Trinity Sermons

The Power Of Love
June 3, 2007

Rev. David C. Huffman

Micah 6:6-8; Gal. 6:1-10

If you paid attention to the passages today, you get the idea that religion is supposed to a power for good in the world, not the war, murder, and mayhem we see on the pages of the newspaper every day. When we study history, we can get quickly dismayed by all the blood people have shed in the name of God. And there is enough blame to go around to all the major religions, including our own. I, for one, have never been able to figure out why the leaders of the Christian church thought the Crusades and the Inquisition were good ideas.

Now, if it is true that most of the blood shed by Christians was shed before the Protestant Reformation began in 1517, I remind you that someone once said of Calvinism, our spiritual heritage, that he would rather face an army of 10,000 charging soldiers than one single Calvinist who was convinced he was doing the will of God. Perhaps therein lies the problem. How do we know the will of God? Yes, we have the Bible and the summaries of God’s will within the Bible, like the Ten Commandments, the Sermon on the Mount, the Great Commandment, and our lessons Micah 6 and Galatians 5. And these are wonderfully helpful guides to God’s will. But the conflicts have come over how to interpret these scriptures, and that is why equally faithful and committed Christians stood on both sides of issues like slavery, women’s suffrage, and the right for women to be ordained as ministers, elders, and deacons in the church. Thank God that our forbears were open to the leading of the Holy Spirit in new directions on these issues. May we always be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit instead of digging in our heels and invoking the seven last words of the Church: “We have always done it this way.”

I was pleased to see recently that the leaders of the Protestant and Roman Catholic Churches in Northern Ireland have finally reached a peace accord after decades of bloodshed in the name of the same Christian God. That’s another one that I have never been able to understand; but I also know that I am on the outside looking in and do not know the pain and the heartbreak that both sides have experienced. Perhaps that is why Jesus told us not to judge others. Recently, a news reporter asked a man who was a member of an ethnic group in the Middle East why he had killed his neighbor who was a member of a rival ethnic group. He replied that his neighbor’s grandfather had killed his grandfather. When the reporter asked when that had occurred, the man replied, “In 1456.” Since Cain killed Abel, the world has been full of discord and conflict, war and vengeance. And it is a shame that we have not learned how to live with one another as God desires. We have a long way to go.

We are honoring our high school and college graduates today. Over the past 13 years you have worked hard, going to class, taking exams, writing papers, doing projects, spending thousands of hours doing homework. But it hasn’t all been work. You have gone on field trips, to football games, basketball games, soccer games, track meets, dances, and proms. More recently you have taken the SAT, applied to colleges, waited to hear from colleges, and finally chosen one to attend. Now you sit before us, all dressed up in your caps and gowns, making your parents proud and the rest of us just glad to know you.
It has been our privilege to baptize you, to sit with you in the nursery, to teach you in Sunday School an Vacation Bible School, to confirm you, to spend time with you in youth group, and to watch you grow and mature as a child of God with many gifts an talents. We have done our best to teach you about the love of God, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the power of the Holy Spirit in your lives. We have taught you who Adam and Eve, Noah and Mrs. Noah were, along with Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, David and Bathsheba, Jeremiah and Amos, Mary and Joseph, Mary and Martha, Peter and Paul, Zacchaeus and Lazarus, and most important of all, Jesus – his life, ministry, death, and resurrection. I hope these wonderful saints of the Bible have helped teach you the meaning of life. In your study of history in school perhaps you too have been dismayed to see how much bloodshed the human race has spilled in their stubborn disputes and conflicts. In the words of the old folk group, “When will we ever learn?”

