Vision | Love
Vision • Sermon • Submitted • Presented • 32:01
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· 300 viewsFellowship Church focuses our vision around the three activities of LOVING, GROWING, and SERVING. How do these activities give us a picture not only of who are, but also of who God is calling us to become?
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Here we go. It’s September; fall is here. A new season of ministry is starting up again. And I’ve only been here eight months, so this is a first for me to launch a new season of ministry alongside of you. It is always in times of launching programs and involvement that I like to take some time and focus our attention on vision. Vision is that important part of any organization that gives direction. Vision tells us where we are going; and also helps answer the question of why we are going there.
For a while now, this church has used three particular words its mission statement that help shape the vision. Love, Grow, and Serve. And I’ll be honest, I’ve had to spend quite a bit of time pouring over that particular choice of words to express the mission of this particular church.
This week we are going to be looking at a story from scripture that helps us unpack and figure out what we mean by love as a part of our mission as a church. I mean, of course churches are supposed to love. Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and to love other people as ourselves. It seems like a no-brainer that the mission of the church is about love. I’m not certain, though, that we know what we mean when we say that love is part of our mission and that love guides the vision for what we do and where we are going. In fact, we may all have something quite different in mind when we think about Christian love in the church. We may all use the word love in our idea of what the church is about, and all be headed in opposite directions in our own visions of what that means. It’s not very helpful without some explanation. I’ve often said, I love my family and I love pizza; but those are not at all the same thing. I use the same word—love—to describe it. But I mean something very different by that word when referencing my family than when referencing pizza.
So, what do we really mean here when we say that LOVE is one of the guiding principles of our mission that informs and directs our vision? Let’s work through that one today.
“Come,” Jonathan said, “let’s go out into the field.” So they went there together.
Then Jonathan said to David, “I swear by the Lord, the God of Israel, that I will surely sound out my father by this time the day after tomorrow! If he is favorably disposed toward you, will I not send you word and let you know? But if my father intends to harm you, may the Lord deal with Jonathan, be it ever so severely, if I do not let you know and send you away in peace. May the Lord be with you as he has been with my father. But show me unfailing kindness like the Lord’s kindness as long as I live, so that I may not be killed, and do not ever cut off your kindness from my family—not even when the Lord has cut off every one of David’s enemies from the face of the earth.”
So Jonathan made a covenant with the house of David, saying, “May the Lord call David’s enemies to account.” And Jonathan had David reaffirm his oath out of love for him, because he loved him as he loved himself.
After the boy had gone, David got up from the south side of the stone and bowed down before Jonathan three times, with his face to the ground. Then they kissed each other and wept together—but David wept the most.
Jonathan said to David, “Go in peace, for we have sworn friendship with each other in the name of the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord is witness between you and me, and between your descendants and my descendants forever.’ ” Then David left, and Jonathan went back to the town.
Okay, I know there is so much we could say about love in the Bible. So please understand that this message is not a comprehensive survey of all the biblical implications of the command to love God and love others. Today I am only interested in one thing. Today we are looking at the ways in which love is the central mission of the church. When Fellowship CRC says it is the mission of our church to love, grow, and serve, what kind of love are we talking about? What does that kind of love look like? That’s what I’m interested in today. Because knowing what we mean when we say it is our mission to love gives us direction for who we are as a church family. It gives vision for who it is we feel God is calling us to be.
Now, here’s why that’s important. Because maybe some are here today thinking, “well, I’m just not that involved in church anymore.” Or maybe, “I’m just getting too old now to be an active part of the mission and vision of the church.” Nonsense. I don’t believe that. This is what I believe. I believe that God changes lives. I believe that God uses the local church to do that. I believe that an changed life means that the kind of person God is calling you to be is the same person here inside of this church as it is when you walk out of here and live your Monday through Saturday outside of these walls. The mission and vision of this church is every-day stuff for every person who calls this their church.
What does that kind of love look like? I think this story about David and Jonathan from 1 Samuel 20 gives us a really great example. Today I want us to see three take-always from this story that provide some direction for what it means to have a mission and vision of love in the church.
Visionary Love Is Active
Visionary Love Is Active
Love is not just a feeling. Love is more than an affect. The kind of love that we are talking about is a love that shows up in action. This kind of love is verb, not a noun. The biblical writers treat it that way. In the New Testament, it is called agapé. Here in the Old Testament it is called heśed. In your English Bibles it is translated as love. In the Old Testament, heśed is often also translated as kindness, or loving kindness.
