Love Matters More: Love is All There Is

 Luke 10:25-37 (CEB)  

A legal expert stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he said, “what must I do to gain eternal life?”

Jesus replied, “What is written in the Law? How do you interpret it?”

He responded, “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your being, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.”

Jesus said to him, “You have answered correctly. Do this and you will live.”

But the legal expert wanted to prove that he was right, so he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Jesus replied, “A man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho. He encountered thieves, who stripped him naked, beat him up, and left him near death. Now it just so happened that a priest was also going down the same road. When he saw the injured man, he crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. Likewise, a Levite came by that spot, saw the injured man, and crossed over to the other side of the road and went on his way. A Samaritan, who was on a journey, came to where the man was. But when he saw him, he was moved with compassion. The Samaritan went to him and bandaged his wounds, tending them with oil and wine. Then he placed the wounded man on his own donkey, took him to an inn, and took care of him. The next day, he took two full days’ worth of wages and gave them to the innkeeper. He said, ‘Take care of him, and when I return, I will pay you back for any additional costs.’ What do you think? Which one of these three was a neighbor to the man who encountered thieves?”

Then the legal expert said, “The one who demonstrated mercy toward him.”

Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise.”

16 years ago today the world was changed

A Hurricane had a direct hit on New Orleans

Katrina displaced over 1 million people from the Gulf coast to other places in the USA ---- Including I am sure Indianapolis --- and just down the street from where I lived in Munster the Nazarene Church took their empty parsonage and welcomed in a refugee family.

The population of New Orleans dropped 50% overnight and still today it is not back to its pre-Katrina level, nor is the city fully restored especially in the lower 9th ward.

16 years later --- another storm is bearing down on the city

Lord in your mercy . . .

This summer, I decided we needed to approach our faith a little differently.

Instead of focusing on all the problems of the world --- which frankly are bigger that you and I can really tackle

I chose to focus on something we can tackle

How we love one another

And my basic premise has been --- LOVE MATTERS MORE

Actually, I might say it a different way --- Love is all that there is

Without love --- nothing works

Whether we are talking about relationships

Or ministries

If I were to sum up the Gospel message of Jesus --- I would pick one of the variations of our story today.

It is found in all three of the synoptic Gospels --- Matthew, Mark and Luke

Jesus is asked: “What must I do to gain eternal life” in Luke’s Gospel.  

Matthew’s Gospel has a lawyer asking: “What is the greatest commandment”.  

And Mark has a scribe asking Jesus: “Which commandment is first of all.”

If you know your Hebrew bible the answer is simple --- it is a part of the Shema --- the core of Judaism found in Deuteronomy chapter 6.

Hear, O Israel: The Lord is our God, the Lord alone. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might. Keep these words that I am commanding you today in your heart. Recite them to your children and talk about them when you are at home and when you are away, when you lie down and when you rise. Bind them as a sign on your hand, fix them as an emblem on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.

And in Leviticus 19 we are told: “Love your neighbor as yourself”

The Hebrew word used for love is ahava which means unconditional love.

We are to love God and neighbor unconditionally.

What I am going to try and do, is look at what we mean by unconditional love.

“Love” is a difficult and problematic term on its own. 

We use it to refer to everything from preferences 

“I love the Duke Blue Devils”

to appreciation 

“I love the way you played the bells this morning, Beth”

to emotion 

“I love Zeke" --- my dog by the way

to commitment 

“I will always love you”

But we also use this simple expression “I love you” to mean an apology 

I know I upset you but I didn’t mean to, please forgive me because I love you

to a demand 

I do this because I love you --- so you owe me

to a promise 

You know I love you and I will take care of you for the rest of your life 

or a way of avoiding a promise 

I love you, isn’t that enough?

But, when we add that one little word unconditional to qualify love, we narrow the possible range of meanings considerably. 

I think that if we can really comprehend what constitutes a “condition”, we will find that the type of love which is truly unconditional is one with which we are not terribly familiar in our culture.

