This is the time of year that offers promise on a few fronts. The days getting noticeably longer and a sense that temperatures are moderating, bids the promise of spring. February is a month where we celebrate Valentine’s Day-if not presenting a licence, providing some incentive to express love to the people closest to us in a tangible way. Love can be expressed in a myriad of ways limited only by our level of creativity and perhaps by the size of an allotted budget.
Love, flowers and Valentine’s Day, for many, are synonymous. I recently learned of a friend who chose the love expression of flowers. He, I am sure, was looking to hit a home run by going to the extent of purchasing, not a few roses, but several dozen flowers for his much-loved wife of many years. There is a certain irony in how sometimes the best of intentions can so easily be misinterpreted or misunderstood. Instead of receiving rave reviews for a well-executed plan, his choice was met with an unexpected measure of criticism and tension which became evident during an evening outing with friends. She, having worked in a financial institution for many years, had an appreciation for money management and what those roses might have cost. She felt perhaps their money could be spent in a more careful fashion.
This reminded me of a story in the Bible with similar implications. A woman, with a shady past had an encounter with Jesus where she intended to express her love and devotion to Him. Her way of demonstrating respect and honour to Jesus involved a very expensive alabaster perfume. This gift was reportedly valued at more than a year’s wages. Jesus’s disciples were there that day and witnessed this exercise of extravagance and were not impressed. They, too, felt that there might have been better and wiser ways to spend that money. Jesus in typical fashion, however, handled what might have been an awkward moment with grace. Instead of adding to the disgrace that his disciples were levelling at this woman he not only accepted her gesture of kindness but commended her for it. Jesus, in another place said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” a notion that most of us would probably support. Many of us have experienced the joy of giving something away for someone else to enjoy, whether it involved a monetary gift, our time or a helping hand. But in order to be an effective giver, someone on the other end needs to be willing to receive the gift being offered. Which perhaps begs the question, “which requires more grace, being willing to give or receive?”
Submitted - Pastor Ernest Reimer
