Sermon Tone Analysis

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.

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

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

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.