Love in action

Oct. 23, 2025

By Rev. Riz Prakasim

“Simon son of John, do you love me?” Jesus asks Peter three times in John 21:17. And three times, Peter affirms his love. Each time, Jesus responds not with sentiment, but with a call to action: “Feed my sheep.”

That call continues today. Recently, our youth group took part in that same invitation by partnering with Northeast Youth and Family Services to pack 160 meal kits for their clients. Each meal packed was a tangible expression of love—a way of saying, “Yes, Lord, we love you,” through service to our neighbors.

You can’t love people well without trying many ways to meet their needs. Love in action demands imagination and flexibility. To innovate in the church world is simply to be creative in how we care for others—the hungry, the lonely, the overlooked. In the early days of the Christian movement, this was precisely what caught the world’s attention. Followers of Jesus lived with such compassion and inventiveness that the Roman Empire took notice. They created new systems of care for the sick and poor, founded hospitals and schools, and built communities where all could belong.

The monasteries that emerged centuries later continued that legacy of holy innovation. Benedictine communities practiced shared decision-making where even the youngest had a voice—an early echo of democracy. Syrian monasteries taught girls to read and write when few others did. These were not just creative ideas; they were expressions of deep, active love.

When the church takes part in God’s new thing, it becomes an engine of possibility. Love drives invention. Compassion fuels courage. The question Jesus asked Peter—“Do you love me?”—is not just for the disciples of the past, but for us here and now.

Our youth didn’t just pack boxes; they participated in something sacred. They imagined a world where no one is forgotten, where God’s love shows up in practical, nourishing ways. If we aim for love, we will inevitably bump into innovation along the way.

We’re not called to have great ideas. We’re called to have great love and to feed God’s sheep wherever they are found.