Eyes On the Prize (Philippians 3:4-14)

Sermon as Preached on 3/17/13 at Lambs and Evington UMC

 

There’s the famous song that is played during the Christmas season that says it’s the most wonderful time of the year. While it is hard to argue against Christmas time being wonderful time of the year, I have to admit that to me, right now is the most wonderful time of the year. When else in the year can you have the beauty of snow, with snow angels and snow ball fights one week, and then the very next week enjoy a day at the lake or a picnic in the mountains?  For children and teachers spring break is right around the corner so for many families that means a time of vacation or a nice family outing. In the church we of course are inching closer and closer to the wonderful celebration of Easter, and with every Sunday get more and more excited about its arrival. And of course, the cherry on the top of what makes this time of the year the most wonderful time of the year is (put on jersey) March Madness! That’s right this time of the year where college basketball teams from all over the nation gather to compete for the national championship. Different teams from Liberty to Notre Dame, VCU to Duke face the daunting task of trying to win at least six games against the best teams that nation has to offer all with their eyes on the prize of being named national champions.  Players and coaches must put in long hours of studying game films, even more hours of practice, they have to travel all over the nation in a matter of weeks all while completing their academic studies.  They must avoid the distractions of interviews, social media, and whatever the sports news are saying about them. They have to avoid the temptation of looking past a team that they should easily beat because what makes March Madness so crazy is all of the upsets that can happen. As a Duke fan trust me, I know this all too well. These next few weeks are a time in which players must avoid distractions and at the same time they must embrace the things that are going to help them reach their goal.

            Avoid distractions and embrace things that help to reach a goal; it kind of sounds like what we have been talking about all of Lent doesn’t it? You may have been wondering where I was going with all of this, but now hopefully the pieces are starting to fall in place. In fact, in our scripture for today, Paul himself seems to also be making some sort of analogy to a sporting event, though more likely some sort of race. He says, “Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.”  Not that I have already reached the goal, but I press on… I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul talks about striving after a goal, pressing on towards that goal. Paul even admits that he has not yet reached that goal. So what is the goal that Paul is seeking after? It of course is not a national championship, but it also isn’t something else that we would expect such as fame, fortune, or power. The prize that Paul is seeking after is the prize of the heavenly call of God in Jesus Christ.

            The prize of the heavenly call of God in Jesus Christ; this sounds nice and wonderful but what does it actually mean?  Well, in our own Methodist heritage we have special words to describe what Paul is talking about. We would describe what Paul is talking about as Christian Perfection.  Now many people here this word perfection and get scared. They think of this as an unobtainable goal, that there is no way that we as humans can be perfect because we just make far too many mistakes. We forget to change our clocks, we forget what our spouse told us to get from the grocery store, we got a ticket for speeding,  our jump shot is horrible, and we can’t sing as beautiful as the people we hear on the radio.  How can we be perfect? If this is what we mean by perfect, then yes we can’t be perfect. We will always mess up, we will make errors, we will forget things; that’s all true.  This is not the type of perfection we are talking about however when we talk about Christian perfection. We are not trying to become Mr. or  Mrs. Perfect, the ones you see on T.V. or in the newspaper on wished that you could be like them;  we instead accept that simply things that we just are not good at because we aren’t trying to become like God. In fact true Christian Perfection is having or will fully submit to God. Christian Perfection is when or thoughts, or actions, or emotions are all aligned with the will of God. It when we say not my will but yours be done and actually live it out every day of our lives. John Wesley  believed that Christian Perfection was actually possibly within in this lifetime, though it something that most people will be striving towards all of their lives. Even Paul admits that he is not yet there.  Far too often people mistake the beginning of the journey  for the end. The grace of the Holy Spirit works in our lives before we even realize it and leads us towards that moment of baptism in which we are washed by the cleansing waters and join with others as the body of Christ; and yet many people think that this is the end of the road. Like a team that celebrates being selected for the tournament, it truly is a huge accomplishment, and yet it is only the beginning, we must keep our eye on the prize. Baptism is but the beginning of our new life in Christ, a life in which we must continue on towards our goal, towards that prize of the heavenly call of God in Jesus Christ, towards Christian Perfection.

                        What keeps us from our goal?  To answer this let’s look at what Paul says at the beginning of this passage.  “If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more:
 circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee;  as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ.” If we continue with our March Madness theme, in basketball you have Cinderella teams, those teams that seem to come out of nowhere and win big games, and at the same time you have your bluebloods, those teams that always seem to be dominant, who have the best players, the best coaches, the money and the fan bases. Paul is a blueblood. In our scripture he tells us that if anyone has a reason to be confident in the flesh it was him. He was a Jew of noble esteem, born out of an esteemed heritage. He was a Pharisee, a man of power and knowledge. As we know he was a persecutor of Christians, since he had the power to uphold the law. In other words, Paul had all of the power that any Jew at that time could really ever wish for, Paul had it all.

            And with all of this Paul tells us, “More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”  Paul tells us that all he had, which was so much, he regards as loss. He even goes say that he regards these things as rubbish. Now my translation says rubbish, but that’s a very kind way of putting it. The word that Paul uses really means excrement or waste, or in our everyday language we could even call it….well I let you use your own imagination. Paul calls all of these things waste, rubbish or whatever because in fact that is exactly what they are when compared to knowing Jesus Christ as Lord. It is not that the things of this Earth and our stature in the world are in themselves evil, but the evil comes when we seek first after these things. The evil occurs when our focus shifts away from God and onto these things, when we fail to keep our eyes on the prize. Paul realizes this after his conversion experience on the road to Damascus. That all of his power, his knowledge, his stature and social upbringing really just don’t mean as much when you have Christ in your life and are striving towards that Christian Perfection.

