|
Sermon for Atwater United Methodist Church May 5, 2024
By Lay Speaker Jo Gamm Witt
Whether the question comes first or the answer, I believe that an important question that Jesus poses to us is, “What is love?”
During this Easter season our lectionary has been focusing on what is love and on bearing fruit.
In our gospel reading today Jesus twice said to abide in his love, which he stated involved obeying the commandments and likened it to his own example of following the commandments so as to abide in his Father’s love. So Jesus was equating love with obedience. Jesus also spoke three times about friendship, saying the greatest love is laying down your life for a friend, that you are his friend if you obey what he commands, that he has called his disciples friends rather than servants because of teaching them about God the Father. And then he connected his commands with loving one another. He spoke about us being chosen and appointed to go and bear fruit.
One point that sticks out to me is Jesus’ use of the word “friend.” On the one hand, we could readily assume Jesus was speaking of his disciples as friends, or we could more broadly apply the word to include us as his friends. And yet when we consider his disciples in view of the word “friend,” we remember that one disciple betrayed him and another denied knowing him, and yet he made no distinction in his use of the word “friend.” And, like the disciples, we too are imperfect followers of Christ, and yet can have the loving distinction of “friend.” Romans 5:8b tells us that while we were yet sinners, Jesus died for us. Friend is a distinction of love and affectionate care.
And if Jesus demonstrated his great love for us by making such a great sacrifice, then, as Luke 12:48 states, to whom much is given, much is required. So, what does God require of us? Our reading from today tells us that God expects us to love one another. But what does it mean to love one another, in more tangible terms.
In Matthew 25:35-36 Jesus lays out loving service that matters to God in the judgement: feeding the hungry, giving water to the thirsty, being hospitable to strangers, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and the imprisoned (and some say this is referring to the unfairly imprisoned).
In 1 Corinthians 13:4-7 Paul characterizes loving others as being patience and kind, always loyal to them, believing in them, expecting the best from them, always defending them, and rejoicing when truth wins out. He also describes what love is not: it is not jealous or envious; not boastful or proud; not haughty, selfish, or rude; not demanding one’s own way; not irritable or touchy; does not hold grudges; and not glad about injustice.
Love is an action word. Love and service should go hand in hand. Love has to do with how we treat others. And that begins with our own families. In 1 Timothy 5:8 Paul tells us “But anyone who won’t care for his own relatives when they need help, especially those living in his own family, has no right to say he is a Christian. Such a person is worse than the heathen.” We first make sure our own needs are met—as the stewardesses on airplanes tell us, you “put your own mask on first.” Jesus’ command to love others as our self indicates that you must first love and care about and for yourself before being able to love and care about and for others. If your own plate is empty, you have nothing to give. And that isn’t just in relation to finances, but also our own physical, mental, and emotional needs. As such, sometimes we are the giver of help and other times we may need to be the receiver. After our own needs are met, if there is a need in our immediate family and if we are able to help, then we should. And then with extended family, and then in our own community, and branching out from there.
I recall a quote from the movie The River Runs Through It, a true story about a strained relationship between a father, Rev. McClean, and his rebellious son, when the father in a sermon says, “Each one of us here today will at one time in our lives look upon a loved one who is in need and ask the same question: We are willing to help, Lord, but what, if anything, is needed? For it is true we can seldom help those closest to us. Either we don’t know what part of ourselves to give or, more often than not, the part we have to give is not wanted. And so it is those we live with and should know who elude us. But we can still love them – we can love completely without complete understanding,”1
Our family dynamics can be complicated. But yes, first we must care for our own families. But we are also called to love, to care about and for those outside of our families, mindful of Jesus’ parable about the Good Samaritan. Those God places in our path needing help may not be someone we know or someone who is even like us.
When we help others, we need to remain mindful that Paul admonishes us in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 that if our service to others is done without love, that it has no value. He further says to “Let all that you do be done in love,” 1 Corinthians 16:14.
Another notable point is that although Jesus in our gospel reading today several times mentioned love as obeying the commandments, to keep in perspective that when Jesus was asked which was the greatest commandment, that he responded to love the Lord your God with all your heart and the second to love your neighbor as yourself. In Matthew 12:11-13 when approached on the Sabbath by a man seeking healing for his shriveled hand, Jesus chose love and compassion over obeying the commandment not to work on the Sabbath. Love was the greater commandment.
Jesus expects us to put love into action. In his parable about investing the “talents,” he was indicating that we don’t just keep for ourselves that which God has blessed us with, that we are to share in ways that are investing God’s love to grow in others. And love can be demonstrated in several various forms: acts of kindness, visiting the lonely, engaging others in conversation, helping others financially.
