6.26.11 Rewards & Instruments

Have you ever come across a passage in the Bible which is hard to understand? Sometimes there are texts which are hard to swallow, or grasp. We don’t know what to do with them. They don’t fit into our box. They don’t speak to the realities we want God to work within.

Today’s Old Testament text is from Genesis 22:1-14 – and for me it’s always been one of those: “Really – that happened in our Bible?” kind of stories. It’s the story of Abraham and Isaac – and the sacrificial offering to God.

Our Gospel text from Matthew 10:40-42 is also one which I have to read, and re-read and place it within its larger context. If I simply read it I seem to struggle with its concepts. As I read each text this week and reread them and reread them, I had to look at them within the larger story of God.

For me, certain words or aspects of the Scripture sometimes stand out and I get stuck on them – but really what we need to do is read them within the larger narrative. We have to understand them within the larger context of God’s story!

As I read Matthew 10:40-42 this week I found myself struggling with the term and concept of rewards from God. In regards to our faith, I’m not a huge rewards kind of guy. I don’t believe we are to do what God has asked simply for a reward. As I read this passage, I kind of cringed as I immediately thought of the Prosperity Gospel. The simple message of the Prosperity Gospel is that God will fiscally reward and bless those who believe in him. So, I was stuck on this word reward and my mind was connecting it to this view of the Gospel that doesn’t resonate with me.

But as I read the other passages of Scripture we have before us today, my heart was warmed as God reminded me of the whole of his story. I believe there is a reason why we have the entire cannon we call Scripture. There’s a reason why we have the Old Testament and the New Testament. There’s a reason why we still read the stories of the Old Testament. There’s a reason why we spend time reading the Gospels and the letters from Paul and the other New Testament writers.

The entirety of Scripture along with our traditions and experiences shape the larger frame work for understanding God and his story. When we look at a particular piece of Scripture on its own we short-circuit something vital – We run the risk of short-circuiting the primary message God is inviting us into.

In many ways we have a choice to make. Will we focus on one passage and run the risk of misunderstanding it within the larger framework or will we look at the different pieces of the story and how they connect and speak of the truth before us?

We have four (Genesis 22:1-18, Psalm 13, Romans 6:12-23, Matthew 10:40-42) Lectionary texts today and we’ve already read the Gospel of Matthew. I would like us to look at two more which I believe will shed light on our Gospel text and help us look at and see one of God’s major over-arching themes.

Let’s look at Genesis 22. Here we find the story of Abraham and Isaac. It’s the story where God tells Abraham to load up and head out to a mountain and Sacrifice his son there as a burnt offering. Without questioning God, Abraham gets up the next morning and heads out with wood, tools, and his son. They climb the mountain, set the stage, and prepare the altar. An angel comes, calls out to Abraham and tells him not to lay a hand on his son, his only son. I’m sure Isaac was relieved – and I know Abraham was!

This story is one in many ways I’d like to skip over. It’s awkward! I don’t like to think of God testing us. I don’t like to think of God putting us in harm’s way. I don’t like to think of these aspects of God. Yet here they are in our Holy Scriptures.

Well, thankfully the angel comes and tells Abraham not to touch the child and as he looks up – he sees a Ram caught in the bushes. God provided. God provided Isaac, and then God provided the scapegoat.

The beauty is the story doesn’t even finish there. Again, we have to read on. Let’s look at the next paragraph where God blesses Abraham for his obedience:

“The angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time ¹⁶ and said, “I swear by myself, declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, ¹⁷ I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, ¹⁸ and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me.”

(In this story, what stands out to you? What do you see God’s actions here saying?)

In this story God not only provides a way out for Abraham from sacrificing his only son up as a burnt offering, but He goes on to bless Abraham for his obedience. Abraham receives a reward beyond the joy of not losing his son, beyond the joy of having Isaac with him for the rest of his days, beyond all these – God blesses Abraham.