Seeking earthly power and possessions are not the only things that stop us for striving for our goal.  In fact, we often fall short of our goal because we begin to focus on things that are good rather than things that are great. For example,  Paul says, “Not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death,” Here Paul is showing that there is a difference between the law and faith. Now when we say law, we have to avoid thinking about that in our modern context, separation of church and state as we know it would be a foreign idea to them; in fact government as we know it was not the same. When Paul talks about the law, he is not talking about Parking tickets or lawsuits. When Paul talks about the law he is talking about the Jewish Law; the scriptures.  Remember that Paul was a Pharisee, that he was well versed in scripture, he read it and studied it and tried to execute it to the best of his abilities. There is a tendency for Christians to reject the law, but we must remember that the Jewish law is extremely important, after all it is part of our Bible. The law was given to Moses to teach the Israelites how to live according to God’s will. The law set out to unite the Israelites as the chosen people of God, and also set out to protect the weak and the helpless. Following the law is a very good thing, even for us today.

            Yet what Paul is reminding us is that of our focus is squarely on following the law, then we are not looking big enough. We have settled for good instead of great. For now we know God in an entirely different way. As we talked about last week, we have now experienced God in flesh through Jesus Christ. We have heard his stories, we have seen his miracles, we have witnessed his death and resurrection and we have be washed clean and united by his blood. To continue to focus squarely on the law without acknowledging the magnitude and wonders of Jesus Christ would be a travesty. The point is not that the law is bad or wrong, but that we experience greater things than the law through Jesus Christ.

            For Paul it was the law, for us it may be something else that we are directing our gaze towards; that we are settling for. It can be quite tricky since many of these good things help lead us towards the Perfecting grace that we strive towards. For example we could be wonderful students of the Bible, reading it, going to any studies about it, and yet if we are not doing it for the greater meaning of seeking to align or will with Christ’s then we have settled for good over great. If we are active in service in service, helping as many people as we can, but do it for our own benefit and not because we striving to follow God’s will, then once again we are settling for good over great. The Lord has great things in store for us, but we must continue to focus on God. We cannot allow our gaze to be diverted away from God, and we cannot allow our gaze to become too narrow causing us to miss the amazing scope of God’s glory and grace. As Paul tells us we must press on towards the goal of our heavenly call, press on towards Christian Perfection, that closest walk with God. We must keep our eyes on the prize.

All Things New (2 Corinthian 5:16-21)

Sermon as preached 3/10/13 at Lambs and Evington UMC

Scripture 2 Corinthians 5:16-21

When I was growing up there was a very popular show on tv call “Pimp My Ride.” I know, it’s a horrible title, but it was a pretty interesting show. They would find people with some of the most beat up, run down, ugliest and broken cars, and then they would go over the top in fixing them. Not only would they fix it, but they would add things like racing kits to the car, they would lower or jack up the car or truck, They would give it a crazy new paint job, they would redo the interior of the car with new upholstering, and usually add some crazy gadgets like T.V.’s in the headrest and rear view cameras, which unbelievably are now common in many new cars. Then they would reveal the car to its owner and watch the pure joy come across their faces. There are many shows on today that do similar things. For example the show “American Restoration” does exactly what it says. They find really cool, older American relics, from anything to cars, to old signs or whatever you can think of, and they restore them to make them look new. Or there are a bunch of house shows on today focused around this idea of remodeling and restoration. One in particular, “Flip This House” is a show about taking old, decrepit houses, restoring them to a beautiful like new house, and then selling them back on the housing market for a huge market. Whether it is cars, houses, or memorabilia, We as Americans, and I would dare to say simply we as humans, love to see old things become like new.

            We truly do love this idea of transformation, and while we do like seeing it happen with cars, and houses and the like, I think deep down it is because we want to see it with us. On a superficial level, how many ads and commercials do we see targets us by telling us their product can transform our appearances. There is aging and beauty cream, weight loss pills, teeth whitening strips, Rogaine, and Just For Men, all products made to make us feel like a new person. And still I believe that our desire for transformation is even deeper than this. So often we get so fed up with the way things are going in our lives or simply with the way things are going in the world in general. We wish things were different, and often times for Christians this leads to us playing the waiting game. I can’t wait until things change when I get to heaven. I just have to endure this life and all will be made right in the next.

            Our scripture today focuses around the same hope and desire, in fact the section of scripture right before our passage echoes many of these sentiments. “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. ² For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling— ³ if indeed, when we have taken it off^[a] we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are still in this tent, we groan under our burden, because we wish not to be unclothed but to be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life.” Paul recognizes hardships of this Earth and the joy and hope of heaven. He understands that we long so much to be in the dwelling of God, that we long so much not to live in this broken and  sinful state, that all we really want is the joy of transformation, the joy of being new, the joy of being close to God that comes when we get to heaven. And yet hearing and understanding all of this, in our passage for today, Paul reminds us of a new transformation, one that is made possible through Jesus Christ.

            Paul tells us, “From now on, therefore, we regard no one from a human point of view; even though we once knew Christ from a human point of view, we know him no longer in that way.” Here, Paul is reminding us of an extremely important fact to remember, He is telling us that to think about God and heaven and then reflect about us and Earth, and then hoping and waiting for the time in which we can leave Earth for Heaven, creates a false divide. It makes us feel as though we are here alone on this Earth, That God has nothing to do with us besides a few instructions that are written down for us to follow. It leads us to thinking that the only true interaction that we have with God is once we die and go to heaven. It is as if we are young homesick children dropped off at camp crying and waiting for our time at camp to be over so that we can go back home. Though we don’t ever say it this way, and though it surely isn’t our intention, when we think about God in this way it is as if we are saying that God is not here for us.

            Paul is reminding us that exactly the contrary is true. Paul says that we once knew Christ from a human point of view. In the original Greek it is probably better translated, according to the flesh. We knew Christ according to the flesh. What does this mean? It means that Christ was human, that this notion that there is some great divide between God and ourselves is bogus, that this notion that God does not interact with us on Earth is false, and that the idea that our bodies and our time on Earth is not valuable, is an idea that is just flat out wrong. Because Jesus Christ was human, we knew Christ according to the flesh. God walked amongst us, talked with us, ate with us, and of course died for us. There is no divide between us and God, because the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.