It has been on the news in more recent years about how we are in a loneliness epidemic, which has contributed to depression and has been linked to several various physical problems as well. I recall while growing up and in my younger years, that people used to visit others in their homes. It was common for my family to visit the elderly, the widows, and others in our community, and likewise they would drop by our home for visits as well. My parents served as excellent role models of showing God’s love to others. I think because my Dad lost his dad when he was 19, that he had a big heart for the widows in our community, always helping them out with whatever they needed. I recall a vagrant passing through the area at one time, that my parents allowed to stay in our home for a week or so before he moved on elsewhere. We as a family often visited the widows, the elderly, and those ailing in our community. We had a sense of community, belonging, and caring. But people don’t seem to have that anymore. Nowadays people seem too caught up in busyness. Maybe changing that begins with each of us. Sometimes just making eye contact with others, engaging in conversations, calling others on the phone to ask how they’re doing, inviting others for a meal, visiting others in their homes or inviting them to visit yours. Love dictates that we make time to care for others.
I think about the Footprints poem about how after a while on the path, it tells us there were no longer two sets of footprints, but rather only one set, and the expression of feelings of abandonment, after which the prose tells us that God responded, “It was then that I carried you.” And I believe that God works through each of us to help those he puts in our path, whether that be physical, mental, emotional, or financial assistance.
Sometimes in life we may get our legs knocked out from under us and need help getting back on our feet. For several years I went through a period of being physically, mentally, and emotionally drained. And like in the Footprints poem, there were many people God worked through along the way that helped carry me through that time.
That most challenging time in my life was back in 2002 when my husband suddenly moved out, closing out our joint checking account, and leaving me as a stay-at-home mom with no money. I will be eternally grateful to my parents for stepping up and helping me, and I know that I would have been homeless a long time ago if they had not helped me during and throughout that period of time in my life. Having been out of the work force for 10 years, I seemingly could not get back in to doing secretarial work, which I had done for 11 years prior to staying home with my kids, presumably the assumption being made that my skills were no longer current. Despite trying diligently to find employment, it took a year and a half to finally be offered any job, and that was working as an activities assistant at Rice Care Center. At that time we were paid minimum wage, which isn’t enough to live on, especially in a one-person income household with two kids, and child support which I finally was awarded two months after my husband moved out, provided little of what was needed. Food assistance was enough for only three weeks—not four. During that time of inadequate resources and for several years that followed, my parents paid my car payment, my house payment, and helped to provide for other expenses. After the divorce, they bought out my mortgage, telling me I could make payments to them when I was able. And it wasn’t like my parents had a lot money, but they wanted to make sure that my daughters and I had enough for our needs. My parents continued to help me financially until I was finally able to stand on my own feet financially just a few years ago. It was a long journey.
I have a heart for the homeless, knowing I could easily have been one of them, had it not been for my parents’ loving care and support through that time in my life. But not everyone has access to help when they need it.
It's easy to judge others, when you don’t know their story. The most recent poverty rate in the United States is 11.5 percent, constituting 37.9 million people living in poverty.2 Those people are considered at high risk for becoming homeless. The most recent nationwide stats for homelessness indicate that there are 582,462 homeless people.3 Of those:
40-60% are employed, but cannot afford housing or housing is not available4
72% are individual adults3
22% are chronically homeless individuals or people with disabilities3
50% are White3
61% are male3
41% of adults are employed6
47% are adults age 25-546
67% are sheltered homeless6
64% are adults age 25-547
54% are individuals7
43% are White7
68% are sheltered homeless7
I’ve heard people blame the homeless for being homeless, who blame the poor for being poor. It is easy to judge others when we don’t know their story. Perhaps those who haven’t been in a destitute situation can’t relate. It should be noted that according to the most recent nationwide homelessness report, that despite 40-60% of homeless people being employed, that “housing is unaffordable because wages have not kept up with rising rents.”4 It further states that “There is no county or state where a full-time minimum-wage worker can afford a modest apartment. At minimum wage, people have to work 86 hours a week to afford a one-bedroom. Even when people can afford a home, one is not always available. In 1970, the United States had a surplus of 300,000 affordable homes. Today, only 37 affordable homes are available for every 100 extremely low-income renters. As a result, 70% of the lowest-wage households spend more than half their income on rent, placing them at high risk of homelessness when unexpected expenses (such as car repairs and medical bills) arise.”4 When we try to understand people’s life circumstances, we feel the call for compassion rather than judgement.
There are many ways to show God’s love to others. It begins with having a heart that cares about others. There are many around us who have not only financial or physical needs, but also those experiencing loneliness, grief, and depression. Sometimes we can get so caught up in the busyness of our own lives, that we fail to see the needs of those around us. Love can be simple acts such as talking with those around us, showing that we love and care; visiting the lonely, the sad, the grieving.
So, what is love? Love is an action word. May we abide in His love by showing love to others.
Thanks be to God. Amen.
3https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/homelessness-statistics/state-of-homelessness/
5https://endhomelessness.org/homelessness-in-america/what-causes-homelessness/domestic-violence/
6https://www.wilder.org/sites/default/files/2023_HomelessCounts_FactSheet_3_18_24.pdf
CLICK HERE 
|