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Well, as everyone knows, Valentine's Day occurred last week.
The day has been attributed to several martyred saints of ancient history who bore the name "Valentine,"
yet none of them seem to have had any connection to the romantic love, which is the trademark of our modern-day holiday.
Over the years it has evolved into the day of the year that we tell the special people in our lives how much we love them.
The U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately 190 million valentines are sent each year in the U.S.
Half of those valentines are given to family members other than husband or wife, usually to children.
And when you include the valentine-exchange cards made in school activities, the figure goes up to 1 billion.
Additionally, an estimated 1.5 million e-valentines were sent in 2010.
In fact, only Christmas beats out Valentine's Day as the holiday in which more greeting cards are sent.
If you forgot the birthday or anniversary of that special someone, you've still got a chance to redeem yourself on Valentine's Day.
And the good news is that you can't go into any store without being reminded of the holiday. Between two and three weeks prior to February 14,
most stores will begin ramping up their displays of candy, cards, flowers, balloons, and gaudy velour roses,
so you can be sure and remind someone that – although you may have said it many times over the years –
once again, you are taking this opportunity to say to someone how much you love them.
And my advice to everyone is to hold onto those moments. Yes, it may be a retail-inspired holiday.
But everyone needs to be reminded once in a while that we are loved. For it's in the memory of those declarations of love that we will find the strength to face the challenges of life.
In this morning's Gospel reading, Jesus received just such a declaration of God's love.
But it's not the first time it had happened in his life. If you’re thinking that this mountaintop scene has a somewhat déjà vu feel to it, there's a reason.
And the reason is because the beginning of our Season of Epiphany opened with almost the very same words being spoken to him at his baptism.
We find Jesus drawn, like so many other people, to the wild and impassioned teachings of John the Baptist.
He arrives at the Jordan River where John was baptizing people, and he makes the decision to join in the ritual immersion.
And scripture tells us that as he was coming out of the water, a voice was heard to say, "You are my Son who I love very much. And you’re doing a good job; I'm pleased with you."
No doubt, those words would sustain him for the next forty days because in the very next verse we read "the Spirit immediately drove him out into the wilderness," where he was tempted for forty days by Satan.
A wilderness is a wild, unpredictable, and hostile place. And when you find yourself all alone in a spiritual wilderness, like the one Jesus was in,
and you're swinging blindly in the dark, doing battle with your own demons, and the only thing that keeps you going is the knowledge that someone,
someone, believes in you, then that's what you hold onto. You hold onto those affirming, life-giving words
with all the desperation of someone who is going down for the third time. "You are my Son, the Beloved"
probably got Jesus through many long nights of fear and self-doubt in that barren wilderness, as well as many lonely nights to come.
After learning of the death of his friend and mentor, John the Baptist, "You are my Son, the Beloved," no doubt, gave him the courage to take up the torch
and continue preaching John's message of the eminence of God’s reign on earth. And "You are my Son, the Beloved" probably rang out in his ears as he watched thousands of people being fed
from just two fish and five loaves of bread he had blessed. Those affirming words of God carried him through many exciting,
terrible, wonderful, and frightening events. But nothing could compare with what lie before him.
Before him lie the betrayal, not just of his disciple Peter, but of all the crowds who had clamored for his healing touch and called for his crowning.
Before him lay the humiliation and mockery of everything he stood for. Before him lay pure pain and torture that would eventually end in his death.
One does not skip lightheartedly into this sort of death scene without some sort of spiritual reinforcement.
And that reinforcement was found on the top of a mountain. A mountaintop experience which he would share with his closest friends: James, John, and Peter.
A mountaintop experience in which he would find strength and courage from his spiritual mentors: Moses, the Lawgiver, and the Prophet Elijah.
And a mountaintop experience in which he would be reminded of God's love, with the words, "This is my Son, the Beloved."
It was almost like some first-century Valentine’s Day card showing up in his spiritual mailbox just when he needed it the most:
"Remember what I said a few years ago, Jesus, when we started this journey? Well, it's still true; I loved you then and I still love you!"
And the good news is God loves us, too. At the very moment we enter this world, I believe God whispers into the ears of each newborn baby
the same words that God spoke to Jesus: "You are my child and I love you."
And God reinforces that declaration of love time and time again over the years. God's affirmation isn't limited to our baptism and our death.
God pronounces us to be very good and assures us of God's love over and over…We just don't hear the words.
I believe the relationship that God had with Jesus is the same one that God has with us.
The difference is Jesus was intensely aware of that relationship and, more times than not, we aren't.
When we wake in the morning, if you are like me, you may be thinking about how many things you can check off your To Do List, instead of listening to God's reaffirmation of love for you,
instead of bathing in the glory of God's absolute delight and pleasure in you.
When I'm driving to the office, instead of looking at how the sun is transforming the morning clouds from shades of rose to gold,
I'm concentrating on the traffic and wishing I had taken a route that avoided the school zone. God is showing off for me and I don't even notice.
Instead of remembering how God walked with Adam in the cool of the evening, and tuning into that same presence in my own life,
I'm checking the dozens e-mails that I have received over the day. Yes, I think God is telling me over and over each and every day of my life
that I am God's own child and that I’m loved. The problem is my ears are clogged and I've got spiritual tunnel vision.
If I were able to tune into God's affirmation of love, then the chances are great that I would be able to face the challenges that life throws my way.
So the next time God sends you a valentine – whether it’s in the beauty of a dawning day,
or the mystery of a burning candle, or the memory of childhood innocence – whatever form it takes, hold onto it.
Recognize its value. Tuck it away in a special place like you would any valentine.
And when the time comes, open it up again and tap into its power.
And when you do, you will discover that you have been transfigured, too. You will find strength that you never imagined that you could possess.
You will discover that you actually love people who you never would have thought you could ever have loved.
And you will know peace deep within your soul, even though it feels like your darkest hour.
God has called you "Beloved." Never let go of that, and you will be transformed. Amen.