            And yet, having known God, Having God dwell with us, and die for us, we no longer look at Christ the same way.  When Christ first came into this world all we saw was the flesh, his humanity. Yes there were prophets predicting his arrival, there were visitations and signs, but all of these things pointed to Christ being a Messiah, being a special man sent by God, another great prophet or leader or king. And Yet as people started to follow him, started to witness his miracles, and of course when he died and rose again, people started to look at Jesus not just a great man, but realized that God had walked among them. The same is true when we reflect back on Jesus, we don’t think of him as just a man, we think of him as our Lord, our savior, our God.

            This event, God on Earth, is an incredibly important event, because Christ gave our lives greater meaning, and redeemed our flesh. What do I mean by this?  Earlier we talked about how there can feel as though there was a divide between God and humanity. It could even lead many to believe that humanity simply doesn’t matter. The arrival of Christ changed that though. God became human in Jesus Christ, and in doing so showed us our sacred worth. God would love us so much that he would humble himself, take upon the flesh, and even die for us. God showed us through Jesus Christ that we are all sacred.

            This is what Paul is saying when he tells us that just as we no longer know Christ according to the flesh the same as we no longer know one another according to flesh. We no longer see each other for our brokenness, for our flaws, our mistakes or our weakness. God so loved the world that he died for all of our sins; now see each other as those who God treasures, who God loves, who have sacred worth in God’s eyes. What an amazing transformation! That we could go from broken and sinful people to people of sacred worth.

            The amazing transformation doesn’t stop there. Paul tells us, “So if anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new!  Paul is telling us that through Christ this transformation is not something that we must simply wait for, that this transformation is not just for us once we die and go to heaven. This transformation, this new creation, is happening here and now for those who are in Christ. Everything old has passed away; see everything has become new! The good news of Jesus Christ is that through Christ we can be transformed into new creation.

 This Lent we have talked over and over again about self-reflection, about sin, about finding things that separate us from God and then about changing those things. We do these things so that through Christ we may be made new. Like a snake shedding it scales, or a butterfly breaking through the chrysalis, we shed these things to reveal our new selves, the wonder beauty of new creation that is only possible through Jesus Christ.

            But we must remember that Paul says, “So if anyone is in Christ.” What does this mean? It could easy to use this as a way of separating the sheep from the goats, the saved from the unsaved. It could be used to lift ourselves up and gloat about new creation while looking down upon those who are not in Christ. This is not the point of the saying. This phrase is not directed to the “others” but instead it is directed at us. It makes us recognize what it means to be in Christ. Paul goes on to say, “All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting the message of reconciliation to us. So we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us; we entreat you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.”  Paul is reminding us that we are the ambassadors for Christ, that if we want to be in Christ, then we must be like Christ.

How do we do this? Paul boils it all down into one word, reconciliation. Reconciliation “to make oneself or another no longer opposed.” This of course means that we must reconcile ourselves to God, as I have been saying all along, getting rid of those things that keep us in opposition of God’s will; yet reconciliation is more than that also. If we think about Jesus’ ministry, his whole ministry was one of reconciling the world to him. Even with his birth he brought together the lowly Jewish shepherds  and the rich, Gentile magi. He ate with sinners, touched the unclean, protected an adulterer from death, and still at the same time he dined with Pharisees and Sadducees and taught lessons in the synagogues. Jesus’ ministry was a ministry of bringing all people to him, because as mentioned before all people are of sacred value.

            If we are truly to live as ones who are in Christ, if we want to see the beauty of new creation in its fullest, the we are called to be in reconciliation to all the world. We are called to view and treat all humans as sacred beings, ones who are loved by God. This means that we must reach out to those who are richer and poorer than us, those from different ethnic backgrounds, those with different beliefs. Not only must we reach out to them, but we must allow them to reach back to us. If we view ourselves simply as someone bringing the good news to those who don’t have it, then we are viewing ourselves as better and not of the same sacred value. If we truly want to be in Christ, if we truly want to see the amazing power and beauty of new creation here on earth, then as ambassadors of Christ we are called to be in the ministry of reconciliation. Drawing ourselves closer to each other, and in doing so drawing the whole world closer to God.

I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 3/3/13

Scripture Isaiah 55:1-9

I came across a wonderful story on the internet this week. The story involves a boy and his father.  The boy comes up to his dad and asks him, “Daddy, how much do you make an hour?” The dad was angry at the question and told his son that it is none of his business. The boy just pleaded again, please daddy just tell me how much you make an hour? The dad replies, well if you really must know, I make $100 an hours. The little boy stops and thinks about it for  a little while and then asks his dad, “Daddy, can I have $50 dollars then?” The dad gets furious and tells his son if the only reason he asked how much he made an hour was so that he could beg for money, then he needed to go straight to his room and go to sleep. 15 to 20 minutes passed and the dad started to think about the request. At first he assumed that the boy wanted it to buy some new toy, but as he thought about it he realized that the boy has never really asked for much before other than on birthdays and Christmas. The dad thought it over and decided that he would give the boy the money. He knocks on the door and finds that the boy is not yet asleep, but just crying in his bed. The dad apologies to his son and gives him the $50. The boy takes the $50 dollars, and lifts his pillow to show that he already had money under his pillow. Seeing this the dad starts to get angry again, but before he could say anything the son says, “I have enough now.” Enough for what the dad asks? The boy replies, I have $100 now dad, I have enough to buy an hour with you.”

            This is of course a tender and also heartbreaking story, a story of how caught up we can get in our everyday lives; so much so that we can forget to take time to spend with those that we truly love. While the story does teach a valuable lesson about family relations, the reason I share it with you this morning, is because the relationship between the son and the father in the story is often far too close to depicting an accurate portrayal of our relationship with God. Of course in this instance we are like the father who gets so busy, so preoccupied with things that seem so important to us, that it leaves God asking us, when are you going to spend time with me? Now some may say, well I’m here this morning; I’m giving my hour of time with God. Think again about that story, after the father recognized what the son was asking for, do you think he said, ok thank you very much, I’ll take that $100 and your hour starts now? Of course not, the father realized that he had been neglecting his son and changed his life so that he made sure he had more time to spend with him. This is the same with our relationship with God,  it’s not that God is asking for an hour of our time, it is that God is asking for us to be in a closer relationship with him. God asks us to stop, and take time think about what we are seeking after, what our primary focus is, and whether or not we are focused on the right thing.

