"Make it Real" - September 4, 2011 Sermon

Scripture: 1^st John 3:16-24

One of things I like about the New Testament is that it contains a lot of practical ideas and advice. Perhaps because Jesus had human beings he called disciples always with him, and that forced him to speak in everyday terms about everyday problems. Sometimes even loving Christians disagree…they quarrel…they hold grudges, some even leave the church and go some where else.

I think it is still true today that the behavior of Christians makes Christianity to the outside world, either repulsive or attractive. It’s all up to how professing Christians act and react. It has nothing to do with whether or not Christians are perfect, we know we are not. There will always be quarrels and differences of opinion on how to do something or even what to do. There will always be disappointments with pastors and Councils and committees that lead to hurt feelings, hurt pride and mistakes. As Christians, we are supposed to be able to resolve these conflicts as no other organization does. That is, resolve things in Love and MAKE IT REAL!

Pastors spend a fair amount of time in the pulpit talking about how, as Christians, we are to love our enemies, when in actuality we need to learn how to love people right here in this building…and in our families. We have a human tendency to hang onto petty hurts and grudges…we refuse to forgive and love each other, instead we say, or think things like this: “Look, she is the one who said that about me. Let her come and apologize,” or “We may go to the same church, but that doesn’t mean I have to sit in the same pew with them,” or “It will be a cold day in July before I talk to them again.”

As C.S. Lewis once said, “That’s all well and good, I suppose…if you don’t mind living in Hell.” When people have the attitude like this, church and Christianity and the whole practice of religion, at least for them, is not the JOYFUL experience it ought to be. I think they miss the full dimension of belonging to God’s family.

I remember reading a book by Doug Rushkoff entitled, FAST COMPANY. In it he says: “Groups need to identify what they do best… and the next thing they should do is start doing what you do until you do it incredibly well.” The passage of Scripture makes it very clear that, as Christians, we are to become incredibly competent at loving one another! The sacrificial love of Jesus is more than simply a nice idea or a noble concept. It is, in fact, a pattern of behavior that is supposed to be displayed by all Christians…not only with words but with action. The critical question in vs. 17 is, “How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses to help them.”

The short answer is: it doesn’t. God’s love lives in those who see a need and respond with help. Let’s not talk about love…let’s not sing about love…let’s put love into action and MAKE IT REAL.

Why do so many Christians find it so difficult to live their lives according to the model Jesus gave us? Many people find it much easier and simpler to define our religious duty in terms of making offerings rather than the complicated and challenging Work of feeding the hungry, welcoming strangers, clothing the naked, caring for the sick and visiting the imprisoned.

I think part of the key to fulfilling our Christian mandate is to realize that LOVE emanates from God…NOT from human beings. “We love because God first loved us”. If we succeed in this goal of loving one another, the credit actually belongs to God…not to us. Any love that we show is a sign and a signal that God’s love is working through us. In an ironic way, it lets us off the hook when someone says, “How can you possibly love that person?” We can always say, “Hey, don’t blame me…blame God…he made me do it.”

Our world is in desperate need of churches that put love into action and MAKES IT REAL. Let us continue being one of those churches until we do it incredibly and awesomely well! AMEN.