It's All About Love

What the world needs now is love sweet love, it’s the only thing that there’s just too little of. What the world needs now, is love sweet love, no not just for some but for everyone.

Love, to only be four letters, it’s such a big word. In the wake of all that is happening in our nation right now, what the world needs now is love. We need the love God gave to us when he gave us his only son to save our souls. In John 3:16 we see these words, our Scripture text for today,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Today’s message title, It’s All About Love.

God loved us so much, he gave. He gave someone who was precious to him, whom he loved, who was a part of him, and he gave for a group of obstinate, stiff-necked, disobedient, unloving, unappreciative people.

He gave his Son for people he knew were imperfect. People he knew wouldn’t always do the right thing, say the right thing, think the right thing, go the right way, or make the right choice. But despite all we’re not; God is. That’s love.

When you can accept someone, with all of their faults and fallacies and differing opinions, that’s love. When you can give of yourself, expecting nothing in return—that’s love.

God gave his only Son, because we were so far separated from him because of sin. He desired a renewed, reconnected relationship. So he made the first move.

So often when someone disagrees, they can’t come together because no one wants to make the first move, because in our minds

• to make the first move is a sign of weakness

• to make the first move says I was wrong

• to make the first move says your idea was better

• to make the first move says I give up

When the truth of the matter is, to make the first move is a sign of strength, it’s a sign of love, it’s what God did for us. Go ahead step out, reach out, make the first move. God gave and to be like him we must follow his example.

God gave his son, I can’t say I know anyone in their right mind that would willingly give up their child for someone else, yet that is exactly what every mother and father do when they see their child off to the military. So many people believe the military is

• a great way to gain discipline—and it is.

• a great way to get an education—and it is.

• a great way to see the world—and it is.

• a great way to meet people—and it is.

• a great way to get job experience—and it is.

But what it also is, is an organization of people who fight for the freedoms and liberties of people, almost all of whom they do not know. It is an organization of people who leave their families, sometimes at a moment’s notice to go to some place unknown until their seated on the transport and in the air. It’s an organization of people who will make the ultimate sacrifice and give their life because they believe in an idea, a creed. Because it’s the creed my husband and I served under for most of our adult lives I’ll give you just one and it says this

I am an American Airman.

I am a Warrior.

I have answered my Nation’s call.

I am an American Airman.

My mission is to Fly, Fight, and Win.

I am faithful to a Proud Heritage,

A Tradition of Honor,

And a Legacy of Valor.

I am an American Airman.

Guardian of Freedom and Justice,

My Nation’s Sword and Shield,

Its Sentry and Avenger.

I defend my Country with my Life.

I am an American Airman.

Wingman, Leader, Warrior.

I will never leave an Airman behind,

I will never falter,

And I will not fail.

There’s an oath every military person and every elected official take as they begin their service, and that is to support and defend or uphold the Constitution of the United States.

When you are part of an organization you will exhibit certain behaviors, there is a certain way you dress or there are certain character traits you will exhibit. No not everyone is the same, not everyone will look the same, not everyone will act the same, but there are some telltale signs.

If I show you this picture, you know all of these people are in the military because of the uniform they wear.

You see someone dressed like this; you know they are preachers because of the way they’re dressed. It’s their uniform.

You walk into a doctor’s office or a hospital you know who the doctors are because they have a uniform.

Now when it comes to Christians, there isn’t a uniform we have, there really isn’t a sign we wear. The Bible says this is what identifies us as disciples of Christ, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.” That is in John 13:35.

Our identifier that we belong to the body of Christ is the love we have one to another.

• It’s not what we look like

• It’s not the kind of house we live in

• It’s not the car we drive

• It’s not how much money we have

• It’s not the clothes we wear.

• It’s all about love.

So really, what does love look like for us? Because we’re not going to give our children to be sacrificed on a cross, that debt has been paid and the final sacrifice was already made.

