The Sixth Sunday of Easter - May 10

Intentional Love
1 John 5:1-6
John 15:9-17

For the last few weeks there has been a lot of talk about love in the Scripture readings. Especially as we are working our way through the first Letter of John, and today also in the Gospel reading from John.

The Greek word translated love in these passages is agape. It’s a particular favorite of John and others in his community. Looking at just the noun agape, one article I read this week points out that Mark never uses the word; Matthew and Luke each use it only once; John uses it seven times (three in this morning’s reading); and it appears 18 times in the First Letter of John. If you counted the verbs derived from the same word, there would be even more in the Gospel and Letters of John. Agape refers to a particular kind of love.

You may have heard before that the English word “love” is asked to cover a very wide range of meanings. Other languages, including Greek, use more than one word to talk about different kinds of loves. C. S. Lewis’ book The Four Loves outlines four different kinds of love which he labels affection, friendship, eros, and charity.

So when Jesus says, in today’s Gospel, “This is my commandment: That you love one another as I have loved you,” what does he mean? Love one another as God loves us. Nothing to it, right?!

He’s talking about agape. Agape one another as God agape’s us. A lot has been written about agape. It has been described as self-giving love. A love that always desires the best for the other. It is sometimes translated “charity” in English Bibles.

This week I encountered a slightly new description of agape that I find very helpful. Intentional love. Agape is intentional love.

If you think about it, that may seem like an oxymoron in terms of how we usually describe love. Or if not an oxymoron, a negative, like “arranged marriage.” The glory of love is that it is unintentional. Love just happens. It grows wondrously on its own. Or it’s a gift. Love is unintentional.

But not agape. To be a Christian is to say to others: “I intend to love you.” I intend to love you.

With God’s help. So often in the Book of Common Prayer when we are praying for some aspect of our own Christian behavior, we add “with God’s help.” In last week’s Gospel reading from John, Jesus said, “I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.”

But with me, you can do what I do. If we are the branches connected to Jesus the vine, the same sap, the same strength, the same purpose that was in him is in us. With God’s help, we can (at least to some degree) love others as he loves us.

Agape. Intentional love.

It means: Be kind to people you don’t like. Be intentionally kind to people you don’t like.

Help people you don’t know. People half way around the world. People different from you. Act to help them.

And support those you do know. Do all you can to support and sustain people you do know so that their lives and faith can flourish.

And, always remember, God intentionally loves each one of us. No matter who we are, what we do, whether we are worthy or not, God intentionally loves each one of us. Always.