Today is Valentine’s Day; a day on which we celebrate love. While there are a variety of opinions and a variety of experiences surrounding today’s observance, I invite us to pause for a moment and consider God’s love. I was attending a worship service recently and the preacher asked the question, “Do you know that God loves you?” I thought about it, as she asked it, and assented, “yes I know that.” She then offered a follow up question, “How have you experienced God’s love?” This one caught me by surprise, caught me off guard, and has caused me to really think – how HAVE I experienced God’s love? I know I can point to instances throughout my life, when I have definitely had a tangible experience of the love of God, but I’ve struggled with answering this question with a recent example, and to tell you the truth, this has made me a little sad.
But I don’t want to wallow in my sadness, because I know that this has more to do with the season of my life than with how God feels about me. I know deep in my heart that God does love me and that by remembering those moments when I have experienced God’s love in a tangible way, I find assurance now. And how have I experienced God’s love? Usually it’s through God’s people; people who have taken the time to hear me, see me and care for me. I recall one instance, when the church I was serving couldn’t pay me because we had to cancel several weeks of worship services due to poor weather. So one church member ensured we didn’t go hungry. She had my wife and I over for dinner every day, for three weeks, until we started getting paid again. She knew that whatever meager income my wife was bringing in at the time would need to be used for other things, so she relieved one area of financial stress and provided us with meals. As I continue to reflect back on that season, I am reminded that she was not intentionally setting out to show God’s love. It was just who she was and what she did. She showed hospitality and fed people.
So what about you and your congregation? How are you experiencing God’s love and how are you showing it, both intentionally and unintentionally?