“The Lord’s Favor”
Isaiah 64:1-4, 8-11
Third Sunday of Advent; 12-14-08
Introduction: STORY: “A McDonald’s Love Story,” There is a story of a little old couple who came into McDonalds one cold winter evening. Many in McDonald’s looked at them with admiration thinking that they had been together for many, many years. The old man walked to the counter, made his order, and then walked his wife to a table near the back wall. There was only one hamburger, one order of French fries, and one drink. He carefully unwrapped the hamburger, cut it in half, and then placing half of it in front of his wife. Next, he carefully divided the fries evenly between the 2 of them. As people looked on, you could tell that they were thinking that the 2 of them were used to sharing everything. But as time went on, it was noticed that the wife wasn’t eating anything. Just taking a sip of soda every so often. A young man came by and offered to buy them another meal. They thanked him, but said that they were used to sharing and didn’t need much to eat. After a little while longer the young man could stand it no more, as he watched the woman sit there without eating. He again went up to them and asked: “Why aren’t you eating; what are you waiting for?” Without hesitation the woman responded: “The teeth!”
I guess if the young man wanted to really help, he should have offered to buy them another pair of teeth! LOVE in many ways is the easiest word to say, but not always the easiest to live out. For example, we might say: “God loves you and so do I.” BUT, what does that mean to us. We can express love in so many different ways: we love our children, we love our spouse, we love our parents, we love our friends, and we love God. But we love each one in a different way and to a different degree.
This morning, the third Sunday of Advent, we focus on love. And in our time together, I would like us to seek to understand how we can begin to live this out by experiencing the love of God in our own lives.
I. The Truth of Love- (1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Matthew 5:43--44)
If you wanted to find the definition of love, the only place you could really go would be
1 Corinthians 13:4-8. This is the only place, because here we have love spelled out for us in very complete and challenging terms; and it comes to us from God; love Himself. I’m going to READ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 to you, and as soon as I start, it is going to be very familiar to you. And because it is familiar, you might start to tune out what the words have to say. Don’t do it! Listen carefully to this wonderful text!!!
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…”
I want to take a little time and walk through this passage, but I don’t have the time this morning to go into much depth. The goal here is to get a sense of the complexity and wonder and challenge of what it means to love and be loved. If you want a more complete teaching on this passage, Max Lucado’s book “A Love Worth Living” is a great resource.
a. Patient and kind- The passage starts out by telling us that love is patient and
kind. Now it is interesting that Paul doesn’t put qualifications to whom this love is to be showed. If he were to say that we are to love our family and close friends this way, then we could be comfortable with that. But what about the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:43-44, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’” With these words we begin to understand the challenge of loving. We are to seek to love everyone around us with patience and kindness.
But what if they are mean to me? Love with patience and kindness. But what if they don’t love me back? Love with patience and kindness. True love is patient and kind. Love begins with patience and kindness. Words of love are important, but as the saying goes, “Nothing shows love more than actions.” When we can be kind, we are beginning to live out love. And when we are patient, we allow those around us to not get down on themselves. If we can love those who are our enemies, just think how much more we can love those with whom we feel genuine closeness and affection.
b. Not envious, boastful, arrogant or rude- Paul goes on to let us know that love
is not envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, selfish, or resentful. All of these behaviors are self serving. When we behave in any of these ways, we are really just being immature. To love means to grow up to the point where we are not comparing what we have with what others have (for example…show one of Tyler’s hot wheel cars…let say you have this car…you begin to think about how you have a nicer car than someone else, and you let them know it, you boast about your car)./ To grow up in love also means that we are not in competition with others (show a ball, talk about how in competing and winning can lead to being rude and boastful)./ To grow up in love also means that you aren’t resentful about what someone else gets to do (Ex. Tyler and I were watching Jurassic Park, Tiffany upset; she was resentful and kept saying: “that’s not fair!!”) Love is not self serving and does not get angry with another in hurtful ways. Love wants to seek out the best for another and rejoices when this happens.
c. Bears, believes, hopes, endures- Read from “What does love mean; 4-8 year olds”
1. Denny, age 7 says: “Love is when mommy makes coffee for daddy,
and takes a sip before she gives it to him to make sure it tastes okay.”
