Reflect: What do you think of first when you hear the word “love?” Maybe hearts, Valentine’s Day, your parent or trusted adult, your dog, or your favorite food. In “Love is the Way,” Bishop Michael Curry points out that in English, we only have one word for love. But love is so much more than one thing! The love we usually talk about is romantic love (eros) or brotherly love (philia). The love in today’s Gospel passage is something else entirely. The Gospel writer is using the Greek word agape, which Bishop Curry defines as sacrificial love that seeks the good and well-being of others, of society, of the world. This kind of love is not primarily about feelings, though it includes affection. It is about action. Read the Scripture passage with this in mind. Jesus is commanding us to love one another, with the love that flowed from God to Jesus and from Jesus to all of us. How does the passage change when you think of love as action and not as feelings? When it’s about other people and not you? Look line by line at the passage. In the Spark Bible story we are reminded God's LOVE is forever! How good is that?
Respond: I love watching small children explore peer relationships because anyone is capable of being a friend. Whoever is nearby can be a friend. Whoever is crying can be a friend. Even when a child is treated unkindly by another child, they will often continue being a friend. It’s not about what the child will receive from the friendship or weighing what costs might be associated with it. I think these young relationships align more closely with what Jesus preaches today than many of our adult friendships.
- How might you be more childlike and Christlike in your friendships?
- How might you nurture friendships during the pandemic?
- How have you been blessed by friendships?
Explore these questions with small children and help them articulate the blessings received and shared with friends. How do they show LOVE in their friendships?
Beloved, let's love one another.
