Agape: Sacrificial Love

The most powerful word in the New Testament is AGAPE...the Greek word for love. It is sacrificial seeking to serve. The word "agape" is rarely found in ancient Greek literature. It on appears in Homer ten times. Three times it appears in Euripides. But it appears 320 times in the New Testament.

Agape is sacrificial. It says, I love you when you are not very lovable. Agape is the cross, extending its arms to embrace all humanity. Agape loves when it is not always convenient and when it is not reciprocated. It extends to both the deserving and the undeserving.

One of the great examples of this type of agape love is taken from my favorite author, Nikos Kazantzakis, who in his memoir, wrote an account of an incident in his life which I think truly defines Christ-like sacrificial love. I pray it touches you as it has touched me.

From his book...A Report To Greco:

"I knew that no matter what door you knock on in a Cretan village, it will be opened for you. A meal will be served in your honor and you will sleep between the best sheets in the house. In Crete the stranger is still the unknown god. Before him all doors and all hearts are opened.

Night had already begun to descend as I entered the village. The doors were all shut; in the courtyard the dogs caught the intruder's scent and began to bark. Where should I go, at which door should I knock? At the priest's home, where all strangers find refuge. The priests in our village are uncultivated, their education meager; they are incapable of any theoretical discussion of Christian doctrine. But Christ lives in their hearts, and sometimes they see Him with their eyes, if not by the pillow of a wartime casualty, then sitting beneath a flowering almond tree in springtime.

A door opened. A little old woman came out with a lamp in her hand to see who the stranger was who had entered the village at such an hour. I stopped. "Long may you live, madam," I said, sweetening my voice so that she would not be frightened. "I am a stranger and have nowhere to sleep. Would you be so kind as to direct me to the priest's house?"

"Gladly. I'll hold the lamp so you won't stumble. God-his holy name be blessed- gave soil to some, stones to others. Our lot was the stones. Watch your step and follow me.

She led the way with the lamp. We turned a corner and arrived at a vaulted doorway. A lantern was hanging outside.

"This is the priest's house," said the old woman.

Lifting the lamp, she threw the light on my face and sighed. She was going to say something but changed her mind.

"Thank you, my fine woman," I said. "Sorry to bother you. Good night."

She kept looking at me, not going away.

If you wouldn't mind a poor house, you could come and lodge with me."

But I had already knocked on the priest's door. I heard heavy steps in the yard.

The door opened. Standing in front of me was an old man with a snow-white beard and long hair flowing down over his shoulders. Without asking me who I was or what I wanted, he extended his hand.

"Welcome. Are you a stranger? Come in."

I heard voices as I entered. Doors opened and closed, and several women slipped down hastily into the adjoining room and vanished. The priest had me sit down on the couch.

"My wife, the papadhiá, is a little disposed; you'll have to excuse her. But I myself will cook for you, lay the table for your supper, and prepared a bed so that you can sleep."

His voice was heavy and afflicted. I looked at him. He was extremely pale, and his eyes were swollen and inflamed, as though from weeping. But no thought of a misfortune occurred to me. I ate, slept, and in the morning the priest came and brought me a tray of bread, cheese, and milk. I held out my hand, thanked him, and said goodbye.

"God bless you, my son," he said. "Christ be with you."

I left. At the edge of the village an old man appeared. Placing his hand over his breast, he greeted me.

"Where did you spend the night, son?' he asked.

"At the priest's house."

The old man sighed. "Ah, the poor fellow. And you didn't catch wind of anything?"

"What was there to catch wind of?"

"His son died yesterday morning. His only son. Didn't you hear the women lamenting?"

"I heard nothing. Nothing."

"They had him in the inner room. They must have muffled their laments to keep you from hearing and being disturbed...

Pleasant journey!"

"My eyes filled with tears.

"What are you crying for!" exclaimed the old man in astonishment. "Oh, I see: you're young, you haven't gotten used to death yet. Pleasant journey!"

Comments

[lovingkindness]

"Sacrificial love" can be misunderstood as some kind of hardship, a giving up of something valuable.

When we give up what ultimately causes suffering to ourselves and others, love emerges unobscured in all its glory.

Some sacrifice!

[mamacat]

It seems to me that all religions have fables about people treating each other with love and honor.

History teaches us that the practitioners of all of man's religions are more alike in how they disobey the commandments to love one another than in how they obey the commandments.

[wondering]

"Agape is the cross, extending its arms to embrace all humanity."

Umm ... the cross was an instrument of torture.

[Jonahson]

I see sacrificial love as the practice of one of the ten perfections. I see Mother Theresa as a practicing Boddhisatva.

[KillgoreTrout43]

Thousands of unwanted babies now live in squalor and suffering because "the good mother," preached the "evils," of birth control. She was anti-birth control (like the good catholic she was) and as a result, unwanted children were born into a world you wouldn't want to spend one hour in.

[Jonahson]

She may have wrong view about birth control due to her faith as you mentioned but she has the perfection of boundless energy (viriya) to do good.

[joebiz]

The ancient Greeks in their infinite wisdom had among other things, three types of "love": Eros, the erotic, sexual love; Philia, or the friendship, affection that could denote either brotherhood or generally non-sexual affection, or of wanting the best for others or the type of love one has for things like books, bibliophilia for example; and they had Agape, or a love of a spouse or family, or affection for a particular activity.

Christian writers in their zeal to create a broader meaning of a Greek word sought to amplify the meaning and redefined for their purposes. Agape was now a devotional, masochist type of love. You turn the other cheek and the other gets slapped.

I prefer the love styles by John Lee:

Eros " a passionate physical and emotional love based on aesthetic enjoyment; stereotype of romantic love
Ludus " a love that is played as a game or sport; conquest
Storge " an affectionate love that slowly develops from friendship, based on similarity
Pragma " love that is driven by the head, not the heart; undemonstrative
Mania " highly volatile love; obsession; fueled by low self-esteem
Agape " selfless altruistic love; spiritual; motherly love

[Dap]

Agape: Love in Communion.

Communion

n. . 1. The act of sharing; community; participation.
2. Intercourse between two or more persons; esp., intimate association and intercourse implying sympathy and confidence; interchange of thoughts, purposes, etc.; agreement; fellowship.

[BADEN]

The woman was giving a hint.
The stranger should have been more aware.

I don't understand what this has to do with "agape".
He was merely doing his priestly chore in face of such a personal tragedy.

I do agree with the last comment on death.
We take ourselves MUCH too seriously as a sort of 'extension' of a higher source by association.
Death is the great equalizer.

It just is. Like life.

All that ever was or will be is here now.
That's about as simple as it gets.
Pass it around

[KillgoreTrout43]

First law of thermodynamics; Matter can neither be created nor destroyed. I guess the good father told this story because of the unspoken love? I'm a bit adrift here. What was the example of Love? The priest's hospitality? His temporarily placing his grief on the back burner? The silent women? It was a lovely act on the part of the priest, but wouldn't any decent man or woman do the same???

[cktirumalai]

i once heard a Religious Studies professor explain that classical Greece had "arete," the saving power of virtue, but not "agape," the redemptive power of Love. I myself would draw the contrast less starkly but the moving episode you cite from Kazantzakis shows a Christian priest who has mastered the lesson of classical Stoicism: to rise above a misfortune which is beyond our power of choice. Paul seems to have admired the sanity of the Stoics.

[KillgoreTrout43]

The Stoics had alot to offer.