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Transformers

09/21/2008 - Love, Selected Scripture

This morning we conclude our summer series called Transformers: changing us ... changing the world with a teaching on Love. And while the series may be ending today, the transformation process isn't, it can't, it won't, it will continue as long as the Spirit of God lives inside us. We continually need to be changed to become more and more like Jesus and if anything, this series has shown me that I've got a long way to go on the journey. And the transformation process isn't always easy. In fact, it can be downright painful at times.

We started out with the Apostle Paul's words in Romans 12:1-2, Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is true worship. ²Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will.

God doesn't want us to live like the rest of the world. He doesn't want us pursuing the values that our culture holds up as important unless they are in keeping with his values. We are citizens of God's kingdom first and foremost and he has a very different, nonconforming pattern for our lives.

God wants to transform us and Paul says that starts with the renewing of our mind, changing the way we think about things starting with who God is. In view of God's mercy he says. God is a merciful God. At the end of chapter 11 Paul described how God's mercy extends beyond the nation of Israel to include the Gentiles as well.

God has been merciful to you and to me offering us entrance into his kingdom by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but by his mercy he has saved us. And thank God he has! But that's just the beginning.

Now that we are in God's kingdom he wants us to live for his kingdom and reflect his values in this world. And so he's out to transform the way we think not only about who he is, but about who we are and the nature of our relationships and how we handle our bodies and our money and how we respond to evil and conflict and what we think about war and peace and prejudice and those who have less than we do. God wants us to know his will in these areas, that's all part of the transformation process and I'm convinced it's a life long journey.

And the Spirit of God is the one who energizes that transformation. He's the one doing the work in us. And so in this series we looked at the means that the Spirit of God uses to transform us. We talked about things like worship and the priority of worshipping God above everything else. At the root of all sin is idolatry, that's putting something else above God in our lives. We talked about the Scriptures, the book God breathed, the inspired, inerrant story of God that has the power to transform the way we think about everything.

We talked about prayer and the power prayer has to change things and to change us. We discussed the church and the importance of community in our lives. We all need each other. No one was meant to walk alone in their journey with Jesus.

We talked about holiness and the importance of living God honoring lives so that we can make a difference in this world.

And then we turned a corner in the series and talked about how changed people can help change the world when it comes to things like social justice and peacemaking and caring for the poor and reflecting God's beauty. And we ended last week by saying that perhaps the most beautiful thing that God is doing in the world today is rescuing and restoring broken lives. And John Jenkins had the courage to come up and tell us how God rescued him from a life of addiction that threatened to destroy him.

So today we close by talking about the greatest transformer of all and that's love. Our God is a merciful God. Our God is a loving God. God is love. And John 3:16 tells us that, For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

God loves. God gave. We believe. We live. It's that simple. Through faith in Jesus, the Son of God, we have eternal life and that's not just longevity of life that stretches out into eternity. It is that. But it's also a quality of life that comes from knowing God and following his ways right here and right now.

And so in 1 John 3:16 we read, This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

The sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross to take away our sin is the supreme example of love. If you want to know what love looks like gaze at the cross and ponder the fact that all the agony that Jesus went through undeservedly, he went through willingly for you and for me so that through his death we might have life.

That's love! And as a result of God's love expressed in the cross John says this is what I want you to do, And we ought to lay down our lives for one another.

What does that mean? What does it mean to lay down our life for someone else? Does it mean we're to climb up on a cross and die for each other the same way that Jesus died for us? I don't think so. Instead, John tells us what he means in verses 17-18,

If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

John gets real practical here and says the sharing of our material possessions is one way that we lay down our lives for each other.

Last fall we did a whole series of teachings on love based on the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23 that I think was catalytic for us as a church. And we started the series with a story that I still can't get out of my head. It was the story of a pastor named Henry Maxwell from a classic book called In His Steps written by Charles Sheldon in 1896.

In the book, Henry is a very successful pastor of a prominent church who's too busy preparing his Sunday sermon to be bothered by the needs of a struggling man who comes to his door asking for help on a hectic Friday afternoon. So he sends the man away.

But on Sunday morning that same struggling man shows up at Pastor Maxwell's big church. And after his well prepared sermon is delivered and as the quartet is coming up to sing "All for Jesus" the man starts walking down the aisle and when he gets to the front of the sanctuary he turns around to address the church. He hasn't shaved in awhile and his hair is all disheveled and holding his hat in his two hands he says,

"I've been wondering since I came in here if it would be just the thing to say a word at the close of this service. I'm not drunk and I'm not crazy, and I'm perfectly harmless, but if I die, as there is every likelihood I shall in a few days, I want the satisfaction of thinking that I said my peace in a place like this and before this sort of a crowd."

