Each semester, the Center for Faith Engagement hosts a Week of Prayer. The theme for this semester was “Love Is Life,” a phrase derived from John 3:16. From Mar. 8 to Mar. 12, several insightful speakers, including Danielle Pilgrim, associate chaplain, Rodlie Ortiz, pastor for Evangelism and Grow Groups at Pioneer Memorial Church (PMC), Hyveth Williams, professor of Homiletics, Tony Yang, vice president of Strategy, Marketing & Enrollment, and Micheal Nixon, vice president of Diversity & Inclusion broke down the meaning of “Love Is Life. '' From their sermons, students were able to learn about God’s wholesome love and how it operates.
During Thursday's chapel service, Mr. Yang spoke about a unique aspect of God’s love. In today's society, efficiency is key–phones, laptops, tablets and smart watches are all testament to this. But God’s love is different; it's inefficient. Efficiency works by putting the least work in for maximum return, but God’s love gives itself without expecting anything in return.
Adoniah Simon (junior, social work) appreciated the message of Mr. Yang’s sermon. “His sermon was simple but really impactful. It was comforting to hear that God’s love for us is irrational, counter-intuitive and wasteful. We are all the better for the fact that God loves us recklessly. He gave His life just for the chance for us to spend the rest of our existence with Him,” he commented. “The God we serve isn’t looking to maximize his return on his investments in us. Now that’s a God who draws me in, that’s a God who compels me to love more and be more like him every day.”
Mr. Yang used Matthew 26:6 to explain where the idea of God’s love being inefficient stems from. He explained that although the perfume which Mary used could have been sold for a large sum of money, it was seemingly wasted to show love for Jesus. Caryn Cruz (junior, English) recounted Mr. Tony’s visual representation of what occurred in Matthew 26. She said, “I appreciated the visual experience Pastor Yang provided in his sermon. By pouring water over a student’s head to show the amount of perfume that was poured over Jesus, it really placed the circumstances in perspective. He tied the theme in beautifully with the stories he incorporated to show how we should love recklessly.”
Mr. Yang further explained that God’s love is wasteful, and that our love to Him should be the same. Eden Seo (junior, theology) was the student who volunteered to have water poured on him. He shared, “I learned that God's love is inefficient in the sense that he pours out everything He has for us. We should do the same for others by loving without holding anything back. I want to love like Jesus does.”
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