So how do we demonstrate the love of Christ. Well, the ABC news person of the week this week was a 10-year little girl from Montana. This little girl wrote a letter to one of the capitol policemen who was crushed in the insurrection, expressing her concern and hope that he was ok. Even though she didn’t know him, even though she didn’t know if her letter would reach him, she wrote it anyway. Her mother posted it online and within hours there was a response from the DC police department that the officer was recovering from his injuries, and now that officer and little girl are forever connected.

Love is an action, it’s reaching out, even when you don’t know them, even if you’re not sure your thoughts and prayer will ever be heard or seen by them, you write the letter anyway. In today’s social media climate the chances of you reaching them is more likely than unlikely to happen.

Our degrees of separation have decreased exponentially with the invention of the internet and social media.

There are so many ways you can reach out and show love to your neighbor and who is your neighbor? Your neighbor is anyone you come in contact with or see that needs help.

As we watch the news, we can be left with a feeling of hopelessness, a sense that all is lost, but there is good news, amidst all the death and destruction and despair, there is some good news.

In another story there was a young man who would go to school then had to walk seven miles to work and seven miles home because he was trying to earn enough money to buy a car. A woman riding with her son in the car one day saw him and her son told her who he was. She gave him a ride to work that day and decided there was more she could do. While she didn’t have the money to buy the car herself, she started a go fund me and through the kindness of others including a car dealership she was able to buy and gift the young man a car. Love in action.

With all that’s happening around us, we must seek out opportunities to love one another, we must seek ways we can show kindness, ways we can help our neighbor, ways we can do unto others as we would have them do unto us. They will know you are my disciples by the love you have one for another.

Who have you shown love to lately? It’s a bit more challenging during this time of separation due to the pandemic, but now more than ever there are people who need help, people who don’t know where their next meal is coming from, people who don’t how they’re going to pay their rent, but for the grace of God and the kindness of others they make it another day.

For God so loved the world he gave… When Jesus was speaking these words, he was talking to the Pharisee, Nicodemus, who had come to him in the night to ask him a question.

He came at night because he didn’t want the others to know he was talking to Jesus. You see as a group they didn’t like Jesus, in their minds he lessened their importance, he disagreed with them, he called them a brood of vipers, he called them out on their hypocrisy and so they didn’t like him.

But there was one who reached out, one who reached across the aisle, there was one who was sure about who Jesus was, he saw the signs, he saw the miracles, but he wondered. He had questions and he, even though he came at night, still came to get answers.

You can believe and still wonder. Believing doesn’t mean you’ll have all the answers, believing doesn’t mean you can’t ask questions, but it does mean you have open access to the one who can answer your questions.

So Jesus, knowing all things answered Nicodemus’ question before he even asked, telling him, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.” It’s not about your outside, it’s about what’s on the inside.

What spirit are you allowing to reside and rule in you? Is it the Spirit of God or is it your fleshly spirit? I saw a post concerning the capitol riots as the insurrectionists were calmly escorted out of the state capitol that said, we don’t want you to shoot them like you do us, we just want you to treat us like you do them.

Such a powerful statement, the goal is not to have everyone treated badly, treated unfairly or treated like less than. The goal is to treat everyone with the same respect and dignity deserving of a child of God.

If I may, I want to take a slight detour here. As we celebrate the birth of, dare I say one of the most influential men on Earth. He never held a political office—but he made many speeches, he was not wealthy by the world’s standards—but he traveled the world, he never served in the military—but he led an army that engaged in a peaceful revolt against a nation’s system of racism and bigotry, the man I speak of is of course the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. I had to wonder what he would think of all that is going on in our nation today and concluded he would be greatly distressed and disturbed at where we are today and how much of a setback we’ve had.

I went to one of his sermons called, The American Dream and I’d like to share just a small part of what he had to say. He spoke of discovering the substance of the dream and finding it in the Declaration of Independence and I quote.

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We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” This is a dream. It’s a great dream.

