LOVE IS MORE THAN HEARTS AND FLOWERS

LOVE IS MORE THAN HEARTS AND FLOWERS
By Rev. Robert P. Elkins
All Scripture verse taken from the NIV Bible unless otherwise noted

Now I’m not going to be bold enough to second-guess the Apostle John, nor will I be foolish enough to question God as to why or what he put in his Bible. But after reading the book of 1st John a few times I noticed something that I found to be interesting. The Apostle John, in his writing kind of wanders around in his thoughts. He starts his epistle with a beautiful salutation that praises with much admiration our Lord Jesus. He goes on to acknowledge that Jesus is real, that he personally had seen him with his own eyes after his resurrection from the grave, and he has not only seen him, but he has touched him as well. John’s personal testimony of seeing and touching a risen Savior, his beloved Jesus, is powerful to the reader since we can only assume that the person or people he is writing to knew of Jesus, may have seen him themselves and may have witnessed his death and burial.

We really don’t know who John is writing to since his letter doesn’t state any particular person or group by name as do so many of the other letters that make up our New Testament. But I think it’s safe to say that at this time in history the receiver or receivers of this letter had close personal knowledge of Jesus, had heard or seen him speak or was a first generation hearer of his Gospel. John’s second letter is addressed to “The chosen lady” if you are using a NIV Bible or “The elect lady” if you are using the KJV Bible. This may have been an actual person and her children, or a church and the congregation; again we can only make an assumption and never know in all certainty. The third of John’s letters is addressed to a man by the name of Gaius, who must be a close friend of John; we can surmise this from the warm language John uses in his salutation. With this the first of John’s three short letters I think we are safe in assuming that it was indeed going to a group since he makes reference several times in the plural form of “Dear Friends” indicating that the letter was intended to be read by several people. Whether it was sent to one person or many, a church or a personal family, matters not. The important thing is that it was received, recorded and maintained for us here today. But rather than looking for what isn’t in the salutation we need to be looking at what is in there, and that is an acknowledgement of the risen Savior and an encouragement to enter into fellowship with our God.

John follows his salutation with a discourse about encouragement in regards to walking out our life in an attitude or state of leading a sin free life. This he then ties into love, in particular; Godly love for each other. And this encouragement in leading a sin free and loving life is the main theme of John’s letter. But as I said in the beginning, John kind of wanders away for the theme every once in a while and them returns again in a few sentences. But with a discerning eye, after reading the letter a few times, the reader can by the direction of the Holy Spirit, find a golden thread that John has woven through his letter. This theme wanders in and then out between thought changes, and John does this over and over again throughout the entire letter. And what I’d like to do now is read this golden thread that is found in the fabric of the letter.
1st John 1:5-7
“5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.”
1st John 2:3-6, 9-11
“3We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands. 4The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But if anyone obeys his word, God's love is truly made complete in him. This is how we know we are in him: 6Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did. 9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. 10Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. 11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.”
1st John 3:6-10, 14-15
“6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. 7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not a child of God; nor is anyone who does not love his brother. 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 15Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him.”
1st John 4:7-8, 19-21
“7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

It is from this reading that I’ve based today’s sermon, and even then I’ll be staying within the context of love since Valentines Day is so close. The leading of a sin free life each of you can work out for yourself for today. I won’t be reminding you of what sin is, how it affects us and the outcome of such, I’ll save that for a different day. We as a people don’t like to hear sermons about sin any more, we always want those warm and fuzzy feelings after a sermon and we don’t like to be reminded of our shortcomings. And so today you won’t be.

John talked about love and even told us that God is love, I guess we can’t question that now can we? I once served as an associate pastor to a man who spoke of love every week, every week we were reminded of the love of Jesus and how it is poured out to us. If we look at the television or read the newspaper today where is the love to be found? All we see is killing in Iraq, car bombs and fools wearing bombs strapped to their bodies. Where’s the love in that? General George Patten made a statement once when addressing his troops prior to their going into battle about these people that blow themselves up to win the war. He said; “You don’t win wars by giving up your life for your country, you win wars by getting the other poor SOB to give up his life for his country”. I guess there’s some truth to that but there sure isn’t a statement of love in that.

