BELIEVE week 7 “humanity” (God loves all) RUMC October 9, 2016

BELIEVE week 7 “humanity” (God loves all)

RUMC October 9, 2016

 When God sees you, what does he see?

Do you suppose he sees a sinner, or a beloved child?

•           In spite of our continued sin: wars, terrorism, racism, hatred, anger, lust and adultery, gossiping, laziness, judging, and greed. God sees us through the eyes of love.

•           In spite of the fact that when that guy pulled out in front of you this week maybe you used an “F” word that wasn’t the word “Fantastic...” God sees you through the eyes of love.

•           In spite of the fact, that maybe you spent the night with someone to whom you weren’t married... God sees you through the eyes of love.

•           In spite f the fact, that maybe you spend all your money on yourself, thinking nothing of how it might also help others... God sees you through the eyes of love.

•           In spite of the fact that you may have lied to your boss, cheated on an exam, or gossiped about your friend… God sees you through the eyes of love.

 GOD LOVES YOU!

The Key scripture says it all. “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” 

  “For God so LOVED.” The first thing God sees when he looks at us is not our sin, but a beloved child. God looks at us is with a “yeah, but” love.

•           Yeah, I know that they are sinners, but I love them anyway.

•           Yeah, I know they don’t act very lovable, but I still love them.”

God loves us. Are you with me so far?

 Let’s take the next step. God’s love is not only for us, but for the whole world. “God so loved the (what?...) the world…” How many times does are words like “everyone,” “all,” “the world,” or “whoever” used in John? A quick count went way over 100 pretty quickly. One of the things the writer of the Gospel of John does not want us to miss is that God’s love is for all people, everyone, the whole world.  No one is excluded. No one is beyond the reach of God’s love.

That’s a little harder because some of us would like to exclude certain groups from God’s love. But there is no one beyond the reach of God’s love.

When we finally come to grips with the breadth, and the height, and the depth of God’s love, we realize how important people are to God we have taken the first step. The next step is to see others through the same eyes of love. 

•           Jesus said, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.”

That kind of stinks doesn’t it. I mean, it is one thing for God to love people unconditionally, and universally, but to expect us to do the same? That might be stepping over the line. 

But don’t get too excited… that’s nothing… the real leap is yet to come.

 The third part of John 3:16 after he loved, and the world, is that he GAVE. God put his money where his mouth was. And that final leap,  is that he expects us to do the same.

And God didn’t just give… he gave himself. His only beloved son. He gave himself. 

It’s great to give money to someone, but giving money is not the same as giving ourselves.

It’s easy to do something, but I don’t think feeding someone, or building a ramp or fixing their house is the same as giving ourselves, either.

It is great to be able to love someone enough to make sure their physical needs, financial needs, and their social needs are met … but to look at someone through the eyes of Jesus, is to see the real deep down need. To love them with the same love as Jesus, is to look deeper than their physical or emotional needs. To love as he loved, is to invest in them and their life in a way that is transformative. What do I mean? Try this on for size.

Somehow, you heard about Christ. It may have been through a preacher or a teacher. Maybe it was a parent or grandparent. OR... perhaps a friend cared enough to share God’s story and how it intersected their story. However it was that you heard it, someone invested themselves in you and you were transformed. That is what I mean by investing in someone not for the purpose of feeding, or comforting, but for the purpose of transformation.

 The year was 1854. Edward Kimball had the difficult task of teaching a bunch of rowdy young men the Bible. He knew one boy wasn’t listening so he decided to visit him in the shoe store in which he worked.

Kimball was so shy he almost didn’t go in. When he finally got up his nerve, he went in and talked to the boy. He didn’t think he made any difference, but it wasn’t long and that boy was coming regularly and ended up giving his life to Christ.  the boy’s name was Dwight L. Moody. Do you recognize that name? The Moody Bible institute.

 Under Moody, another man’s heart was touched for God. His name was Wilbur Chapman and one day a professional baseball player came to hear Chapman preach. He accepted Christ and quit baseball to start his own career as an evangelist.  That man was Billy Sunday. (Do you recognize that name?)

 A man named Mordeci Ham was converted by Billy Sunday’s preaching. Morenci was a colorful character who used to rent the funeral parlor’s hearse to drive around town and advertize his gospel meetings.

A young man named Billy Frank went to Mordeci’s service with the intention of disrupting it. Billy was intrigued by what he heard and went back a second night, and went to the altar and became a Christian.

 His family called him Billy Frank. We know him as Billy Graham! The greatest evangelist of the 20th century… maybe the greatest ever.

•           What if that shy Sunday school teacher, Edward Kimball, hadn’t gotten up the nerve to go in the shoe store to talk to Moody? 

•           What if he decided that he had done his bit and someone else could work with these rascals?

•           What if Edward Kimball had thought to himself, I won’t know what to say, so he said nothing?

•           What if Edward Kimball had decided to give up and hang out with his Christian friends instead of worrying about this one boy?

•           What if Edward Kimball hadn’t reached out and invested himself in that boy?… Down through the ages, how many people came to Christ because Kimball took a risk and that risk yielded Dwight Moody, Wilbur Chapman, Billy Sunday, and Mordeci Ham? Then add in Billy Graham who preached to an estimated total of 2 billion people, and saw 3.2 million people responded to his invitations to salvation over the years.

•           I remember a kid named trouble. Trouble came into my office in Bettendorf and wanted to go on the mission trip. I almost said no, but he convinced me to give him a chance. But I said, "I’m watching you." Well, to make a long story short, I’m still watching him… I watched him lead worship up in Nashua with the Bishop and District superintendent in attendance this week. Trouble is now known as Reverend German. What if I had stuck to my gut response and sent trouble back to his old ways? You never know.

•           Really. You never know the effect your decision might have.

You are the Edward Kimball’s of our day.

You are lay people just trying to do your best. Maybe

•           teaching light, or

•           cooking for it, or

•           serving on a committee, or

•           helping with the trunk or treat, or

•           being treasurer, or an

•           usher, or the

•           organist… or whatever your ministry is…

1.         You may think …I am too shy to share my faith.

2.         You may think …what if I invite them to church and they say NO?

3.         You may be afraid… that someone will laugh at you.

4.         You may think …someone else will do it.

5.         You may think… I’m too busy.

6.         Or you may think “someday… I’ll get around to it someday.”

Really?

What if Edward Kimball used even one of those excuses?

  If you believe even just a little bit that, all people are loved by God and in need of Christ as their savior. If you believe that even just a little but… you have to do something. You can’t just sit there. Go show your love by sharing the story of God’s love with someone this week.