The first saying we notice in this dream is an amazing universalism. It doesn’t say “some men,” it says “all men.” It doesn’t say “all white men,” it says, “all men,” which includes Black men. It does not say “all Gentiles,” it says “all men,” which includes Jews. It doesn’t say “all Protestants,” it says “all men,” which includes Catholics. It doesn’t even say “all theists and believer,” it says “all men,” which includes humanists and agnostics.

Then that dream goes on to say another thing that ultimately distinguishes our nation and our form of government from any totalitarian system in the world. It says that each of us has certain basic rights that are neither derived from or conferred by the state…They are God-given, gifts from his hands.

The last piece I will share from that message is this

…America has been something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against herself. On the one had we have proudly professed the great principles of democracy, but on the other hand we have sadly practiced the very opposite of those principles.

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And know back to today’s message…

They will know you are my disciples, by the love you have one for another.

Can you look into the eyes of another person and see the one Christ died for? Can you see the one he thought was worth saving? Even when the eyes looking back at you are filled with rage, hate and anger.

Can you love with the love of God and give? Can you love with the love of God and reach out? Can you put your pride aside that would keep you from coming to a peaceful end? What the world needs now is love, sweet love. What the United States needs right now is to remember its name United States, not segregated states, not party line states, not divisive states, but United States of America.

What that means is we are a group of people of different nationalities, colors, ethnic backgrounds, customs, and traditions, who are here together to build a better world for our children. We are here to leave a legacy because we are going to leave this place one day, the question is what legacy are you going to leave behind?

• Is it one of privilege or hard work?

• Is it one of service to self or of service to others?

• Is it one of hate or one of love?

• Is one of take or one of give?

For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

That Son knew his mission, to seek and save them that were lost. Not only did he know his mission, he knew when it was to start. At a wedding in Cana which he attended with his mother; they ran out of wine. To save the family embarrassment his mother asked him to help, to which he responded, Dear woman, that’s not our problem, My time has not yet come.” In true mommy fashion she told the people do whatever he tells you and he turned water into wine; his first recorded miracle. It was the first time he revealed his glory, at about age 30

Jesus knew his time was limited and no one before or since has ever down so much, in so little time, and affected so many people. The goal of most writers is to be on the New York Time’s Best Seller’s list, but the number one best seller of all time and still going strong is the Bible.

It is full of intrigue and war stories and love stories and family drama and deception and hope and encouragement and instructions and love. This book will not only change your life by changing your mind, it will change your heart.

It’s time for a change and that change must begin in the family of Christ, the church much remain relevant, it must stay vigilant, it must stay prayerful, it must stay true to the word of God and it must stay active in the community it is to serve.

I would love to hear from you, please share one example of love you’ve seen or experienced. Send your story to [e-mail] or share it on our Facebook page or the YouTube reply. In whatever way you watch this message, please share a story. The world could use some good news right now and despite all the bad we see there is good news.

We have a God who wants us with him after this life is over, if you’d like to join him pray this simple prayer,

Father I know I’m a sinner, I believe Jesus is your Son and he came to save me. Lord please come into my heart, forgive my sins and be my Lord, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.

You’ll notice when we give a prayer of salvation it’s usually different, that’s because there is no set of magic words you have to say, what’s important is you know and believe that Jesus is the Son of God, that He died on a cross for your sins, he was buried and he rose again with all power in his hands and that he’s coming back again. But you don’t have to know the entire life story of Jesus when you come, it all starts with a belief, reach across the aisle, take a step.

Pray for our leaders and those military personnel who have been deployed to protect the incoming president and all who will be in attendance for his inauguration on Wed. We are the United States of America and one of our oldest traditions is the peaceful transfer of power and we pray this ceremony is no different.

On tomorrow, as we honor Dr. King, let it be a day on and not just a day off. Share something with your children about the legacy of this man as what he preached oh so long ago is still relevant today, as we continue fighting for the American Dream.

God bless you, be safe, wear your mask, wash your hands, and watch your distance. If you’re eligible for the COVID vaccine and you feel comfortable taking it, please do.