Make Me A Monday Christian

Intro 1: Good morning! Welcome again to our English service, I say that so often, but just speaking makes that phrase redundant. Bottom line, I’m happy you are here, I’m happy you are signed in, I’m glad we can worship together today, whatever that looks like. It has been a very interesting 9/10 months. Thanksgiving this year is going to look different, much like the rest of the year-gathering in person is likely not the best idea, so we again find ourselves at a crossroads. How are you making your decisions? Are you thinking short term or do you take one on the chin one more time for 2020 and try and make the best of it? This year has been all about challenging choices. In a way, it has created a space for thankfulness, it has made each one of us open and available to be thankful for things we might not typically give a second thought. Before we go any futher let’s take a moment and pray, shall we.

Opening Prayer: Dear Lord…

Intro 2: I’ve been thinking about short term pain for long term gain, those little sacrifices you make along the way in order to reach a long-term goal. The everyday efforts you make, that don’t necessarily feel like they are adding up to something big, or something important, but those things that are future impactful. Or, contrary to that thought-those things you do that you feel to the very depth of your soul. This time of year, tends to bring to the surface the full range of emotions in the best of times. We anticipate and our excited about extra time in person with our loved ones, though this year seems we will come up short. Again, short term pain for the long-term gain. However, you ever notice that we you are in those larger family settings are things can sometimes go off the rails pretty quicky. There is always that one family member who is looking to stir up trouble, looking to pick a fight, looking to bring up an old wound from the past. So, what you may have hoped to be a peaceful time tends to be this passive aggressive, walk on egg shells, I can’t wait until they all leave, why, LORD, why did I even bother doing this in the first place, Thanksgiving dinner?!? You ever have one of those types of holiday meals before…if the answer is no, no meal has EVER been awkward like that for you…I want you to reflect for the rest of this service…You my friend may have things you need to work through. The text in 1 Peter covers a wide range of emotions, so you might be thinking, what in the world does that have to do with thanksgiving, what does it have to do with being available and why in the world is the title for a service about thanksgiving…” Make me a Monday Christian”? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5s2n7WNpUQ) Before I answer that question, I want to show you a short video (+31), it is actually a state farm commercial from about 2 year ago. Thanks, how many of you remember, show of hands. If you are watching online, do me a favor in the comments but “I remember”. For a commercial like that, in this season, we tend to put in short term effort, for some short-term results in lives that don’t ever really touch our own. Like it shows, how easy is it to forget about those in need? We lose our eyes for these people. Today I want to talk to you about the ultimate short-term pain for long term gain, and how it was way more than just coming here or logging in on a Sunday, I want to talk about how important being a Monday Christian is, and what that looks like. Peter tells us three clear instructions in the verses we read, so I’d like to talk a little more about each. 1st.

Point 1: Love Deeply

Verse 8: “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins.” When you think about loving someone deeply, what comes to mind? There is an anonymous quote that goes like this: “My six-word story: I can’t imagine life without you.” Of all the quotes I read, all the famous authors, poets and scholars, this one stood out-unclaimed, six words on the back end of the quote. To love deeply is, in many ways, the realization that life will suddenly never be the same because of a singular event. An encounter, an event. I’m not talking about the star-crossed lovers in a crowded room because deep love is much more than a glance or a smile. Peter urgers us, above all, love each other deeply. While love can be grand, and romantic-not all love is romantic-not all love was meant to be that way, even romantic love was not meant to be that way 100% of the time. Love in time of covid, if you will, has taught us about the practicality of love itself. Right out of the gate today I want to share some ideas on how to put this into practice. That deep love can help us to look past things that might irk us. That time together is just that, time together and we ought to cherish those moments. Not that you need to make each second some touchy/feely thing, but to take away simple pleasure for every ounce of the relationships you currently have. I’ve said it before, savor the ordinary. Things like a family meal around the table, movie night, indoor smores, board games, building a 3D puzzle (even if you happen to be the worst builder in the group). Psychology Today says you should bestow love: by giving it your all you make your partner, your friends, your children feel loved and important. When you lift someone up, it gives that person the strength and courage to do the same for others. Believe that it is real, with so much going on it our world, it is hard to define fact from fiction. So why can’t we let love be our fact? Will we go into another lockdown? What pre-cautions should we continue to take as individuals, as families, as a church? When will the madness of the election final end so we can move on with reality and how will that change look over the next few months...all things that are on the top of so many of our minds? “Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed”, says the Lord, who has compassion on you.” Isaiah 54:10 This verse reminds us, just like the song we sung moments ago, when the world is shaking, the ground beneath my feet, you’re the solid rock on which I stand! Believe that God and His love for you is the most real thing in all of creation! That nothing can separate you from that love, angels, demons, life, death, COVID…nothing in all creation like we read in Romans. To love deeply is to believe that God first love you, and to place your trust in Him alone. When you do that, you may also allow yourself to trust others, to let go of some of those fears, to let go of those hurts from the past. The silver lining of 2020 is that we have been given time to build strong relationships with the people we love because, we are able to talk through problems and good, bad or otherwise we don’t really have anywhere to run. While Peter suggests that loving deeply covers a multitude of sins-I believe the point he is driving home is that fairly simple when we look at the heart of it. I truly believe the Gospel is simple and not complicated. Because of God’s deep love for us, we are able to ENJOY, ADORE, and TREASURE our relationships here on earth because of that pain Jesus experienced on the cross, that short term pain He suffered was for your long-term gain. It makes you want to consider things in a whole new perspective and perhaps, puts you on a new path of gratitude and thankfulness. Loving each other this way begs us to be open and available, to be ready for use, to open our hearts to see the gifts God has in store for us, that take me to my second point.