We come from love and we return to love
Preacher: Revd Samantha Ferguson, Assistant Chaplain
Readings: Deuteronomy 6:1-9; Mark 12:28-34
In the name of the Father,
And of the Son
And of the Holy Spirit.
Good Morning – Please be seated.
So to begin with this morning, I have a question for you to ponder.
How is your love life?
No this is not one of your chaplains being intrusive, nosy and rude – it is just a question that I ask in light of the liturgical changing of the seasons.
For today is the day that we, in the church, begin our season of remembrance.
Before we enter Advent and the preparation of bodies hearts and minds to receive the incarnation of God in the form of a tiny child, we remember what is important, what has been and what has been lost.
Next week we will be here (and don’t forget to get here early before we start at 10.50am) to remember and honour those who were sacrificed in the name of peace and of democracy.
And this past week we have survived All Hallows Eve
Halloween and remembering all those saints and all those souls known and unknown to us personally who now rest in peace on a far distant shore.
And the reason we remember specifically at this time of year as our days draw shorter, our dark nights become longer and the weather turns to ice, cold and wind?
All in the name of Love.
So I ask again how is your love life?
For the reason we are here,
the reason we remember,
the reason we worship
all because of love.
Love. Love God, Love Ourselves and Love our neighbour is the command Jesus gives us again today and reiterates the original commandment given by God to his people all those many moons ago.
It is no coincidence that, before the merriment begins, before the parties, the tinsel, the ho ho hos and the dressing of trees and buying of just the right present happens, we remember who, what and why we love.
Because my friends, it truly will be the reason for the season.
On the front of your service sheet is a picture that was taken during the dark days of covid when the lawn of our Quad outside this chapel was separated by the outline of hearts, placed 2 meters apart where households could meet safely and chat with others in the safe clean outside air.
And every single week, we from the chaplaincy gathered in those hearts, on a Tuesday to hold prayers in the hearts – we called it hearts of light to pray for all who needed to know love, light, healing and peace during one of our darkest periods of our generation.
Again, It was all about remembering who, what and why we love.
We had to deal with a lot of loss during that period in our lives and are still recovering from the echos of undistilled grief even to this day.
As a direct result of the needs of those we supported during that period,
one of my primary roles in the Chaplaincy is to provide the space to support those who are grieving.
So I set up and run monthly Grief Groups –one for staff and one for students.
We meet once a month over the semester, eat lunch together and share about how hard life can be once those we love have died.
I give people space to reflect together on the good, the bad and the ugly side of grief so that no one feels that sense of being alone in the midst of loss.
And when I offer this sacred space for us to grieve openly together, wonderful moments occur.
Names of the dead are said aloud once again.
Stories of those long passed are remembered and honoured and told again to a new audience.
Pain that may never have been spoken about or acknowledged aloud is shared within a place of knowing.
Acceptance that loss is real, life-long and a weight we carry daily,
is offered as we realise together in that shared sacred space that what will never leave us,
even when the physical remains of the person who has died has long since returned to dust, is that love never ends.
If this resonates with you, as a member of staff or a student, you would be most welcome to join one of the Grief Groups happening this month. Know that it is my personal mission that no-one has to grieve alone at this university.
So, how is your love life?
Jesus tells us and his followers again this morning, gathered in churches across the world to love God. To love our neigbours and to love ourselves.
But this love comes at a cost and a price. The price is by risking loving, we risk losing that love.
But.
The first commandment is to love God, with all your heart,
with all your soul,
with all your mind,
and with all your strength.
Have you truly loved anyone heart, soul, mind and strength?
Are you loving someone right now with that sense of intensity – And I don’t just mean a brief encounter on Friday night at the bop in 601!
Because you know that all of that love comes from God. Our capacity to love comes from God. It is a gift, given freely that we come from Love.
God made us and all peoples to love, and, back to love, at the end of our time on this blessed planet, we shall return.
Love is an endless circle of beginnings endings and everything in between.
This is what we were created to do. To share our lives and offer our love with those who walk with us in our life.
We, as Christians, are called to offer that love in honour to our maker and to be proactive in doing so.
So how is your love life?
Is it active, in stasis, dynamic, life giving or life draining?
What are you doing with your gift of love and what does loving God, ourselves and our neighbour, actually look like?
It may appear in the little gestures like giving the person next to you a tissue as they weep.
It may be seen in the big gestures like coming here to worship God on a Sunday morning when you would much rather be in bed.
It may be in forgiving someone who has wronged you, by loving them rather than holding on to the pain they have caused you.
It may be in asking a parent what their favourite memory of their parent is.
It may be in naming someone long since dead aloud and remembering how they made you laugh.
By actively loving people who are still here, practically, spiritually, and prayerfully, Jesus tells us that we are not far from the kingdom of God.
Simply put as Jesus is want to do, the Kingdom of God has love at the centre of all that we do.
How else do we combat the darkness that our world is currently living through. But by loving those we hate. Always by choosing the light over the darkness.
So my friends, I pray that you are actively loving in your life, yourself, your God and those who are around you – your neighbours.
I hope and pray you have a wonderful life that is full of love and joy and promise.
But remember that when grief our old friend comes to visit, know that love never ends.
We came from love and we go back to love and all whom we love do the same.
In this season when we recollect those who are missing, it is time to remember they are safe, they too are loved and they are home.
One day we will be with them, but for now we laugh with the saints and the angels, as we simply carry on with the charge Jesus gives us anew and afresh today: To Love.
Friends, your mission today, if you choose to accept it,
is to truly be a blessing to those you love,
as you are a blessing to those who love you,
this day and evermore.
Amen.