The Rev. Dr. Robert G. Certain
St. Margaret's Episcopal Church & School
Acts 11:19-30; Psalm 33; I John 4:7-21; John 15:9-17
Good morning! It’s good to be home, to be home again, this sacred place, this sacred space. Palm Desert California, St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church.
Have you ever been in love? How many of us are in love right now? Can you remember your first kiss? As a hospital chaplain, I always enjoy listening to the stories of how two people met each other, either in the elevator or she slipped me a mickie. Love. That deep, deep feeling inside, the side of me that combines elation, butterflies, stress and weakness, all at the same time, to watch the light shine out of the eyes of a beloved one, to know that light from their eyes shines for you. Love is powerful. So powerful that it fills our songs, that it fills our poetry therefore it must fill our hearts. Love is the very fabric of our families, the very fabric of our churches and our communities. And I’m coining the phrase once by saying, “that if you have not loved, you have not lived.”
Wonderful story about a family that wanted to adopt because they themselves could not have children, so they went to the orphanage, the adoption agency to adopt a child and looking around they saw children sitting in the corner, some playing with toys and some just sitting around and they walked over to one little boy that they might be able to take home and said to him, young man, what is your name? He told them his name. And they said, “would you like to come home with us? You can have your own room, you can have your own skate board, your own bicycle, and we’ll even give you new clothes.” The little boy thought for a minute and said, “no thank you.” “You mean you don’t want a new bicycle and your own clothes and a skate board?” “No, thank you. I don’t need a new bicycle, or my own room or new clothes, what I need is love.” That is a powerful emotion.
The challenge this morning is faith filled people are believers as Christians that look at the scripture and learn about love, know that we as faith filled people must turn to scripture to look for love. In other words for many of us we look to television and movies and music and the media - only to find that romance is fleeting - that kind of love is not real, it’s merely trivialized. Our lessons draws our attention, challenges us this morning, challenge us to open our eyes, to open our hearts, open our eyes of faith as we see ourselves in our biblical ancestors, like them we too live in a world where love can prove to be disturbingly absent.
The greatest love story of all times begins with the creation of humanity, the creation merits itself, like Adam and Eve we are challenged to see the goodness of human love reflected in divine love. The creation narrative of a tale of loneliness, and a tale of fulfillment, a journey, it’s a tale of discovery. As the creative power of God moves slowly to completion, and is not complete until Adam and Eve stand naked and unashamed in each other’s presence and at ease with themselves and at ease with God. And greater to action and attitude, they are one blessed and bone of bone, they have become one, because they are partners, because they are companions, because they are covenant lovers, they are able to trust one another and they are able to grow and to be free in and for each other, and we are vulnerable enough to open up the possibility of commitment when two people learn to give and to receive love is recognized in one another, their complete self. Then, couples see themselves, see themselves as God sees them. They see themselves face to face in the image of God loving one another.
God reminds us in our epistle this morning, that God is love, for those of us who abide in Him, He abides in us. Like Adam and Eve, we are challenged this morning to see the goodness of human love as it reflects the divine love. Therefore, love is and must be a faith experience - see this experience in our biblical ancestors as we look at Jacob, read about Jacob and his wives and his children who give us a negative view of family love. In spite of that view of negative love and Jacob’s life and Jacob’s wives we see God bringing about the feeling within that family. As many of us who have family issues, God can heal our family issue with God’s love, He abides in us and we abide in Him.
I invite you this morning to go back and read in scripture the story of Ruth and Bohad who shows us that two people of substance can find each other in adversity. God loves this too. Go back and read about David and Jonathan, two of the best friends and friends that are stabbing each other, one of them stabbing the other in the back. Because of God’s love they are able to forgive one another and live in the destiny that God has prepared for both of them. And then there is the prophet Josiah, and Gomez. Josiah as he examines the problem, the problems of infidelity and faithfulness to God. They believe in spite of infidelity, one can still reach beyond - oneself, as one of bone of bone and flesh of flesh, and live out the destiny that God has called them to live out. And then there are the songs of Solomon described to us the importance, if you will, that sexual love - that the love of Mary and Joseph, mother and father, the will of Jesus, the choices and the deeds that accompany love. And finally, there is Mary Magdalene, because of love her commitment, her proclamation, she reaches beyond the grave and says, “He is risen.”
However, of those of us this morning that are fearful of love, or are frightened of love or are hesitant because at some point in time we have been broken, we’ve experienced a brokenness and our hearts have been aching - and we’ve been faced with disappointments and trials as it relates to love we become fearful and hesitant. And if you’re hesitant this morning, I want you to imagine with me, Jesus walking to give a speech, to the disciples are present and 3,000 people are waiting to hear Jesus speak, and the disciples are fearful their hesitant, the crowd is hesitant because there are those in the crowd who want to hear Jesus speak about the high gas prices that face them, hoping the speech is about the gas prices we are faced with and the disciples look at each other and say, well I hope He talks about the death penalty. And the disciples say I hope He talks about those gays and those blacks. Some say I hope he talks about the crime situation. I hope he talks about the Salton Sea. Jesus stands before this crowd and says, love one another and then Jesus takes his seat - our heartaches, besides our trials, disappointments, Jesus invites us this morning to experience the miracle of love allows us to see this miracle in the form of a baptism, thank you very much.
This miracle of love to walk into your destiny, to make the decision to move into the future, to see in love, reflecting God divine love. So that’s what happened, we missed the miracle and assume that God loves us, and we assume that we’ve accepted Jesus Christ as our personal savior and that’s a good thing, but we’ve missed something - there’s more to it. And what that is, what happened to the miracle. Well, after the miracle, we experience the presence of God. And you experience the presence of God and some of you know what I’m talking about because God has been your doctor in the sick room. He’s been your lawyer in the court room. He’s been your bright and morning star. He’s been your rock in a weary land. He’s been your spoke in the middle of the wheel.
Because of the brokenness, our nakedness, our trials and our troubles, we now realize that because we’re in the presence of God that God has been using us and preparing us to become vessels that God Himself can use - all I’m talking about is JOY - can you say that word with me?
One thing to know God’s love but when you’ve been touched by the Holy Spirit, it brings about a sense of joy. I think it says it best, before I take my seat, of a mother experience the presence of God and experiences joy, her son was getting ready to graduate from college, she was thankful, the son says Mom, we’re going to the auditorium for graduation and these are sophisticated folks - and when we get to the auditorium you can’t hold up your hands and praise God, just keep it kind of down, she said. Son says no problem. She gets to the auditorium, much like this room before me - she walks down the aisle with her cane and her knee bothering her at the same time - as she gets closer, she thinks about what her son said, Mom just be cool, these are sophisticated people, she thinks about all those beds that she had to make to put her son through college and then she began to think about all those bathrooms she had to clean to buy him books - some of you know what I am talking about - so that he could have his books for college - Lord help me. Then she thought about all those whippings she had to take from his daddy, just so he could stay in college. I am here to tell you this morning, she couldn’t hold it any more. Halleluiah! She shouted all over that auditorium, she experienced the joy of the Holy Spirit. Jesus invites us, this morning, to experience that same joy, by loving one another.
In closing, I think St. Francis said it best, he sums it up best for us in prayer he says Lord, make me an instrument of your peace, where there is hatred, let me sow love - where there is injuries harden, where there is doubt, faith, where there is despair, hope, where there is darkness, light, where there is sadness, joy. As my master sent that I may not so seek to be consoled as to console, to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love, because it is in giving we are to receive , it is in coveting we are pardoned, and it is in dying that we are born - eternal life.
Amen.
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