Love That Saved the World

        So, I have a confession to make.  I am not only a Geek, I am also a “shipper”.  So, I believe that Superman belongs with Lois Lane, Spiderman belongs with Mary Jane, Mulder belongs with Scully, Captain Sheridan belongs with Delenn, and Supergirl belongs with Brainy and Saturn Girl belongs with Lightning Lad (no matter what Earth CW may try to tell us.)  But I digress…

          So in the beginning of Aquaman Arthur’s voice over says, “ She had fled an arranged marriage, left her whole world behind. But in my father’s lighthouse, she found something unexpected. And my father found the love of his life.”  From that point on, I knew the movie was going to be OK with me…  OK, yes, I did also hope for Arthur and Mara to hook up.  But that kind of love isn’t what I want to talk about in this devotion.  My favorite quote from the movie actually came in the end. Arthur says, “My father was a lighthouse keeper. My mother was a queen. They were never meant to meet, but their love saved the world. They made me what I am. A son of the land, a king of the seas. I am the protector of the deep. I am Aquaman.”

          It isn’t the love of a lighthouse keeper and a queen that I want to discuss today, but a love that saved the world.  I believe that love is the most important theme in the Bible.  The word love is used in the Bible around 310 times, depending on the translation.  There is love like Jacob had for Rachael, or Ruth had for her mother-in-law Naomi, or the brotherly love of David and King Saul’s son Jonathan.  But the most important love is the love of God.  In Hebrew it has its own word, “Hesed”. It is a faithful, forgiving, accepting, never-ending love.  That is the love that God has for creation.  That is the love that God has for each one of us.  As it says in John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.”

          It is God’s love that literally saved the world.  It is God’s love in Jesus that taught the world compassion and challenged us to live like he did.  It was God loving us enough that God came down and was born in a manger, lived among us, went through all that we go through, suffered and died on a cross so that we would know God’s love and forgiveness.  It is a love beyond our understanding.

          Now in Aquaman the love of a lighthouse keeper and a queen wouldn’t have done anything to save the world if Arthur didn’t have compassion for it.  It was Arthur’s love of both the people on the land and in Atlantis that compelled him to act.  It was love for all mankind that saved the world.

          God’s love for the world that is shown in Jesus saved the world, but it didn’t just end at the cross.  God still loves the world and Jesus still longs to heal it.  But now, as followers of Jesus we are called to be his hands and feet.  We are to show God’s compassion to the world.  It is God’s love through us that continues to work in the world today.  When we love our neighbors as ourselves we are showing God’s love to the world.  When we love our neighbors we are showing love to God as well.  In Matthew 25 Jesus talks about the final judgement.  The only thing we will be judged by is how we treat other people.  Mathew 25:34-40 says: 34 Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; 35 for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? 38 And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? 39 And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ 40 And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.’

              We may not be super heroes.  The fate of the world may not rest in our hands.  But when we show the love of God.  When we show “Hesed” to our brothers and sisters we participate in God’s saving the world.  So go out and share that compassion and love.  God knows the world needs it.