Infectious Love (Advent) Series

Infectious Love, I John 2:15-17

Introduction

My family was infected with some kind of sickness a couple of months ago that we have had the most terrible time getting over. In fact, I think we may still have it. It all started when my wife Christina had a small cough and a little bit of a sore throat. At first we just thought it was a little cold – nothing more.

Then my two year old son Sebastian got the cold and before you know it I had the sore throat and then after a little while we all had a headache and stuffy noses and were just sick all over! Then we were driving one day to take Sebastian to swim lessons in a nearby town when my eye turned very red and I started to scratch it and wash it out with water, thinking that I had an eyelash or a piece of debris or something stuck in my eye.

Then a day or so later both Sebastian and I woke up with a bunch of gunk in our eyes! I had to be at the hospital with a parishioner who was having surgery early that morning so I went to the urgent care clinic near the doctor to find out that I had an eye infection… wonderful!

At first I was convinced that it was the St. Bernard’s fault because she always has a little bit of gunk built up in her eyes in the morning but a trip to the vet proved my theory wrong! She didn’t have an infection and I learned that it is a very rare thing for a dog to pass on that kind of infection any way.

After I returned home Christina and I took Sebastian to the doctor and sure enough he had an eye infection too. Later that day Christina went to the doctor to find out that while she did not have an eye infection, she did have an ear infection.

Sebastian and I took our eye drops three times a day while Christina took her antibiotics. After more than a week had passed we were all still sick but we were feeling a little bit better.

After another week went by though Christina and Sebastian were feeling much worse and both were running temperatures. We went back to the doctor again to learn that their ear infections had returned, or at least never gone away.

They got even more antibiotics and it took another couple of weeks before Sebastian and I were back in good shape, although Christina took another couple of weeks to feel better and I’m not sure she is completely over it even now!

Transition

Some infections are very hard to fight. Some infections are deadly once they get inside of your blood stream because they begin to take over and destroy healthy cells, causing your body not to function the way it was intended.

According to one encyclopedia an infection is defined this way: “An infection is the detrimental colonization of a host organism by a foreign species. In an infection, the infecting organism seeks to utilize the host’s resources to multiply (usually at the expense of the host). The infecting organism, or pathogen, interferes with the normal functioning of the host and can lead to chronic wounds, gangrene, loss of an infected limb, and even death.”

Scripture

1 John 2:15-17 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world – the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions – is not from the Father but is from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.” (ESV)

This morning I want to talk to you about infection but not about bodily infections like a cold. This morning I am going to share with you about infectious love.

You see the things we love have a way of infecting our very souls much in the same way that viruses and bacteria infect our bodies. Only the consequences of the things we love are much more long lasting than an earthly infection – they are of eternal consequence and significance.

This morning let us place our love of this world on one side of a scale while we place our love of Christ on the other and see which one comes up short.

The Love of the World

Perhaps at no other time is it more appropriate to examine where our heart is than during the season of Advent. Everywhere we turn we see Christmas lights, Christmas sales, and Christmas lines at the store.