Homily for February 24, 2019

Love is difficult. Yes, love “makes the world go round,” as the old song tells us. Can we imagine what our lives would be like without the familial bonds of love that have sustained us since our infancy? Still, both showing love and feeling loved can often be difficult. Sometimes the people we love the most can be, to say the least, very irritating. Although we believe we can trust that God loves us, we may not always feel well-loved by the people in our lives.  Our expectations of the ways love should be expressed can get in the way of what the Lord really asks of us: that we love others unconditionally, as He loves us.
Our Old Testament lesson for today provides a remarkable example of that ability to love unconditionally. At this point in Joseph’s life, he has lived in Egypt for many years. He now serves as one of the highest-ranking officials in the court of the Pharaoh. Joseph is a man of great power. Now his brothers—the very brothers who hated him and sold him as a slave so many years before—have shown up in Egypt, victims of a famine that grips the entire region. Joseph possesses the power to throw the whole lot of them into prison, even to execute them, but that is not what he does.
Joseph reveals to his brothers who he is, and before they can even open their mouths to plead for his mercy, Joseph forgives them, invites them to bring his father and all their families to live in Egypt, and promises to provide for them there. What kind of love and amazing grace would it require for Joseph—for anyone in his situation—to forgive the very brothers who first plotted to kill him and then sold him into slavery?  Faithful Joseph has understood, and explains to his stricken brothers, that all of the terrible things that happened to him as a result of their cruelty were part of God’s plan for their family. Joseph’s gifts are not ones that many of us possess. He was an interpreter of dreams, and as a young man, was given a dream that foretold his future greatness. He knew he could trust his God, and he lived through slavery and false imprisonment to fulfill those dreams and rescue his family.
Is there a better example than Joseph’s of how difficult, but ultimately rewarding, love can be? Chapter 13 of Paul’s first letter to the church at Corinth has been called a “hymn to love,” and is often shared at weddings. A close reading of Paul’s words, however, suggests that Paul clearly understood how difficult faithful love can be. Listen again to his words: “Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way. It is not irritable or resentful…It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” Even if we admit how very difficult it is to behave lovingly in these ways that Paul describes, my bet is that we agree love is worth the effort.
The collect appointed for today, for this the 7th Sunday in the season of Epiphany, is one of my favorites. In fact, when I saw the lessons for today and this beautiful collect, I thought at first that I had hit the preaching jackpot. In my own life of prayer and worship, I have come to believe the simple but powerful truth that “God is love,” as we are told in 1st John 4:8. Today’s collect begins, “O Lord, you have taught us that without love, whatever we do is worth nothing.”  Pondering those words, I had to admit that there are far too many things we humans do that are not in any way driven by love—except maybe our love for ourselves. Are all these things truly worth nothing in the Lord’s eyes?
Hear again Jesus’s words from today’s lesson from Luke: “I say to you that listen, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you. If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also; and from anyone who takes away your coat, do not withhold even your shirt. Give to everyone who begs from you; and if anyone takes away your goods, do not ask for them again. Do to others as you would have them do to you.”  Yes, love is very difficult, but it is what we are called to express in every action we undertake.
Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Many centuries before Jesus brought this message of love and forbearance to the people of his day, his ancestor Joseph fully illustrated what it means to love one’s enemies. In some ways, Joseph’s forgiving his brothers and showering them with generosity is a most powerful example of what Jesus teaches. Isn’t it more challenging to forgive a loved one who betrays you than a stranger who wrongs you in some way?
How can we manage to live our lives in love? The people I’ve known who truly seem to embody the love and kindness described by Jesus, and I would include my mother in that number, have been people of great humility. Love is not simply a feeling to them; it is the way they walk through life: with kindness, patience, and generosity, never putting themselves first. I would also add hope to that list of qualities. Without the kind of hope in the Lord that Joseph possessed, how can anyone be as humble as we are asked to be? Yes, love is difficult.
Jesus reminds us that we never walk alone on this difficult journey. He says, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven; give, and it will be given you.” What can we expect from our trust in the companionship of a loving God? Jesus says, “A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back.”  “For the measure you give will be the measure you get back.” A measure of love…
Today’s collect reminds us to pray for the the Holy Spirit to provide us with what we need to survive along the path of humble love: “O Lord, you have taught us that without love whatever we do is worth nothing: Send your Holy Spirit and pour into our hearts your greatest gift, which is love, the true bond of peace and of all virtue, without which whoever lives is accounted dead before you. Grant us this for the sake of your only Son Jesus Christ.”  As difficult as love can sometimes seem, maybe it would be helpful to remember another promise Jesus made to us: “Ask and it shall be given you, seek and you shall find.” May it be so, Lord. AMEN.