A Call To Love
Sermon
A Call To Love
Second Lesson Sermons For Sundays After Pentecost
Of all the words used throughout the world, the one that is used the most -- or misused the most -- is "love." Love is not merely a denial of self. It is caring for others, and seeking their welfare above and before self. We use the word "love" to describe a great variety of experiences: feelings of the heart, conditions of the mind, expressions of our will, and our own actions. It is, therefore, extremely difficult to understand when people say that they "love," what that really means. Furthermore, because "love" has a tendency to be an ambiguous word, it can also be a dangerous word.
When you see the word or hear the word love, what do you see? I see a couple in their twenties looking at a little face wrapped in a pink blanket for the first time. I see an old man as he sits with his wife of 52 years. She has Alzheimer's. He knows that she will never get any better. Yet he tenderly and lovingly holds her, even though she doesn't know who he is. I see a middle-aged man during the Depression come into the house in the evening with a milk bucket in his hand. He pours milk into all the glasses before he pours his own.
The love that Jesus talks about is a love for those for whom we have little or no affection. As I thought about the kind of love that motivates me, I was reminded of Jesus' teaching. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."
It is true, we can go through the motion of doing God's will and never really love. An old couple in the congregation had been together for years. She had been after him for a number of years to be baptized. When I saw him coming down the aisle, my immediate thought was, "Finally, he has given his heart to the Lord." He made his confession. I baptized him. Afterward, as he was putting his left sock on, I said, "I'm very happy for you." He response jolted my innards. "I hope she's happy. I wouldn't have done this if she had left me alone."
I remember Paul's words when he deals with a congregation who has either lost their vision of love or needs to be reminded of this concept again. He writes to remind them that love is really an obligation. The sentiments of Paul are in keeping with the commandment form we know from the Gospel tradition (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-28). Paul puts love on a level of obligation. It is not an emotional tone that makes you compelled to go about loving. This is why the whole law is reduced to two commandments: "Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself."
The idea is that this kind of love cannot hurt your neighbor. That is why it is the answer to every commandment. Christian unity and compassion are built on the foundation of this love that Paul is intent on sharing with the church. Paul's words that lift the idea of love come from his other writings as well as from Romans. Especially in the classic section about love from 1 Corinthians 13, he explains what he means about love.
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Paul says you can express all this, but without love it really doesn't count. It would be like playing a game with a four-year-old, and the rules change at every turn, or if it doesn't go right, they just say, "Doesn't count! I wasn't ready." However, Paul helps me figure out what love looks like -- or at least what some of the results are.
To love without restriction is a difficult thing to accomplish. To show patience and kindness is extremely difficult. C. S. Lewis told about having lunch with a minister, the minister's wife, and their two children who were home from college for the weekend. All through the meal the minister dismissed his children's comments and opinions. He was as Lewis said both caring and careless. It is sometimes difficult to remember that love is to express that kindness even to family members.
Paul reminds us that our love, our expression of kindness, goes beyond that which we no longer want or need. To many, love is taking broken toys to the fire station. Love is taking a sack of groceries to people we don't know. But genuine love is the kind of care that does for others without regard to what one will receive in return.
I have had occasion to witness this kind of love in action. It was a rainy spring day in North Georgia. A knock came on my office door, and a man who looked vaguely familiar stood there, and behind him was a young woman almost hiding. He told me that she had been standing in the rain and he didn't know what else to do with her. She came in and sat in a chair in my office. She sat with her knees up in her chest. As I started talking to her I found out she was living on the streets and doing whatever was necessary to survive. I asked her if she needed something to eat, and she said she already had cocaine and whiskey, and nothing else was necessary. As the day wore on, we knew she needed help, and the church arranged for her to be taken to a hospital for drug addiction. After the word got out, the calls came in from members wanting to help, to visit, to do whatever was necessary to show their love. It was once in ministry that I felt the church was being a church. Unfortunately, she left and we never saw her again, but the effort put out by that church made me know if she would have accepted our love, then she would have had it.
If we could come away from this passage with a greater awareness, it would be to know that when all is done in church or as people, the gift that is left is love. Love will make a church and people grow. Love is that commodity that is greater than any other commodity in the world. When the fabulously wealthy Aristotle Onassis died, his wealthy friends gathered together after the funeral, and naturally the main subject of conversation was how much he had and who got it? One exchange went like this: "How much did he leave?" The answer came: "Everything: he left everything."
