Austen Powered – Part Deux (Vivre l’amour)
 
Phil 1 vs 9-11 (The Message)

So this is my prayer: that your love will flourish and that you will not only love much but well. Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush. Live a lover's life, circumspect and exemplary, a life Jesus will be proud of: bountiful in fruits from the soul, making Jesus Christ attractive to all, getting everyone involved in the glory and praise of God.

The cause of love is flourishing and fast begining to take over the world. Now comes the crunch. Will love survive the test or will Dr Evil have his wicked way…..

Let’s consider ‘Use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere’

So, Austen Powers is ready to save the world with lurve. Jane Austen writes about looking for love. But God is love. In true romance novel style his love conquers all, after much anguish and heartache.

There does seem to be this sentimental, gushing element to Jane Austen novels. But the reality, I think rather is different. Yes, the heroines of her novels can be emotional, but at the heart of it, they have to use their brains, think through consequences, overcome difficult circumstances and avoid sentimentality whilst doing that. The web of intrigue, gossip, lies, scheming and mismatched couples of Jane Austen’s era called for great discernment. This is reflected in her work. Austen’s characters discover deep passion through discernment, testing and trials. This is especially true of Fanny Price and Edmund in Mansfield Park. Seems to me, 21st Century dating hasn’t moved on that much …. We can learn a thing or two about the effects of miscommunication from Pride & Prejudice too.

Our modern thinking usually puts passion and romance first followed by a more learned, considered, tested depth to love. This verse almost turns this on its head.
Jane Austen, describing Anne, protagonist in her novel, Persuasion, writes this ‘She had been forced into prudence in her youth, she learned romance as she grew older: the natural sequel of an unnatural beginning.’

Anne lost the love of her life. It made her cynical, prudent and cautious. She gets a second chance with her true love when she is older and considered past her sell by date. She struggles to learn to love him again. In the process she discovers true romance.

Real God romance often comes later on in the faith journey and it is learned and discovered. It is shaped by pain and pleasure. Some people’s journey as a follower of Christ could be summed up in that way.

Sin causes us to lose our love for God. We ache for him (often unknowingly) and fill the void in thousands of different ways. Drink, food, sex, money, clothes, friends, possessions, career or constant activity. But it is never enough. Jesus comes as our second chance at love. We begin our God romance again when we accept Jesus. The Holy Spirit fuels  the flames of that love into something strong and deep, passionate and truly romantic.

Often we restart our relationship with God carefully, considering if the bible is true and if he actually exists. Is his love is true or real? We all make decisions about God, about people, about everything all the time. Past hurt makes us cynical, cautious and prudent. Yet, by grace, we learn to trust God again, learn to love God again.

This is perhaps a core part of Alpha. Those who embark on Alpha are ordinary people enquiring of, searching for, making decisions and judgements about God. The yuppie couples trying to escape to the country, the surfy lifestyle all highlight a thirst for truth or as Nicky Gumbel might say ‘transcendence.’ Something more than ourselves. Love demands we think of others. Love is tested to see if it is sincere.

Keep in mind, God is love. As we grow into our relationship with God, life’s trials soon highlight the levels of our sincerity and love for God. And vice versa. How often do we ‘knee jerk pray’ – please help me God, right NOW. The Psalms are full of this type of prayer. God always comes to the rescue.

Do we stop and think about how we treat God. How often do we stop and think about the character and nature of God. How he wants to deal with us and how he loves us. How he has plans to ‘prosper not harm.’ (Jer 29)

Last week, Graham Tomlin gave an inspring sermon. He discussed the fact that love must have faith. If your beloved tells you they love you, you trust that they are sincere and have faith that it is true. This seems to be an important stop of our journey.We have to trust that God loves us as he says and live accordingly

Now, back to the main plot. In the book of Romans we are called to ‘test everything.’ That means to stop, pause, think and then act. Not something 21st century living really allows for. We are the ‘I want it in an instant’ generation. So often we can have ‘it’ in an instant. Whatever ‘it’ may be. One of the most painful lessons I’ve learnt during my walk with God is that he makes me wait and ponder and he really searches the motives of my heart. He tests us and he wants us to test him.

Look at Job. He really got tested over a very long period. He lost everything, but got back more than he could he could ever have hoped for from God. Love is often like that. We lose everything, but gain so much more. Job’s love for God was proved to be sincere and God’s love for Job was proved sincere.

Peter is tested and fails three times on the night the Lord is taken away. He doesn’t use his head or test his love. Like so many of us, he blusters about and makes rash declarations and decisions without thinking about it. Fortunately Peter sees the grace of God at work in his life. After testing, the sincerity of Peter’s love for God wins through. Thank God it is the same for us.

Jesus sincerely loved God. He always thought about what God wanted. Jesus got properly tested by the devil for 40 days in the wilderness and by God as he went to the cross. In his darkest hour Jesus said ‘your will, not mine.’ Only someone with true depth of love could be willing to sacrifice his very life for love. The love of his father, family and bride – us, the church. God truly loves his only son and proves it by raising him back to life.

On the surface, very romance novel, quite Jane Austen. However, this only just about scratches the surface of the love Jesus and God bring, the love shown on the cross. 'It's not that we loved God, but God loved us first' and always wanted our love. He never stopped or stops loving us. We just have to accept that love. We need to learn to receive as well as give love.


Coming soon -  Austen Powered – Part 3 (Love Eternal)
The final chapter