“Determined to Love, Determined By Love” 

John 10:11-18

1 John 3:16-24 

Introduction.  A very stressed-out man in a huge hurry was speeding along on a busy boulevard.  Suddenly, he had to slam on his brakes, because the car in front of him--that he was tailgating--slowed down when the light turned yellow, and came to a stop.  The tailgating man hit the roof--and his horn--screaming in frustration as he missed his chance to get through the intersection.  He was still in mid-rant, when he heard a tap on his window and looked up into the face of a very serious police officer.   

The officer ordered the man to exit the car with his hands up. He took him to the police station where the man was searched, finger printed, photographed and placed in a holding cell.  After a couple of hours, another policeman approached the cell, opened the door, and escorted the man back to the booking desk where the arresting officer was waiting. 

The officer said, “I'm very sorry for this mistake.  You see, I pulled up behind your car while you were blowing your horn, flipping off the guy in front of you, and cussing a blue streak at him.  Then, I noticed the 'What Would Jesus Do' license plate holder, the 'Follow Me to Sunday School' bumper sticker, and the chrome-plated Christian fish emblem on the trunk.  Naturally, I assumed you had stolen the car.” (email from Richard & Linda Roberts) 

Move 1.  Christians don't always act like Christians, do we?  We don't always act in peace and in love. 

Years ago, the two nations of Chile and Argentina erected a large statue of Jesus somewhere along their border high in the Andes.  They called the statue 'Christ of the Andes,' and it symbolized a pledge between the two countries that as long as the statue stood, there would be peace between Chile and Argentina.  “Shortly after the statue was erected, the Chileans, (though,) began to protest that they had been slighted -- the statue had its back turned to Chile.  Just when tempers were at their highest…, a Chilean newspaperman saved the day.  In an editorial…he simply said, 'The people of Argentina need more watching over than the Chileans.'”  (from Bits & Pieces, June 25, 1992; found in www.bible.org) 

If only we could settle conflicts so easily.  We hear famous book editor Maxwell Perkins say this: “One of my deepest convictions is that the terrible harms that are done in this world are not done by deliberately evil people, who are…soon found out. They are done by the good--by those who are so sure that God is with them. Nothing can stop them, for they are certain that they are right.”  Though we wonder if this might be an overstatement, we have seen, perhaps even been in the middle of, great harm done between people who ought to love one another, but instead are at each others' throats.  (quoted by Father Henry Fehren in U.S. Catholic, May 1986; found in http://www.bible.org/) 

Even in the church, we do not always act like Christians.  I witnessed this first hand in the church in El Paso in which I was confirmed and spent my teenage years.  I witnessed decent people offending each other; choosing sides; being ugly over things they could have worked out differently.  I witnessed that church, the church I loved, split in two because Christ-like words and actions were replaced by anger and bitterness.     

Last week, we spoke here about war and peace between nations.  But if we who are Christians cannot have peace between one another, what hope do we have for the nations of our world?  

Move 2.  And yet, that is exactly what the Christian community--whether that community is a church, a youth group, or an inter-church co-operation--is called to do: to have peace with one another and to love one another.  This love is much more than a sentimental feeling, or even a friendship.  It is knowing that the other person--that each person--matters and has innate value, despite appearances to the contrary.   

A story is told, a parable really, about a man who “was exploring caves by the seashore.  In one of the caves he found a canvas bag with a bunch of hardened clay balls.  It was like someone had rolled clay…and left them out in the sun to bake.  They didn't look like much, but they intrigued the man, so he took the bag out of the cave with him.  As he strolled along the beach, he would (chuck) the clay balls one at a time out into the ocean as far as he could.   

He thought little about it, until he dropped one of the…balls and it cracked open on a rock.  Inside was a beautiful, precious stone!  Excited, the man started breaking open the remaining clay balls.  Each contained a similar treasure.  He found thousands of dollars worth of jewels in the 20 or so clay balls he had left.  Then it struck him.  He had been on the beach a long time.  He had thrown maybe 50 or 60…with their hidden treasure into the ocean waves.  Instead of thousands of dollars in treasure, he could have taken home tens of thousands, but he had just thrown it away!”

 

“It's like that with people.”   When one person looks at another, they often only see the external shell.  They might think to themselves, “he doesn't look like much from the outside,” or even, “she really irritates me."  Or they might “see that person as less important than someone more beautiful…or well known or wealthy.  But if they take the time, and ask God to show that person the way that God sees them, then they might see the hidden treasure inside, shining forth.” (“Clay Balls,” email from Mae Coover) 

Love one another is the commandment held up by John in his letter to us today.  This love is about determining not to throw away the relationships that are possible in community, but instead to get beneath the dull, sometimes even ugly, clay that covers the jewels inside.   

Move 3.  Well, that's a nice thought, but God knows that our words and actions toward, or received by, others are not always Christ-like, and perhaps toward or received by certain people may not ever be Christ-like.  God knows our very hearts, and at times, our hearts condemn us.  Who can help us love, truly love, those in the Christian communities in which we find ourselves, and other people for that matter?   

As any child can tell you, the answer to that question is, of course, Jesus.  For Jesus, as God with us, not only is involved in our very creation, not only is involved in giving us life; but he also is the good shepherd, who loves us--loves each of us so much--that he is willing to lay down his own life for us, his sheep.  In this way, Jesus determines our identity, determines that we are connected to him and one another at the deepest of levels.  

But wait a minute.  Sheep?!  Does Jesus really think we're sheep?  Does Jesus have no respect for our independence, our intelligence, our individuality?  Well, I would say, Jesus does--he creates us, after all, as individuals, with all kinds of different gifts and talents.  Jesus uses this metaphor, of a shepherd and his sheep, as one among many other metaphors he uses, with each metaphor teaching us something about who he is, and who we are in relation to him.  He uses this one--good shepherd--to help us understand his incomprehensible love for us, and to help us understand that our identity is best lived out when listening to his voice, and following him.  Jesus intends that we keep our eyes on him, and that is what can keep us living in love and at peace with one another in the Christian community.   

Jesus' disciple, John, does give us one other thought.  He asks, “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 help?  …let us love,” John continues, “not in word or speech, but in truth and action.” (1 John 3:17-18).  Perhaps John, perhaps even Jesus himself, might appreciate what C.S. Lewis says: “Do not waste your time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor; act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him.”  (C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, quoted in Our Daily Bread; found in www.bible.org) 

Jesus, our shepherd, our leader, calls us to follow, helps us to understand our value to him, and bids us to treat one another as if we love one another.  Yes, Jesus asks a lot, but considering what he has done, what he is doing, in our lives, maybe it's not too much.   

Conclusion and Invitation to Communion.  In today's world, we come under the influence of many forces--forces such as consumerism, drugs & alcohol, hatred, lust, vanity, violence.  We are shaped by these forces, sometimes just a little, sometimes greatly.  Our hearts condemn us. 

Yet we are, from the beginning, and at the end, determined by a God who is greater than any of these forces, determined by the love of Christ Jesus.  And as Christians, we certainly are shaped through one of Christ's gifts of love, the communion table.  When we come to this table, we come to a table of love and peace, for it is here that Jesus shared bread--the bread of life--and a cup--the cup of salvation--even with those who would betray him, deny him, and run away from him in his gravest hour.  He shared it with them, then.  He shares it today with us.    

We find through this table, even if just momentarily, the truth that we live in Jesus, and he in us.   Amen. 
 
 
 

May 7, 2006

Rev. Dave Hedgepeth

First Presbyterian Church

Logan, Utah