            In our passage for today, the prophet Isaiah does what good prophets do, he speaks the word of the Lord to the people. He says, “Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”  I love this passage, because the Lord is talking to the people in words that hold so much depth and substance, words that have multiple intentions, and words that really make one stop and reflect. On the surface these words seem just like every day practical advice. Don’t spend your money on things you don’t need. We see instances of this today, where people who barely have enough money to pay rent, somehow have the newest cell phones, or people taking expensive vacations and trips around the world instead of putting money into their retirement. On the surface this passage is giving us the practical advice of using our money wisely, spending it that satisfy us (food, clothing, housing) and not on frivolous things. Yet, to read the passage only in this way would be severely missing the point of the scripture.

            In fact making this practical advice is someone like a joke. It’s not a joke to make sure that your priorities are in order, that you using your money on things that satisfy rather than frivolously throwing it away; however the joke lies in the fact that none of these things, bread, wine, honey, will ever truly satisfy. Yes they are something that we need to survive, but each day you will be coming back for more. The real lesson being taught in this passage is the lesson that we know all so well from the Gospels and from that wonderful hymn, “Seek ye first the kingdom of  God, and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you.” The passage is telling us that nothing satisfies us like God can. That all that we do, all of our work, all that we spend, should be done so first and foremost while seeking after the Kingdom of God; while seeking after that relationship that God so desperately wants with us.

             The passage says,  “Incline your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live. I will make with you an everlasting covenant... Seek the LORD while he may be found, call upon him while he is near.”  At first, this may sound harsh to us, seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near. It can sound to us as if we only have a short time to make right to God, that if we don’t repent now, than God is going to leave us for good, but this is not what scripture is saying. The scripture tells us that God will make with us an everlasting covenant, that means that God isn’t going anywhere, that God has been, and always will be there for us. So then what does it mean to seek the Lord while he may be found, call upon him while he is near? Once again it goes back to what we have been saying all along; that we need to seek first the Kingdom of God. It is saying that God doesn’t leave us, but that we can get so involved seeking earthly pleasures, we can even get so involved in seeking things of this Earth that are good and necessary for survival, but that we can get so caught up in these things that we no longer see God. We no longer seek after, we no longer hear God like that little child saying to us, Can I have an hour with you?

            For the Lord says, “let the wicked forsake their way, and the unrighteous their thoughts; let them return to the LORD, that he may have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.  God says to us, seek me I have more to offer,  In me you will find your daily bread. As we come together for communion today we will see the paradox of this scripture at work. We will gather partaking of the physical sustenance of bread and juice and yet the reason we gather around the table for Communion is so much more than that, we come to the table because we want to spend that time together with God.  Communion invites us to come to the table and experience true satisfaction; a relationship with God.

My Own Worst Enemy

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 2/24/13

Scripture- Philippians 3:17-4:1

So this morning I’m going to get a little nerdy on you. I may or may not have mentioned it but I am a huge fan of Star Wars. The originals, not the new ones they don’t count. I used to watch the original trilogy over and over again when I was a child. As I read the scripture for today, it reminded me of one of the scenes from The Empire Strikes Back. The hero, Luke Skywalker is on the planet Dagobah, training with the great Jedi leader, Yoda. He had been training with Yoda for a while, learning the ways of the force, and now Yoda had led him to a cave. This cave was a test for Luke, to overcome his fears, and to put what he had learned to the test. This scene may be one of the strangest scenes in the movie. Luke’s journey into the cave is like some psychedelic trip, which results in him imagining that he is fighting with Darth Vader, who is the bad guy of the movie for those who don’t know. They get into a great lightsaber fight, and Luke wins, cutting of the head of Darth Vader. Then unexpectedly, the front of Darth Vader’s helmet explodes, revealing Luke Skywalker’s face behind the mask. This test in the cave showed to Luke, that his biggest enemy, the one who was holding him back, the one making him weaker, and the one who would lead to his destruction was no one else but himself.

            Our scripture for this morning suggests that the same can be true for our lives. In his letter to the Philippians, Paul warns, “For many live as enemies of the cross of Christ; I have often told you of them, and now I tell you even with tears.  Their end is destruction; their god is the belly; and their glory is in their shame; their minds are set on earthly things.”  Enemies of the cross; that is an extremely harsh term for some group of people that Paul was talking about. So who was Paul talking about. The term enemies of the cross makes us at first assume that these people are not Christians. Maybe, Paul is referring to the pagans in the area, those worshiping false Gods, denying the salvific power of Jesus Christ. They certainly seem like enemies of the cross. Or maybe, Paul is talking about the Romans. After all it is the empire that in certain places had been persecuting Christians; the empire who after all authorized the crucifixion of Jesus. Paul certainly had every right to be angry at the Romans, after all he was imprisoned and sentenced for some capital punishment. This letter to the Philippians is after most likely written from a jail cell in or just outside of Rome. This is certainly who Paul must be talking about when he says enemies of the cross.

            Except, it’s not. Paul is not talking about the Romans, he is not talking about the Pagans, he is actually talking about a small group of  Christians, yes Christians. They are Christians who have misunderstood what it means to be freed by Christ. The hear Paul say that Christians are no longer law, and misinterpret it to mean that they are free to do whatever they please. They indulge themselves in food, in inappropriate sex, they store up goods and money. They see themselves as now being free from the law, meaning that they can do what they like. However, this is a misunderstanding of the freedom of a Christian. They lack the understanding that there is also responsibility in freedom. The fact that Jesus humbled himself even to the point of death on a cross, is not an excuse to live however we want, it is an invitation for us to follow that examples; To be imitators of Christ.