In my own preference to negate the reward spoken of in the Matthew text, God pulls our attention to the many blessings, rewards, and grace God bestows upon Abraham and his descendants. Here we have this amazingly awkward story of Abraham willingly heading off to sacrifice his son to his God. And God turns around and thanks him for being obedient, and provides another avenue. He goes on to bless Abraham telling him his descendants will be as numerous as the stars and the sand and they will be a blessing to all nations.

God’s grace is sufficient. God’s grace is amazing!

I love how God’s grace flows through this story. God’s grace, his spontaneous, unmerited gift to Abraham is amazing. It touches not only Abraham’s life, but his sons, his neighbors, the nations, and it even trickles down to us. Abraham’s life reminds us that God’s grace in itself is a reward. Abraham reminds us that we have a choice to make in response to God’s grace. Abraham was obedient to God and his grace flowed out.

The first two texts we’ve looked at, in many ways are difficult texts for me. I want to just skip over them. They’re awkward. They draw us in to the story in weird ways that we don’t always want God to work in. Yet they are in our Bible. And they are paired with a passage from Romans chapter 6.

¹ What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? ² By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer?  

¹²Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. ¹³ Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. ¹⁴ For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 

Paul’s letter to the Romans is jam-packed with great illustrations and is brimming with the good news of God’s grace. Earlier in Chapter 3 he reminds us that we all have sinned and we all fall short. We all fail. We all miss the mark.

Then just a few chapters later, he asks the question… Shall we go on sinning? No! We have experienced the great gift of God’s grace. Can we remain in our life of death? No! Is it reasonable to assume we can continue to sin that God’s grace may over and over and over again reign true? The answer is no!

We all have sinned and we all fall short. We all fail. We all have missed the mark. But! There’s a but there! We have all sinned, but in God’s goodness, in his graciousness - HE sent his son and ALL are justified freely by his grace. It is through our redemption that came through Jesus Christ that we are set free. We are set free to live. We are set free to love. We are set free to choose life over death!

Shall we go on sinning and assume God’s grace will once again wash over us? Shall we ignore the grace and submit ourselves to the trappings of this world? Of course the answer is NO!

For me, certain words or aspects of the Scripture sometimes stand out and I get stuck on them – but really what we need to do is read them within the larger narrative. We have to understand them within the larger context of God’s story!

I love the section of this chapter in Romans where Paul brings our attention to who we are and how we function in this world. I love it when he pulls us into the metaphor of being instruments. I’ve kind of been stuck in on this word; instruments.

In Verse 13, Paul says: Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather… offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness. 

When I hear Paul’s reference to us about being an instrument - my first inclination is to think of musical instruments. I think about how we are to sing a beautiful song of righteousness. I think about how God doesn’t want us to play the music of wickedness. I think about the guitar, the drums, the violin, keyboard, and tuba. I think about the beautiful symphony of God’s love!

For sure this is true. God wants us to participate in the creation of the beautiful symphony of his love. But my mind has also been drawn to thinking about the instrument not so much as just a musical instrument but also as a tool – something like a doctor’s instrument.
Perhaps like me, this might serve as a beautiful metaphor of how God wants to see you!

This passage reminds us, like Jesus did when he told us we can’t serve both God & money, that we cannot serve both God and Sin. We will be devoted to one and despise the other. We cannot be slave to both. We cannot have a split personality and divide our time between the two. We will need to make a decision. We must choose. We must decide. We have the opportunity to freely choose what our life song will be.

We must freely choose how our gifts and resources – how our lives – will be used. We have to decide who our lives play for? The scriptures remind us that we have to decide. Our lives will play for someone. Our lives are made to be active. Will your life speak of God’s love, or will you sing the song of death?

I love the visual concept Paul uses when referring to us as instruments. I love the illustration because instruments are active. They are engaging. The purpose of a tool or even a musical instrument is not for it to sit untouched beautifully on the shelf. The purpose of a Doctor’s stethoscope is not to hang delicately around the neck like a tie – but rather to be used. The stethoscope has a purpose. It was designed and manufactured for a valuable reason.