2. Emily, age 8 says: “Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when
you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.”
3. Karen, age 7 says: “When you love somebody, your eyelashes go
up and down and little stars come out of you.”
4. Lauren, age 4 says: “I know my older sister loves me because she
gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”
5. Rebecca, age 8 says: “When my grandmother got arthritis she
couldn’t bend over to paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her.”
6. Bobby, age 7 says: “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”
The apostle Paul says: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
d. Love never ends- And then Paul closes the passage with these words: “Love
never ends.” You know, a rising trend in our society for many years has been prenuptials. If you don’t know what a prenuptial is, it is a legal document that a man and a woman sign before they get married. This document spells out a number of things. For ex. In regards to property you are asked on the form: Do you want to make a list of each party's present property? Describe specific items to be kept separate. And then it says: “Separate property is property that will not be divided between the parties in the event of a breakup. In other words, there will be no question as to the legal ownership of the property or whether the other party has any entitlement to it. Choosing this option offers the highest degree of 'protection' for parties seeking to keep property separate.
The problem is, if you really love someone, and love never ends, then why do you need a prenuptial? Why do you need to specify that your spouse has no entitlement to some of your property? It is because we do not love others in the right way. And if this is true, then it is also true that we don’t let God love us in the right way. And it is true that we don’t know God as we should.
II. God’s Love Poured Out- (1 John 4:8; Isaiah 64:1-4, 8-11; Lamentations 3:21-24)
In 1 John 4:8 we are told- “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
a. God is love- So if God is love, then God is patient, kind, and not envious. If
God is love, then God is unselfish and not easily angered. If God is love, then God does not rejoice in any evil coming to us. If God is love, then God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
STORY: There is a story from Jewish tradition that talks about how when God was nearly finished with the act of creation, an announcement was made that the only thing left to create was a creature capable of understanding and marveling in the greatness of God. This being, called human, was not only to be of the earth, but also to be created in the image of God. Then God declared: “Let these beings have reason, intellect, and understanding.” At this TRUTH approached and pleaded with God: “Oh God, I ask you to refrain from calling into being a creature who is capable of lying. The last thing we need is to have a world filled with deception and fraud.” Then came forth PEACE to support truth, saying: “O Lord, I beg you not to create creatures who will disturb the harmony of Your creation. I fear that these humans will act with revenge and initiate war.” Finally, LOVE stepped forward, saying: “Dear God, I know that any being created in your likeness will have the capacity to perform great and kind deeds. Filled with your Spirit these human beings will comfort the sick, visit the lonely, and provide shelter to the homeless. Such a being cannot but bring glory to you, O Lord.”/ And though God listened to the voices of TRUTH AND PEACE, before the final act of creation, it was because of LOVE that human beings were created.
(Stories for the Journey, p. 45)
We see in the Isaiah passage that there is no other God like our God. Our God has created us in His image. Our God has placed us over the earth to care for and govern. Our God has shown immeasurable patience with His people when they wander astray. And then in Isaiah 64:11, the writer asks: “After all this will you restrain yourself, O Lord? Will you keep silent, and punish us severely?” And the answer is, no, God’s design is not to punish, but to love. God has time and time again poured out His love upon us!!
