Gordon E. Ellis
May 7, 2006
WHAT LOVE !
Do you want to know something that really BUGS me? And I HATE to say this, but I DO hear this statement quite OFTEN from people. And it REALLY bothers me! Someone will SAY to me: Do you know why I don’t go to church? Because, to ME, the church is FULL of HYPOCRITES! And that really BOTHER me, because YOU know and I know that ALL of us here in this church are SINNERS! NONE of us here CLAIM to be SAINTS. As I ALWAYS say: the church is NOT a HAVEN for SAINTS. It’s a HOSPITAL for SINNERS, sinners like YOU and ME. And SO, it really BOTHERS me when someone calls ME a HYPOCRITE, because I am NOT trying to be somebody I’m NOT. I’M just DOING my best to LIVE my TOO FEW days on earth lovingly and faithfully. So, I’VE decided that the NEXT time somebody makes THAT comment, I’M going to turn around and say: SO, the CHURCH is full of HYPOCRITES, is it? Well then, YOU better JOIN us, because we can ALWAYS use ANOTHER one!
You see: SOME people have the mistaken impression that the CHURCH is just for the (quote) “GOOD” people or “HOLY” people, or “PIOUS” people. Well, I hate to tell you this, but there are NO such PEOPLE. And the longer I’m in the ministry, the MORE I realize that we ALL screw up! We are ALL sinners! We all DO things, SAY things and THINK things that SEPARATE us from one another, and THAT’S the MEANING of the word SIN! It literally means SEPARATION! SO, we’re ALL sinners! It’s our HUMAN condition! NO one is PERFECT! IN fact, God didn’t MAKE us PERFECT, because IF we were PERFECT, we WOULDN’T need GOD!
Oh, there are SOME who THINK they’re holier than the REST of us. By the way, it’s those HOLIER than THOU people (the ones who find it SO easy to JUDGE) that we have to watch OUT for, because all that PIETY and holiness stuff? It’s lot of GARBAGE! No, we are NOT the GOOD people! WE are NO better and NO worse than anyone ELSE, either INSIDE church, or OUTSIDE of it. The DIFFERENCE is that, even though we are NOT good people, we KNOW that we are LOVED and FORGIVEN. And THAT’S what makes the church DIFFERENT! The church is DIFFERENT because WE have this GOOD news, and we DON’T even have to DESERVE it! I’ll NEVER forget hearing a SERMON by one of my teachers and mentors who just died last month, William Sloane Coffin. SHORTLY after the release of the book, I’m OK, You’re OK, Bill said: CHRISTIANS say it DIFFERENTLY! A CHRISTIAN would NEVER say, I’m OK, you’re OK. A CHRISTIAN would say: I’M not OK and YOU’RE not OK, but THAT’S OK! And THAT’S because, as Christians, we KNOW ourselves to be loved and forgiven people, and WHAT a GREAT feeling that IS!
I mean: IMAGINE what that 100th SHEEP must have FELT like. Here, the shepherd putting the sheep into the SHEEPFOLD: 95, 96, 97, 98, 99..... Hey, WHERE’S old 100? Now, I probably would have said: Well, CLOSE enough! Let’s CLOSE the gate and go home for supper. 99 out of 100 ain’t bad! But, thank GOD that GOD is NOT concerned about PERCENTAGES, because God LEFT the 99 and went OUT in search of the ONE! And, that ONE, my friends, is YOU -- or ME! You see, GOD loves each and every ONE of us AS IF we were the ONLY person in the world TO love! And thankfully, God DOESN’T love us in a HERD, but as individuals, as that ONE lost sheep.
I remember that when I was a KID, we had a FAMILY in town who had about a DOZEN kids. And unfortunately, ONE of the children was KILLED in an AUTO accident. And, I remember how my FRIENDS and I thought it was so STRANGE that the MOTHER in the family became SO grief-stricken and heart-broken. And I remember asking my parents: WHY is she so UPSET? She’s GOT 11 MORE, for crying out loud! BUT, what I was too young to REALIZE was that she didn’t LOVE them as a HERD or a group. She loved EACH and every ONE as if that ONE were her ONLY child. And friends, THAT’S how GOD loves YOU and ME!
