Love Me Tender
Sixth Sunday of Easter
By: Rev. Dr. Beverly Bingle
May 9, 2021
Some of you remember 1956,
the year that Elvis Presley first sang “Love Me Tender.”
“You have made my life complete,” he crooned,
“and I love you so.”
“Take me to your heart,
for it's there that I belong, and will never part.”
And he went on:
“I love you, and I always will…
till the end of time.”
I suspect that each one of us, at one time or another,
has used the word “love” the way Elvis did…
and in other ways,
many of them that don’t work the same way
that “I love you” works.
We might have said, “I love your new car!”
“I love this book!”
“I love that idea!
We knew, though, that the word “love” as in “I love ice cream”
does not mean the same thing as it does
in “Love one another,” the command Jesus gives us today.
______________________________
That word “love” is a good example of the lesson
that S.I. Hayakawa wrote about over 70 years ago:
The word is not the thing.
That’s clear from today’s gospel,
where John has Jesus say that there is no greater love
than “to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
His life choices show how he did that.
Still a young man,
Jesus leaves his carpentry and his town and his family—
he lays down his life—
to travel the countryside telling the good news
that God is in charge
AND the nature of God
is love.
______________________________
Tomorrow is Mother’s Day,
our annual celebration of the love we have
for our mothers and grandmothers and godmothers,
love of all who gave us birth, who taught us values,
who picked us up when we fell down,
who laid down THEIR lives for US.
Our story started with our birth mother
and expanded over time to include
all those who mothered us—family and friends,
teachers and employers, coaches and 4-H leaders,
good friends who were honest with us—
a long list of folks who encouraged us along the way.
Grandmothers are a good example.
Scientists say that their help
can have a profound impact on a new mother’s well-being,
on the success of her pregnancy,
and even on how the children thrive.
These days we have a highly visible example in President Biden,
in his love that kept him tending his boys
after his wife was killed.
______________________________
Now, we each have a long list of people who are easy to love,
but as we gather here this afternoon
to celebrate the love of Jesus,
the love of God,
and the love of our mothers,
we know it’s not always easy
to follow the command to love one another.
Words are useful in helping us communicate what is seen,
and what is liked,
and what is expected...
so we say we love sunshine, and ice cream, and peace.
But the kind of “love” that Jesus commands
is more than that of our relationship with family and friends:
it means that you turn your lives over to others.
You surrender your attention, your time, your help,
starting with the mother who gave you birth
and expanding out to the rest of your family,
and your friends,
and strangers,
and the planet that sustains us, our “MOTHER” earth.
______________________________
That kind of love is selfless love,
love that Martin Luther King called “creative and redemptive.”
“Love builds up and unites;
hate tears down and destroys,” he said.
When you give your life for others—time, talent, treasure—
you show your love for them—
and you come to know God
by being more like God.
That’s the love Jesus is talking about.
I see you do it all the time.
Just last week you gave two months’ rent
to a family whose name we don’t even know.
And you gave $500 to a local clinic that provides free health care
to people who can’t afford it.
And you go to visit your grandchildren
and baby-sit whenever you’re needed.
And you volunteer all around town
with organizations that help people in need.
That’s the kind of love Jesus calls for.
It’s the song that HE sang
with the music of HIS life, living love for everyone—
strangers, friends, followers, and us.
YOUR song is loud and clear.
Thanks be to God