            For this reason, Paul starts of this passage by saying, “Brothers and sisters, join in imitating me, and observe those who live according to the example you have in us. Paul is calling us to imitate his actions. At first this seems like a very arrogant thing for Paul to say, as if he is some perfect example, but that is because it is taken out of its context. Before this passage, Paul has talked about over and over again how he is seeking perfection but not yet there. How he much continuously humble himself and follow the example of Christ so that he may grow to be mature in his faith. For this reason, when Paul is asking for us to imitate him, he is not saying look at me because I’m such a wonderful Christian, but instead he is saying, join with me in humbling yourself, join with me striving towards Christian perfection, join with me as we imitate the example of Christ.

            Our freedom requires action. Our freedom requires us to imitate Christ, to constantly strive towards walking closer with God. Some may hear this and wonder, how is this freedom; if we can’t simply do whatever we want, is it really freedom at all? Paul addresses this question very subtly, and yet in a very poignant and powerful way. He says, “But our citizenship is in heaven, and it is from there that we are expecting a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.”  At first this does not seem to provide any answers. On the surface, it seems like a simple way to separate those are who are of this world from those who are of heaven, a way of separating the sheep from the goats. At  first it simply seems to be a way to create a divide between worldy things and Godly things. At worst, this line can lead us to believe that we must be purely separated from anything of this world; that we should not be involved in public affairs, we should not care for the welfare of those who are not part of  “our citizenship.” It can also lead to a horrible theology that I saved and now I’m going to sit around and wait until I become a citizen in heaven.

            All of these things misunderstand what it means to be a citizen. Too many people thank that citizenship in heaven is like reservations at a restaurant. That citizenship is a ticket in, a passport showing proof that we belong, but that is not what it truly means. The word citizen is used very carefully, because of what the word entails. Think about what it means in terms of citizenship to a country, since we live in the U.S. let’s examine what it means for us. Yes, citizenship does mean that we are privileged with certain things. As citizens in the United States we are protected by the constitution, and are guaranteed the right to a fair trial. We are protected by the United States military, we have the freedom of speech. There are certainly benefits of being a citizen. The same is true with being a citizen of heaven, there are obviously benefits, the most obvious being of course heaven, but there is also faith, hope, and love. Alongside of the benefits of being a citizen, we know that there also come responsibilities. The most obvious is obeying the law, but as citizens we have much more than that. We have the responsibility to vote, if called upon the responsibility to serve in the military, the responsibility of jury duty and much more. Yet still there is more to citizenship than this. As a child as we were being taught what it means to be a good citizen, we were taught that it was not simply a checklist list of things to do, but a way of live. That a good citizen helps those in need, a good citizen is well informed of all of the issues being debated, a good citizen volunteers for different leadership roles in the community; that with citizenship there comes a responsibility for how we live. The same is true for us as citizens of heaven. We have responsibilities. We are called to lift each other and those in the world up in prayer, we have the responsibility to study scripture and do other things to learn as much as we can; we have the responsibility to help those who are in need. Part of our privilege as citizens of heaven, is the responsibility to be imitators of Christ.

            It is a responsibility that we quite frankly many Christians do not take very seriously. In our modern context, when we hear the phrase enemy of the cross we are so quick to point the finger at others, putting this label of enemy of the cross on them. This far too often leads to forms of discrimination or hate. We see non-Christian groups as being a threat to us, our beliefs, and our way of life. We see the actions of a few lunatics in the name of their religion, and grossly overgeneralize a whole faith tradition as being enemies of the cross. Or we see people like Richard Dawkins, someone who is antagonistically atheist, and we label them as the enemy; that atheists are destroying our faith. If we can’t find individuals or groups to label as the enemy, then we label our society or our government as being our enemies. This became quite evident in the wake of the horrible shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary.  Countless Christians cried out that it was because prayer wasn’t part of public school that someone would not have done those horrible acts.

            We must remember however that the “enemies of the cross” that Paul talks about in our scripture are not the atheists, they are not the pagans, those who worshipped false Gods, it was not even the society or government, but it was those Christians in the area who were not living out their responsibility as a citizen of  heaven, a citizen of the Kingdom of God. If we stop to reflect upon this fact and think about it in our own context, then we will start to see that other faith traditions, atheists, society, or even the government are not the enemies of the cross, that label belongs to us. When we truly reflect upon ourselves and our sin, we will find that we are our own worst enemies. If we took our responsibility as Christians seriously atheists could have the chance to truly believe in God because they experienced God through us. If we took our responsibility seriously then we could find ways to work with other faith traditions to make the world a better place rather than battle about our differences. If we took our responsibility seriously then we would realize that it is not society’s or the government’s job to teach our children about Christ.  I mean honestly that’s absurd and quite frankly lazy. It is our job as the church, as followers of Christ to teach our children. It is our job as the church to reach out to those in need, those who are sick. If we are truly citizens of heaven, then this season of Lent should be a time for us to reflect upon whether we are fulfilling our civil duties, and by that I don’t mean to our country (though that can be a good thing as well), but are we fulfilling our duties to our heavenly citizenship, our duties to our God?

            And yet,  we must remember that our responsibilities, our acts of justice, our acts of mercy, our acts of piety and self-development are done because of  faith, hope, and love. We could give up all that we have to serve others, we could study scripture daily and pray for hours at a time and yet none of these things grants us that citizenship. As I said, we do these responsibilities because of faith, hope, and love. Faith in Jesus Christ, which does not mean simply believing in him, but means putting trust in him. We serves others, we study scripture and pray because we trust Jesus to lead our lives, and trust that he can do the same for others. We do these things with hope, a hope not simply for our salvation, but a hope that by doing these things Christ can use us to transform the world and the lives of others. Finally we do these things out of love, because after all “For God so loved the world” we are able to love because God first loved us. This morning and throughout this time of Lent I invite each and everyone one of us to see what it is in our lives that causes us to be an enemy of the cross, and then to seek to change it through faith, hope, and love so that we all may become faithful citizens of heaven.