If you want to see real love in any of this you have to find the little things that the news media doesn’t like to give out too much. They aren’t real interested in telling you about the love that is there even in this war that we are in. Do you know what true love really is? When we recently lost all those soldiers in the helicopter crash there was an example of love. One of the men that lost his life loved his country and the cause for freedom for the people of Iraq. His home base was in Hawaii and he could have been there had he want to. He had been wounded while in Iraq and could have been sent to his home base on a tropical island. Actually he had been wounded twice and both times he elected to stay in Iraq rather than be sent to safety. He had two chances to escape the ravages of war but he loved what freedom was for himself and he wanted it for those people that didn’t have it. This man loved his country, he loved his family but his love was strong enough that he was able to say “I’d rather stay here and see that these poor people have all the rights I have”. He didn’t say that they were Muslim and love only goes to Christians, he didn’t say that they were an ugly people obsessed with hate for Americans as the news media would have you think. He quietly said that he’d stay there and risk his life for a people he really didn’t know, and in the end it did cost him his life. Our Lord talked about this kind of love, he said; “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends”. We call it “paying the ultimate sacrifice”, when we should call it “showing the ultimate love”. And this is only the story of one out of many, this country has thousands in the military that share this your fallen hero’s thoughts and love. Another story that came from that same crash was the story about one of the young men who had the opportunity to leave the region and didn’t, he stayed because he loved his freedom, and his love was strong enough to want to see other people he really didn’t know have that same freedom. He died leaving behind a four-month daughter he had never seen. And this is only two out of thirty-one, I’m sure there are other similar stories if we only knew.

I recently saw on the television an interview, I think it was on 60 Minutes, where the reporter was talking to a young Lieutenant in Iraq. He was in the Army or the Marine Corps. I don’t know which. His men called him “Frenchy” because he had an accent like those raised in the swamplands outside New Orleans. The interviewer noticed that although the Lieutenant was talking to him this Lieutenant never stopped looking down range and keeping an eye on his men. He knew where every single one of them was at all times. The interviewer commented on this and the Lieutenant said he loved every man in his company and wanted to make sure they all returned home safely. This man knew what love was, he too showed the ultimate love and lost his life, the day before he was to be transferred home.

If we look at the situation in the Far East after the Tsunami hit, we can really see an outpouring of godly love. Millions of dollars and thousands of people have poured into the area to assist people they don’t know simply because the Holy Spirit has prompted them. And some of them don’t even know who the Holy Spirit is. Friend that’s God at work whether we want to acknowledge him or not. Man if left to his own design will not show love like that, even the ungodly have to respond to God’s call when he gives it. They may not know why, and they may not want to acknowledge God in any of it but it’s God working for his people, through his people, acknowledge him or not. I don’t remember the name of the nation but the news said that it was the poorest nation in the world, and they committed $50,000.00 to assist in the relief efforts over there. Whether they know it or not they tithed on their nations finances and I don’t doubt that God is going to bless them for it. I may not remember the name of the nation but I’m sure that there is a missionary out there that heard that name and the Lord has already spoke to them about going there to spread his Gospel. You’ve heard it said many times and it’s always true. God works in mysterious ways.

We don’t have to travel around to the other side of the world to see this love. I picked up a newspaper from the city of Batavia New York not long ago. There’s love all over it. I don’t know the man but he’s 84 years young and he’s been training boys in scouting for 48 years. His name is Weldon Hilchey and he loves working with kids. He may think he’s in scouting but he’s actually working in youth ministry, scouting doesn’t just teach young boys how to cook on an open fire, they teach them to respect their religion as well. They acknowledge God. I was a Cub Scout leader for 6 years and one of the most prestigious awards a Cub Scout can obtain is the Parli Dei, their religious award for the Catholic boys. And of course in scouting there is the highest award a boy can obtain, the Eagle Award, if you see a boy with this badge ask what he had to do in regards to his religious belief to obtain the Eagle.

There was a story about a man from Pembroke New York named Lynn Sneath, he’s going to do a 100 mile bicycle ride around Lake Tahoe. He’s not doing it because he’s got nothing better to do with his time, he’s doing it because he’s raising money for two children in the area that have cancer. Does he know the Lord? I don’t know, but I do know that he’s doing what Jesus wants him to be doing. He’s helping another person and he’s doing it out of love.

Also in that newspaper, the Catholic Charities set a goal of $10.7 million. Friends that’s a whole lot of love there. Do I believe in everything the Roman Catholic church teaches? No, if I did I’d still be Roman Catholic. But I know that they are doing as God told us to do because a goodly portion of the money is going to feed the hungry, care for the homeless and look after the widows and orphans. If they are professing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then we are brothers and sisters in the Lord and it’s up to God to sort out the rest. If they ask me the truth of the Gospel I’ll tell them but I’m not here to judge them, that’ not my job and it’ isn’t yours either. If we have the opportunity to share the true message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ we should but we’re not to be going to go out of our way to insult or offend anyone about their religious belief. We’ve been told to instruct them if we can, to love them without question and that’s good enough for me.