We too have been designed and crafted for a unique and quite beautiful purpose. We have a decision to make. We have been crafted to be beautiful instruments, but who will we play for? Will we be instruments of wickedness or instruments of peace, joy, righteousness and love?

I referenced earlier how I struggled with the concept of receiving a reward from God. And Paul in this passage again draws our attention to it. As I read the texts this week, I literally had to laugh as I realized the beauty of the larger picture and its context. Starting in verse 20 Paul says:

²⁰ When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness. ²¹ What benefit did you reap at that time from the things you are now ashamed of? Those things result in death! ²² But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life. 

The last verse there – verse 22, is really quite beautiful isn’t it! “You have been set free from sin. You have become slaves of God. The benefit you reap – leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life!

In our society which strives for prosperity around every available corner, what an amazing story of redemption we have in our Scriptures. What a beautiful depiction of God’s upside down Kingdom where our reward is found in the Salvation offered upon a tree; where our reward is in the ram caught in the thicket; where our reward is based on our decision to allow our lives to be instruments of peace, joy, righteousness and love!

One of my favorite songs in the Christian faith is an old prayer from St. Francis of Assisi – the song is titled Instruments of Peace. And I’d like to share it with you:

“Lord, Make us instruments of your peace, Where there is hatred, let your love increase Lord, make us instruments of your peace, Walls of pride and prejudice shall cease, When we are your instruments of peace. 

Where there is hatred, we will show his love Where there is injury, we will never judge Where there is striving, we will speak his peace To the millions crying for release, We will be his instruments of peace 

Lord, Make us instruments of your peace, Where there is hatred, let your love increase Lord, make us instruments of your peace, Walls of pride and prejudice shall cease When we are your instruments of peace. 

Where there is blindness, we will pray for sight. Where there is darkness, we will shine his light. Where there is sadness, we will bear their grief To the millions crying for relief, We will be your instruments of peace.”

Lord, make us instruments of peace. Lord, make us instruments of Righteousness. As the Apostle Paul reminds us: May our lives be instruments of Righteousness and may our reward be found in the great story of our God!

May we, as instruments of righteousness, shine your light to this dark and lonesome world – and to the millions crying for release, may we be Christ’s, your Instruments of peace.

As you go – May your life be an instrument of righteousness – and your reward be found in the story of God. Go and Love!

6.19.11 Relational Community

I’d like for us to take a few moments and participate in the ancient creedal reading of the Apostles. Join me as we read the Apostles Creed.

We believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth;

And in Jesus Christ his only Son our Lord: who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried; the third day he rose from the dead; he ascended into heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead.

We believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy universal church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.

My sister and her family joined us for worship last week. After church we all went to lunch and at one point discussed the service. She commented how great it was to see Eileen and to hear her stories and what she’s involved with in China. She commented how great worship was, and also how the time of shaking of hands (the greeting time, or Pass the Peace) was the longest she’d ever experienced. She said it wasn’t bad… it was just long.

Have you ever wondered why we do what we do? Why do we shake hands? Why do we sing? Why do we read, listen and talk? Why do we give? Why do we take time out of the gathering to shake hands, give hugs, and in many ways – simply hang out?

Much of what we do, we do because it’s in our make-up!

Let’s look at the beginning of our Scripture. Turn to Genesis chapter 1:26. In the story of creation, we hear of God creating light and dark, the earth and sky, the water and land, plants, animals and then people. And that’s where we’ll start our reading, with verse 26.

 ²⁶ Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

 ²⁷ So God created human beings in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.

The Scriptures say we were made in the image of God. And what has always been an interesting literary point in this text is that God references the plurality of his nature. He says “Let’s make human beings in our image, in our likeness.” “Our image, Our likeness.”

On a day such as this, one week after Pentecost and just a few weeks past Easter, we have the opportunity to recognize a fundamental reality of who God is! At the base of who God is we find the reality of the interconnectedness of relationships! God is Love and that love manifests itself in a relational community. The very nature of who God is – is rooted in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

We see in the relationship of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit our own heartbeat and driving force to be in relational community.

