To begin with I need to tell you that I pastored in 6 local Meetings in 4 different Yearly Meetings in the Society of Friends and held different positions in the Friends Internat- ional headquarters for 17 years. Add that to the 22 years in the pastorates for a total of 39 years of ministry. On top of that I was very active in my home Meeting in Buffalo, Iowa before I began my full time years of service. I am pleased that I had those opportunities and would never want to change a minute of my experiences.
With that said I want to express the deepest feelings I have about the Greatest Force in the world, bar none. I have expressed these feelings of mine in the hundreds of sermons that I have preached through the years.
With all of the nuclear armaments and their unreal possibilities for destruction, the Greatest Force in the world, bar none, is LOVE. There is absolutely no question about it!
And I'm not talking about erotic love , the kind of love two people have for each other. This is well and good and at its best is a perfect illustration of the real thing which is Agape Love. There is too much confusion in the Englsh speaking world about love. We say, "We love our family, we love our cats, we love custard pie. Obviously we are not talking about love in the same way at all.
In the New Testament times there were four major Greek words that were used. And I will just mention them briefly.
Eros - a word never used by New Testament writers but it was alluded to. It meant sexual gratification and fulfillment. It is the only kind of love God intended for two people to be fulfilled within the bounds of marriage.
Storge - This is the natural bond between mother and child, father and children and kin-folk.
Phileo - A love of affections. This kind of love delights to be in the presence of another.
Agape - However this is God's kind of love. Agape love does not mean primarily feelings or affection. Jesus exemplified this kind of love when he went to the cross and died for you and me regardless of how he felt. There's no question that he didn't want to. He prayed, "...Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not my will but thine be done." Jesus sought the best for you and me, in spite of his feelings.
Jesus was the greatest expression of love that ever came into the world, but never once is it recorded that he said, "I love you" to anyone. The reason is because 95% of all love is non-verbal. Jesus didn't love with just words but in deed and in truth. If our actions speak louder than our words people are not going to have any faith in our words
.gif){kind=small}
