Letter from the Pastor

I never really thought much about Valentine’s Day. It was a day that meant if I had a girlfriend I had to take some time to get something nice and if I didn’t have one it was a day that just rubbed my nose in the fact I was alone. That all changed on October 18, 2003 when I proposed to Audra. After she said yes, which actually happened the next day and is a different story, we had to pick a date for our wedding. Since we didn’t want to wait too long but needed some time to get ready, I remember saying, “Why not Valentine’s Day? It was perfect. It was only four months away. It was a day about love and best of all I would never forget my anniversary.

But this day also has another deeper meaning. According to legend, Saint Valentine was a priest who lived during the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius Gothicus. The official imperial policy of the day was that it was illegal for Christians to be married or receive aid of any kind, but Valentine chose to defy the laws of the land and marry couples anyway. For this he was arrested and martyred on February 14th.

Valentine chose to love and serve others despite the imperial voices dictating that he withhold aid. As a priest, he could easily have devoted himself, in such a time of persecution, to personal devotions that would have drawn him inward (and saved his own neck), but instead he opted to help those in need and include those the powers-that-be demanded be excluded. He became a martyr for the sake of love.

And so, what if we too chose to make a sacrifice for the sake of love? Right now, this is exactly what we are doing as we help our neighbors who are hungry through the Interfaith Food Pantry. We do this by extending a welcoming hand up to our new neighbors from all around the world who are trying to make a new life in our community. This is also the main focus behind our cooperative ministry, One Big Tent, as we, through God’s love, walk with people who are struggling on the sidelines of our community to help them in whatever way we can to be uplifted and find wholeness. Remembering that Jesus calls us to love, not just those who love us back, but also those who may never show it in return.

As we come to this next Valentine’s Day and beyond, let’s think about all the specific ways we can clearly express and make God’s love real as we remember that sacrificing ourselves for the sake of love is the greatest sacrifice of all.

In God’s endless love,

Pastor Tim