Today is a day we celebrate the relationships of God – particularly found in the ancient belief of God as the Trinity. The Trinity is most importantly a belief about the love of God. God loves us enough to be the Creator who formed the whole universe and every creature. God has created you and me has given us our very breath. Through God’s relationships, he is the Redeemer who saves and restores the world from the confines of sin, sorrow, and separation – that we might join in his love here and now, and tomorrow too. What we celebrate today is the belief and experience of how God loves us so much that he is the Spirit/Guiding God at work in us – inspiring, strengthening, guiding, advocating, and illuminating.

So often we hand over the hard work of looking at and understanding the Trinity to the Academic theologians. And in many ways, we are thankful for their hard work in exploring and understanding who God is, but God is not limited to academia. Nah, he certainly is not limited to the classroom! He’s not limited at all!

I believe we all know and experience God. We all have the ability to interact with God’s story in unique ways. Teachers, poets, songwriters, artists, and storytellers all give us unique glimpses into the love of God; into the relationships of God! God’s love belongs to all of us, and is described in the relational community.

I love living here in the Beach Cities. I love being by the ocean, smelling the water, seeing the sand and the volleyball and surfers. I know I’m not the only one. For many of us, it’s why we’re here. We searched out jobs and housing to be in close proximity to the beauty of the ocean.

The ocean is such a great expression of the active relationship God invites us into. I think that might be part of why we’re drawn to it. The waves and the sounds remind us that God is not static, he’s not stagnant, and he is not disconnected. Rather God's very nature is dynamic. God’s very nature is holistically relational.

Maybe you’re asking yourself: what does that mean? It means that God is relating to us. God is in the relationships of love that we experience in our own lives. He is in the gentle hugs, the warm hand shake. Each embrace is an experience of God's relationship with us.

In the Scriptures we have heard today, Jesus himself articulates the call and mission given by God. In Matthew he tells his disciples and he tells us: "Go, teach, proclaim, baptize..." These are action oriented Trinity verbs found at the end of the Gospel of Matthew. They stem from the love of God depicted as a case for urgency. Jesus Christ, God’s Son tells us to “Go, teach, proclaim, and baptize…” He is urging us to engage in the mission of proclaiming the relational community of love found in God!

As I’ve thought about my sister’s comment about how long our greeting time was, I can’t help but think: Relationships… are why we do what we do.

Why do we dedicate time in the middle of the service to greet one another?

It’s because it’s who we are. We are relational beings. We need the relational community of Christ in us and among us! We need to be in contact with one another. We structure times to get together because it is so foundational to who we are!

Is this a biblical concept? You better believe it! It’s all throughout the texts!

Take a look at Hebrews 10:23-25

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. ²⁴ And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, ²⁵ not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Here we’re reminded to spur one another on toward Love and good deeds… and to not give up meeting together. Why? Because our very nature, rooted in our likeness of God – is relational. We need the relationships found among one another. We need the relationship found in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. We need the relationships.

I remember in college having friends who thought they could live their Christian life out on their own. They didn’t believe they needed to be part of the Christian community. They felt they could simply read the Bible and believe in God and be good.

What they forgot, or simply were unable to see was their very make-up which is composed within the relationship of God and others. We learn and grow from our relationships. We are energized and revitalized by our relationships. That’s true of our relationships with one another and our relationship with the Holy one!

Relationships – are why we do what we do!

This week I had the opportunity to talk with a handful of different people from our community about our building and how we’d like to use it for God’s Glory. I spoke with musicians, pastors, and artists about the vision to utilize this facility for the Kingdom.

As I talked about the building… I spoke of how important it is for us to have a viable presence in this community. I shared about how we have tools and resources and we want to be able to use them and connect and build relationships with as many people as possible.

