Amber Love

A Prussian-Russian Alliance, a stone that's not actually made of stone, and a reminder that the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts.

Today, we look at God's soul structure - the kingdom of God.

This is the sixth in a ten-part series on learning to love the Lord (and our neighbor) with all our soul.  The soul is that part of you that is eternal.  After death, after life, all you will be left with is your soul to carry on into eternity.  If you don’t learn to love with all your soul, you won’t have any love left when life is over.

"Remember, you are loved, so go, love better!"

New episodes drop on Tuesdays.

Transcript

            Amber, with its rich golden hues and warm luster comes primarily in golden yellow, but it can also be found in red, green, and even, on rare occasion blue tones, too.  A favorite of jewelry makers across the globe, it’s relative softness allows it to be carved intricately, and then polished to a mesmerizing sheen.  Made from fossilized tree resin, amber can be found pure and shimmering, or holding bits of flora or fauna in it’s golden grasp – a detail that Michael Crichton used when writing his wildly popular science fiction novel Jurassic Park.

            Throughout history, amber’s allure has drawn cultures to it.  The Greeks believed it contained the essence of the sun, and due to its ability to produce a static electric charge, they gave amber the name ‘elektron’, which ultimately became the root for the modern word, ‘electricity’.  The Nordic cultures believed amber to be the tears of their goddess, the Romans used it as a protection against various ailments, and the Chinese referred to amber as ‘the soul of the tiger’ believing amber to be the transformed souls left to remain after a tiger’s death.

            In short, amber has always been prized economically, culturally, and even medicinally… so, in 1701 when King Frederick the 1st of Prussia wanted to build the most beautiful room in the history of architecture for his palace in Charlottenburg, amber was the obvious choice.  Visitors called it ‘the Eighth Wonder of the World’.  He simply called it ‘the Amber Room’.

            I’m Scott Beyer and this is the Love Better podcast where we explore the truths and lies about love and more importantly how to turn love into a skill – something we can get better at and hone along the way.

This is the sixth in a ten-part series on learning to love the Lord (and our neighbor) with all our soul.  The soul is that part of you that is eternal.  After death, after life, all you will be left with is your soul to carry on into eternity.  If you don’t learn to love with all your soul, you won’t have any love left when life is over.

            When King Frederick of Prussia originally commissioned the Amber Room it was built from over 13,000 pounds of amber.  Considering that amber is a relatively light substance, that is a shocking amount of the stuff.  The room was designed in panels.  Each panel covered with amber and filigreed with gold and decorative carvings.  Though sometimes found in larger chunks, most of the amber in the world is no bigger than your thumb, so as you envision the Amber Room in your mind’s eye, think of it as a brilliant fiery mosaic of interlocked golden stones fit together with precision and an eye for beauty.  No wonder it was considered the Eighth Wonder of the World.  Each piece of amber is unique and beautiful on its own, but together they made a tapestry unrivalled anywhere in the world.

            When trying to describe the kingdom of God, Peter uses language reminiscent of the Amber Room.  Consider his description of God’s people in 1 Peter chapter two.

As you come to Him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (1 Peter 2:4-5)

            When we give our souls to Jesus, He combines them with the souls of the rest of His people and uses the living stones of our lives to build a stunning spiritual house.  Just like the Amber Room, each piece of amber is unique and beautiful on its own, but when interlocked together with others… the whole becomes greater than the sum of its parts.

            One of the great lessons of love is that your soul matters, but your soul isn’t the only one that matters.  The reason you are supposed to love your neighbor as yourself is because your neighbor is exactly as valuable as yourself.  Every piece of amber is precious, and when we see the worth in others, and how interconnected we all are, we have the opportunity to build something really special.

            Ephesians chapter two uses this same language of soul-structure when it describes the church as the temple of God built from souls both near and far.

And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. (Ephesians 2:17-22)

            Amber isn’t technically a stone, its fossilized tree resin, so it isn’t often mined like rocks would be.  Most amber is found, not chiseled out from the earth because amber floats.  That’s right, if you have a piece of amber and you drop it in the sink, it will float to the top… and that’s likely how must of the amber for the Amber room was found.  The Baltic Sea is one of the most prolific sources of amber.  Through a combination of geologic activity, seasonal storms, and regular tidal movement, the Baltic Sea slowly releases its stores of amber to the surface where it is collected by beachcombers and collectors alike.

            And that’s exactly how God’s family is – as Ephesians says, Jesus has collected us from near and far.  Each precious soul brought to the surface after the storms and tides of life cause people to realize their need for Jesus.  If we are going to love with all our soul, we need to recognize that every soul has been through some storms and tempests.  Some of the greatest conversion stories of the Bible are born out of trials, pain, and a recognition of failure.  And loving souls means understanding that and not looking down on people because their lives have been through some heavy weather.

            When Jesus was invited to dinner at a Pharisee’s house… Pharisees were exceptionally devout in their religious practices, while Jesus was sitting at the table, a woman who was a known sinner showed up and washed His feet with her tears.  The Pharisee, named Simon, was appalled by this behavior and even used it as proof that Jesus couldn’t be the Savior.  His argument?  “If this man were a prophet, He would know who and what sort of woman this is who is touching him, for she is a sinner.”

