Live in Love
John 6:42-51 and Ephesians 4:25 – 5:2
July 11, 2024
A few weeks ago we talked about a complaint free world, and how it’s our human nature to complain, and statistics show we complain more than we compliment.
Last Sunday we talked about how Jesus is the very Bread of Life sent from God down from heaven, and how that bread nourishes us for eternity, unlike the food we grow and gather here on earth that nourishes us momentarily.
Today, we are more or less combining these two thoughts into one single thought of how not complaining and consuming the true Bread of Life leads us to a path of action.
The people who followed Jesus were confused when he told them he was the Bread of Life sent from heaven by God. It wasn’t that they had a grumbling of the fact he was the Bread of Life rather that he was sent from heaven. In their minds, they knew he was born in their region. He came from Nazareth, not from heaven. This was their gripe; their grumbling.
It’s as if they find the point, or in their mind, the fact that they know he was from Nazareth and therefore he could not have been sent from heaven. This is the point they find issue to grumble about.
Sometimes, we humans will go out of our way to overlook what is required of us by faith and hang our hat on a fact that we think we know. This makes sense, doesn’t it? We live from our experiences and our knowledge, so we are not used to stepping out in faith to believe something that goes against everything we know as the facts based on those past experiences. We find it hard to have faith that this time it might be different.
Jesus tells these people not to complain, and that no one shall come to Jesus unless they are drawn by the Father who sent him. “They shall be taught by God,” Jesus says. Those who come to Jesus will be taught because they will hear and learn from God, they will be chosen by God, and those who are chosen and eat the Bread of Life will live forever.
I would venture to say that those who are here today in this sanctuary, those who are joining via Facebook Livestream, and those who watch or re-watch this video posted to Facebook later in the week, do so because they want to hear and learn what God has to say to them.
I’m often told that I have given a good sermon, and I hope that I always respond with a thank you for that compliment, AND by saying, I gave what God gave me to provide.
If I ever take credit for a sermon that is given, then I am not doing my work for God, I would be doing it for me, and that is not my purpose. God has placed me here to speak to you what God wants you to hear and to learn.
I believe we all have the gift to be a vessel by our words and by our actions. It is the very reason that God provides us with the gifts we possess. Some are provided with the ability to speak, and others are provided with different gifts. Some of these gifts have been planted by God and have yet to be realized or put into action by the person in whom God has given the Spirit.
So let’s look a little deeper into our gifts, and how we are called into action by examining our scriptures from Ephesians.
We are told to put away our falsehoods. Falsehood includes being dishonest, self-deceptive, or scheming. It can also refer to a statement that distorts or suppresses the truth in order to deceive.
It is important in this day to really look for those who are being deceptive, dishonest or scheming. I think about Little Red Riding Hood being deceived by the Big Bad Wolf. If we are not careful to know God’s truth and discern if truth is in people’s actions and their words, we may be devoured. Being self-deceptive means we have allowed ourselves to be persuaded into believing something we know is not true, but we believe it because we want it to be true. We believe it because we want our team to win when that may not be what God wants for his plan.
When we listen and learn from the Word of God, we will know the truth as God tells us it is, not what we want it to be.
Speak the truth that is found in the word of God and the actions of Jesus. The Holy Spirit directs us into the truth whenever we allow ourselves to be directed by the Spirit.
We are reminded that we are members together in one body when we are able to put aside falsehoods and when we share the truth with our neighbors. It’s a point of the power of the Holy Spirit that has the ability to work when we are unified.
It’s okay to be angry, but do not sin. It’s okay to be angry, but we don’t have to lash out, we don’t have to think that getting even will help settle the score. We don’t have to think that if we get angry we can pick up all our toys and take them away and that will solve the problem. We can accept that everything is not always meant to go our way. It is important that we understand that we work for the glory of God, and maybe there’s another way to get there than by our plan.
Sometimes when we get angry, the best option might be to step away and pray, God what do you want me to do in this moment? What is my role at this time? How do I help us remain unified together in your truth?