Yet I think, at a base level, we all like the idea of unconditional love.

We see it as the loftiest kind of love --- God's love --- but is it possible?

Does it even make sense?

Let me give you a couple of examples as we wrestle with this concept.

A mother is having a test of wills with her two-year-old. 

The young boy wants to continue playing with his toys, but it’s time for bath and bed.

Mom has already given him a five-minute grace period -- after his first howling protests. Now she insists he will do as she says. 

She is not being unloving; her firmness is an expression of her concern for his well-being. 

Of course, the child doesn’t see it that way. 

Or doesn’t care. 

He simply wants his own will. 

If he could speak his feelings, he would probably say, “If you really loved me, you’d let me do what I want!”

As adults, we have little problem identifying with Mom here. 

We understand a child’s immaturity. 

Mom really is expressing love. 

But is it unconditional love? 

Yes, in the sense that she will continue loving her son even if he disobeys (if she is a healthy mother). 

But no, in the sense that, in this as many other situations, love itself requires conditions.

A harder case: Dick and Jane have been married for almost twenty years. 

It’s been a good marriage overall, with a couple of healthy children. 

But problems have sprouted in the past couple of years. 

And recently Dick discovered that his wife is having an affair.

Jane wants to continue the adulterous relationship. 

She also wants Dick to accept it, like an up-to-date, sensible person, and let the marriage continue. 

What does real love mean for Dick and Jane in this situation? 

If he really loves her unconditionally, won’t he accept his wife on her terms, as an expression of his love? 

Or will genuine love here require Dick to say, in effect: “It’s either me or him.”

So does genuine love require conditions?

Maybe the first thing we have to ask ourselves is What does “conditional” mean?

Conditional --- limited by conditions

Conditions --- a restricting, limiting, or modifying circumstance

So, if the presence of love is limited by any particular condition (circumstance or requirement), it is not, by definition, unconditional.

So we could take those examples I just shared a step farther and argue:

The love of parents for their children and vice versa is not unconditional. 

It depends on the circumstance of being related by birth or adoption. 

Sexual love is not unconditional. 

It depends on the sexual attraction between the participants. 

The love of one’s friends is not unconditional. 

It depends on shared interests, mutual support, communication, and all the other things that make our friends our friends. 

So can unconditional love really ever exist??

The crazy truth is ----

Unconditional love is not personal. 

If you love someone for their sense of humor, personality, the way they make you feel, or any other aspect of their identity, your love is conditional. 

It depends on the presence of that characteristic. 

If the person ceased to be or have all the things that you enjoy, would the love still be present?

And here’s the real kicker --- unconditional love does not come and go. 

It just is.

That leaves us with the ultimate quandary . . .

If human love is seemingly always conditional --- is God's love truly unconditional?

The logical answer is NO --- even God's love is conditional.

And the church had argued this for millennia.

Howard Snyder, an evangelical theologian that I highly respect, especially for his views on social justice ---- wrote a blog piece on this a number of years ago.

He argues:

The love of God, “greater far than tongue or pen can ever tell.” Human love may fail, but surely God’s love is unconditional, right?

Wrong.

God created man and woman and put them in the Garden. Conditionality were there from the start: “You are free . . . . But you must not . . .” (Gen. 2:16-17 NIV). The same truth runs throughout Scripture. And the logic of it undergirds the whole meaning of Jesus’ coming, death, and resurrection.

If God’s love were unconditional, the cross would be unnecessary. God does not love unconditionally. He loved so much that he sent his Son. And he loves so much that he will not, cannot, forgive and accept us as his redeemed children except on the basis of Jesus’ sacrifice. To do otherwise would betray the integrity of God’s own character. Precisely for this reason, acceptance without cost or sacrifice would betray the essential nature of love itself.

The cross is the ultimate proof that true love is never unconditional.

