Called To Love by Guest Speaker at Pearl River United Methodist Church on Sunday 22 March 2020
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Colossians 3:14 Above all, clothe yourselves with love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Psalm 143:8 Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul.
Ephesians 4:2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,
1 John 3:16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.
1 John 4:7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.
Well, good morning. Pastor Gabrielle is right. This is extremely different. I'm so used to seeing all your happy and smiling faces, but I feel truly blessed that I'm able to share with you this morning. We've been talking the last few weeks about things we've been called to do, called to follow, called to suffer, called to go, and today, we're going to talk about being called to love.
Now, what's love got to do with it? Such a simple question, and yet, is it really that simple? What's love got to do with anything? Well, for me, the answer is simple. It has everything to do with it. Let's look back into the stories and the teachings of the Bible. The biggest story of love has to be, for me, that God gave us His only child. He gave him to a virgin woman who many thought down of. He gave this child, and Joseph accepted it.
They traveled for miles. Jesus wasn't born in some amazing inn or clean environment. He was born in a stable with animals surrounding him. He was born to feed us. He was born to teach us. He was born to heal us. Those are all acts of pure love.
In Luke, we learn of a sinful woman who came to the home of a Pharisees where Jesus was having a meal. She got down to her hands and knees, and she washed his feet. She then bathed them in a perfume of which was probably the most amazing thing she had in her life, and yet her most valued possession she gave out of love. She dried his feet, and she left not for thanks, not for money, but for love.
As we read on into the Book of John that Jesus, our teacher, our healer, and our provider went down on his hands and knees and wash the feet of the disciples even though he knew he would be betrayed. There are so many stories of love that we could go on for hours and go over all of them, but I'm not doing it.
I do have three, however, that during my research for today touched me in insurmountable ways, and now these three remain: faith, love, and hope. "But the greatest of these is love," from Corinthians. "For God so loved the world that He gave us His only Son and that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life," from John. As we know and we rely on love that God has for us, "God is love, so whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them," from 1 John.
Fun fact, did you know that depending on what Bible you look into, the word love can be said, in some Bibles, 572 times. In the King James, it's 546 up to as many as 810 times in the new revised version, and for the biggest and most incredible act of the Lord that He gave to us was His Son's life. He was born to bring us a person who would teach us, heal us, and walk among us. He was a fisherman, a carpenter, and ultimately, he was the Savior that died for us to save us from our sins.
While I've been in training with Pastor Gabby to take my journey into further faith, I learned of an amazing word called agape. Agape is love that can be found in people who dedicate their lives in helping others for the good of humanity. There are teachers and nurses and doctors. There are people that dedicate themselves to others. Expressing agape love is just God's love for all humanity and is expressed throughout multiple forms of literature.
I've told you many stories about my life and growing up, but growing up, the word love was not often said. It just wasn't in our house. However, even as my mother was in her last days, she made sure that my brothers and sister and I knew just how much she loved us. It wasn't in what she said. It wasn't in how she said it. She woke up. We were all together, and the next morning she was gone.
Now, it is my turn to be a wife and a mother. Now, we all know that I am so not perfect at this. You've met my family, seriously. But in our house, we always say, "I love you." It is not always the word. It's the actions. It's things like doing the dishes, taking out the trash, and dare I say, putting down the toilet seat or checking the toilet paper. However, after our prayers and before we go to sleep, there's always "I love you" no matter where we are, whether we're together or we're apart.
True love feels like security and stability. Healthy family love is unconditional. Even when the kids get just that little bit under the skin, and believe me, I get it. I've learned about homeschooling. No matter what other family members say, do, or feel, you still love them, even your siblings. In this sense, they are still your family and always will be. You show respect for each other by not beating each other up. When you love your family members, you show respect through your words and through your actions.
Love is one of the most intense emotions that we experience as humans. It is a variety of different feelings, states, and attitudes. Now, parents, you know when that little face is growling at you, you know that behind that face, there's love. You might not feel it at that second, but it's there. They range from interpersonal afflictions to handholding. Love can be defined as an intense feeling of affection with no limits or conditions for a person.
What is God's definition of love? Love of God can mean either love of God or love by God, love for God, and is associated with the concepts of worship and the definitions towards God. The Greek term, agape, as I said, applies to both the love of human beings have for God and the love that God has for man. Now, I don't want to go on and on all day, but I will tell you this: Love is a noun, and it is a verb. Love is displayed in ways that you just can't imagine. In a star-filled night, you can look out, and for me, I can feel love surrounding me.
You see, my friends... no, my amazing church family, because that's who we are, and that's what I felt the very first day I walked in these doors. All those [inaudible 00:07:49] sharing with us today, whether it's our church or people who are visiting for the first time, welcome. We're going to stay connected so you stay connected. Please just know that even in times like these, when we cannot come together, God is there. He is surrounding you in love, and we can reach out to each other and keep us all surrounded in God's love. Let us pray.
Dear gracious and loving Lord, even the times like this when we just don't know from day to day, we listen, we follow the rules, and we look out for one another. We are forever grateful for those that are out there day to day taking care of those who are sick. We are grateful for those who are working to cure things, but I ask, I ask this humbly of You, continue surround us in love, in grace. Keep us knowing that no matter where we are, we are always in God's house. In Your name we pray, amen. See you soon, folks.
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