+==Sermonizing {005}==+

HARD LOVE

What if. WHAT IF someone told you they had the key to Christianity? That key that told you how to be a Christian in the world today? You may feel as though you are the best Christian you can be… and don’t let me tell you otherwise. But lets be honest, and let me re-emphasize to you what it means to be Christian.

The key to Christianity is found in our scripture for this week: Romans 13:8-10

Don't run up debts, except for the huge debt of love you owe each other. When you love others, you complete what the law has been after all along. The law code—don't sleep with another person's spouse, don't take someone's life, don't take what isn't yours, don't always be wanting what you don't have, and any other "don't" you can think of—finally adds up to this: Love other people as well as you do yourself. You can't go wrong when you love others. When you add up everything in the law code, the sum total is love.

Paul is quoting Jesus here. This word, love, is found numerous time in the New Testament and especially the gospels due to Jesus. Jesus was a revolutionary. He was changing the way people thought back then. He was an “out with the old, in with the new” kind of guy. In the passage, Paul is telling us that the Ten Commandments were good, and still important. It is not an issue of relevancy, but of priorities. And lastly, we get too caught up in the nitty gritty of things these days. We find people picking apart the Bible purely to cast out others, to separate “them” from “us.” That’s not the purpose of the Bible, or of Christianity for that matter.

But this is it. The ESSENCE. The KEY to Christianity. It is LOVE.

This is not confession time by any means, but I encourage you to think about someone who bugs you, annoys you, or makes you angry. Got it?? Now imagine… what would it take to love them? Not the boyfriend/girlfriend type of love, but the love Jesus speaks of? What would happen if you loved them?

Now answer the question, will it be easy?

I will tell you right now. NO. NO IT WILL NOT BE EASY. It isn’t, and it shouldn’t be. Love is hard. Following Christ should be hard.

This has become the norm in society today, for religion to be easy, especially Christianity. But lets think about other religions. Islam. Our Muslim brothers and sisters pray at least 5 times a day, IN ARABIC. And currently they are celebrating their holy time of Ramadan which requires them to fast from dawn to dusk. Or how about our Jewish friends? For those who choose, remaining kosher is an extreme sacrifice. Not to mention they take their Sabbath very seriously and it is from Friday night to Saturday night. Not too much partying for them! Our faithful friends are dedicated. And Christianity can come off as easy. But let us be reminded of how often we follow in the Law of Christ. The law of love. Jesus transforms the way we think about love. Or so he should. The question is, who would Jesus love?

I don’t care if you are Catholic or Protestant, Gay or Straight, Black, White or Brown, Male or Female, Muslim, Jewish or Hindu. I DON’T CARE. I am going to try to love you with every ounce of my being, no matter my view on your religion, lifestyle, or denomination. It is a simple notion that can change the way you live and can improve the lives of others around you. Its hard. And you know, we are always asking that God’s will be done. But God’s will for us is to love.

“But God this person always wants to talk to me and I just never have time, and they don’t understand…” “Oh, and this person. AH! They always bug me and I don’t understand why they cant just leave me alone!”

Perhaps God is trying to speak to you through that person. Maybe God with work through them to help you. Or perhaps God is trying to work through you to help the other person. Either way.

LOVE WINS.

David Bailey, one of my favorite music artists, sings a song about different church names when opening the yellow pages. After his long list of churches, in alphabetical order for the most part, he says this…

Don’t worry about who is right or wrong.
If the spirit makes us strong, can’t we all just get along?
I’m all about diversity. It’s true in every family.
What works for you might not for me.
But really can we just agree, that life is hard and God is good
and Jesus showed us that we could
Live in peace with one another.
I’m not a stranger, I’m your brother.
We were told to love each other
And I wonder what would happen… if. We. Did.

Amen.