A Muted Love
I believe, like my wife, that all who knew my late father-in-law would agree that his wit, humor, and storytelling could only be surpassed by someone like Will Rogers. As a novice preacher, and young husband just starting out, I cannot list all the acts of kindness he displayed on me. He had a stoic face, and a kind of gruff air about him much like the “Grumpy Old Man,” as played by Walter Matthau in the movie by that title. But that cute little pooched mouth, when he had put one over on you, gave away that great heart of gold.
I asked my wife if she could ever remember him telling her he loved her. “Only a few times, when he was older,” she replied. Hoppy, as we called him, would not be considered a good Christian by our sticky sweet standards of today. But God’s value of him would be just the opposite.
And this is why I make such a statement. John the Beloved says, by the inspiration of God, “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” This, my friend, is what I call “muted love.”
Those who scrutinized our Lord said, “Behold how he loved him.” It was not something they heard, but something they beheld that impressed them about His love for his own.
You see, Jesus never told anyone when on earth that He loved them. It is recorded He did, but He never personally told anyone He loved them. He showed it, and this is something to behold!
by an Aged Saint