The Scar and the Tattoo

Sermon as preached 2/13/13 at Evington UMC


Scripture- Psalm 51

Tonight is an exciting night for me. It is of course Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. And while it may sound strange to say but I actually enjoy Lent. It is not that I am masochistic and enjoy practices of discipline, self- control, and self-deprivation, but I truly treasure a season that forces me to stop and think about how I can walk closer to God. I must admit though that tonight is an exciting night for me for another reason as well. Tonight is the Duke-UNC, and for anyone who knows college basketball, that’s a big deal. But as I was reading through some of the articles leading up to the game, I came across one that caught my eye, and as I read it, I realized that it had a lot to teach us about Ash Wednesday.

            The article has nothing to do with Ash Wednesday, in fact it is not even religious other than a few references here and there, but yet still it seemed to me to be really help understand the importance of the mark of the ashes on our foreheads. The article is from the New York Times about Jay Williams, he was a former Duke basketball player in the early 2000s. He was an amazing player, an incredible athlete with so much potential. He helped Duke to one of their National Championships and then was drafted by Chicago Bulls, with so much expectation, some even thought he would be the one to fill Michael Jordan’s shoes. Life was going well for Jay, fame, money, living his dream, nothing seemed as if it could go wrong. At this time he probably felt invincible, so much so that he bought a motorcycle to fill his need for speed. But one fateful night as he was speeding down the streets of Chicago, he lost control of his bike and crashed. He was rushed to the hospital and was nursed back to health, but his left leg was severely injured, and Jay would never be able to play basketball again.

            What struck me in this article is how different symbols on his body affected him in his recovery. First there was the scar. The scar was a constant reminder of his foolishness, his immaturity, it was a constant reminder of everything that he had thrown away all on that fateful night. He wouldn’t wear shorts in public because he was embarrassed and ashamed of what that scar represented. But there is another symbol, that helped him as he recovered from the crash, from the depression, even from the thoughts of suicide, and that is a tattoo that he had gotten before the crash that had praying hands with the famous quote, “to err is human, to forgive is divine.” These two symbols, the scar and the tattoo played a large role in his recovery from the accident and the following depression, and helped him pick up his life, and now become a successful ESPN commentator.

            If those two symbols could be put into one symbol, I believe it would look a lot like a cross of ashes on one’s forehead. First the ashes work in much of the same way as the scar. It is a reminder that we are not invincible, that we are in fact mortal. That our death is not just a possibility, but that it is actually inevitable; that our time on this Earth will eventually come to an end.  “Remember you are dust, and to dust you shall return.” It is also a reminder of our sin. It reminds us to stop, makes us look deep within ourselves, and see the things that are separating from Christ. It makes us see that all of us truly are broken and sinful people. The ashes force us to acknowledge our faults, to see the ways in which we have distanced ourselves from God, the ways in which we have hurt or ignored others, and the ways in which we have hurt ourselves. As our psalm for this evening says, “Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity,
and cleanse me from my sin. ³ For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me.⁴ Against you, you alone, have I sinned, and done what is evil in your sight,
so that you are justified in your sentence and blameless when you pass judgment.
⁵ Indeed, I was born guilty, a sinner when my mother conceived me.” The ashes on our heads remind us that this grace thing that we hear talked about all the time, the reason that it is so amazing, is because none of us deserve it. It reminds us as we begin Lent, a time of preparation for Easter, that the good news of Easter, resurrection and eternal life wouldn’t be that exciting if we didn’t desperately need it like we do; that we cannot truly appreciate resurrection until we wrestle with death.

            And that is why the ashes are also like the tattoo. They remind us that to err is human, but to forgive is divine. It reminds us that yes we are a broken, yes we all have faults, yes we all sin, and that it is something that we must acknowledge, but that the good news is that Jesus Christ died for us while we were yet sinners, and that proves God’s love for us. It reminds us that while we are in the wilderness these forty days of Lent, that there is still hope in the cross. That even ashes, in all of its grittiness, dirtiness, unpleasantness, in its representation of our own mortality, that in its representation of our faults and our sins, that this dark mark on our foreheads, is a reminder that the cross is greater than all of our sins.

            And so the ashes the we will receive this evening is a reminder of our sin and mortality, and yet also a reminder of the hope that we have through Jesus Christ. It is also however a call to action. That we do not just acknowledge our sin and move on, but that we truly strive to walk closer to God. Our scripture says, “You desire truth in the inward being;^[
therefore teach me wisdom in my secret heart.⁷ Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me. ¹¹ Do not cast me away from your presence, and do not take your holy spirit from me.¹² Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. ¹⁴ Deliver me from bloodshed, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your deliverance.¹⁵ O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. ⁶ For you have no delight in sacrifice; if I were to give a burnt offering, you would not be pleased.  The sacrifice acceptable God is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.¹⁸ Do good to Zion in your good pleasure; rebuild the walls of Jerusalem,¹⁹ then you will delight in right sacrifices.”

            During this time of Lent we are called to Acts of piety, those disciplines that help turn our focus back to God, that allow God to teach us wisdom, that create within us a new heart. They can be scripture readings or devotionals, prayer and meditation, or fasting. We are also called to acts of mercy, acts that allow us to show the love of Christ to others. Working at a food bank, visiting those in nursing homes or Heart Havens, donating food or goods, writing letters to our troops. In doing these things we can truly prepare for the good news of Easter. And as we go forth with that sign of the cross in ashes on our forehead, we do not go forth wearing it as a sign of pride, we do not wear it with arrogance or judgment, but we wear it to show each other and the world that we are fallen and broken people just like everyone else, but that we all have hope through the cross.

The Law and the Prophets

Sermon as preached 2/10/13 at Lambs and Evington UMC

 

Scripture Luke 9:28-36

 

As I read our passage from scripture for today, I begin to think back to high school, and in particular to my time in English class. I remember being given a novel to read such as Lord of the Flies or The Canterbury Tales, or a poem from Walt Whitman or Robert Frost and reading it, putting the book down and thinking to myself, what did I just read? Of course I had a general understanding of what was going on; a bunch of kids stranded on an island go crazy, or there are two roads and the author chose one of them, but even with this slight understanding, I still would ask what does it mean? And then I remember the teacher taking us through the poem line by line, or pulling out passages from the books and showing us that the Pig’s head in the Lord of the Flies was symbolic, or that the characters in the Canterbury Tales were references to people and events happening at the time the book was written. Finally after learning all of these things the books and the poems started to make much more sense.

