On the 3rd Day of Xmas.... LOVE!

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, three French Hens…

Apparently French Hens were expensive and their symbolism was potentially for three different things; the gifts offered by the three wise men, or the virtues; faith, hope and charity or the three persons of the trinity.
The feast day for the 3rd day of Christmas is that of Saint John who is said to be the apostle of Charity. So this fits nicely with our song symbol of faith, hope and charity.

We find these three virtues on charms. You may have seen them, they are symbolized by the cross for faith, hope is the anchor and charity is a heart. Charity is often translated as love.
The reason for faith being symbolized by the cross is the reason that many people wear a cross. The cross is central to our message about the Good News of Jesus Christ and it portrays faith in a God who gave himself sacrificially for us. This key concept sets Christians apart from any other religion.

The reason for an Anchor to symbolize hope is this verse from Hebrews 6:19, “We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. …...”
In the context of the passage we find that this is not the kind of hope where we might say, “I hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow.” No, this hope is being certain of things to come such, “I hope to see the sun rise tomorrow.” The only condition for this would be me getting out of bed, but the sun rising is a certainty.

Love or charity is symbolized by a heart for reasons that are very obvious. The Greek word that has been translated either as Charity or Love is the word Agape. This kind of love is the love of God. It is a kind of love that is full of grace (undeserved favour) and it is therefore charitable and sacrificial.

These three virtues together are spoken of in 1 Corinthians 13:13 “"Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love".

Let’s put these into context and look the prior 12 verses:
1Corinthians 13 – “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

You might remember yesterday on day two, that I wrote about our religious activities and that what we do or don’t do is not enough. Here we see clearly that all kinds of religious and good deeds are potentially just as empty as a clanging cymbal; a lot of drama, but without substance. But let me add; these activities, if done because of the love of God moving us on, are exactly what we are called to.

It is Saint John, the saint of Charity/ love, who gives us the most theological account of the Gospel. While the other synoptic Gospels tell the story and give us glimpses of the bigger picture revealing the person of Jesus it is John who really defines the nature of Jesus. And it begins right away with the first words;
John 1:1-10 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.
The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.”

Let’s just check this against our 3rd article of faith from our creed:
Light of Light, True God of True God, Begotten, not made; of one essence with the Father, by whom all things were made:
It is from the Gospel of John that it is declared that the “Word” was there in the beginning. So we know that Jesus was there with God at the beginning of creation. He was known then as “the Word of God” and when God spoke, that was him.
It is from the Gospel of John that we know that Jesus is more than just a man who somehow became the son of God because John tells us that the Word WAS God and that the word became flesh. John tells us that the life of Jesus is the light of all mankind and that he is the true light that would give light to everyone.
To deny the deity of Jesus is to completely ignore the Gospels and the fact that this is why the Pharisees crucified Jesus, but you would also have to completely ignore or disregard the Gospel of John.

Do we understand what the message of the Gospel is? Do we know why it is Good News?
God himself became flesh so that he could bring us into an unconditional relationship with himself. It is a love relationship and love and care is central to this Gospel.
If ever you hear something preached that doesn’t sound like Good News you can be sure it is either heresy or only part of the text taken out of context… leaving you with a con.
Without love and understanding that God is love, one will most certainly misinterpret the Gospel. It matters not how intelligent you are, or theologically correct about every jot and tittle of the Bible, without love you’ve missed the message.