Howard Snyder makes a persuasive argument --- especially if you come from a Calvinist background

And I hear it all the time.

I was at a funeral recently and the pastor actually talked about the need to get an "eternal life insurance policy"

The implication is --- of course, that if you do not have a relationship with Jesus --- then you are not getting to heaven --- but instead are going to hell.

So, is God's love conditional?

Does God only love us if we believe --- mentally assent to ideas that the church has authorized? 

And if we fail to agree with those statements --- then is God going to assign us to eternal torment?

Unfortunately --- over the years I have come to understand that our answer --- or our perception --- to the question on whether God loves us unconditionally or not is predicated on the baggage that we bring to the table.

We could stand up here and begin a quote fest --- on both sides of the issue --- to try and prove our point

Is God's love unconditional or not

And many of the verses both sides would quote would be taken out of context to serve the arguer’s purpose.

Some of the verses I could quote would include:

1 Corinthians 13

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. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. 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. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.

1 John 4:10

“In this is love, not that we loved God but that God loved us”

Exodus 34:5

“The Lord, the Lord,
a God merciful and gracious,
slow to anger,
and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”

Or Psalm 118 or 136 which reminds us over and over again that:

God's steadfast love endures forever

And I could go on and on and on -----

as could someone who wishes to argue the exact opposite

and we both can rationalize and explain away the other passages

But --- at the end of the day

I think we are left with a choice

What type of God do we choose to believe in?

What type of God do we choose to emulate?

A long, long time ago a church I was serving was wrestling with their mission statement.

They ended up with something along these lines:

We . . . are united with Jesus Christ in His ministry of compassion for all people by offering HOPE, UNCONDITIONAL LOVE and MEANING FOR LIFE.

The leadership of the church decided that they wanted to emulate a God who loves us unconditionally and who challenges us to do the same.

But what does that mean that we are to love "unconditionally"

I would suggest we frame it this way

First --- EVERYONE IS A CHILD OF GOD

There cannot be ANY asterisks by that statement

ALL are children of God --- ALL!

Second --- LOVE IS THE ONLY FORCE THAT CAN CHANGE THE WORLD

We as Christians understand that Jesus is the embodiment of love.  So for us, we seek to emulate his way of life which was one of agape love --- or what we might call unconditional or sacrificial love.

Martin Luther King put it beautifully:

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

I have decided to stick with love.  Hate is too great a burden to bear.

My ministry has been one of trying to emulate God's love for us

I desire to see all people as God's children --- worthy of God's love --- worthy of our love.

Does this attitude --- this approach create problems?

YES

Will I ever succeed in doing it?

Probably not

BUT --- I am convinced that it is the call of Jesus in our lives!

It is the crown that Jesus holds over our heads and invites us to grow into!

I believe in a God who loves me without condition. 

But I also believe in a God whose desire for me is to follow the way of Jesus --- not so that God might love me more --- but so that I might love more!

And, after almost 40 years of serving churches, I am even more than ever convinced that when love --- unconditional love does not exist --- good things cannot happen --- or if they do, they cannot be sustained.

LOVE is the glue and love matters more than anything else.

Without love we are lost!

May we embrace the God of love who wants to show us how to love one another

Love Matters More: Loving God

 Mark 2:23-28

Jesus went through the wheat fields on the Sabbath. As the disciples made their way, they were picking the heads of wheat. The Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look! Why are they breaking the Sabbath law?”

He said to them, “Haven’t you ever read what David did when he was in need, when he and those with him were hungry? During the time when Abiathar was high priest, David went into God’s house and ate the bread of the presence, which only the priests were allowed to eat. He also gave bread to those who were with him.” Then he said, “The Sabbath was created for humans; humans weren’t created for the Sabbath. This is why the Human One is Lord even over the Sabbath.”

Have you ever gotten to that point where you are just frazzled?

You are so overwhelmed by stuff that you don’t even know how to slow down.

As some of you know, I took a little break last week and made a quick jaunt to Italy.