As I talked with these members of our community, I found myself saying – Relationships are why we do what we do. It’s true.  Our goal is to foster and build as many relationships as possible. The purpose of our church – must be to foster as many God shaped conversations and relationships as possible.

Relationships – they’re why we do what we do!

Our role in this crazy mixed up world is to speak of reconciliation to the hurting, broken, and disenfranchised. We are to speak of God’s restoration to the torn down and decrepit. We are to live out God’s redefining redemption to as many as possible.

On a Holiday weekend, such as Father’s Day, how poignant is it that our texts revolve around the relationship of God – and his desire for us to live in relational community!

Last year I read an interesting book titled: The Church of FaceBook, how the hyperconnected are redefining community. And the author Jesse Rice made an interesting point on pg 35: “The reality of our innate need for connection is often most clearly revealed in the experience of dis-connection. Dropped cell phone calls, the loss of a job or career opportunity, a romantic breakup, the death of a loved one – each kind of disconnection alerts us to the fact that we were meant to connect. The feelings that result from a broken connection can run the gamut from simple frustration to complete personal devastation.”

We are finding in our post-modern world an ultra-connectedness. With the technology stretching every boundary possible, friends across the country, continent and ocean are now within arms reach. Our global community now feels quite local.

With social networking resources like blogs, Facebook, and twitter – our culture has the opportunity to be connected without ever standing face to face. We live in a hyper-connected world. Yet, if we turn on the news, open up the paper, or check the web – we hear story after story of lonely people. We hear stories of people who are highly, hyper, over connected – and yet are lonely.

It’s been illustrated over the past few weeks as we have heard stories of gang members seeking approval by gunning down a random kid outside a liquor store to a New York congressman having virtual conversations with several women. We as a society are blatantly seeking relational community. But as a whole, we’re looking to the wrong places. Our society looks to technology, money, prestige, and every other quick fix running past their face. Yet, what they need – is the relational community of love God speaks of throughout the Scriptures and through each and every one of his disciples!

The last of our Scripture texts today comes from 2 Corinthians. Here the apostle Paul closes out his second letter to the Corinthians by saying:

“Brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.

Greet one another with a holy kiss.

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”

Relationships – they’re why we do what we do!

Our role in this crazy mixed up world is to speak of reconciliation to the hurting, broken, and disenfranchised. We are to speak of God’s restoration to the torn down and decrepit. We are to live out God’s redefining redemption to as many as possible. We are to be of one mind. We are to live in peace. We are allow God’s love and peace to dwell with us.

Why do we do what we do? Why do we dedicate time in the middle of the service to greet one another?  Why do we get together throughout the week? Why do we shake hands and give hugs? Why do we continually worship God?

Why? It’s because it’s who we are. We are relational beings. We need the relational community of Christ in us and among us! We need to be in contact with one another. We are relational beings who long for the interconnectedness of our God. Our very nature, rooted in our likeness of God – is relational. We need, our families need, our neighbors need, our world needs the relationships found among one another rooted in our loving God – God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!

May we never forget this great gift – our relational community with the Holy, Living, Loving – God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit!

As you go – May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Go and Love.

5.29.11 Love & Obey

As it is Memorial Day weekend, I thought it would be appropriate for us to spend a few moments thinking and remembering.

In the craziness of life when someone is leaving or is in the last moments of their life – we take notice and listen up. In those last few moments, great wisdom is often shared. The dying don’t waste their last moments on trivial events and conversation. They cut to the chase and speak their heart plainly.

To illustrate this, let’s watch this quick clip from the Proposal as it depicts the attentive nature of those surrounding the grandma after her heart attack.

As we look at our Gospel text from John 14 we hear Jesus shedding some last minute wisdom to his disciples. Beginning in verse 15 he is telling us: “If you love me, keep my commands.” So right away we have to start by reflecting back upon the life of Jesus and the scriptures in order to remember his commands.

If we love Jesus we will do what he commands. If we love God – we will follow his decrees. If we love the Lord, we will live out his commandments.

