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Stephen Ministry

Today we begin a new sermon series that will take us to Palm Sunday. We will be looking at the "fruit of the Spirit" found in Galatians, chapter 5. The goal is to be "full of it," full, that is, of the various fruit of the Spirit listed there. Each Sunday we’ll take a closer look at one of the fruit mentioned in Galatians 5:22, 23. (Read)

Throughout the next few weeks, you’ll hear me repeat a phrase you’ve heard me say before: "Stress occurs in our lives when we seek the fruit of the Spirit from creation, rather than from the Creator." You can substitute other words for stress in that saying and the truth still remains. Disappointment occurs in our lives when we seek the fruit of the Spirit from creation, rather than from the Creator." Despair occurs in our lives, frustration occurs in our lives, disillusionment and hopelessness occur in our lives when we seek the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, and all the rest—from creation—our jobs, our marriages, our toys—rather than from the Creator—Almighty God. The source for love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control is Almighty God and nothing else. To be sure, you may find some of those things some of the time from some aspect of creation—I find a lot of love in my marriage to Kim and I get a lot of joy out of being pastor of Shepherd of the Hills, and a sunshiny day out at Coors Field can be a peaceful experience…some of the time—but if you want to experience the ultimate in those things, if you want to be "disappointment proof" in experiencing those things, the only source for that is a relationship with God through Jesus Christ. The fruit of the Spirit is planted, grown and cultivated in the soil of a relationship with the Creator of all things and nowhere else. And it is here, in that relationship with Almighty God, in the cultivation of the fruit of the Spirit that the disciplines of faith are so important: worship, daily prayer, regular Bible study and continued reflection and meditation on what one is experiencing in those disciplines. You want more joy in life? How’s your prayer life going? You wish you had more peace in life? How’s your reading and reflecting on the Bible going? You wish you had more patience, more self-control in life? Have you talked to God about it? Have you sought it through Him? That’s where you’ll find it. That’s the secret to experiencing more love, and joy, and peace, etc. in life. It’s finding it through the Creator, rather than creation. I think the quote from Robert Roberts on the cover of the bulletin puts it quite well, "The fruit of the Holy Spirit are, it seems to me, largely fruit of sustained interaction with God. Just as a child picks up traits more of less simply by dwelling in the presence of her parent, so the Christian develops tenderheartedness, compassion, humility, forgiveness, joy, and hope through ‘the fellowship of the Holy Spirit’—that is, by dwelling in the presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son. And this means, to a very large extent, living in a community of serious believers." Developing the fruit of the Spirit in our lives requires dwelling in the presence of God and a community of serious believers plays a helpful role. Throughout the course of this series, we’ll return back again and again to that basic truth—being "full" with the fruit of the Spirit is possible only through dwelling in the presence of Almighty God.

Today’s topic, or today’s "fruit," is love, the first fruit of the Spirit listed. And I know you’ve heard me say this before; God’s "default" position is love. Forced to name one, and only one, characteristic of God, the correct answer would be love. Yes, we read about God’s anger, and the wrath of God—judgment and consequences to disobedience. That speaks to the seriousness of God’s standards for our lives and our seeking to order our lives within those standards. But the prevalent characteristic of God, over all others, is love. We need to hear that and receive that again and again.

Several years ago I was preparing to officiate a wedding in our church in Texas. In the course of meeting with the couple—first together as a couple, then individually a few times—I found the bride to be painfully shy. In fact, at first I had to ask her a couple of times if she really wanted to get married until I learned that she was just incredibly quiet and shy. As I visited with her, I discovered her shyness was rooted in two life experiences: One was the teaching of the church she grew up in that God was a wrathful, angry God; and the second was growing up with a demanding mother. Those two experiences—a God she could never be good enough for and a mother she could never please—created this painfully shy person. She was afraid to breathe, let alone speak or attempt anything daring. Beneath that painfully shy exterior was a bright and witty young woman, but it took a lot of coaxing to bring it out. In our conversations, she said she knew that God was loving, "God is love," as the Bible verse says and the opening of the marriage ceremony recites, but she obviously couldn’t get the message to her heart. Or it took a long time for the message to get there. As my friend Sandi Marr says, "The longest distance is between the head and the heart."

So, it’s important we get the message straight and we communicate it clearly: God is love. Listen to these words from 1 John which puts it more directly and clearly than I ever could:

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. We love because he first loves us. If we say we love God yet hate a brother or sister, we are liars. For if we do not love a fellow believer, whom we have seen, we cannot love God, whom we have not seen. And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love one another," (1 John 4:7-11, 16b, 17, 19-21). I can’t put it any better than that. God is love. It’s foundational to the Christian faith. "Love covers a multitude of sins." "They will know we are Christians by our…? Yes, love! If you want to experience unconditional love that does not stress or disappoint, if you want to be able to express that kind of love, it is possible only through God.

1 Corinthians 13 reminds us of the importance of love. It says if we speak in the most persuasive and eloquent of voices, but have not love, we are like a noisy gong and clashing cymbal. Some of you, in trying to make your point, aren’t being heard because you’re doing so in an unloving manner. Whether in theological discussion, or trying to connect with family, you’re nothing but a clashing cymbal without love. Some of you have faith that can move mountains. But, Paul reminds us, without love you are nothing. And some of you lead the way in giving of your time and your money. But, Paul says, without love you gain nothing. If love doesn’t undergird, support and run throughout whatever you’re doing, you’re wasting your breath, your faith doesn’t matter, and your giving has no purpose. At the end of the day what really matters is faith, hope and love…and the greatest of these is love.

So let’s make sure we get the message straight…in your own life, and in the life of others. God is love. His love is unconditional, constant and abiding. It is God’s default position—love. This table is a reminder of the magnitude of God’s love for us…and love’s primacy in our lives.

So, do you want to experience more love in your life? Do you want to be more loving? Spend more time with God. Seek love, not from creation, but from the Creator.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love one another. (1 John 4:16b, 21)