I went so that I could experience some of the holy places because I have never been to Rome or Italy.

And I can tell you the Vatican was grander than I ever imagined.

I would be lying if I didn’t say that the little bit of the Vatican Museum that we saw was somewhat over the top 

--- and St Peter’s --- well St Peter’s is just beyond belief.

I believe the word I used to describe St Peter’s was ---

The Hubris of humanity

The magnificence of the Sistine Chapel is indescribable.  

And even though there was a small child screaming most of the time that we were in the Chapel --- the awe and holiness of that sacred spot still was palpable.

But it was in a little obscure church in Florence that I began to relax.

And when we went to a farm just outside of Pisa for lunch --- I felt the spirit begin to move in a whole new way.

Most of us tend to overschedule our lives.

We seem to believe that we are supposed to fill every available moment, and failure to do so, signifies disgrace.

For years I served on a scholarship board that offered full tuition scholarships to any state school in Indiana to students from NW Indiana.

It was an interesting experience --- we usually gave about 30 scholarships, and we usually had somewhere between 100 and 150 applications that had meet the minimum requirements that we on the scholarship committee needed to read and evaluate.

What became apparent was that as a board we honored and rewarded those students who were ridiculously busy --- not only in their High School classes and activities, but also activities outside of school.  

It seemed that the more things they could cram in --- the higher we ranked them.

I find our Gospel story personally very challenging.

Sabbath, in the first century was very important to observant Jews in Judea.

It had become very rigid --- with the rabbinical teachings doing their best to try and define just what was and was not allowed on Sabbath.

If you study the Mishnah, you will find all kinds of explanations that to us seem ridiculous; but to observant Jews --- these were a matter of life and death.

One of the constant themes of the Gospels, is Jesus confronting the Rabbi’s as he tries to reimagine sabbath.

Jesus does not want to do away with Sabbath rest --- instead Jesus wants us to experience it in whole new way.

Before we can look into this new way of experiencing Sabbath, --- maybe we should try to understand what Sabbath meant in Judaism.

In the Hebrew Scriptures (the Old Testament), there are two main Hebrew words used, referring to Sabbath rest. 

The first is shabbat, which gets partially translated into the English word sabbath. 

This word for rest simply means to “stop working.” 

Think of an hourly job where you clock out at the end of a shift. The work is done; there’s no more until you clock back in.

The other main Hebrew word related to Sabbath in the Hebrew Scriptures is nuakh. 

This means to “dwell” or “settle.” 

This is very different from clocking out of a job.

This is like sitting in front of a fire with a loved one or unpacking a suitcase to stay at grandma’s house for the holidays. 

It’s essentially about being restfully present.

God creates shabbat and nuakh (rest) right around the same time. 

In the story of creation, God works for six days creating the world and rests on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2-3).

After six days of creating order where there had been chaos, now it is time for God to shabbat from this work. 

Only a few verses later, we read that God creates humans and then immediately “rests them” or “settles them” with himself in the garden of Eden 

It seems like the ideas of shabbat and nuakh are meant to work together. 

God leads by example as he rests from work (shabbat) and then dwells together (nuakh) with his people.

As we read the biblical story it is clear that Jesus did not see Sabbath as a restrictive, joyless practice.

Instead, Jesus emphasizes by example that it is a time to share with others, a time of healing, a time to extend love and grace. 

It is fascinating to me that in the Gospels, Jesus only spends one sabbath day alone --- he spends the rest in various forms of community.

Being with others in fellowship, particularly centered around Jesus, is one way for people to find Sabbath rest and even healing.

Which, of course, was another of Jesus’ favorite Sabbath activities.

Jesus reminds us that Sabbath is a holy time. 

Sabbath rest helps us create space to honor God, to set time apart to build a loving relationship with God. 

On the Sabbath we find Jesus:

Worshipping

Praying

Healing

I think what I am trying to say is Sabbath is not a one size fits all day.

