“Belong Together” 2-14-24

Overview

Belong Together: Ash Wednesday and the Commemoration of Valentine

It is a rare convergence when February 14 carries both the ashes of Lent and the name of Valentine. Yet the church has long held these together. Ash Wednesday opens the forty-day journey of repentance and reflection; we tuck the word Alleluia away in our hearts until it bursts forth again on Easter morning. Alongside this solemn beginning, the church calendar commemorates faithful saints who have gone before us—Silas on February 10, Aquila and Priscilla on February 13, and on February 14, a priest and physician named Valentine, martyred for the faith in A.D. 270. Our Lutheran confessions commend such commemorations because they give us occasion to thank God, to grow in faith, and to see examples of those who lived and died trusting Christ.

The traditions surrounding Valentine—performing secret Christian marriages when the emperor had banned them, sending pierced violets through the bars of his cell with the message "remember your Valentine loves you," writing a final word of encouragement to his jailer's child on the day of his execution—all point to a man who knew the love of his Savior. While Eros (or Cupid) has largely hijacked February 14 in popular culture, the church still keeps the day for one whose love was rooted in something far deeper than sentiment.

That deeper love is the heart of 1 John 4. "God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him" 1 John 4:9—the incarnation, God in flesh. "In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us" 1 John 4:10. By nature our hearts are stone; we are born with a heart disease that wants nothing to do with God. Yet God takes the initiative, sending His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins. This is agape—self-sacrificing love—poured out at the cross for every thought, word, and deed, and for the very condition of our sin. "God is love" 1 John 4:8; He is also light, in whom is no darkness 1 John 1:5, and a consuming fire Hebrews 12:29—a fire that consumes our sin without destroying us.

This is why ashes and Valentine belong together. The black ashes traced in the sign of the cross on our foreheads remind us of our sin and our mortality—dust to dust. But that same cross sings a song of joy, echoing the cross marked over us in Holy Baptism, where God claimed us as His own and clothed us in the white righteousness of Christ. Valentine knew this love and proclaimed it with his life. So do we. In word and deed, we go forth on this day to bear witness to the God whose love met us first—and who has bound repentance and love together at the foot of the cross.

Transcript

What you open your Bibles, please, with me for our study this evening to first John the 4th 3s

chapter. 9s

If you're using a Pew edition of Holy Scripture, you will find that on page 213 in the 10s

New Testament. 16s

1 John the 4th chapter. 17s

February 14. 20s

It is an interesting convergence of dates. 27s

On this day, February 14, the church, the church designates as Ash Wednesday. 34s

It is one of the most solemn services of the year. 42s

It is the demarcation line of the entrance into the season of length. 50s

We begin the walk of 40 days. 57s

We close in our hearts the word Alleluia and we hold it here in our hearts. 62s

Until it bursts forth on Easter morning. 71s

Take an out of the liturgy, no hymns that will contain it. 79s

It's held inside, waking. 85s

The season of length is such a rich, rich time in the life of the church. 93s

It is a season in which in a special way we focus on our need for repentance. 100s

It is this time of reflection. 108s

The church adorns herself in purple and we await the white of Easter. 113s

February 14. 125s

Ash Wednesday. 129s

And on this February 14, society calls Valentine's Day. 133s

It is an uncommon occurrence, uncommon for Ash Wednesday and Valentine's Day to meet on this day. 143s

But look at it from a different perspective in actuality, it is not uncommon. 161s

For the church calendar, there is a convergence, a convergence of the church calendar with 168s

Valentine's Day. 178s

For you see in the church, there are what we call commemorations. 181s

It is the remembering of people of faith that have gone before us. 186s

Our Lutheran doctrinal writings. 193s

It says commemorations are to be commended. 195s

They're good. 200s

They're good. 202s

Our Lutheran doctrinal writings say, because it offers an opportunity to give thanks. 203s

It offers an opportunity by God's grace to grow in our faith. 210s

It offers an opportunity for us to see examples. 214s

And so embedded in the church calendar are these commemorations. 223s

For example, on February 10, as you look at the list of commemorations, it was for silence. 231s

Silas work companion of the Apostle Paul Silas a leader in the early church in Jerusalem. 239s

And on February 10, the church is called to remember Silas. 248s

Yesterday on February 13, the commemoration was for a husband and wife team, Aquila and Priscilla. 257s

They too proclaimed with the Apostle Paul. 265s

And they use their house. 270s

They use their house as a point of hospitality for new converts to Christianity, what a wonderful ministry. 272s

And on this, February 14, on this February 14, there is someone who is commemorated. 282s

Year after year after year on the church calendar. 294s

His name, Valentine. 300s

He was a priest and a physician. 310s

And he was martyred for the faith in 270. 315s

As the story goes with regard to Valentine, he lived during a time in which the Emperor banned marriage. 323s

