The Love That Binds the Virtues of God

Colossians 3: 12-14 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.

Tracing back the history of Valentine's Day brings us to the third century and the Roman Emperor Claudius II. Legend has it that the Emperor had decreed that young men were not allowed to marry. Claudius believed that this would increase his army. Valentine, who was a minister disobeyed and performed marriage ceremonies in secret until caught. Sentenced to death, Valentine was visited in prison by many, including the daughter of the jailer. Supposedly, Valentine miraculously healed the daughter of blindness and before he was martyred, he sent her a note addressing her as "beloved" and signed it..."from your Valentine."

From this legend, Valentine's Day was born. A day set aside to celebrate human love. But as we convey our love this season, let us not forget from where love comes:

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 1John 4: 7-12

Love comes from God. God is love. God intended to commune with His creation but the fall of man placed a permanent separation between God and man. In response to the love of God, man disobeyed. Yet God still loved His creation so much that He was willing to provide His only Son as an atoning sacrifice to restore the communion between God and man. Yet there remains so much hate in the world. So much pain. These verses from 1John entreat us to realize that in light of the love God has shown toward us, we ought to love one another.

But we still fall short of that mark so often; even within the church. Even in light of the love of God, we can still not show the love of God toward one another. That is because man exists in an inherently sinful state. It is a matter of the heart:

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

The world does a good job of convincing us that we are not that bad. The world shows us the truly depraved and compares us to them to make us feel better about our own failings. But comparing man to man does not justify anyone because none are righteous:

As it is written: "There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one." "Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit." "The poison of vipers is on their lips." "Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness." "Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know." "There is no fear of God before their eyes." Romans 3: 10-18

When looking at our key verses we see the design God has for us. John urges us as the chosen people of God to clothe ourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Further, God is imploring us to forgive each other as God has forgiven us. Lastly, we are to also put on (clothe) love which is "over all these virtues"; binding them together in perfect unity. That is the power love holds. But why does John refer to the virtues God desires from us as things we need to clothe ourselves in?

First of all, clothes are something that we must put on. We do not naturally have these virtues. The true nature of man is not to be compassionate and kind. Man is not humble or gentle by nature and we are quite impatient. Let's look at the disciples themselves who spent all of their time walking with Jesus. The Gospel of Luke tells of a Samaritan town that did not welcome Jesus. Here was the kind and compassionate response of the disciples:

When the disciples James and John saw this, they asked, "Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them?" Luke 9: 54

There's the picture of Christian compassion and kindness. What about humility from the disciples? The same chapter shows us:

An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Luke 9: 46

Who would be the greatest. Christian humility on display. The sad truth is that it is not human nature to inherently display these virtues so God is petitioning us to clothe ourselves in them. The second great truth we can take from this language is that God expects us to exhibit these virtues for all to see. That is why the term "clothe" is used. What you are clothed in is what everyone will see. It is what you wear. As God's chosen people it is important that the world sees our humility and patience. It is crucial that they see our kindness, gentleness and compassion. Why? Because that is contrary to how the world is. The world is harsh and unforgiving. It is cruel not kind. It lacks compassion. As God's chosen people we need to provide an alternative to the world for people who are walking in darkness. They should see believers wearing these virtues and thus they should want them for themselves.

Too often we can sit in judgment on the fallen world. We forget how far down God had to go to save us. Instead of wearing the virtues of Christ we wear the morality of religion. We then blend more with a world that already has too much religion and not enough virtue. It becomes difficult to tell the chosen people of God from the rest of the world and it should not be so. It runs contrary to the explicit directions given by Jesus:

By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:35

Thirdly, the instruction to put on these virtues (clothes) indicates an act of the will. When we wake up in the morning, our clothes do not select themselves we choose what we want to wear. The same thing goes for what spiritual clothing we wish to put on. It is a choice; an act of our will. The parable of the Good Samaritan finds a man who has been beaten and left for dead by bandits. He is lying on the side of the road like many people we see in the world each day; robbed and left for dead. Mugged by the world and the harshness it embraces. The parable tells us that religion walked by this person first and did not bother to stop. The priest in fact, walked to the other side of the street to avoid even having to come close to the wounded soul. Next a Levite also passed the wounded person by; not wanting to have anything to do with him. Finally, a Samaritan saw the man:

But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. Luke 10: 33

The Samaritan chose to clothe himself with compassion just as much as the priest chose to clothe himself with indifference. Our key verses show us that not only are there virtues God expects us to embody as the chosen people of God but that they run contrary to our nature and they must be willfully chosen.

Continuing in the key verses, John also implores us to bear with one another and forgive whatever grievances we might be tempted to hold. The New Living Translation actually says that we need to "make allowance for each other's faults." There is no question that we have faults and we will be at fault. The difference as Christians is we are to forgive each other. Why? Again, there is a world watching that is walking in darkness. The things of God are foolishness to them. They may not listen to a verse or sermon, but they will take notice when you forgive someone despite their faults. Not content with just that imperative, the key verse clarifies that mere forgiveness as humans practice it is not enough. We must forgive as the Lord has forgiven us. Too often we hear things like, "I'll forgive him, but I will never forget." That is not forgiveness at all! Imagine if God still chose to remember all you had done wrong? His forgiveness is whole it is complete:

"I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more. Isaiah 43:25

We are to forgive as God has forgiven us. We are to blot out the transgression against us and remember it no more as if it never happened. It is as much an act of the will as clothing ourselves in the virtues of God is. That brings us to the final aspect of the key verses today; love. Love accomplishes two things according to these verses. It is above all of the virtues and it binds them all together in perfect unity. Love is the ruler and the glue.

As the ruler, it is above every virtue. It is not enough just to be kind and compassionate it must be done with love. It is not enough to be humble, gentle and patient it must be done with love. Why? According to the key verses it is love that binds the virtues of God together. What good would it be to be compassionate but unkind? To be gentle but proud? To be humble but have no patience? We cannot practice salad bar Christianity, picking what virtues we like and discarding those we may not embrace so easily. If we do, we run the risk of appearing hypocritical. It speaks to what the motivation is for our virtue. Without love as the motivating factor, then nothing holds the virtue together. How many times have we seen people who are kind but expect something in return? People who are compassionate but completely lacking in humility about it? Love is the glue that holds the virtues together in perfect unity. That is the design of God.

Isn't that what we seek in our relationships? Perfect unity. But as humans our conceptualization of love is very limited. We see it as something we "fall into" like a bear trap. Or we see it as something that takes control of us. We love in an incomplete sense. We love with restrictions and conditions. Paul explains however, what love is supposed to be:

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. 1Corinthians 13: 4-7

Love has to be more than the roses and candy. The outward expression of emotion must be coupled with the inward decision to clothe ourselves with the virtues of God, binding them all together with love. Flowers will wither but the love of God will never fade. As we express our love this Valentine's Day, let us also remember that God loved us first. Let us remember that God is love. He has given us His virtues and asked that we clothe ourselves in them.

And if this Valentine's Day finds you alone; remember you are never truly alone. God loves us so much He will never leave us and sticks closer than a brother.

For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8: 38-39

That is a promise for all of us. When the love of man fails, God is still there. His virtues are from everlasting to everlasting and there is nothing in all creation that will separate us from His love. He healed us from our blindness just as Saint Valentine did for the jailer's daughter. Today He is sending you this note and addressing it to His beloved. Clothe yourself in His virtues today and bind them together with the perfect love of God, your Valentine.

Reverend Anthony Wade February 12, 2010 Happy Valentine's Day!