There are different ways for us to experience Sabbath depending on our needs at the time.

I hope you had a chance to ponder the quote on the top of the bulletin.

It is from Bill Gaultiere, a psychologist and spiritual formation pastor.

He wrote:

Eugene Peterson says that “a day off” is not Sabbath, but a “bastard Sabbath.” To take a Sabbath is to set aside one day a week to rest in God’s provision, to stop your work and be “unproductive.” The way Dallas Willard described entering Sabbath to me was, “Do nothing. . . . Don’t try to make anything happen.”

He goes on quoting Peterson:

An accurate understanding of sabbath is prerequisite to its practice: it must be understood biblically, not culturally. A widespread misunderstanding of sabbath trivializes it by designating it “a day off.” . . .However beneficial, this is not a true sabbath but a secularized sabbath.  . . .  Sabbath means quit. Stop. Take a break. Cool it. 

The Sabbath is a day to let go, to stop trying to control people and situations. 

It’s a day to unhook from performing for people or pleasing people. 

It is a day to let God be God.

It’s a day to focus on what God is graciously doing all around you and respond to God’s grace rather than depending on your own abilities to make things happen.

Keeping the Sabbath teaches us to trust God.

Sabbath is God’s way to set us free from worry and anxiety, ambition and adrenaline, self-importance and anger, even loneliness. 

I am not good at Sabbath.

Never have been.

There have been seasons when I was better, but it never seems to last.

For me, I let meetings and other things get in the way of my Sabbath --- and I know that we all pay for my lack of spending that special time away with God.

That is why this trip to Italy was so important for me.

I could disconnect from the computer and phones and meetings

And reconnect with God.

The second day, one of my 12 traveling companions noted that it must be hard to travel alone (they were all traveling with someone)

And while YES, I wish Nancy could have gone with me

BUT, I needed to get away and reconnect with God.

But let me be very clear --- I was not alone

I found a new family of friends who welcomed me and shared the journey with me

People to dwell together with me

But I really did need some time to slow down and listen to God.

And it is always funny to me where those things happen

Not in the opulence of St Peter’s or the Sistine Chapel

But in the Basilica of Holy Trinity

A small, often forgotten church in Florence

There in that small church, as we took some time to look at the beautiful artwork, God pulled me aside and reminded me of our love affair

God reminded me that I needed to create time to dwell in the presence of God

And then, a couple of hours later --- I found that time --- wandering on a farm outside of Pisa

Sunday is not a Sabbath for me.

Nor for almost any clergy or church employee that I know

We are too busy trying to create Sabbath for you

We must find our Sabbath elsewhere.

And I try (not very successfully) to make that my Mondays 

I give you permission to hold me accountable on that

How are you at keeping Sabbath?

Not vacating

Not a day off

But a day spent WITH God

The sad truth is --- we cannot love God if we are not willing to spend time with God.

If we are not willing to rest and dwell in the presence of God.

God created the Sabbath so that our relationship can grow and mature.

In a few minutes, many of us will be getting in our cars and driving to sacred ground.

Camp Otto was purchased by Meridian Street in July 1965.

It wasn’t a sure deal 

Eight of the 25 board members voted against the purchase

But for the next 40 years --- CAMP OTTO became a place of refuge

A place of sabbath rest for thousands of young people

It wasn’t just Meridian Street youth

Many other groups used this marvelous camp as well

The number of lives that were transformed are endless

Anne Rosebrock felt her call to ministry there

Sabbath rest is found when we rest from our labors and draw close to God

Jesus reminds us that Sabbath is a holy time. 

Sabbath rest helps us create space to honor God, to set time apart to build a loving relationship with God. 

We cannot be in love with someone we don’t know

Take time to be with God and to fall in love with Jesus

Love matters more --- and at the heart of Sabbath is love

So I encourage you to take time and find Sabbath with God

Dwelling in God’s rest and in simply being together.