Sermon Topic – Love One Another
In the heart of London there is an iconic statue, a winged figure carrying a bow, which is almost universally known as Eros. Only it isn’t. It is a monument to the great Victorian Christian philanthropist, social reformer and champion of the poor, Lord Shaftesbury. It was payed for by public conscription, and is an image of Anteros – the symbol of faithful and selfless love – the opposite of Eros. Now that might seem like a subtle distinction, but it reflects a blindspot in the English language – it is not very sophisticated when it come to love.
Jesus said “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Love like that doesn’t not happen by accident, you don’t fall into it, it needs to be learned, it is a choice we make, a commitment to choose others ahead of ourself. As Shakespeare so beautifully expresses “Love is not love which alters when it alteration finds, Or bends with the remover to remove. O no, it is an ever-fixed mark That looks on tempests and is never shaken” And of course it is the Love of God our Father for us, which never alters and looks on tempests and is never shaken.