So right away we have to start by reflecting back upon the life of Jesus and take note of his commands. As we do that, what are some of his commands that stick out to you?

When we think of the commands of God – of course our minds are going to go to the great list of the Ten Commandments.  (1. No other gods 2. No other image 3. Don’t take the Name of the Lord in vain 4. Remember the Sabbath 5. Honor your parents 6. Don’t murder 7. Don’t commit adultery 8. Don’t steal 9. Don’t bear false witness 10. Don’t covet) They are the ten great.

Interestingly, eight of the great ten are put in the negative tense. We hear do-not after do-not after do-not.

But when we think specifically of the commandments of Jesus – the ones documented in the four Gospels – the ones he said, they are not usually painted in the negative. Rather we hear Jesus speak his commands in the positive. We don’t hear Jesus speak of what not to do, but what to do. Here this morning we hear Jesus speak his positive commandment to Love.

We don’t have to go very far from our passage today to hear Jesus specifically give us a command to love. Let’s flip back one chapter to John 13:34.

If we’re going to follow his commands, here he flat out tells us to love one another! He’s as straight forward as can be. In his last moments together with his disciples, he commands them to love one another. On the night he is betrayed and handed over to the Romans, Jesus cuts straight to the chase and tells his friends they must love one another.

There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. We are to love one another.

I think of Granny Annie from the Proposal. And like Granny – Jesus longs for those he is closest to – to be in unity – that there not be the quarrelling and bickering. His desire is for his closest friends to love one another. As he shares a meal with his friends, as he looks at them with the knowledge of what is ahead, his emphasis is on love!

In our text last week Jesus pulled us into his presence and described to us how we will do greater things than even he had done. We looked at how we have power and that it is a communal, collective call. It’s not an individual call where we are stuck out on our own trying to swim and make a difference. As we think about this collective call, the Scriptures even remind us about the strength in numbers. In Matthew 18:20 we hear Jesus say: “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them.” We’re not at this alone! We must come together and love one another. We must come together so we can love as Christ Loves! Love in community!

As we move on in our passage, today Jesus is reminding us that while he is going away, while he isn’t physically here with us, he is sending us the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit, depending on what translation you read, is described here in John as an advocate, a comforter, or a helper. Jesus tells us we are not left as orphans. We are not left out on our own. We are taken care of. We are loved. The emphasis is in the presence of the Holy Spirit.

Next week is Ascension Sunday. It’s the Sunday we come together to recognize Jesus’ life on earth post resurrection. But he doesn’t stay on earth, we know that. That’s what we’ve been talking about. He goes back to the father. He goes back up to heaven to be with God the father and prepare a place for us. He describes this to his disciples. He describes it to us.

Then, in two weeks – we celebrate Pentecost. Pentecost is the day we celebrate the real presence and infilling of the Holy Spirit. Pentecost is the day Jesus speaks of here in this passage. Pentecost, I believe is the strength we live in today! It is because of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit that we are able to love as Jesus loves.

It is because of the Holy Spirit that we are able to be comforted and to comfort. It is because of the Holy Spirit that we are drawn to a life of compassion! Compassion for one another and compassion for our world! It is because of the Holy Spirit that we become advocates for social change among the bleakest of situations – like tornados, human trafficking and dirty water. It is because of the Holy Spirit that we step into the lives of this broken world and speak of Christ’s unconditional love – and even use words when necessary.

The Holy Spirit in our lives brings clarity and movement to the scriptural call of Love. Jesus Christ does not leave us as orphans. He tells us this morning that we, if we are willing, will receive The Holy Spirit. Together with the help of The Holy Spirit, we are able to advocate on behalf of Jesus Christ.

As I think of the commands of Jesus – I don’t think we can break away from his words in Matthew 22:34-40.

Quoting Deuteronomy 6, Jesus says:  “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Jesus says the first, the greatest, the most important commandment is to love God. The second – which in many ways goes hand in hand, which is apparent in today’s text – is to love our neighbors. The greatest commandments in scripture – are to love.