b. Love poured out- The Christmas story, if it is anything, it is about
love. It is only because of “love” that God decided to come to this earth, in human form, to not only live with us, but give us a glimpse of the presence, the character, the glory of God. It is because of love that God showed his love not just in words, but in actions. As Lamentations 3:22-23 says: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Every day we wake up to a new opportunity of experiencing God’s love poured out to us. In fact, I’m going to do something a little different, and ask you to help me here./ I would like you to shout out some ways God’s love can be seen…………. (other suggestions are: the love offering, that takes care of our deficit every year; God bringing people to this church who want to do God’s work in this community; wisdom that God gives us so that we can make important decisions, the children and grandchildren that God gives us….). BUT MOST OF ALL IT WAS [SHOW IN GOD TAKING ON FLESH, AND COMING TO EARTH IN THE FLESH, IN JESUS CHRIST….SHOW MORGAN WEISTLING PICTURE, “KISSING THE FACE OF GOD.” As it goes around read the back…
“This painting was first inspired by a song that I heard one day. Sometimes, hearing one phrase is all it takes, and then a flood of inspiration follows. The phrase “kissing the face of God” immediately struck me with this powerful image of Mary and the Baby Jesus. It is an image that we have seen depicted many times, but never simply as a mother and her child with real tenderness. I started to contemplate the awesome privilege that Mary was given, being able to hold God in her arms, but also keeping in mind that He was still her baby. This cute little child whom she bore was also God in the flesh. And yet, she cuddled and kissed Him, just as all mothers do with their babies. This thought propelled me right into this painting, which I wanted to be a very human representation of divinity. My prayer is that the viewer will be struck, as I am, with the amazing way that God chose to send His Son into this world — in pure humility.” (Morgan Weistling)
Conclusion: In a Peanuts comic strip Lucy is heard berating Charlie Brown for losing the baseball game for their team, as she says: “You blockhead! You struck out, and we lost the last game of the season! You were standing there thinking about your new girlfriend, weren’t you?” As Charlie Brown walks away he’s heard mumbling: “I thought being in love was supposed to make you happy.” Then Lucy yells out to him: “Where did you get that idea?” (Amusing Grace, p. 28, #58)
Our world can be really messed up when it comes to love. God is love. And to know God is to know His desire to daily pour out His love to us; for Him to give us His favor. If we can receive this love, then it will flow out of us to others, and we will seek to give favor to others. Let us each day seek to be aware of God’s love for us, and ask God to help us love more fully and unselfishly. Amen.
Isaiah 64:1-4, 8-11
Third Sunday of Advent; 12-14-08
Introduction: STORY: “A McDonald’s Love Story,” There is a story of a little old couple who came into McDonalds one cold winter evening. Many in McDonald’s looked at them with admiration thinking that they had been together for many, many years. The old man walked to the counter, made his order, and then walked his wife to a table near the back wall. There was only one hamburger, one order of French fries, and one drink. He carefully unwrapped the hamburger, cut it in half, and then placing half of it in front of his wife. Next, he carefully divided the fries evenly between the 2 of them. As people looked on, you could tell that they were thinking that the 2 of them were used to sharing everything. But as time went on, it was noticed that the wife wasn’t eating anything. Just taking a sip of soda every so often. A young man came by and offered to buy them another meal. They thanked him, but said that they were used to sharing and didn’t need much to eat. After a little while longer the young man could stand it no more, as he watched the woman sit there without eating. He again went up to them and asked: “Why aren’t you eating; what are you waiting for?” Without hesitation the woman responded: “The teeth!”
I guess if the young man wanted to really help, he should have offered to buy them another pair of teeth! LOVE in many ways is the easiest word to say, but not always the easiest to live out. For example, we might say: “God loves you and so do I.” BUT, what does that mean to us. We can express love in so many different ways: we love our children, we love our spouse, we love our parents, we love our friends, and we love God. But we love each one in a different way and to a different degree.
This morning, the third Sunday of Advent, we focus on love. And in our time together, I would like us to seek to understand how we can begin to live this out by experiencing the love of God in our own lives.
I. The Truth of Love- (1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Matthew 5:43--44)
If you wanted to find the definition of love, the only place you could really go would be
1 Corinthians 13:4-8. This is the only place, because here we have love spelled out for us in very complete and challenging terms; and it comes to us from God; love Himself. I’m going to READ 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 to you, and as soon as I start, it is going to be very familiar to you. And because it is familiar, you might start to tune out what the words have to say. Don’t do it! Listen carefully to this wonderful text!!!
4Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends…”
I want to take a little time and walk through this passage, but I don’t have the time this morning to go into much depth. The goal here is to get a sense of the complexity and wonder and challenge of what it means to love and be loved. If you want a more complete teaching on this passage, Max Lucado’s book “A Love Worth Living” is a great resource.
a. Patient and kind- The passage starts out by telling us that love is patient and
kind. Now it is interesting that Paul doesn’t put qualifications to whom this love is to be showed. If he were to say that we are to love our family and close friends this way, then we could be comfortable with that. But what about the words of Jesus in Matthew 5:43-44, “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’” With these words we begin to understand the challenge of loving. We are to seek to love everyone around us with patience and kindness.
But what if they are mean to me? Love with patience and kindness. But what if they don’t love me back? Love with patience and kindness. True love is patient and kind. Love begins with patience and kindness. Words of love are important, but as the saying goes, “Nothing shows love more than actions.” When we can be kind, we are beginning to live out love. And when we are patient, we allow those around us to not get down on themselves. If we can love those who are our enemies, just think how much more we can love those with whom we feel genuine closeness and affection.
b. Not envious, boastful, arrogant or rude- Paul goes on to let us know that love
is not envious, boastful, arrogant, rude, selfish, or resentful. All of these behaviors are self serving. When we behave in any of these ways, we are really just being immature. To love means to grow up to the point where we are not comparing what we have with what others have (for example…show one of Tyler’s hot wheel cars…let say you have this car…you begin to think about how you have a nicer car than someone else, and you let them know it, you boast about your car)./ To grow up in love also means that we are not in competition with others (show a ball, talk about how in competing and winning can lead to being rude and boastful)./ To grow up in love also means that you aren’t resentful about what someone else gets to do (Ex. Tyler and I were watching Jurassic Park, Tiffany upset; she was resentful and kept saying: “that’s not fair!!”) Love is not self serving and does not get angry with another in hurtful ways. Love wants to seek out the best for another and rejoices when this happens.
c. Bears, believes, hopes, endures- Read from “What does love mean; 4-8 year olds”
1. Denny, age 7 says: “Love is when mommy makes coffee for daddy,
and takes a sip before she gives it to him to make sure it tastes okay.”
2. Emily, age 8 says: “Love is when you kiss all the time. Then when
you get tired of kissing, you still want to be together and talk more. My mommy and daddy are like that. They look gross when they kiss.”
3. Karen, age 7 says: “When you love somebody, your eyelashes go
up and down and little stars come out of you.”
4. Lauren, age 4 says: “I know my older sister loves me because she
gives me all her old clothes and has to go out and buy new ones.”
5. Rebecca, age 8 says: “When my grandmother got arthritis she
couldn’t bend over to paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her.”
6. Bobby, age 7 says: “Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.”
The apostle Paul says: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
d. Love never ends- And then Paul closes the passage with these words: “Love
never ends.” You know, a rising trend in our society for many years has been prenuptials. If you don’t know what a prenuptial is, it is a legal document that a man and a woman sign before they get married. This document spells out a number of things. For ex. In regards to property you are asked on the form: Do you want to make a list of each party's present property? Describe specific items to be kept separate. And then it says: “Separate property is property that will not be divided between the parties in the event of a breakup. In other words, there will be no question as to the legal ownership of the property or whether the other party has any entitlement to it. Choosing this option offers the highest degree of 'protection' for parties seeking to keep property separate.
The problem is, if you really love someone, and love never ends, then why do you need a prenuptial? Why do you need to specify that your spouse has no entitlement to some of your property? It is because we do not love others in the right way. And if this is true, then it is also true that we don’t let God love us in the right way. And it is true that we don’t know God as we should.
