Now these three remain: faith, hope, and love, but the greatest of these is love. – I Corinthians 13:13
As many of you know, my family served as missionaries in Spain prior to our time here at LifePoint. Because we spent a year and a half in Latin America serving as missionaries prior to our arrival in Spain, I was given the task of leading the Latin American Immigrant Team once we got settled. We lived in downtown Madrid, a bustling city of over 6 million people. It was an interesting time in our lives, and Spain was a fascinating country for a history buff like me. It was the Apostle Paul’s great ambition to reach the shores of Spain to preach the gospel, and scholars still debate whether that became a reality for him. Strange as it may sound, I felt some kinship with Paul when we arrived on a hot summer day in 2003. During our time serving there, we visited many fascinating sites, but I think my favorite location was the ancient city of Seville in the province of Andalusia. I spent a little over a day in the city, but in that short stay, I learned a great deal about a famous Christian saint who called Seville home—Bishop Isidore.
Isidore was born circa 560 in Seville. His older brother, Leander, was very strict but also very loving, and educated Isidore during his formative years. His tutoring made Isidore not only a great scholar but also a tenderhearted pastor. Over the years of his ministry, Isidore succeeded in the double task of establishing schools for children and combating growing heresy from false teachers. He was a champion for sharing Christ with the many Jews who lived in Spain at that time, yet vehemently opposed their conversion by force, which was commonly practiced. The scholar in him led to his compiling the first encyclopedia in history, the Etymologieae, covering everything from medicine to grammar, history, theology, and arithmetic. He also published books on astronomy and biographies of saints and biblical characters. In addition to all this, he became famous as the best preacher in all of Spain.
In 633, he presided over a great church council gathering in Toledo. At this council, it was decided that baptismal candidates need only be “dunked” one time (not the customary three), that hymns could be sung (not just read), and that they need not be exclusively drawn from the Psalms. The council also forbade the forcible conversion of anyone to Christianity. Amazing as it may seem to our modern ears, these were all hotly debated concepts in the 7th century.
In 635 Isidore sensed he was dying, and thus he began giving away all his earthly goods to the poor. Four days prior to his death he was carried to the cathedral of St. Vincent the Martyr, there he robed himself in sackcloth and applied ashes to his hair and face. He then publicly confessed his sins, pleading for forgiveness from both God and man. As the crowds assembled, he preached a short message focusing on the love of Christ, gave away his clothing as his final earthly possession, and then returned to his home where he died, the most beloved saint of Spain.
I share this story so that you will learn a bit more about one of your brothers in Christ who proceeded you in the faith, but also to remind you, and me, that although acquiring biblical knowledge and consistent study are both very important in our walk of faith, they do not eclipse our need to love people with the love of Jesus. Yes, we must grow in our knowledge through hard work, study, and discipline, as the Scriptures instruct us, but we must always love more than we instruct.
We have learned over the past few weeks in our study through John’s gospel that knowing and obeying the teachings of Jesus is vital, but we must first apply ourselves to the explicit command of Jesus to love one another in the faith. Love is the great equalizer in our lives and our faith. Without it we are, as the apostle Paul so poignantly taught us, merely a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal when we speak of the things of God. If we can learn to practice the grace of love more and more in our lives, we will find that obeying the other commandments of Jesus comes more naturally to us, and our transition to the glories of heaven will be that much easier, and sweeter to boot.
Always keep in mind, friends, the beautiful words of the apostle Peter; “Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.”
Grace and peace,
Pastor Jym