If we look in that Batavia paper in the “Area Religion Beliefs” section we’ll find 48 different churches listed. That included the Assemblies, the Methodist, Presbyterians, Baptist, Episcopal, Catholics and a few others. God didn’t make these denominations, man did. God didn’t say to divide over every little thing in my word, man did. God did tell us to love each other and he ended with that. He didn’t place in there denominations and divisions with-in denominations. God didn’t say I want Baptists and Independent Baptists and Southern Baptists, he didn’t say I want United Methodists and Free Methodists, and Wesleyan Methodists. He said he wanted his children to love one another. What did John say in his letter? He said; “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves had been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love”.

We started with looking at love around the world and then brought it down to a local community, now lets bring it closer to home. What about the local church here? The geographies may change but the command doesn’t. Are there divisions among any of us in our local church? There shouldn’t be, not if Jesus Christ is Lord of all. If we are like minded in one common goal and that being to spread the Gospel of Christ to the many, then we should be able to overcome any and every obstacle placed before us. Romans 5 says “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God.” And in the Apostle Paul’s letter to the Philippians he says “Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose.”

Reflect for a moment on the love God has poured out on your church. Do you have a nice building? Or as one old pastor I heard say once, “We got a nice church house here”. Is there heat in your building? Does your church have all the bills current, if there are no late payments going in it’s not costing late charges, that’s a blessing in it’s self. Do you have some really gifted people? People gifted in music, singing, and teaching, people gifted as organizers and prayer partners? What about some really good cooks? One of the churches I visit on occasion has a truly wonderful professional chef as a member; you should attend a dinner there. What a blessing he is for that congregation. What about a few gifted greeters, they can really make a difference to those coming in the door. And every church needs people who will listen when you just need an ear to bend every once in a while. Do you have some givers, people who are really generous, and I’m not talking just about money, I’m talking about time and talents. Yes you need givers of finances but there is so much more to be given other than money. And if you have all these things in your church and there are still some problems, not to worry, that’s okay too. It’s just a part of what a church is. If it weren’t for problems we wouldn’t have the New Testament! Do you realize that if you read from the book of Acts back to the end of the Bible it’s all about instructions for little churches with major problems. They had drunkards, thieves, gluttons, wife swappers, incest, and idolatry. Kind of makes your problems look a little inconspicuous doesn’t it?

So if you have some, many, some, most or just a few of these things gifts in your church and it’s still not functioning right do you have any idea as to what the problem could be? My former senior pastor knew, Pastor Stan preached on it for two years, every single Sunday for two years… love. The Love of God, the love of Jesus. Don’t give Pastor Stan the credit for the solution to the problem though, it wasn’t his idea, he’s just telling you what his boss said years ago, he was simply preaching a message Jesus preached a few thousand years ago. God put it all in his owner’s manual years before there was a Stan Thurber or Robert Elkins or any of us alive today. When God started his church he gave us everything we needed to run it until it was time for Jesus to return, claim his bride and take us to the great wedding feast. We’re the ones that have got things out of whack, and even if it looks like it’s unfixable it isn’t. We still have the owner’s manual we started with, we just need to look in it, see what it says and then follow the directions without adding anything to them. Adding our own thoughts to God’s directions is like letting God build us a house and adding an extra room on the side but not putting a roof over it. You can put all you want in the thing to make it look nice, fancy wallpaper, lovely furniture, and fine carpets, but it’s not going to last very long when the weather gets bad. When the storms hit without that protection of a roof it’s all for naught. It’s the same with a church, God can give us the nicest of buildings and lovely property but if we don’t do things the way he tells us he’s not obligated to bless us and if he pulls his Spirit we wither and die.

God has told us to love one another, he didn’t say only love others in the Assemblies of God, and avoid the Baptists, he didn’t say to avoid the Roman Catholics either, or the Methodists. It’s not in his owner’s manual. Jesus didn’t put it in there. Jesus didn’t tell us where to stop loving one group and where to start with others. And if any of us are having a problem in loving people in other denominations, what do we think we are doing when we are not loving others within as in my case the Assemblies of God or for you the reader, the church you may have had affiliation with? Friend, all of us has been guilty of a slight lack of love at one time or another. And yes these are words of wisdom the Lord has given me. And yes this message at times applies to me as well. When God gives me these messages you’d be amazed to see how many time I get hit with guilt when I’m writing what the Spirit is giving me. Believe it or not but when I start writing I open my mind to the Spirit and the words just flow. I pray “Father tell me what you want your people to hear, give me the words I need to reach someone and give me a preachers heart to say what you want without me hurting anyone or causing strife”. And then I start writing led by the Spirit and go where he takes me. When I started this I had no intention of going off in this direction. I went into prayer first, and then I looked up the history of Valentines Day on the computer. Next I started typing and instantly the Holy Spirit led me to one set of words and then another set and another set. Before I knew it I had paragraph after paragraph and suddenly before I had what you are hearing or reading and it sure isn’t what I had in mind when I started to prepare for today. I was thinking a nice guy loves the girl thing and it’s all hearts and flowers kind of sermon. You know romance and chocolate and all that stuff. But I don’t think that’s what God had in mind. We are talking love here but it’s not the romance I envisioned.