            Our scripture for today is a lot like one of those classic novels or poems. At first reading you understand that Jesus and the disciples went up on a mountain and something amazing happened, but you are still left with that question, what does this all mean? We have Jesus becoming brightly lit, we have the appearance of Moses and Elijah, we have a cloud descending over the disciples, a voice in the cloud, Peter making a proclamation about tents or booths, which apparently is the wrong thing to say, and then after all of it, the disciples say nothing to anyone else about what had happened. All of this leads us to ask what is the importance of this event that we call the Transfiguration? My hope this morning is to be like my English teachers and to help us understand what is going on in this passage, what are some of the importance symbols in this scripture, what references are being made, and once we start to understand some of these things, then we will start to understand why this event is so important.

            Before I start, let me just say that I will not be able to explain every part of this passage partly because of a lack of time, and partly because there are still parts of this story that even the greatest theologians still struggle to fully understand. For this reason I will show us some of the connections that will help us to take something meaningful away from this text. 

            And so we start with the probably the two most pressing questions, why the change of appearance and dazzling white, and why the appearance of Moses and Elijah? Luckily these questions can be answered together, but as we explore we will begin to see how deep these references go. To first answer these questions we must turn to Exodus 34: 29-32 which says, “ Moses came down from Mount Sinai. As he came down from the mountain with the two tablets of the covenant in his hand, Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because he had been talking with God.  When Aaron and all the Israelites saw Moses, the skin of his face was shining, and they were afraid to come near him. But Moses called to them; and Aaron and all the leaders of the congregation returned to him, and Moses spoke with them.  Afterward all the Israelites came near, and he gave them in commandment all that the LORD had spoken with him on Mount Sinai.”

            This is not the first time in the Bible that someone in the Bible had gone up on a mountain and had their face changed by light, here we have in the book of Exodus the story of Moses having his face shine after talking with the Lord on Mount Sinai. When reading  the transfiguration story from the Gospel of Luke, those familiar with this story in the time of Jesus would have made the connection back to this event with Moses on Mount Sinai. If for some reason they didn’t automatically think back to this story, the fact that Moses is one of the people appearing in glory with Jesus on the mountain would have jogged their memory. But still the question remains, what does it all mean?

            First, the light, or the brightness, or the dazzling white clothes, or however you want to describe it, indicates that this moment is a moment of true revelation from God.  It was on Mount Sinai where Moses received the law from God, we are told of a great storm, a sign of the power of God, and then we are told of that Moses face shone as he descended from the mountain. The shining represents the fact that Moses was in presence of God, and not just any presence, but that he was in a special revelatory presence, one that is the closest humans can be to God while on Earth. That is why they are up on a mountain, it was a symbol of being close to heaven, close to God. So in our story when Moses, Elijah, and Jesus are shining in dazzling white, it is a sign that they are in the true presence of God, and it is also a sign that they can expect some sort of revelation.

            So what is the revelation that they experience. Well once again we have to look at the story of Moses to understand. So as we discovered, the last time someone went up on a mountain and had their face shine from encountering God was Moses. And what was the revelation that Moses received on Mount Sinai? Well, that of course is something that we are all familiar with. We have either seen it portrayed by Charlton Heston, or my favorite by Mel Brooks in History of The World Part Two. Where Moses comes down from the mountain with three stone slabs, raises them up and says “I have the 15”, and then drops one,  “10 commandments.” All kidding aside, wherever we know it from, we know that the revelation that Moses received on the mountains was the revelation of the Ten Commandments, or more accurately the law itself. Now keep that in your mind for just one second, that when we think about Moses on the Mount, we think about the Law, don’t forget it, in fact say it with Moses = Law.

            Good,  now fast forward back to our story, so we have Moses and (guide them in repeating Moses = Law) but we have another Biblical figure as well in Elijah, so let’s take a quick look at why Elijah. Elijah is one of the great prophets of the Old Testament. 1 and 2 Kings tell great stories of how he stood up to Ahab and Jezebel. He taunted the prophets Baal, a false God that was worshipped at the time. We may know the story where he exposes the prophets, seeing if their God will light the fire of an altar, and after they failed he poured water on his altar, called upon the name of God and had his altar lit in fire. But there are two other stories that he is probably most well known for, and one of them not surprisingly happens on a mountain. While Elijah is hiding in a cave he comes out to witness, fire, and winds, and earthquakes, and after it all, here experiences God in a still small voice. The other story is the story of Elijah being whisked away by a chariot of fire into glory. Because of all of these stories Elijah had come to be revered as one of the greatest prophets. In fact, we see in both the story of John the Baptist in the wilderness and the birth story of Jesus, that they are mistaken for Elijah returning. When you add this reverence for Elijah together with the story of him experiencing God on the side of mountain, and with the story of him being taken up in glory by the chariot, then is seems fitting that Elijah would be the perfect symbol for all of the prophets. So now we have Moses who symbolizes ____(the law)_________ and Elijah who symbolizes the prophets. But still what does it all mean?

            If you can recall, throughout this season of Epiphany there has been a theme of anticipation and fulfillment. We had talked about how the Jews at the had been for so long anticipating the Messiah. We talked about how the shepherds and the Magi were a sign of Jesus Christ not only being the fulfillment of that expectation, but one who would exceed all expectations. We also talked a couple of weeks ago about Jesus’ return to Nazareth reading the scroll of Isaiah and proclaiming that scripture had been fulfilled in him. This moment on the mountain, this transfiguration, once again shows the relationship between expectation and fulfillment. This year I have used the scripture in which Jesus says to love God with all of hearts, all of our minds, and all of our souls, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. In fact I just referenced it last week.  Often however we overlook what Jesus says after it. He says, “All the Law and the prophets hang on these two commandments.” All of the Law and the prophets.  You see in those times, the law and the prophets were extremely important. These were the ways in which the people knew God. We already discussed how Moses received the law through an intimate experience of God, but the law itself was revered. They were not seen as just a list of rules to follow, but they were seen as a way to be in relationship with God. God made a covenant with the people to be their God and for them to be his people, and the law was seen as a way of fulfilling that covenant. The other way in which the people experienced God  was through the prophets. God spoke through certain individuals who were normally called to either bring news of hope to a people in strife, or to preach words of repentance for a people who had broken their end of the covenant. The prophets and the law were the primary ways in which the people at the time experienced relationships with God. Not only that but the law and the prophets were the way in which God communicated how the people should live as the chosen people.