Hebrew heśed - often translated as love, kindness, or loving kindness
It’s all over in this story. Both David and Jonathan make a covenant together before God to show kindness to one another, as God has shown kindness to them. They’re talking about a covenant action of heśed-love. You can tell in this story that this covenant love is sincere. You can see by the way the writer includes the detail of weeping together that they mean it. This love is not empty action, but comes from authenticity.
So, let’s start here. What does this look like in your life? How does love show up as action with you? In the relationships you have with family or friends or coworkers or neighbors, what does that love look like? You’ve got a little space there in the outline to jot a few things down. So, go ahead, let’s workshop this one here together a little bit this morning. What does active love look like in your life?
What does active love look like in your life?
Here’s something to give you a little help. Notice that the kind of active love David and Jonathan are talking about in this story is a kindness that is completely selfless. It is a love that sacrificially gives to the other. Jonathan sends David safely on his way knowing that there is nothing in it for him. David pledges to show kindness to Jonathan and his descendants knowing that there is nothing in it for him. This heśed-love is an active love that is not self-serving in any way. There is no thought of reward. There is no thought of what’s in it for me.
One of my favorite movies is The Godfather. Marlin Brando, Al Pacino—“I made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.” So good. In The Godfather there are favors and acts of kindness that all have strings attached. Vito Corleone does kind things for others, but it is never a completely selfless act of love. He sees it as an investment that will somehow be paid back to him.
Cross off everything that is in any way self-serving
Sometimes we all fall into that. I can start to make a list of all the ways that I show active loving kindness to others in my life. But then I have to start crossing everything off that list that has strings attached. Scratch out everything that is conditional upon me getting something in return. Now my list of loving actions starts to shrink. I’ll help set the table for dinner—but I’m also setting a place for me and I expect that there will be food provided for me there too. I’ll help fold laundry and put it away—but I expect that the clothes I wear will be washed and dried and part of that basket to fold and hang. Are you starting to cross a few things off your list yet?
The kind of love that we hold as part of our mission and vision here at Fellowship is an authentic and genuine love that shows up in action—acts of loving kindness—and has no thought of reward or return or personal gain.
Visionary Love Is Vulnerable
Visionary Love Is Vulnerable
Let’s keep building on this. Visionary love is not only an active love, it is also a vulnerable love—visionary love is vulnerable. I’ve already said that this kind of love is sacrificial. But an active love that is also vulnerable is different.
Those of you who have computers running Windows operating system know that good computer virus protection is important. Without a computer virus program running, your computer is vulnerable to cyberattack. Those of you who have ever been part of active military service know that forward positions must be fortified and protected so that your position is not vulnerable to ambush.
Visionary love that is vulnerable is an active love that is willing to take a risk
Here’s the point. Vulnerability means risk. Visionary love that is vulnerable is an active love that is willing to take a risk. It is love that is willing to take a chance in situations and circumstances in which we may not be 100% certain about the outcome.
Now, before I get too far into that, let’s be certain about a few things. Let’s be straight on what I am NOT talking about. This church has a Safe-Church policy that has certain common-sense rules in place for protection of our members—particularly our children. We do that because we do not want anyone in this place to be open to the risk of abuse or harm. I am NOT talking about opening ourselves to vulnerability in those areas. In this day-and-age we cannot take chances with protections that guard against abuse in the church.
What, then, does a vulnerable love look like? Look at what David and Jonathan are risking in this story. Both of them are risking a great amount of personal loss. When Jonathan lets David go, I think he very well knows that this means the end of his family’s royalty. As long as David lives, Jonathan knows that he will never see the throne—he will never become king of Israel. At the same time, David knows that as long as any descendants of Saul remain alive, there will always be a threat to David’s kingship. Both David and Jonathan are willing to take a chance and commit to an act of love which risks an uncertain outcome for themselves.
If you live long enough, every one of us faces times in our lives when we’ve been let down or disappointed by someone else. Maybe we’ve been through experiences in which people whom we thought were friends betrayed our trust. We’ve been hurt by the words or attitudes of others. And yes, that happens inside the church as well as outside. We are all broken and sinful people who live imperfect lives. Learning to trust again after that trust has been broken is hard to do. It takes vulnerability to love like that again. Maybe it’s just easier to shut down any relationships that carry the risk of an uncertain direction or uncertain outcome.