He then goes on to tell his story, "I lost my job ten months ago. I'm a printer by trade. I've tramped all over the country trying to find something. There are a good many others like me. I'm not complaining. Just stating the facts. But I was wondering as I listened to the sermon if what you call following Jesus is the same thing as what he taught. What did he mean when he said, 'Follow me?'

"My wife died four months ago. I'm glad she is out of trouble. My little girl is staying with a printer's family until I find a job. Somehow I get puzzled when I see so many Christians living in luxury and singing, 'Jesus, I my cross have taken, all to leave and follow thee,' and remember how my wife died in a tenement in New York City gasping for air, and asking God to take the little girl, too.

"I understand that Christian people own a good many of those tenements. A member of a church was the owner of the one where my wife died, and I wondered if following Jesus all the way was true in his case. I heard some people singing at a church prayer meeting the other night, 'All for Jesus, all for Jesus, all my being's ransomed powers, all my thoughts, and all my doings, all my days, and all my hours,' and I kept wondering as I sat on the steps outside just what they meant by it.

"It seems to me there's an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn't exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out. I suppose I don't understand. But what would Jesus do? What would Jesus do? Is that what you mean by following His steps? It seems to me sometimes as if the people in the big churches had good clothes and nice houses to live in, and money to spend for luxuries, and could go away on summer vacations and all that, while the people outside the churches, thousands of them, I mean, die in tenements, and walk the streets for jobs, and never have a piano or a picture in the house, and grow up in misery and drunkenness and sin."

And just at that moment the man suddenly lurched in the direction of the communion table and laid one grimy hand on it. His hat fell on the carpet at his feet. A stir went through the congregation. The man passed his other hand across his eyes, and then, without any warning, fell heavily forward on his face, full length, up the aisle.

Rev. Maxwell filled the awkward silence by saying, "We will consider this service now closed." Then he went down the pulpit steps and knelt over the man who was still breathing. He took him into his own home and cared for him for three days until he passed away. But before the man died he whispered to the pastor, "You have been good to me. Somehow I feel as if it was what Jesus would do."

The whole experience made such a profound impact on Pastor Maxwell that when next Sunday came he stood before a packed out church and said, "I'm looking for volunteers who will pledge themselves earnestly and honestly for an entire year not to do anything without first asking the question, 'What would Jesus do?' And after asking that question, each one will follow Jesus exactly as he knows how, no matter what the results may be."

And the rest of the book tells the story of how that church and then that city was transformed by ordinary people who dared ask the question, "What would Jesus do?" WWJD. What would Jesus do is always going to lead us in the direction of love and service and sacrifice and sometimes suffering. Following Jesus will lead us right up against the darkness and evil of this world and will cause us to confront it with love. Love is the greatest thing we have to offer to this world, but it will cost us something to love the way that Jesus loved.

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. We've been more intentional as a church this year than ever in reaching out to those in need and what we've discovered is that there are profound needs all around us, both inside and outside our church community.

Last fall we began our involvement with the homeless shelter in Norristown by helping with a complete make over of the inside of that building. We were down on Thanksgiving Day serving meals and then again in March just hanging out and having a good time. We invited Genny and the residents to join us for the Reading Phillies game in July and are inviting them to our upcoming Community Celebration thinking of the words of Jesus in Luke 14 when he said if you give a luncheon or a dinner don't just invite your friends, relatives, and those who can pay you back. Invite those who can't repay you and you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.

During December we observed our first Advent Conspiracy and were challenged to worship more, spend less, give more, and love all. And I know it made all our kids nervous especially when we said "spend less", but what a thrill it was to see so many needs met by your generosity right within the Valley View community. That was laying our lives down for one another in a small, but significant way.

Our Valley Mid's caught the vision and used their own money to make Care Bears for cancer patients down at DuPont Hospital. During the Fringe Festival one of the artists in our church community painted an abstract picture during a live dance performance that was then auctioned off with the proceeds donated to "Bloodwater," a Christian organization that promotes clean blood and provides fresh water wells to third world villages that have no drinking water.