II. God’s Love Poured Out- (1 John 4:8; Isaiah 64:1-4, 8-11; Lamentations 3:21-24)
In 1 John 4:8 we are told- “Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
a. God is love- So if God is love, then God is patient, kind, and not envious. If
God is love, then God is unselfish and not easily angered. If God is love, then God does not rejoice in any evil coming to us. If God is love, then God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
STORY: There is a story from Jewish tradition that talks about how when God was nearly finished with the act of creation, an announcement was made that the only thing left to create was a creature capable of understanding and marveling in the greatness of God. This being, called human, was not only to be of the earth, but also to be created in the image of God. Then God declared: “Let these beings have reason, intellect, and understanding.” At this TRUTH approached and pleaded with God: “Oh God, I ask you to refrain from calling into being a creature who is capable of lying. The last thing we need is to have a world filled with deception and fraud.” Then came forth PEACE to support truth, saying: “O Lord, I beg you not to create creatures who will disturb the harmony of Your creation. I fear that these humans will act with revenge and initiate war.” Finally, LOVE stepped forward, saying: “Dear God, I know that any being created in your likeness will have the capacity to perform great and kind deeds. Filled with your Spirit these human beings will comfort the sick, visit the lonely, and provide shelter to the homeless. Such a being cannot but bring glory to you, O Lord.”/ And though God listened to the voices of TRUTH AND PEACE, before the final act of creation, it was because of LOVE that human beings were created.
(Stories for the Journey, p. 45)
We see in the Isaiah passage that there is no other God like our God. Our God has created us in His image. Our God has placed us over the earth to care for and govern. Our God has shown immeasurable patience with His people when they wander astray. And then in Isaiah 64:11, the writer asks: “After all this will you restrain yourself, O Lord? Will you keep silent, and punish us severely?” And the answer is, no, God’s design is not to punish, but to love. God has time and time again poured out His love upon us!!
b. Love poured out- The Christmas story, if it is anything, it is about
love. It is only because of “love” that God decided to come to this earth, in human form, to not only live with us, but give us a glimpse of the presence, the character, the glory of God. It is because of love that God showed his love not just in words, but in actions. As Lamentations 3:22-23 says: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
Every day we wake up to a new opportunity of experiencing God’s love poured out to us. In fact, I’m going to do something a little different, and ask you to help me here./ I would like you to shout out some ways God’s love can be seen…………. (other suggestions are: the love offering, that takes care of our deficit every year; God bringing people to this church who want to do God’s work in this community; wisdom that God gives us so that we can make important decisions, the children and grandchildren that God gives us….). BUT MOST OF ALL IT WAS [SHOW IN GOD TAKING ON FLESH, AND COMING TO EARTH IN THE FLESH, IN JESUS CHRIST….SHOW MORGAN WEISTLING PICTURE, “KISSING THE FACE OF GOD.” As it goes around read the back…
“This painting was first inspired by a song that I heard one day. Sometimes, hearing one phrase is all it takes, and then a flood of inspiration follows. The phrase “kissing the face of God” immediately struck me with this powerful image of Mary and the Baby Jesus. It is an image that we have seen depicted many times, but never simply as a mother and her child with real tenderness. I started to contemplate the awesome privilege that Mary was given, being able to hold God in her arms, but also keeping in mind that He was still her baby. This cute little child whom she bore was also God in the flesh. And yet, she cuddled and kissed Him, just as all mothers do with their babies. This thought propelled me right into this painting, which I wanted to be a very human representation of divinity. My prayer is that the viewer will be struck, as I am, with the amazing way that God chose to send His Son into this world — in pure humility.” (Morgan Weistling)
Conclusion: In a Peanuts comic strip Lucy is heard berating Charlie Brown for losing the baseball game for their team, as she says: “You blockhead! You struck out, and we lost the last game of the season! You were standing there thinking about your new girlfriend, weren’t you?” As Charlie Brown walks away he’s heard mumbling: “I thought being in love was supposed to make you happy.” Then Lucy yells out to him: “Where did you get that idea?” (Amusing Grace, p. 28, #58)
Our world can be really messed up when it comes to love. God is love. And to know God is to know His desire to daily pour out His love to us; for Him to give us His favor. If we can receive this love, then it will flow out of us to others, and we will seek to give favor to others. Let us each day seek to be aware of God’s love for us, and ask God to help us love more fully and unselfishly. Amen.
posted by Logan's Blog at 11:37 AM
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