I, Valentine

from my sermon on Valentine's day, 2/14/10 from John 15:12-12



I am Valentine. You have covered up my story with chocolate candy, flowers, hearts, cards, and the color red. I want to tell you my story so that you may get an idea of where all of this came from. I am a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. My story gets confusing because there are at least 3 different St. Valentines. Valens is Latin for "worthy." All 3 have worthy stories, but I am going to tell 2 of them that may actually be the same person.



I was a priest in Rome in the 3rd century. I had a ministry with children. Remember how Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me. Do not hinder them, for to such belong the kingdom of God." I welcomed children.



It was not easy to be a Christian. The government outlawed our faith. We were supposed to worship the Roman gods. This I could not do. The Emperor Claudius put me in jail for my rebellion. When the little children heard of this , they missed me and were sad. I was sad too. to encourage me, the children would come to the prison and toss notes and flowers to me through th bars.



The other story is that I am a priest in Rome, again while Claudius in emperor. He was called Claudius the cruel. He wanted to increase the size of the army. I know this ancient history must sound like today's news. We are always waging war and sending our best young men to battle. Claudius knew that young, unmarried men made the best soldiers because they were focused on the fight and not on the family. So he decreed that marriages and engagements were to cease. Just like that, there were to be no more marriages.



I would not stop my ministry with young couples, who wanted to get married. I continued to perform marriages....in secret. The government could not stop love.



I know that engaged couples today invite family and friends. Imagine a wedding where it was just the bride and groom and maybe a witness or two. I know couples today spend a lot of time and money preparing for their big day--contracting with caterers, florists, musicians, buying rings and special clothes. Imagine in my day, quietly exchanging vows in near darkness in a catacomb, fearful that at any moment you might be discovered and carted off to jail. Priests could even be executed for performing marriages. It was not some mere formality. It was life and death worship.



I was discovered. I was thrown into prison.



Here is where the two stories combine. In prison, I befriend the jailer's daughter. Tradition says that the jailer is named Asterius and his daughter is Julia. The tradition says that she was blind until a miracle was performed through me and she regained her sight. Before my execution, I wrote her a note and signed it, "From your Valentine."



I like it that I am associated with love---children--couples who want to get married. I like it that people show their affection in ways in the same ways we did, with cards and flowers and letters.



But I would not have you overlook this: I was executed, I died for my faith. It happened on Feb 14 about 269 or 270 A.D., this very day, some 1740 years ago. I laid down my life for my friends, just like Jesus did. I like it that you still show your love, but I would have you direct on this day, not just to those who are easy to love, but also to those who aren't. Especially, I would have you remember those who are in prison, maybe for doing wrong, but maybe for doing what's right like I did.



Your worship bulletin has some ways for you to get involved:



Amnesty International advocates for prisoners of conscience like I am.



The Innocence project does DNA testing among other things to overturn wrongful convictions. To date, they have freed over 250 prisoners in the USA.



Women's StoryBook Project helps incarcerated mothers record stories for their children at home, so that the children can go to sleep hearing their mothers' voices. I am told that the outside volunteers gather with the incarcerated mothers in a circle before and after the sessions to share something about parenting that has to do with a randomly chosen letter of the alphabet. Somehow the walls come down as they are all simply moms trying to cope with rearing children.



Kairos is an ecumenical ministry to prisoners. Kairos is the Greek word for the right time or the fullness of time. I heard a story from a man, a member of another church, who was part of the inside team, who went in to minister with the men in white. During a presentation at night, there was a power failure in the prison. It was terrifying....this inside team surrounded by murderers, rapists, robbers, and the like. When the lights came back on, a few moments later, the inside team found that they had been herded into the center of the room, and surrounded by the prisoners they were working with . The prisoners were all facing out, standing shoulder to shoulder, protecting the inside team.



May we never forget what Jesus said, "I was in prison and you visited me. As you did it to one of the least of these, you did it unto me." I hope that you can be willing to lay down your life for your friends, for Jesus' friends, who may be in prison.



Amen.