Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

John 15 :13

 

February 14, 2009--Valentine's Day. 

I have to make this quick.  I'm running to Costco to buy a dozen roses.  Great price, good quality--21 years of marriage.  Who do I need to impress?

Hearts, love letters, candy, flowers.  We're all in a rush to find the right gift for the right price, fast.  This is an especially tough business in these new days of "unspending".  We all want to say "I love you," on a budget.  With the economy seemingly souring with each passing day, it is going to get tougher.  While for economists, consumers and politicians this may seem like a fiasco, the fact is that Christians can see a silver lining behind the clouds.  Simply put, the old adage, "money can't buy you love" nor can it make you happy is now and forever will be true.  The silver lining if we're so fortunate will be the end of consumerism. 

Wikipedia describes consumerism as "the equation of personal happiness with consumption and the purchase of material possessions." 

For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. Matthew 6:21

As Christians we must reject the lie of consumerism.  It is family, love and relationships that matter most and not the accrual of goods and consumables in a throw away society, that last year saw Americans spend $17.1 Billion on Valentine's Day!!  True love is not found in a box of chocolates or in a bouquet of flowers, nor in the sleeve of a vellum envelope embossed with Hallmark because you cared "enough to send the very best", but in the heart of Christ, God's Only Son.  Yes, our father in heaven cared "enough to send the very best."  Not the cheap and quick.

Suze Orman, the popular and acclaimed personal finance expert hit the nail on the head when she said "If we cared more about people than money, we would not be having what happened today," referring to the financial collapse last fall, now blamed mostly on greed, and deceit.

Love is not dependent on economic conditions.  Our focus should be not on our investments and material assets.  Our Lord says, as read in the Gospel lesson for Poon Paregentan "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust does corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust does corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."  (Matthew 6:19-21)

Our focus should be not on our investments, but in God's investment in us. 

The gift of God's eternal Love, manifested in Christ, the church, and in family, as well as those we love.  Guard in your Heart those things that are unchangeable.  Our Lord promises to regenerate and recreate us from the inside out. "A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you, and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26).  That heart is the Heart of Christ, God made man, who lives and dwells in us.  Love is not dependent on economic conditions.  Afterall, our Christian definition of love is describable neither by worldly standards nor via the pitch of a creative department, but by the Heart of Christ.  Beloved in Christ, No greater love has anyone known than THIS--The Heart of Christ. 

 

"Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love,

a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. " Mother Teresa