Of all gifts that we can give or leave to someone else, the greatest gift is our love. It is the greatest of all commands and the one thing that the world seeks, but has the most difficult time understanding or receiving. It is Paul's word that reminds us of our call to love, and it must be our response to answer that call.
When you see the word or hear the word love, what do you see? I see a couple in their twenties looking at a little face wrapped in a pink blanket for the first time. I see an old man as he sits with his wife of 52 years. She has Alzheimer's. He knows that she will never get any better. Yet he tenderly and lovingly holds her, even though she doesn't know who he is. I see a middle-aged man during the Depression come into the house in the evening with a milk bucket in his hand. He pours milk into all the glasses before he pours his own.
The love that Jesus talks about is a love for those for whom we have little or no affection. As I thought about the kind of love that motivates me, I was reminded of Jesus' teaching. "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no wrong to a neighbor. Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law."
It is true, we can go through the motion of doing God's will and never really love. An old couple in the congregation had been together for years. She had been after him for a number of years to be baptized. When I saw him coming down the aisle, my immediate thought was, "Finally, he has given his heart to the Lord." He made his confession. I baptized him. Afterward, as he was putting his left sock on, I said, "I'm very happy for you." He response jolted my innards. "I hope she's happy. I wouldn't have done this if she had left me alone."
I remember Paul's words when he deals with a congregation who has either lost their vision of love or needs to be reminded of this concept again. He writes to remind them that love is really an obligation. The sentiments of Paul are in keeping with the commandment form we know from the Gospel tradition (Matthew 22:34-40; Mark 12:28-31; Luke 10:25-28). Paul puts love on a level of obligation. It is not an emotional tone that makes you compelled to go about loving. This is why the whole law is reduced to two commandments: "Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and your neighbor as yourself."
The idea is that this kind of love cannot hurt your neighbor. That is why it is the answer to every commandment. Christian unity and compassion are built on the foundation of this love that Paul is intent on sharing with the church. Paul's words that lift the idea of love come from his other writings as well as from Romans. Especially in the classic section about love from 1 Corinthians 13, he explains what he means about love.
Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous or boastful; it is not arrogant or rude. Love does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrong, but rejoices in the right. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
Paul says you can express all this, but without love it really doesn't count. It would be like playing a game with a four-year-old, and the rules change at every turn, or if it doesn't go right, they just say, "Doesn't count! I wasn't ready." However, Paul helps me figure out what love looks like -- or at least what some of the results are.
To love without restriction is a difficult thing to accomplish. To show patience and kindness is extremely difficult. C. S. Lewis told about having lunch with a minister, the minister's wife, and their two children who were home from college for the weekend. All through the meal the minister dismissed his children's comments and opinions. He was as Lewis said both caring and careless. It is sometimes difficult to remember that love is to express that kindness even to family members.
Paul reminds us that our love, our expression of kindness, goes beyond that which we no longer want or need. To many, love is taking broken toys to the fire station. Love is taking a sack of groceries to people we don't know. But genuine love is the kind of care that does for others without regard to what one will receive in return.
I have had occasion to witness this kind of love in action. It was a rainy spring day in North Georgia. A knock came on my office door, and a man who looked vaguely familiar stood there, and behind him was a young woman almost hiding. He told me that she had been standing in the rain and he didn't know what else to do with her. She came in and sat in a chair in my office. She sat with her knees up in her chest. As I started talking to her I found out she was living on the streets and doing whatever was necessary to survive. I asked her if she needed something to eat, and she said she already had cocaine and whiskey, and nothing else was necessary. As the day wore on, we knew she needed help, and the church arranged for her to be taken to a hospital for drug addiction. After the word got out, the calls came in from members wanting to help, to visit, to do whatever was necessary to show their love. It was once in ministry that I felt the church was being a church. Unfortunately, she left and we never saw her again, but the effort put out by that church made me know if she would have accepted our love, then she would have had it.
If we could come away from this passage with a greater awareness, it would be to know that when all is done in church or as people, the gift that is left is love. Love will make a church and people grow. Love is that commodity that is greater than any other commodity in the world. When the fabulously wealthy Aristotle Onassis died, his wealthy friends gathered together after the funeral, and naturally the main subject of conversation was how much he had and who got it? One exchange went like this: "How much did he leave?" The answer came: "Everything: he left everything."
Of all gifts that we can give or leave to someone else, the greatest gift is our love. It is the greatest of all commands and the one thing that the world seeks, but has the most difficult time understanding or receiving. It is Paul's word that reminds us of our call to love, and it must be our response to answer that call.