            But now on this mountain we have Jesus surrounded by Moses and Elijah, representations of the law and the prophets, of  the people’s experience with God, and in this moment the voice of God proclaims, “this is my son whom I have chosen, listen to him.” The mountain, Moses and Elijah, the dazzling white light, all of these things are signs that the disciples are in the presence of God, but in a new way. No longer simply through the law or through the prophets, but that now God can be experienced in person, because God has become flesh, Jesus Christ is Lord. The words from God are telling, “this is my son whom I have chosen, listen to him. Listen to him. Listen to him. These words are telling us we no longer have to labor through trying to figure out what the law is saying, the embodiment of the law is here in Jesus Christ. That we no longer have to look to prophets to tell us the word of God, because the word of God became flesh and dwelt among us. Now let’s not think that this means the law and the prophets became useless, but instead now you can look at Jesus to see the words of the law and the prophet lived out. After all when asked which is the greatest commandment, he didn’t say that loving God and your neighbor replaced the law, but that they encompassed the law, in the same manner the law and prophets are not wrong, but Jesus shows us what they mean lived out.. On Christ hangs all the law and the prophets. We can now experience God in a new way, because God has dwelt among us.

           

           

What is Love?

Sermon as preached at Lambs and Evington UMC 2/3/13

Scripture 1 Corinthians 13:1-13

Our scripture for today is probably familiar to most of us. We can  probably quote from memory different parts of, “Love is patient, love is kind.” Or “Faith, Hope, and Love abide, the three, and the greatest of these is Love.” In fact this scripture is such a popular scripture about love that I would guess that some of you here used it in your wedding. Even the movie Wedding Crashers plays on the popularity of this passage.  In the movie the two main characters well they crash weddings, and in one scene they make bets about which scripture is going to be read, and one of the bets was this passage from first Corinthians. It’s words about love are so beautiful, so deep, so inspiring, that it seems natural to have it at weddings. But what if I told you that the original intent of the text was not for marriage but was instead intended for a struggling church; and what if I told you that the words about love were not originally intended to be about two people in a romantic relationship, but rather the love shown to each other within that church? Well, its true, while these words are definitely fitting for the bond of marriage, Paul wrote these words as an attempt to calm disagreements happening in the church in Corinth.

            At that time, the church in Corinth had started to grow, and as it grew many different leaders started to emerge in the church. Some of the leaders had the gift of prophesy, some were able to speak in tongues while still there were others who were great teachers. While at first these many gifts seems like a blessing for the church, the diversity of these gifts started to cause a division with the church. Those who spoke in tongues thought that their gift was the most important and believed they were the clear leaders of the church, while those who were teachers and had other gifts all felt the same about their own gift.  As I said, this created a division in the church because each person believed that they knew what was best for the church. In the previous chapter Paul talks about the importance for the unity of the church, saying that all are members of the one body, each playing an important and significant role. From there he moves onto his words in this chapter, and focuses on the importance of love.   

            Paul doesn’t start by talking about what love is, but instead talks about the futility of Christian life without love. He says, “If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” Paul pretty much tells the people of Corinth that all of their spiritual gifts are useless if they do not have love. On the surface this seems like a no brainer, and yet how often do we find ourselves needing to be reminded of this simple fact. So often we ask questions like what do I have to do to get into heaven, or what makes me a good Christian? Our answers are usually that we must follow the precepts and commandments of the Bible, or that to be a good Christian we must always be in service, while others would argue that we must use the gifts that God has given us for ministry. None of these answers are actually wrong, but they are missing something. If I speak in the tongues of mortals but do not have love I am a noisy gong, if I have all faith so as to move mountains but do not have love, I am nothing, If I give away all my possessions but do not have love, I gain nothing, All of these actions seem to be great indicators  of Christian life, but without love they are useless. After all when Jesus was asked by the Sadducees and Pharisees about what the greatest command was, or in other words the most important aspect of the religion, Jesus replied with, “Love your God with all of your heart, all of your mind, and all of your soul, and love your neighbor as yourself. Jesus’ response was love.

            The reason love is so important is because we are a broken a flawed people. We’re not perfect, and we certainly don’t perfectly understand God or the ways in which God works in the world and in the church. And yet because of our brokeness, our pride, I desire for recognition or acknowledgment, or desire to feel important, we so often act as if we have all the answers. Just like the people of Corinth who each thought their gift was the most important for the church, we far too often act as though we have all of the answers. Paul addresses then when he says, “For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known.” Paul acknowledges our faults and our limitations, he tell us that when we think we have all of the answers we only have part of it, as if we were standing in front of a dimly lit mirror able to possible see the outline of the object that stood before us, but not able to fully see. Paul shows us that if we were to simply act upon our faith, or to simply act upon our hope that we have in Christ, then we can do more harm than good. You could have all of the faith in the world but without love you could be doing more harm than good. You could have the greatest gifts for ministry, or you could be walking the straightest line, but without love all of that would be useless. We do not see the full image in the mirror, we only can see in part, and that is why love is so important. Love is the remedy. As 1 John says, “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God.” We act in love because love comes from God. When we act in faith, when we try and use our gifts, when we go into the world in service, we do it with love so that even we fail, even when our faults are made visible, you are still showing God to others, because you are showing love.

            All of this leads to one final question,  what is love? If we are supposed to live in love what does that mean?  I could try to explain it the best of my abilities but all of it would fall short of the answer, and so I will simply leave you with the beautiful explanation that Paul gives, “ Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.  Love never ends”