Love (13:1-17)

Love gives substance to our faith and hope.  If we want to see the harvest of fruit in our lives, then at some point we have to put the hand to the plough!  To avoid slipping away from the faith, and to be fit for the Kingdom, we have to flesh out our love.  It is right to say that love is the obligation of faith and hope.

Firstly, love is a community obligation (13:1-6).  There is a societal obligation to love, to fulfill the commandment to “love your neighbour as yourself” (Mk.12:33).  We love the brothers, strangers (hospitality was a key virtue of the early Church), prisoners and those mistreated.  Part of this community obligation is the marital obligation to love.  Where love exists in a marriage, and where marriage is treasured in a home, love for society flows.  There is personal security and contentment in a communal obligation to love.  It is based on something very simple: love God, or love things.  If we love God, we can rest assured that He will never leave nor abandon us.

Secondly, love is a Church obligation (13:7-17).  There is a togetherness that we seek as Christians, and this is based on love.  This letter to the Hebrews is written out of a pastoral concern for its readers, and so the writer of the letter reveals four overarching Church love obligations that will help prevent a drifting away from the faith.

He writes of a faithful love (13:7-8), built on the fact that Jesus never changes.  It is that love which enables us to remember those who have influence over us, to consider, and to act and speak in faith, hope and love, just as they do.

He writes, too, of a doctrinal love (13:9-11); a love of the truth.  That truth is not just a matter of dogma and academics.  Christian love is founded on grace, not religious ceremony…it’s what is inside that counts!  It is God’s truth that must be in us.  The Church is the “pillar and foundation of the truth” (1Tim.3:15).  It is that truth which shows us how we are to live and behave in the household of grace.

In addition we are told of a living love (13:12-16).  A living love is one which is holy, worshipful and giving.  It is holy in that it needs to be felt.  It is living for Jesus despite what anyone else thinks - a love that goes “outside the camp” - a love formed by Christ, not by rules or expectations of men.  It is worshipful in that it needs to be heard.  It is giving, in that it needs to be seen.  Our deeds must match our praises; we must both sing and serve.  A living love is a giving love, and this is pleasing to God and brings joy to man.

Lastly, we are told about a submissive love (13:17); a love that grows around obedience, care and joy.  This is a love that has mutual advantage at its heart, that in loving each other we all benefit.

It is this kind of love, the obligation of faith and hope, which gives us strength and endurance to be fit for the Kingdom and to finish the race well.