Each week we're taking leftover bagels from Einstein's to the food bank in Phoenixville and are offering to do that for the one in Schwenksville. Tim was talking to one of the workers at PACS this week and they were so appreciative of the bagels. And then they said how thrilled they were with the response to the spaghetti dinner on Monday night that raised over $3,000 for their emergency fund for heating assistance this winter.

Next month we'll be talking about Operation Christmas Child and there's an opportunity for volunteers to serve with Habitat for Humanity and others who will be going to the Special Olympics in November. And we're lining up a date to serve over at Old Mill Bible Camp in Coatesville this fall. Some one has approached me about a clothes drive and someone else about a shoe drive and someone else about a blood drive and someone else about a bike drive. It's awesome!

Pedals for Progress is going to be at Bike Sport in Trappe on Sunday afternoon, November 23, collecting bikes for third world countries like Ghana and Guatemala, Uganda and Nicaragua. They say that when someone who's been walking all their lives gets a bike it opens up all kinds of opportunities for jobs and schools and markets and medical facilities. A simple, used bike gives a tremendous boost to the working poor of this world. And you know what, that bike that I told you about last week that I bought with my own hard earned money when I was 12 years old, well it may end up in Ghana!

If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you? ¹⁸Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

I just think all of these things bring great delight to the heart of God and these are just a few of the ways that so many of you are laying down your lives for one another. Every effort to eliminate need brings a little bit of heaven to this earth and points forward to the hope of God's future kingdom when there will be no more need. All these are acts of love that help transform the world. They put feet on the good news of the gospel.

But there are other ways to love as well. And while I was preparing this teaching I couldn't help but think of the many other needs of those right here in our own Valley View community.

John goes on to write in 1 John 4:19-21, We love because he first loved us. If we say we love God yet hate a brother or sister, we are liars. For if we do not love a fellow believer, whom we have seen, we cannot love God, whom we have not seen. And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love one another.

Wow! John uses some very strong language here to make his point that we have an obligation to love one another. In fact, he says that if we don't love one another how can we love God? As followers of Jesus we are connected to one another. We are a community. We are a family. We are brothers and sisters in Christ.

And often our deepest needs are not material. Instead, they're spiritual and emotional. We don't need someone else's resources as much as we need someone to talk to, someone to listen to, someone to pray with us. We need community. And that's not always easy to find in our fast paced, suburban culture. But we need to find ways to connect so that we can help bear one another's burdens.

This week Jennifer and I visited a friend in the hospital going through chemotherapy and he's only 36 years of age. And it made me think of all those in our Valley View community who are battling cancer of one kind or another or some other chronic disease and its tough. We can't face those things alone.

After our visit at the hospital we went out to lunch with my mother who will be 88 in November. Thankfully she's in good health and is still able to live alone and has been for three years since my father died. But every time we're together she talks about the most recent funeral she's attended. All her friends are passing away and her social circle keeps getting smaller and smaller and smaller. And when I'm with her I'm reminded of how painful loneliness can be.

That same night we met with a couple who are experiencing the challenges of blending two families. As some of you know, it's not easy. The stress can be enormous. But they're so grateful for those who are walking this difficult road with them.

This week I spoke with a young man whose parents lost their home in Houston to Hurricane Ike four days before they were set to sell it and move up north. And while their home was being destroyed by the hurricane his mother received a phone call that her brother was killed it that tragic train crash in Los Angeles. "Can you pray for me?" he said.

And I could go on with other things that happened just this week. But it all reminds me that every one of us has struggles and we need each other. We need to bear one another's burdens right here within the community of Valley View.

I'd like to close this teaching on love and this series with the words of author and speaker Margaret Feinberg who was asked what the future holds for the Christian faith in this country. Here's what she said, "I would hope people would look at us and say, 'Those Christians are the ones who run in when everyone else is running out. Those Christians are the ones who didn't give up on the crumbling inner cities. Those Christians are the ones who brought peace to Darfur. Those Christians are the ones who put an end to human trafficking. Those Christians are the ones who helped win the war on AIDS around the world. Those Christians are the ones who write those incredible lyrics, pen those unforgettable books, and create artwork that's mesmerizing. Those Christians are the ones who helped my mother when she got Alzheimer's. Those Christians were the ones who were kind to me when I moved to the area. Those Christians are the ones who made me want to believe in God.'"

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. We ought to lay down our lives for one another.

FOR MORE INFORMATION about Valley View Community Church, feel free to contact us at info@valleyviewseek.org or call 610.631.2707.