            Jesus’ response gets to the heart of how we need to see and love souls.  He doesn’t dismiss her sin as if it hadn’t happened.  Nor does He condescend to her or act in a demeaning way toward her.  Instead, Jesus says this to Simon:

"A certain moneylender had two debtors. One owed five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. When they could not pay, he cancelled the debt of both. Now which of them will love him more?"

Simon answered, "The one, I suppose, for whom he cancelled the larger debt." 

And he said to him, "You have judged rightly."

Then turning toward the woman he said to Simon, "Do you see this woman? I entered your house; you gave me no water for my feet, but she has wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You gave me no kiss, but from the time I came in she has not ceased to kiss my feet. You did not anoint my head with oil, but she has anointed my feet with ointment. Therefore I tell you, her sins, which are many, are forgiven--for she loved much. But he who is forgiven little, loves little." And he said to her, "Your sins are forgiven." (Luke 7:41-48)

            Jesus saw the value in that woman’s soul and instead of rejecting her for all she had been through, including the storms of her own sinful choices, He complimented her for making the journey to the light.  It can be a long and painful road back to God from a lifestyle of sin – that woman had made it, and He loved her for it.

            It is easy to miss the value of someone because they don’t look, act, or talk like you.  We tend to gravitate toward those we have much in common with… but Jesus’ point is that every soul that is willing to be honest about their need for God is worth combing the shores for.  Look for souls that love truth and have the humility and bravery to face their flaws.  The best amber comes through the worst storms. 

            The Prussian king eventually gifted the Amber Room to Russia to solidify the Prussian-Russian alliance which was both vital and a bit of a tongue-twister to say.  It was shipped in eighteen large boxes to Russia, eventually ending up in palace of Empress Elizabeth, the daughter of Peter the Great.  And there it remained until the Nazi’s arrived and torn the room apart in an attempt to loot it.

            Spiritual unity is a hard thing to maintain in the church.  Unfortunately, it is much easier to destroy unity than it is to build it.  There are two things that can tear those living stones apart.  #1 is the devil.  The devil, just like the Nazis, is constantly looking to loot the church.  From temptations outside to false teaching on the inside, Satan is always on the hunt for ways to drive a wedge between souls.  As Ephesians warns us:

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. (Eph 6:10-12 ESV)

            However, the external attacks of Satan aren’t the only thing trying to tear the church asunder.  Sometimes, the greatest risk to unity is us and our own desires.  What happens when we don’t make room for other souls to shine?  What happens when I have to be the prettiest piece of amber in the room?  You can’t build something bigger than yourself when it has to be all about yourself.

            The churches of Galatia struggled with this, Paul had to warn them about the dangers of this, in his words:

For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. (Galatians 5:14-15)

            Sadly, for some, their experience with God’s people has been exactly what Paul warned against.  When Christians bite and devour one another out of pride, a desire to have things their way, or when we aren’t willing to connect with others because we don’t see the value of their souls, people walk away from Christ because Christians have hurt them.  Though every soul has to stand before God on his or her own, we need to remember to make it easier for folks to find Jesus, not to put stumbling blocks in their way.  There is always room for more souls in God’s house, and the church should look like a house where every soul has a place of support and purpose within the structure, not a zoo where the animals need to be kept separate so they don’t eat each other.  Satan will never stop trying to loot the church, but we better not make his job easier.

            After the Nazis looted the Amber room, it disappeared into history.  Some think the panels are still hidden in some secret bunker somewhere, other theories think it was destroyed during the loot process, after all, amber, just like souls, is pretty fragile stuff, and a third theory is that the room was actually inadvertently destroyed by the Russians themselves as they were retaking their own homeland.  Amber can burn, and it might have burned up in the bombings as the Russians fought back.  The original Amber Room is likely lost for good, and we may never know exactly what happened to it.

            But the good news is that the Russians decided not to accept the loss of this national treasure.  In 1979, near Saint Petersburg, they began meticulously reconstructing the Amber Room from historical photos.  Today, you can visit it because it turns out, destruction doesn’t have to be accepted.  You can start over.

            Maybe, like me, you have failed to love your neighbor as yourself.  Or maybe you have been hurt by Christians or had a bad experience with a church.  Or maybe there are beautiful souls in your life that you need to reconnect with.  It’s never too late to rebuild.  Comb the beaches of your life and find the amber.  Look for opportunities to build unity and show souls the love that Jesus shows you.  When we find room in our hearts for others, we learn to love with all our soul.

            If you are a Christian, I will point you to the words of our Lord.  As He prepared to head to the cross for our souls, He gave us a new commandment in John 13:

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another." (Jhn 13:34-35 ESV)

            If we want to honor Jesus, we haven’t to uphold His legacy and show love to one another.  Do your part to hold the amber together.

            And if you have been hurt by Christians or frustrated by the behavior of the church…  I’m sorry for your pain.  It isn’t easy to be disappointed and hurt by people we expect to love us like Jesus does.  Please remember that Jesus died for sinful people, and sometimes we don’t act like we should.

            And if you aren’t yet a follower of Jesus, let me tell you this – there is no better place to put your precious soul than into the hands of the one that made it.

            Learn to love better.  Learn to see people as souls and make room for them.

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And until next time, “Remember, you are loved, so go… love better.”