taking on of some responsibility that is rightfully another’s, or simply having the grace to forgive a friend or family member yet again. Christmas Day can also feel like a day for grand gestures: the whole family gathered together, presents exchanged, and a special meal enjoyed. But again, Christmas stands out because it is so special and exceptional. As we move past Christmas and look ahead to the resumption of “normal time,” let us keep in mind Jesus’ call to love those around us sacrificially on a daily basis. By Marc Gibbens PRAYER FOR TODAY Heavenly father, we thank you for the special season of Advent and for the opportunity to celebrate your arrival in our world. We are grateful for the redemption your arrival heralded for us. As we look forward to a new year and moving back toward a normal routine, we pray for your love to fill our hearts and enable us to love others as you have loved us. Give us a spirit that looks beyond our own needs and that looks to meet the needs of those around us. Amen. DOWNLOAD ECHOES OF HOPE PDF BOOKLET |
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