Wooden Shoe Be My Valentine?

When I was in first or second grade, I remember looking for my first Valentine’s Day card. I still remember the one I found. It had a Dutch clog on the cover. You opened up the card and inside it said, “Wooden shoe be my Valentine?” I cracked up! I thought that was a hoot! (Now, remember I was only about 6 or 7 years old. Of course, I still think it’s funny, so, unfortunately, I don’t think my sense of humor has progressed much over the years. I still enjoy bad puns.) Did you give someone a Valentine’s Day card? Did someone give you a Valentine’s Day card? I hope so.

I remember a Peanuts TV Special, where Charlie Brown didn’t get any Valentine’s Day cards. Even Snoopy got a bunch of Valentine cards. But not Charlie Brown. Not even from the little red-haired girl he had a crush on. People can be so cruel, so thoughtless, sometimes, maybe without even knowing it.

But I remember back when we were kids, or at least when I was a kid, early in elementary school, you gave Valentine’s Day cards to everybody. Or at least to all the girls or all the boys in your class. You didn’t discriminate. You loved everybody. Or you didn’t want anybody to feel left out, like Charlie Brown. And you didn’t want to feel left out yourself, like Charlie Brown, so you hoped people gave you Valentine’s Day cards, too. It’s too bad we’re not still that way now, where we give Valentine cards to everybody. But by the time we’re an adult, many people have settled on one love in their life, on one Valentine, on one beloved.

Kathleen and I recently celebrated our one-year wedding anniversary. When we got married, I helped plan the wedding, wrote a bunch of what we said. Because of my support for same-sex marriage, I wanted to use words that were gender-neutral, not use terms like husband and wife. So I suggested calling her, “my significant other.” That didn’t go over well at all. Sounded too lawyerly. I redeemed myself, I think, when I called her, “my beloved.” Who is our beloved? Is our beloved only our spouse, our partner, our significant other, if you will? Who is our beloved?

My daughter was born 18 years ago this coming June. (Wait a minute. That can’t be right, can it? 18 years ago? Oy!) Anyway, when my daughter was born, the first thing she heard, at least from me was, “Hi Erin. Daddy loves you.” She was, and still is, and will always be, my beloved. So, our children are our beloveds, too, aren’t they? And if we have grandchildren, they’re our beloveds, too, don’t you think? Heck, some people treat their pets like their children, so I would imagine for them (and often times, for me, too, I must confess) our pets are our beloveds, too.

This past Thursday night, a couple friends and I went to the grand re-opening of the Little Mexico restaurant in Grand Rapids. We were there the night it burned down a year-and-a-half ago or so. (In fact, I think I might have even started the fire. That night, I had the hottest pepper I’ve ever had in my life. My mouth was on fire! I’m thinking that an ember fell from my mouth onto the carpet. Hopefully I’m wrong about that.) Anyway, we thought it was only fitting, since we were there the night it closed, that we should be there when it reopened. We waited an hour to get in, but it was worth it. And we had a good time, my friends and I. Our friends are our beloveds, too, aren’t they? For some people, complete strangers are their beloveds. Think of the people helping out in Haiti. I would think they see the people in Haiti as their beloveds. A couple weeks ago, this congregation gave money to help out in Haiti, I would imagine because people here see the people in Haiti as their beloveds. So, spouses, partners, children, grandchildren, pets, friends and complete strangers – many people would call them their beloveds. Think about God, God must have a ton of beloveds, don’t you think?

According to the Christian New Testament, Jesus takes Peter and John and James up to a mountain to pray. As Jesus prayed, his countenance changed and his clothes became a dazzling white. Then Moses and Elijah appeared with Jesus. They talked about his upcoming death. Peter and John and James apparently were sleeping while this went on and then woke up. When Moses and Elijah were leaving, Peter says to Jesus, “Master, it is good for us to be here; let us make three dwellings, one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” Then a cloud came and overshadowed them; and Peter and John and James were scared half to death. Then a voice came from the cloud, presumably God, “This is my Son, my Beloved, listen to him!” Then Jesus was found alone. And they kept silent and didn’t tell anybody about all this until later.