MORE than anything else, THAT’S what JESUS came to TEACH and SHOW us! THAT’S what this thing called the INCARNATION is all ABOUT! Christianity is NOTHING but the simple TRUTH that GOD, who is EVERYWHERE, became SOMEWHERE in the person of Jesus Christ, so that AS a human BEING, I can look at ANOTHER human being, and see GOD, and God’s love, ALIVE, ENFLESHED and at WORK in the world, and NOT just with POWERFUL people, or RICH people, or FAMOUS people, or PIOUS people, but with ALL people -- even SINNERS and OUTCASTS, LEPERS and PROSTITUTES -- ALL people! Yes, in the PERSON of Jesus, WE see that EVERY person is LOVED, and LOVED as if THAT person were the ONLY person in this world TO love. It’s BEAUTIFUL, isn't it? And THAT’S why it’s called the GOOD news of Jesus Christ.
Well, why IS it then that, EVEN though Jesus SHOWED us and TAUGHT us about God’s great LOVE for us, so MANY of us just don’t FEEL it? Well, I think it’s because sometimes we FORGET our 2nd Scripture Lesson for today, OR, we think that maybe it doesn’t APPLY to US. But, THAT’S not true! When Jesus is talking to PETER here, HE is talking to US, because WHENEVER we see PETER in the gospels, he is a SYMBOL for you and me. And Jesus SAYS to Peter; AND therefore, to us: IF you LOVE me, then TEND my sheep and FEED my lambs! In OTHER words: IF you LOVE me, BE to one another like that SHEPHERD who is NOT content with 99 out of 100, but who GOES off in SEARCH of that ONE that is LOST! In another gospel, He says to Peter and the disciples; and therefore to US: LOVE one another as I have loved YOU. In OTHER words, love each person as if THAT person were the ONLY person in the world TO love!
Yes, sometimes we FORGET it, but WE are the ONLY hands -- and the ONLY voice -- that Jesus HAS in our world TODAY. WE in the CHURCH are His BODY, empowered by His SPIRIT, to do HIS work in the world. So, WE are to love OTHERS as HE has loved US! When someone prays: God HELP me, YOU and I need to be God’s ANSWER to that person’s PRAYER. I know that whenever I have prayed, God HELP me, someone has ALWAYS been there for ME! And THROUGH these SPECIAL people, I have KNOWN and FELT, again and again, the love of GOD. Well, WE are CALLED and EMPOWERED to do the SAME for OTHERS, to be AMBASSADORS of God’s LOVE in this world, so that THROUGH US, ALL people EVERYWHERE may KNOW the LOVE and FORGIVENESS of God.
Yes, friends: THAT’S what the CHURCH is ABOUT. The church is NOT a HAVEN for SAINTS. It’s NOT a mutual admiration society! It’s a HOSPITAL for SINNERS! It’s a BUNCH of WEAK people, LEANING on one another, finding STRENGTH in each other, and JOURNEYING the UPS and DOWNS of this life together, ALWAYS trying to BE what God CREATED us to be: God’s AMBASSADORS, LIVING signs of God’s AMAZING grace, love and forgiveness. Yes, THAT’S what the church is ABOUT, my friends. And WHAT a GIFT it IS!
SO, let’s SUPPORT our church with our TIME, our TALENTS, and our TREASURE! Let’s PLEDGE all 3 for God’s work of LOVE! And let’s CHERISH our church, and do ALL that we CAN to help it FLOURISH and BLOSSOM! Yes, let’s Score a TRIPLE-T and CELEBRATE our ability to DO so! Because it’s ALL an INVESTMENT in God’s work of LOVE and forgiveness! In a few moments, after we receive our new members, we’ll be bringing our pledges forward and PLACING them in our Score a Triple-T t-shirt. I hope that YOU will PARTICIPATE in our ceremony and SCORE a Triple-T -- for your CHURCH, for your NEIGHBOR, for YOURSELF, and MOST of all, for GOD, the GIVER of ALL that you HAVE and ALL that you ARE. Amen.