We are told to labor and work honestly with our own hands. I love that it says to work honestly, because there are ways to work and get things done that are not honest ways of God. Working because you feel like you have to rather than giving God the glory for your honest work are two different ways of working. Work honestly so that we can provide for our families, our loved ones, and also very importantly to be noted, work so that we have something to share with the needy.
There is always more that we can do to share because there will always be those in need; however, I will commend this congregation every time I have the opportunity that you work hard to provide for those who have needs. We are working today through an ice cream social to raise money to provide for those in need in our community. We don’t do it because it makes us feel good. We do it for the glory of God. We do it because as a congregation, we live a life of love.
As our front bulletin tells us, “Never underestimate the power of a kind word or deed.” Oh my goodness, YES! This gets back to giving compliments rather than complaining, and verse 29 of our second reading, “Do not speak evil, SPEAK ONLY WHAT IS USEFUL FOR BUILDING UP…so that your words may give grace to those who hear.”
Think about those words, “Speak only what is useful for building up.” You know those people who are always positive, and they are always expressing their joy in positive ways. That is a God-given gift, and one that we can all strive to have because when we do the opposite, we tear down. Building up is unifying and tearing down is divisive. It sounds so simple, and yet we often complain rather than give a compliment.
Paul lists the ways we grieve the Holy Spirit of God: bitterness, wrath, anger, wrangling. Wrangle is one of those words we know, yet sometimes it’s good to have a refresher of its definition. Wrangle is a dispute or argument, typically one that is long and complicated. I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find myself wrangling about something, and a few minutes later I recognize how unimportant this subject is to the end result. Have you ever met those people who just like to argue or debate. For instance, if you say brown, they say tan. Or if you say it happened at 4:00 p.m., they will say, it was more like 4:05 p.m. These minor differences may not make a hill of beans difference to the outcome, yet, they do sometimes lead to bitterness, wrath and anger when someone feels they have to be the one who is right.
I’m not saying to be adaptive when the facts as you know them are important to the end result. I’m only suggesting we take time to decide if the wrangling is important to the final outcome when considering what it might be God wants to accomplish.
Put away slander and malice, and when we put away all these things that grieve the Spirit of God, we place ourselves in a position to live in love, and to live in unity. And when we live in love and unity, we have peace.
We live in love by being tenderhearted, forgiving, and being imitators of God, as beloved children. We know how to imitate God because Jesus showed us when he walked this earth. We have the words and actions from Jesus, the words of the disciples, and we have the word of God who teaches us.
C.S. Lewis said, “When I have learned to love God better than my earthly dearest, I shall love my earthly dearest better than I do now.”
I would add to that, when we learn to love God more than ourselves, more than our desires, we truly learn to live as Christ loved us and gave himself as an offering and a sacrifice to God.
God calls us to love others more than ourselves so that we are able to be that offering. It is a sacrifice indeed, but the reward of eternal life lived in the Bread of Heaven is better than any earthly reward we could ever imagine.
As we continue this journey together, let us walk together as one member, one body inspired by the Holy Spirit of God living a life of love and speaking only those things that build up.
(Silent Reflection)
PRAYERS OF THE PEOPLE and LORD’s PRAYER
God of Unity, you call us and teach us your truth when we listen. Help us hear you now as we search for the truth in those that lead our countries. There is so much division, so much hatred, and words of falsehoods that deceive those who are asleep. Awake in us your Spirit to seek the truth, to look for those who do not seek war, but peace. Awake in us your Spirit to guide us to those who are hurting, those who are abused, those who need help that they do not know exists. Lead us to them O Lord so that we can shower your truth, your compassion, and your love upon them. Lord we have so many who suffer from illness, grief and depression. We remember now those who are at home and who have asked for our prayers ____________________________
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Hear our prayers, O Lord, so that these may be healed in the manner you desire so that your work continues in the world. Awaken us to the spiritual gifts you have placed within us and direct us in the way you would have us go, just as your Son Jesus gave himself as a sacrifice and taught his disciples to pray, Our Father, who art in heaven………..Amen.