As I have reflected this week as to what I think might well be the most important thing for us to know about the faith that we are planning to grow in during the year to come, I have come to the following conclusion: We must realize that we are in fact children of God. Not that we have earned this privilege, far from it, we have instead been chosen to
become children of God. Each one of us here, whether or not we have yet responded to the call of God to faith in Jesus Christ has been chosen to become a child of God. In fact the entire world has been called to faith in Christ, by the very God who created us and yet there are many who have chosen not to respond in faith and obedience to Christ’s call to salvation.
In any case, the reason that we are chosen to become children of God is because we are completely and totally loved by the God that created us and it is by that God that we are called children. Love is the reason that we are children of God. And yet, if the world looked at us as children of God, what would they see? I would hope that they see the love of God reflected in ways that make it completely clear that we
are in fact not only children of God, but also that we are obedient children of God. The way that the world may know that we are Children of God is by the love that we show to the world around us. I am reminded of the song that is perhaps one of the most popular songs around the campfires at church camp, possibly because it is easy to play on the guitar in the dark since it only has two chords, but the simplicity of the message is what I most appreciate. The entire gospel is distilled down to the truth that "They will know we are Christians by our love" . But the song doesn’t end with that verse, instead it gives us some guiding
principles to guide our actions as we seek to manifest the love of God to the world. "We will walk with each other, we will walk hand in hand." and "We will work with each other, we will work side by side" are the following two verses and the song ends up by offering all praise to the Father son and Holy Spirit who make us one. But... the song begins with love...
So too, the life of faith begins with love. At first it is because we respond to the love of God through Jesus Christ, then we respond to that love by loving God in return and finally that love is carried out into the world that surrounds us each and every day of our lives. How much better the world would be if all of the people who call themselves followers of
Jesus Christ would truly act like it. One of my all time favorite books as I am sure many of you are aware is the Christian classic “In His Steps”, by Charles Sheldon. In this book Sheldon tells the story of a small church where the pastor posed a challenge to the members of the church one Sunday morning and the story goes on to illustrate how each person’s life was changed in that church and how the community around them changed as a result of the actions of these Christians. The challenge that the pastor posed to his
church was this. Before you do anything, anything at all, be it a business transaction, a telephone call, a response to a person who has offended you, anything at all. Pause long enough to ask yourself this question. "If Jesus were standing here facing this situation, what would Jesus do?" The transformation that was wrought by each of these people pausing several times each day to ask themselves this question was profound and earth shaking. The “What would Jesus Do” question is one that has become trendy in recent years, but I wonder if people are really asking themselves this question, or if the phrase just puts forth the facade of spirituality to the world.
But I guess the point of all of this is so that our church can respond to the same challenge. As this new year begins we should be seeking to truly live the life of loving obedience to Christ by acting out that love in the world. When someone offends you, ask yourself what would Jesus do? When you are tempted to compromise your Christian values ask yourself What would Jesus Do? I’ll tell you what Jesus would do! Jesus would always put the feelings and needs of others ahead of his own. Jesus would not set his own agenda ahead of the neds of others and would put his own desires and opinions on a back burner for the same of the good of others and for the common good of the family of God. Jesus would live his life in such a way that people could not help but be drawn to him and to the God that he served. Jesus
would eventually offer himself as a sacrifice so that others might taste the sweetness of eternal life. Jesus said it himself in the scripture that we have read for today. Greater love has no man than this, to lay down ones life for one’s friends. And then he calls us his friends. He summarizes this thought by telling us that he gives us these commandments so that we will love one another. I am not going to tell you what that love might look like, because it may in fact look very different in different situations. But I will tell you this. If we commit ourselves to seeking Christ’s guidance within ourselves, then we will be given the insight as to what particular action is the Christ-like action in any given situation.
I know what you do, because I do the same things every day. We all go shopping and do business every day of our lives. We have interractions with other people in our community each and every day, many of you are leaders of different groups and organizations within our community and as such we each have a role and in fact an obligation to make known the love of Christ to our community. I want to remind you that the fact that we live in a small town should
not inhibit our actions in the world from having impact. But actually the reverse is true. Because we live in a small community, the actions that we take in our dealings in the community can have a wider reaching impact. Word travels fast in this community, and if you get caught having a positive impact in the life of the people that you live and work among then it will not be long before the entire community has heard about it.
I want to make 2002 the best and most fruitful year of ministry that this church has ever had. And I want you to join me on this quest. Each and every time you get the opportunity to make someone else’s life a little better, don’t even think about it, just do it! When you hear of a neighbor in need, reach out with the love of Christ and help them meet their needs. Think about how different Stonington would be if just the 70 or so active members of this church really sought to reach out to our community the way Jesus would. The people of this town would start to talk and no longer would we be the church three and a half miles from town, but we would be the church that is not contained by walls. We would in fact be the church of Jesus Christ.
In Just a few moments we are going to share together in the celebration of the Lord’s Supper. But, before we do that, I want to encourage each of you to make this celebration of the Lord’s Supper not only a remembrance of what Christ has done for you, but rather a time to challenge yourself to become more faithful in spreading the love of God to those around you after you leave this place. And then after we leave this place I want you to join me in a revolution. A revolution to no longer allow Satan to have any control over our lives, but to give the victory completely to Jesus Christ.
Like all revolutions there have to be some die hard, guerilla warriors. Some freedom fighters who place the good of their cause above their personal well being. We have an advantage my friends because our eternal well being is secure... So we truly have nothing to lose by participating in the revolution that brings God’s kingdom into its fullness. Like all revolutions this revolution will begin with a single act, please, please, please, let it be an act of love and by all means, let it be yours.
