Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Fruit of the Spirit: Love, 6/28/15

Sermon 6-28-15   1 cor 12:27-13:13
1 cor 12:27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues[d]? Do all interpret? 31 Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. And yet I will show you the most excellent way.
13 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11 When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
See Galatians 5:22-23 onscreen
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,  gentleness and self-control.  Against such things there is no law.”

The series – fruit of the spirit

My first time to talk with you………. Its an honor and a privilege for me

What a great first topic……..LOVE

Love………we make it complicated
          I love you
          I love tacos

Love ………we are taught so little about it
          Our parents teach us how to tie our shoes
          Who teaches us about love
         
What we call love is almost always a collection of broken people demanding that the object of their love somehow make them whole
We define love by our dysfunction instead of allowing love to reshape our lives.

My first marriage- rules:  you make me happy
This marriage- let me serve you.  How can I help you be fulfilled
          Want to work, ok.  No- ok
          Want to sing in choir…ok, no- ok
          Want to go to college, ok.  No- ok

Before we can begin to understand what love is, we must give up on our inappropriate views of love

Love is not attraction……….
I am attracted to you more that I am attracted to others
I think you are beautiful – you send me into orbit
What happens when the attraction wears off?
I was scared in an accident?  What If I lost my hair?
We all know beautiful people who are not beautiful on the inside
And what happens to relationships based on attraction when we really learn what love is about?

Love is not dependence…..
Two broken people propping each other up
I am taking from you……..
Love is not self seeking……..

Love isn’t desire
[there should be some desire with love]
But not to where I am taking from you

The nature of sermons……… cant cover it all.  Cant take it out of context.
Sermon on marriage, and sticking with it…… don’t give up
Heard by someone abused……..

Love is not taking, it is release

Love releases my desire for the thing to go a particular way………

My gifts.  How gifts work.  Something is bigger than my contribution to a place………

Helping my kids at some point becomes unhealthy.
We must learn that we are not in control…… letting go of outcomes

I have been thinking about…….
Love keeps no record of wrongs……….
If there is a record or  a list, it means that I have a way that I want it to go…
To keep no record, doesn’t mean that I am trying really hard to ignore your infraction, it means that I am giving up control……..
I no longer consider that a wrong.
I set aside my preference, for the greater good.

A girl lived in a small fishing village where she became a single mother.  Her parents beat her until she stated who the father was:  “it was the Monk who lives in the temple outside the village.  Her parents and all the villagers were outraged.  They hurried to the temple after the baby was born and left it in front of the Monk.  Then they said, “you hypocrite, this child is yours!  Take care of it!”  All the Monk said was, “very well, very well.”  He gave the baby to one of the women in the village to care for, and the master provided for the expenses.  The holy man lost his reputation in the area, his disciples left him, and no one went to consult with him.  When the girl saw this, she couldn’t hold back any more and she finally revealed the truth.  The child’s father wasn’t the monk, but a neighbor boy.  When her parents and the whole village learned this, they returned to the temple and bowed down before the Monk.  They begged him for forgiveness, and asked him to return the child to them.  The master returned the baby, and all he said was, “very well, very well.”

And so, love exists outside of, in spite of, circumstances.

Now if I have stolen from you some of the myths of love……
What is left

Jesus said take the board out of your own eye so that you can see [Mt 7]
Once we divest ourselves of false ideas about love, we can begin to understand true love

Nt Greek words for love
Phileo-brotherly love
Eros- you know what that means
Agape- self less love

Losing yourself in adoration of another…….



The anxious groom……… can I have her now?



You cant love anyone else until you love yourself.  
Love the lord your god with all your heart soul mind and strength, love your neighbor as yourself
Mt 19 rich young ruler
Mt 22 which is the greatest commandment

How do you see yourself?

The eagle and the chickens/do you hold people back
How does God see you?

There is a famous fairy tale about a frog and a princess
The frog and the prince/do you free people to live

And so Jesus picks us up and kisses us
And restores us.  And we are healed
We are lifted from the gloom of the past and set on a new course
He takes our feet out of the mire and establishes our footing upon a rock

And what god has done for us.
He asks us to do for others……

So today, know that you are loved……..
Love one another…… be healthy about it……
And carry his love into your community, and into your world……


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