Visionary love that is vulnerable takes a step of faith
You know, maybe risk is the wrong word to use here. Maybe it’s better think of vulnerable love as the kind of love which is willing to take a step of faith. Stepping in faith takes action that leads us into places in which we trust God to guide the outcome. Stepping in faith takes action that acknowledges God’s outcome may not be the same as my desired outcome, but I am still willing to follow God wherever that may go.
Visionary Love Is Directional
Visionary Love Is Directional
And finally, visionary love is directional. It is an active love that intentionally flows in certain directions. This one I think has the most important take-away for us today.
David and Jonathan display a covenantal love that flows in certain directions—three directions, to be precise. It is a love that flows up, flows in, and flows out. Follow this with me.
Both David and Jonathan acknowledge that the bond of their love and the bond of their friendship is rooted in their covenant bond with God. Their actions to one another and to others are all placed upon a foundation of love for God. Their desire is to love and honor God above all in their actions and in their lives.
Upward to God - Covenant bond reinforced in worship
It should not come as any surprise that when we say in the church that our mission and vision is motivated by love, we are referencing a love that flows up to God. We do what we do because we embrace a love for God. And we do what we do because we embrace God’s love for us. Our weekly act of gathering together for worship is an expression of our love for God. And it is also in worship that we are again grounded in God’s love for us.
Inward to one another - relationships of accountability, support, belonging
Visionary love also has an inward flow. David and Jonathan certainly display this inward love for one another. They commit to a covenant of loving kindness that reinforces their bond of friendship. And it is a bond that is obvious to others. King Saul certainly notices that his son Jonathan maintains a fierce loyalty to his friend David.
We have love for one another here in this place. We have small groups and fellowship gatherings because we carry a Christian bond together that expresses itself in love for one another. After all, God made us this way. God created humans with a design for relationships with God and with one another. Of course, it is natural that one of the things that form a glue to hold the church together is being in a community where we know and feel that we belong, that we carry one another’s’ burdens together, that we celebrate our joys together. We have a love that flows inward as we grow in faith together.
Outward to community - making room for others who are in need
And visionary love also has an outward flow. David makes a commitment to Jonathan to always show loving kindness to Jonathan’s family and descendants. It is years later that David remembers and returns to this covenant and finds Mephibosheth—one of Jonathan’s descendants. And David indeed extends an outward love to this complete stranger who he never knew before.
Visionary love in the church is always a love which also flows outside of the church. It is a love that recognizes God’s intimate knowledge and love for all of his creation. It is a love which continually strives to see others the way God sees others. It is a love that defiantly presses back against the tribalism and division in our society today. Outward love is a love which always makes room for others—particularly, others who are in need.
It is this kind of outward love to which Jesus alludes when he commends his followers for expressing love for God every time we also express active love by providing food for the hungry, drink for the thirsty, shelter for the foreigner, and visits for the sick. And in that exact same parable, Jesus drives away those who claim to love God, but have failed to provide this kind of outward love for those who are hungry, those who are refugees, and those who struggle with illness.
But when I say that visionary love is directional, I also reinforce that a balance between all three of these directions in necessary. It might be tempting to make myself feel better by justifying that two-out-of-three ain’t bad. But a deficiency of just one, throws the other two off. A church that is good at forming an inward loving family and an outward love for community but does not have a healthy love for God is only engaging in social activism. And church that is good at expressing love upward for God and reaching outward to community but does not enfold an inward community of disciples is only promoting programs and events and activities to attend without any commitment to relationship with other people. And a church that is good at encouraging worship upward to God and has strong relationships inward with one another but does not open a space to reach outward in love is only a closed sectarian clique, an exclusive country club that might as well say “members only” on the front door. You see, two-out-of-three might as well be zero.
It’s all well-and-good to say that Fellowship has a mission statement to Love, Grow, and Serve. But we’ve got some work to do here, am I right? I think we are left here this morning having to admit that we can cast a vision to do this better. I think we can confess in Christian humility that it’s time for us make some changes and move together as a church closer to that vision of what we know God wants us to be.
And here is where that movement begins today, right now. It is a movement that begins by making a personal choice. It is not going to help one bit to make any excuses. It won’t help one bit to point fingers at others. It starts with a journey of discipleship that God is placing right in front of you right here in this place right here at this time today.
David and Jonathan came together as covenant brothers in the Lord and affirmed to one another that they would pursue a covenant love. A love that was active. A love that was vulnerable. A love that was directional. It is a love that flows upward to God. A love that flows inward to one another. A love that flows outward to our surrounding community. David and Jonathan took steps of faith to pursue that kind of love wherever God would lead them. Will you join me in this place to do the same thing?