Is Love All You Really Need?
Today during worship the youth sang All You Need Is Love by the Beatles. Besides the fact I thought it was a little funny, I have had the song stuck in my head all day. Obviously, most people in generations older than my own, automatically associate the song with The Beatles and John Lennon. I, on the other hand, am reminded of the movie Love Actually, every time I hear that song. It isn't that I am not a fan of the Beatles, too the contrary actually, I am sitting here looking at their "Let It Be" album on vinyl. In fact, I recently let it play on my turn table as I cleaned my house. However, the movie Love Actually has become one of my very favorite movies, and the scene of the wedding surprise in that movie is unforgettable.
I actually went to see that movie by myself when I was in college. I love to go see movies by myself - I know it may seem weird, but why do I need someone to go with me? It is not as if you sit and talk during the movie. Anyway, I thought the movie was going to be a dumb/cheesy romantic comedy but it turned out to be an incredible movie. I think I even had tears in my eyes at one point. If you know me, you know that I rarely cry. But the movie Love Actually and the scene at the end of the movie Rudy, when he finally gets to play and his dad and brother are there and are finally proud of him, always brings tears to my eyes. Call me a romantic.
I lost track here, but my point is, the song All You Need Is Love, will stick in my head for days. Thus, this afternoon I have been asking myself, "is all you really need, love?" I mean, Jimmy Buffet opined that the hokey pokey is what this life may really be all about. Who am I to believe, Jimmy Buffet or John Lennon?
I think the starting point is to ask, "what is love?" Our society seems to throw around the word, love. We love this celebrity, we love that restaurant, we love that kind of car. Even kids in middle school start "going together" and within in a week are telling each other, "I love you." (Whenever I would tell my Dad I was "going with someone" he would say, "where you going?" It drove me nuts.) It seems our society is full of love of lots of different "things."
I have come to realize, "love" is complicated. In fact, there are four main types of love. When I say "main", I mean the documented, studied and most prevalent when speaking of love in an "academic" kind of way. They are 1) storge or affection 2) eros 3) philia or friendship and 4) agape. Many books have been written on the subject and I cannot claim to be an expert. However, the knowledge of four different types of love only complicates the question, is love all you really need?
I mean, which of these loves do I really need? Do I need familial love (storge), or a sexual relationship kind of love (eros), or a friendship love (philia), or God's love (agape). Do I need all of these? Or is one of these enough? What if I never get married or have children and thus never experience those types of love? Is my life not fulfilled? What about people who have no friends? It seems all so very complicated when you start digging into the details of love and the need for love.
If your church follows the lectionary, the Gospel text today was Mark 10:17-31. This is the story of the man who came to Jesus in order to find out how to obtain eternal life. Jesus tells him, "you shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and your mother." The young man assures Jesus that he has followed these commandments. The Bible tells us, "Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." The young man did not like this because he had many possessions, so he went away grieving.
I think this scripture gives us a lot of insight into "is all you really need, love?" If you think about it, although Jesus may have been speaking to this man many of years ago, his message still rings true for us today. We put so much stock in our possessions, our jobs, our place in society, the clothes we wear, and the people we associate with, that we have forgotten what really matters - God. We over look that God is love, and his love for us is much bigger than any study or label could ever encompass.
In this passage, Jesus tells us, "all you need is my love, and all those possessions mean nothing in heaven." Jesus didn't tell him these things because he wanted him to be miserable, the scripture clearly says that Jesus told him this out of love. One of my favorite Kelly Willis songs is, You Can't Take It With You, which is based upon this scripture. It says "You can't take it with you; Though you might pile it up high; It's so much easier for a camel; To pass through a needle's eye." (This was one of my grandfather's favorite scriptures.) I don't think Jesus is telling all of us to become destitute and live on the streets to prove our love for him. I think he is saying, please don't love your possessions so much that you worship them more than me.
