As I look out
into the garden from the warmth of my lounge at the blue sky, the sunshine
falling on the grass, the green shoots and blossom on the trees and the grass
growing to the point it needs cutting I get excited at the prospect of Spring.
Being a person who loves music and in a sense has a soundtrack to my life, I
remember the song I Love Paris written
by Cole Porter in 1953 and memorably sung by Ella Fitzgerald. The song speaks
of the singers love for the city of Paris and I must say that I share some of
the sentiments in that song; despite being brought up in London I am not a fan
of cities, however I am strangely drawn to the eclectic and often bohemian
environment of Paris and would love to spend more time there.
Paris aside, we
are witnessing a change in the season and as the writer of Ecclesiastes puts
it:
“There is a time for everything,
and a season for
every activity under the heavens”
Ecclesiastes
3:1
Whilst there is
a “time for everything, a season for every activity” this cannot be applied to
love. Jesus calls us to love each other, but is our love, the love that we
express for each other, for God, for his church seasonal? Do we love our
brother and sister when the sun is shining into our relationship and the
relationship is bearing fruit, but when the storms come, the rain, the hail and
the cold, are we still able to maintain that relationship? When things get
difficult, when someone says something or does something I don’t like does my
relationship go into hibernation or do I press on through that? When our
brother and sister upsets us in some way it can not only result in a broken
relationship, but can also see one or both parties bearing a grudge, a grudge
that is held for years eating away at both parties and giving the devil a victory.
Jesus understood
that his command “love one another” would not result in all Christians becoming
happy-clappy, love everybody, sugar and spice people, we had to work at this
and make conscious decision. No! Jesus fully understood relationships in the
context of the human condition and teaches emphatically on this. In Matthew 5:21-26
he instructs that showing anger towards a brother or sister, or bearing a
grudge is as serious as murder. I think we often overlook how serious it is
when a relationship with a brother or sister breaks down, which is strange in
the light of Jesus’ instruction, its as if we allow our relationships to be
seasonable.
Perhaps as the
weather gets warmer, the days get longer, the whole world seems to become more
colourful and cheery its an opportunity to look at those relationships that
have broken down and are permanently in winter and seek to restore them. After
all, Gods love towards us is not seasonal, he will “never leave us nor forsake”
in spite of our behavior towards him.
We also should
remember the consequences of our actions, the consequences of disobedience
toward God, the consequence of our sin, we may find ourselves subject to God’s
judgement and punishment.