So Jesus is telling us to love one another and it starts in the home and the local church and that brings us back to the topic at hand. We’re told to love each other right here in this little church. And now you’re saying something like “are you kidding”, after what that person said about me? Or how about “Do you have any idea what she or he said to me or about me behind my back? I poured my heart and soul into that ministry and they came along and destroyed it in a instant or they stole my ministry and just forced me out in the cold”. Beloved I have shared every one of those thoughts as well. I’ve heard what people have said about me and behind my back or how they’ve gone around me to get where they wanted to go. But no matter what it is there’s only one place we can go. Whenever things like this happen we need to take it to the throne of the King and leave it there. Allow the Lord to do his healing in us and walk away for the throne in full confidence that God had his hand on the situation and it is now his.

Some of you may have been around my writings long enough to figure out where I’m headed with this. I don’t think I’m any different than any other Christian. I’ve got a few Bible verses that are my favorites and if you’ve heard of or read any of my sermons from “Up from the Ashes” ministry you have a pretty good handle on what mine are. I’m headed to the foundation of the entire Bible, Jesus and his love. What is our responsibility to use as our rule and guide in loving? Even when we don’t feel like it. (Romans 12:18) “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone”. And I know it sounds so simple to say it but how in the world do we live it out in our life? Saying something is one thing, living it out is another. It’s like reading about a Corvette in a Car and Driver magazine and then going out and getting in my 16 year old with 375,000 miles on it Toyota. Reading is one thing, doing is another. I can read about the Corvette but reality says I’m still in a Toyota. That’s where the rest of God’s word comes in. My next favorite verse, the love chapter of the Bible. 1st Corinthians 13 transforms my Toyota to a Corvette in my heart. “Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, does not boast, is not proud, is not rude, is not self seeking, is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails”.

My friend these are not empty or hollow words that really can’t help or be applied to any situation. I don’t care what it is, you can apply this to the situation and it will work. If we work with these two verses, mix them together in our minds and pour them out on a daily basis it will work wonders. (Romans 12:18) “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone”. Repeat those16 words over and over and over. When the hurt is still fresh, when the pain is still there, if there are scabs and scars for previous hurts, apply this as a balm, apply it with heavy coats, rub it in, over and over. Repeat it time and time again; walk through it, talk to your self about it. Allow the Spirit of Jesus to work his miracle in your life. He’s right there in front of you; he’s beside you at all times, he’s always behind you ready to give you the little nudge you need when you need it. Give the pain to him, let him have the hurt, eat crow if you must, swallow that pride and feel His release through it all. When we get out from under that weight of the problem we can walk on clouds and not fall through. Is it easy? Yes and no, it all depends on us, how much are we willing to forget, how much are we willing to forgive? How much love are we willing to show, how much love do we want back in return? Are we willing to show love even if it looks like there isn’t going to be anything returned, even if there’s still ice between you and the other person? We are not going to know until we try.

When I first started this sermon I told you the sermon title was love is more than hearts and flowers. Love is release and tears as well. Love is hugs and pats on the back, it’s holding on to someone and telling them that it’s okay, that you forgive them and it’s asking for forgiveness as well. Love is saying “I’m sorry if I hurt or offended you in the past and it’s saying that if I do it again, I’m only human and I make mistakes, show me grace again and let me try to make it right, even if I have to try a thousand times before I get it right. Love is saying I may never get it right but will you still forgive me? Grace received is a precious gift and grace given is truly heavenly and from God. The giving of grace is an attribute of Father God, but it’s also something we give as well. Love and grace are things we can all work on to develop more and more, there is no end to love, we can never have too much, and we can never give too much away. It’s like the widow with Elijah; her bottle of oil never ran out, neither will our love because God is always ready to refill us when we need it. Jesus talked about the ten virgins and their oil in their lamps, five were wise and five were foolish, be like the five wise virgins, keep your oil container full. Whenever you feel your love level running low, stop and refill it with a quick trip to the Lord in prayer. Try it, it works and you’ll like the results. If you see that someone is starting to run low in their lamp, give them some of yours, a hug, a kind word, a word of prayer. Remember you can’t give too much away and you have a source that will never run dry.

Grace & peace