As we notice the location of this text, the last minute wisdom Jesus wants to convey to his friends is the importance of love. The last minute wisdom, which he believes is vital for his disciples to hear is the importance to love. He says loving one another and loving others is important to both him and to God the Father. We are called to love!

We are called to love one another & love our neighbor. Sometimes I wonder why the emphasis on loving one another? It’s probably pretty straight forward for why we need to love our neighbor, but why the emphasis on one another? Perhaps Jesus finds it necessary to stress the importance of loving one another because so often we fail at it!  If we look at the global church, it’s easy to see how we fail at loving one another. There is hostility between denominations and even within denominations. So it’s easy to see how we fail at loving one another.

Sometimes it seems easier to love the others… those outside our little tribe. I remember when we were in Seattle this revelation became apparent to me. I noticed in my own life that at times I was more patient and gracious to those outside our faith community than those within.

We had designed space within our church building for the community. It was designated for use by our neighbors. We spent time and money creating space – specifically a coffee house as a means to love on our neighbors. We knew there would be teens who would come in and carve their names on the tables. We knew there would be self-absorbed neighbors who would spill and leave trash on tables and floors and just walk away. We knew there would be kids and parents who would play with toys and games and not put them away. It was for them that we were there, so we were able to still extend love and grace to them.

But – then our own church people would come in and do the very same thing. Friends from other churches would come in and consume and waste, and trash the place. And I quickly found myself becoming frustrated and annoyed at them. I found myself on one hand willing to offer up unconditional love and grace to those outside our church family and on the other hand ready to drop down and throw punches (figuratively) with those within our family.

We are called to love one another & love our neighbor. Why the emphasis on loving one another? Because so often we stink at doing it! We think those within our family should walk, talk, and think like we do. We get frustrated and mad! We forget about putting others first in our own communities. We get so comfortable that we ask Jesus if we can sit on his left and our brother on his right. We forget to be the servant leaders as Jesus was! That’s why; I believe Jesus nearing the end of his time with his disciples stressed the importance of Love.

Near the end of his time on earth, Jesus tells us to love him by keeping his commands. He wants us to be comforted by the Holy Spirit. He wants us to be empowered and equipped by the indwelling of his Spirit. Jesus longs for us to Love! He wants us to love the Lord our God and love one another and love our neighbors. He reminds us that others will know we are his disciples – not by what we don’t do, but by what we do do… we will be known by our love.

As I think about this Memorial Day weekend. As I think about God the comforter. As I think about how we are to love one another, and as I think about how we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, I’d like for us to put this into practice.

What I’d like for each of us to do: is think of and remember a friend who is in the midst of grief or transition, and write them a note. Write them a letter. Let them know they are loved. Let them know you are thinking about them and praying for them.  I’d like for us to spend a few moments and write a letter to a friend who has or is going through a tough time. I’d like for us to be the hands and feet, the loving embrace of God the father – empowered by the Holy Spirit to love our dear friends.

Perhaps they have lost a loved one to death. Perhaps they are going through cancer or a divorce. Whatever the circumstances – we all know someone who will benefit from the love of our Heavenly Father.

Take a pen, a piece of paper, and an envelope – and write an encouraging letter of love from you – on behalf of our Loving, compassionate, comforting, living God!

           

Near the end of his time on earth, Jesus tells us to love him by keeping his commands. He wants us to be comforted by the Holy Spirit. He wants us to be empowered and equipped by the indwelling of his Spirit. Jesus longs for us to Love! He wants us to love the Lord our God and love one another and love our neighbors. He reminds us that others will know we are his disciples – not by what we don’t do, but by what we do do… we will be known by our love.

Jesus says: “A new command I give you; Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)

“‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. ’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Matthew 22:37-39)

If you love me, keep my commands, and I will ask the father, and he will give you another advocate, helper, comforter, and friend to help you and be with you forever…” (John 14:15-16)

As you go, love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength… and your neighbor as yourself. Go and Love!