Some days I think to myself, "I couldn't live without good food, or air conditioning, or my Netflix account, or good sheets, or my computer," and on and on. But the truth is, I do not "need" all of these things, they are just possessions. In fact, these possessions are luxuries to a great extent. The thing I really "need", and can't live without, is God's love and understanding and forgiveness. I personally believe that his love for me helps me to open my heart and love others. Thus, all love starts with him because he is "love," making Sir John right when he wrote the line, all we need is, love...
I actually went to see that movie by myself when I was in college. I love to go see movies by myself - I know it may seem weird, but why do I need someone to go with me? It is not as if you sit and talk during the movie. Anyway, I thought the movie was going to be a dumb/cheesy romantic comedy but it turned out to be an incredible movie. I think I even had tears in my eyes at one point. If you know me, you know that I rarely cry. But the movie Love Actually and the scene at the end of the movie Rudy, when he finally gets to play and his dad and brother are there and are finally proud of him, always brings tears to my eyes. Call me a romantic.
I lost track here, but my point is, the song All You Need Is Love, will stick in my head for days. Thus, this afternoon I have been asking myself, "is all you really need, love?" I mean, Jimmy Buffet opined that the hokey pokey is what this life may really be all about. Who am I to believe, Jimmy Buffet or John Lennon?
I think the starting point is to ask, "what is love?" Our society seems to throw around the word, love. We love this celebrity, we love that restaurant, we love that kind of car. Even kids in middle school start "going together" and within in a week are telling each other, "I love you." (Whenever I would tell my Dad I was "going with someone" he would say, "where you going?" It drove me nuts.) It seems our society is full of love of lots of different "things."
I have come to realize, "love" is complicated. In fact, there are four main types of love. When I say "main", I mean the documented, studied and most prevalent when speaking of love in an "academic" kind of way. They are 1) storge or affection 2) eros 3) philia or friendship and 4) agape. Many books have been written on the subject and I cannot claim to be an expert. However, the knowledge of four different types of love only complicates the question, is love all you really need?
I mean, which of these loves do I really need? Do I need familial love (storge), or a sexual relationship kind of love (eros), or a friendship love (philia), or God's love (agape). Do I need all of these? Or is one of these enough? What if I never get married or have children and thus never experience those types of love? Is my life not fulfilled? What about people who have no friends? It seems all so very complicated when you start digging into the details of love and the need for love.
If your church follows the lectionary, the Gospel text today was Mark 10:17-31. This is the story of the man who came to Jesus in order to find out how to obtain eternal life. Jesus tells him, "you shall not murder; You shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; You shall not defraud; Honor your father and your mother." The young man assures Jesus that he has followed these commandments. The Bible tells us, "Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, 'You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." The young man did not like this because he had many possessions, so he went away grieving.
I think this scripture gives us a lot of insight into "is all you really need, love?" If you think about it, although Jesus may have been speaking to this man many of years ago, his message still rings true for us today. We put so much stock in our possessions, our jobs, our place in society, the clothes we wear, and the people we associate with, that we have forgotten what really matters - God. We over look that God is love, and his love for us is much bigger than any study or label could ever encompass.
In this passage, Jesus tells us, "all you need is my love, and all those possessions mean nothing in heaven." Jesus didn't tell him these things because he wanted him to be miserable, the scripture clearly says that Jesus told him this out of love. One of my favorite Kelly Willis songs is, You Can't Take It With You, which is based upon this scripture. It says "You can't take it with you; Though you might pile it up high; It's so much easier for a camel; To pass through a needle's eye." (This was one of my grandfather's favorite scriptures.) I don't think Jesus is telling all of us to become destitute and live on the streets to prove our love for him. I think he is saying, please don't love your possessions so much that you worship them more than me.
Some days I think to myself, "I couldn't live without good food, or air conditioning, or my Netflix account, or good sheets, or my computer," and on and on. But the truth is, I do not "need" all of these things, they are just possessions. In fact, these possessions are luxuries to a great extent. The thing I really "need", and can't live without, is God's love and understanding and forgiveness. I personally believe that his love for me helps me to open my heart and love others. Thus, all love starts with him because he is "love," making Sir John right when he wrote the line, all we need is, love...
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