In the Emperor's thinking, he thought that if a man had a wife and a family, he would be less inclined to want to go off to war. 335s

And so, the Emperor banned marriage. 343s

The priest Valentine, what he did, is he performed secret Christian marriages, 350s

because he felt sorry for the couples. 361s

He did a lot of them and he got caught. 365s

And he was thrown into prison. 369s

Outside of his cell through the bars, he could reach in through the bars. 374s

And there were some violets there. 380s

And he took some of the violets and painstakingly pierced a message into each one that said, 383s

remember your Valentine loves you. 393s

And he released them through the bars and it fell onto the street below. 399s

It's also said of Valentine that on the day that he was executed. 407s

On the day that he was martyred, he took an irregular sheet of paper. 413s

And he wrote a word of encouragement to the child of the jailer. 421s

One author says that Eros has hijacked Valentine's Day. 432s

Eros is a Greek God for love. 443s

The Roman version is Cupid. 446s

The author maintains, and I think, correctly so, 450s

that Valentine's Day has been hijacked. 454s

But the church, the church, year after year, after year, 458s

on the church calendar, there is this commemoration, 467s

this commemoration for a faithful servant of God. 472s

Valentine. 481s

And on Ash Wednesday, the church calendar of commemorations and Ash Wednesday. 486s

They meet. 501s

Can we be a hundred percent sure of the facts around Valentine? 505s

And no, we can't. We can't. 510s

But what we can say for sure is that this one was martyred in 270, 514s

because he believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. 520s

What we can say for sure is that these Valentine's given to others still exists 523s

to this day. What we can say for sure is of the deep love that Valentine had 531s

for his Savior. 542s

We do know that Valentine knew his scripture. 547s

Why, look at verse nine, please. 552s

Verse nine tells us, God's love was revealed among us in this way. 557s

God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. 562s

And Valentine knew that love. 568s

That's the incarnation, that's the inflectionment of the second member of the Trinity. 572s

That's what we celebrate, each and every year on Christmas. 577s

That the Lord Jesus Christ is true God and true man. 582s

The scripture goes on in verse 10. 587s

In this is love, not that we love the God, but that he loved us. 590s

It's true with the scriptures say that by nature our hearts are just hearts of stone. 598s

In fact, that's the very wording that's embedded in our Lutheran doctrine. 603s

We want nothing to do with God. Our hearts are cold. We're born with heart disease. 607s

We need a heart transplant. And God takes the initiative. God loves and comes to those 615s

that don't love him. Us, God's action. 626s

The scripture says that this love he sent his son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 632s

That's the supreme manifestation of love. That's the highest form of love. 642s

That's the agape form of love. That's the self-sacrificing love. 646s

That when the Lord Jesus Christ went to the cross, he made atonement. 652s

He died for our sins. All of it. All of it. All of the thoughts, all of the words, all of the deeds, 657s

all of the things that we should have done, but we didn't. The very condition of our sin. 667s

He died for all of it. And He won forgiveness for us on the cross. 672s

The supreme example of love and valentine, valentine knew God's message of love. 680s

The scripture says that God is love. Look at verse 8, 696s

whoever does not love does not know God for God is love. 700s

Scripture says that God is light. In first John the first chapter it says, 707s

God is light and in him there's no darkness at all. He bruised the 12th chapter. Says, 713s

for indeed our God is a consuming fire. God is love. God is light. God is fire. And this God of love. 721s

This God of light exposes the reality of our sin as the law of His Word can fix us. 733s

The light shines on us and exposes the depth and the height and the breadth of our sin. 742s

And the consuming fire of God, it consumes our sins, but doesn't destroy 752s

us. Amazing. Amazing. Love. And on this February 14th, on this day the church 762s

designates as ash Wednesday. On this day the church designates as the commemoration 785s

of valentine. On this day we receive the sign of the cross on our forehead in ashes. 798s

The ashes black because it reminds us of our sin. The ashes black because it reminds us of our mortality. 816s

It reminds us ashes to ashes and dust to dust. 832s

But those ashes in the sign of the cross also sing the song of joy. Those ashes in the sign 842s

of the cross remind us of the sign of the cross made over us in our baptism. Those ashes 852s

placed upon our forehead made in the sign of the cross is that reminder that God has called 862s

us his own in the waters of baptism that we have been redeemed. That God through His grace 870s

has opened up the gates of heaven for the lights of us because God looks at us and sees the 880s

perfection of Christ and we're cloaked in His white righteous garment. Valentine who we commemorate 889s

on this day knew that love and so do we. Valentine that we commemorate on this day in the church 912s

calendar. Valentine knew the gospel and so do we. And on February 14th, Ash Wednesday 928s

and the commemoration of Valentine they meet and in Word and indeed we go forth to proclaim 949s

the message of God's love for us. Ash Wednesday in the commemoration of Valentine 966s

it's like they just belong together. 987s