In the New Revised Standard Version and in the New International Version, Jesus is called “My chosen.” But in the King James Version he is called, “My beloved.” I like that better. (Besides, as one preacher was heard to proclaim: If the King James Version was good enough for Jesus, it’s good enough for me!) We heard Jesus called beloved when he was baptized.

In the Gospel of Matthew, when Jesus came up out of the waters, the heavens opened up and Jesus saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove on him; then he heard a voice from heaven saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Is Jesus God’s only beloved? In the Christian New Testament, God does not refer to anyone else as God’s beloved. I checked the Hebrew scriptures; no one else is referred to as God’s beloved there either. Does God have only one beloved, Jesus? What about you? What about me? What about everyone else?

On Friday night, a bunch of us went to the Alliance for Cultural and Ethnic Harmony. They showed a biography of the late Thurgood Marshall. Before he was appointed as the first African-American to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court by President Johnson in 1967, Thurgood Marshall was a long-time civil rights lawyer for the NAACP. He was the lawyer, as you may know, who argued and won the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, ending Separate and Unequal education for our nation’s black children. If God exists, I have to believe that Thurgood Marshall is one of God’s beloveds.

A couple weeks ago, our Spiritual Cinema group watched the movie, “Gandhi.” Gandhi was a lawyer, also. He fought for equal rights in South Africa. He successfully ended British rule in his native India. He was called Mahatma, which means great soul. Many of us find guidance and inspiration in the way he lived. If God exists, I have to believe that Gandhi is one of God’s beloveds.

Kathleen and I are reading a book called, “The Faith Club.” It’s by three women, a Christian, a Muslim and a Jew. They came together hoping to write a children’s book explaining their three faiths. But then they became friends, curious about each other’s religion. It’s a wonderful book. I imagine it is helping spread the Interfaith message. If God exists, I have to believe that those women, a Christian, a Muslim and a Jew, are three of God’s beloveds.

As I look around this room I think: If God exists, I have to believe that all of you are God’s beloveds too.

A couple weeks ago, Kathleen, who is a church secretary, sent me the latest church bulletin bloopers. You may have heard about these. They’re the things hurried and harried church secretaries put in church bulletins without really thinking about how funny they sound. “The Fasting and Prayer Conference includes meals.” “The sermon this morning: Jesus Walks on the Water. The sermon tonight: Searching for Jesus.” “Don’t let worry kill you – let the church help.”

People give many reasons for going to church or a house of worship, like this one. Not just for the sermons (sad to say – I’m kidding!). Often times they go for the friendships, the relationships, to see the ones they’ve come to like, and maybe even love. They go to see their beloveds, if you will. Of course some people get that without even going to church.

The Dalai Lama says, “I believe that the practice of compassion and love – a genuine sense of brotherhood and sisterhood – is the universal religion. It does not matter whether you are Buddhist or Christian, Moslem or Hindu, or whether you practice religion at all.” It’s all about compassion and love. Who could argue with that?

One of my New Year’s Resolutions this year is to preach sermons, or give talks, where I don’t tell people – you all - what to do. Instead, I’m going to say what I’m going to do as a result of what I’ve just said. You’re welcome to do it, too, if you want. But this is what I need to hear, what I need to do. And what I need to do, what I want to do, on Valentine’s Day and everyday, is to treat everybody like we did back in elementary school, when we gave everyone a Valentine’s Day card: love everybody, love everybody, love everybody.

Happy Valentine’s Day! (And here’s a Valentine’s Day card for each one of you. Sorry, I’m not Oprah; I can’t afford to give you a car, only a card.) Now don’t take this the wrong way, but each one of you is my beloved.