I hope that you have been able to find an alternative to the world’s way of violence and vengeance. As Paul wrote in the last verse of his 12th chapter of I Corinthians, “I will show you a still more excellent way.” Then he wrote what I believe is the most eloquent chapter in the history of literature:”Though I speak in the tongues of angels and mortals and have all knowledge and powers and have not love, I am nothing … for love is patient and kind, it is not arrogant or rude … Faith, hope, love, abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” My sermon today is entitled the Power of Love. For, no matter how many armies that have ever marched, navies that have ever sailed, or bombs that have fallen, there is a far greater power – the power of God’s love for the world expressed in the death of Jesus Christ on the cross. Napoleon Bonaparte, perhaps one of the best known warriors in history once said that only two real powers in the world: the sword an the spirit. And the spirit, he confessed, was by far the more powerful.

III

Listen to the humble prophet, Micah, called by God to preach God’s will to his people. “Go has showed you what is good. You shall do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly with your God.” Justice, love, mercy, and walking humbly: not bad advice for those who want to live as God created us to live, especially those getting ready to go off to college. You don’t have to think historically or globally for this verse. God may just be talking about how we treat our spouses, our children, our parents, our neighbors, the people who share an office with us at work, or the students you see every day in class and in the cafeteria. Have you ever noticed how the same people sit with each other at lunch or hang out with each other before and after school? It’s completely natural for birds of a feather to want to flock together. We call it human nature; but that’s not what Jesus taught us to do. He didn’t say that it was wrong to hang with our buds at school; he just taught us that life has a higher calling. Life in God’s world is more than our friends; it includes loving our neighbors as we love ourselves, feeding the hungry, helping the weak, visiting the sick, going the extra mile, turning the other cheek, forgiving people who harm us, and even praying for and loving our enemies. Don’t you wish Jesus never said that? Go ahead, be honest; I do. It is the hardest thing in the world for me to do. But Jesus taught that, and he gave his life for the sins of the world, and that includes our enemies too.

As I make my way around town and see so many angry and anxious people in a hurry on the beltline and at the mall, I am distressed. Because I know that God didn’t create us to live this way. He created us to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God. I just got back from five glorious days at Montreat. What amazes me about Montreat, besides the fact that it is one of the most beautiful spots on the face of the earth, is that everyone in Montreat is so warm and friendly. People actually smile and speak to you when you pass – I mean total strangers. Everyone seems to be happy, calm, and relaxed. No one is in a hurry; people hold doors for one another and sit down beside you at meals and speak to you. No one is grumpy or irritable. It is heavenly. I envy you senior highs who are going next Friday for the youth conference. I told everyone you were coming and they seemed genuinely glad to hear that. They were unpacking the conference tee shirts on Friday and they looked way cool. Have a great time; I think Montreat is a little preview of what heaven is going to be like.

I think Paul agrees with me. In Galatians this morning he contrasts the traits of this world with traits of those who follow Christ and have God’s Spirit in their hearts. He lists the works of the flesh in a list far too familiar to us, from idolatry to anger to drunkenness, and then he shows us a more excellent way. Paul writes, “By contrast, the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness (or generosity), faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” Now, wouldn’t it be great if we turned on the news this evening and heard that the breaking news was that there had been an outbreak of love, joy, and peace today around the world. That miraculously, people had stopped fighting and hating one another and that the Prince of Peace had finally had his way with us. Now, that, my friends, would be news. But sadly, you know as well as I that this isn’t likely to happen any time soon. But let me leave you with this injunction. Don’t give up; hang in there; keep on keeping on and remember who we are and whose we are.

Remember these words that someone told me many years ago, whose name I have forgotten, but who words of wisdom I have not. As you graduate, go forth and get as much education as you can; make all the money you can; give away all the money you can; and love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind and love your neighbor as yourself, for they are created in God’s image too. Remember that we follow Jesus, whose living spirit resides in our hearts and lives. We aren’t perfect; but we are forgiven and on the way of becoming more like Christ who reached out and loved everyone he met, especially those whom no one wanted to meet or love.
And if you and I continue to bear the fruit of the Spirit as Paul promised, then love will continue to grow and one day we might just hit the tipping point and the world might just change. And in the words of that great theologian, Louis Armstrong, what a wonderful world this will be.