Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads, faced with the choice between retaliation or forgiveness, anger or love? Our Lenten journey takes us through these very human experiences, weaving a tapestry of stories that illustrate the transformative power of choosing love, even in the most trying of times. As we navigate the complexities of life, we often overlook the simple yet profound impact of love in action; from the domestic misunderstandings that test our patience to the everyday encounters that invite us to see Jesus in our midst.
During our intimate discussions, we confront the internal battles that arise in moments of frustration, like the vexing sound of early morning construction or the accidental destruction of a beloved grapevine. These narratives serve as a mirror, reflecting the ways in which our reactions can either foster a forgiving environment or escalate into regret and shame. The narrative shifts to an understanding that love and sacrifice are pillars on which we can build a life that resonates with the teachings of Jesus, inviting listeners to embrace a spirit of communion and community that extends beyond traditional barriers.
Our closing thoughts circle back to the essence of our faith, a reminder that all are welcomed to partake in the bread of life, regardless of our perceived unworthiness. Here, we're not just sharing tales; we're offering an open invitation for you to join us at the table, to find sustenance for the soul, and to recognize that growth in faith can be as simple as sharing a meal with others. This series is an open door, an opportunity to live openly, to love generously, and to follow the path that leads to true transformation and self-discovery. Join us in embracing our authentic selves and the relentless love that calls us home.
This podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/giving
In the service of LOVE,
Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake
Have you ever found yourself at a crossroads, faced with the choice between retaliation or forgiveness, anger or love? Our Lenten journey takes us through these very human experiences, weaving a tapestry of stories that illustrate the transformative power of choosing love, even in the most trying of times. As we navigate the complexities of life, we often overlook the simple yet profound impact of love in action; from the domestic misunderstandings that test our patience to the everyday encounters that invite us to see Jesus in our midst.
During our intimate discussions, we confront the internal battles that arise in moments of frustration, like the vexing sound of early morning construction or the accidental destruction of a beloved grapevine. These narratives serve as a mirror, reflecting the ways in which our reactions can either foster a forgiving environment or escalate into regret and shame. The narrative shifts to an understanding that love and sacrifice are pillars on which we can build a life that resonates with the teachings of Jesus, inviting listeners to embrace a spirit of communion and community that extends beyond traditional barriers.
Our closing thoughts circle back to the essence of our faith, a reminder that all are welcomed to partake in the bread of life, regardless of our perceived unworthiness. Here, we're not just sharing tales; we're offering an open invitation for you to join us at the table, to find sustenance for the soul, and to recognize that growth in faith can be as simple as sharing a meal with others. This series is an open door, an opportunity to live openly, to love generously, and to follow the path that leads to true transformation and self-discovery. Join us in embracing our authentic selves and the relentless love that calls us home.
This podcast is made possible, thanks to the generosity of our donors. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church you can donate at https://www.firstlovechurch.org/giving
In the service of LOVE,
Pastors Dennis and Heather Drake
Welcome to the First Love Church podcast. This is a collection of Sunday teachings inspired by the revised common lectionary and recorded weekly in Ocala, florida. We're so grateful again that you've gathered with us this morning, and I remind you of this truth Love is already present here. You have love in you, lavish love, beloved, because you are the image of Christ. There is love in you, and when we gather together, love is just magnified. The scripture tells us this where two or three are gathered together, there is Christ in the middle of them. And again, we're not waiting on Christ to arrive. Christ is with us always, and so the Christ in us greets the Christ in you, and we're grateful for your presence here this morning. You've joined us this morning, whether in person or online.
Speaker 1:You've joined us during this Lenten season, and this is a joyous season, even if you didn't know it was. This is a time for us to unburden ourselves, to let go of certain things in order that we might receive and be conduits of more love. That's the goal We've been talking about. What is the goal for all of us in Lent? What if it was possible that we would let love get the last word in everything, even in our own conversations in our head. What if love got the last word the way that you talked to yourself? What if love got the last word when you were watching the news? What if love got the last word when you were driving in traffic? These things are possible, beloved. We know this because God has a new creation coming for all of us, and this is the invitation.
Speaker 2:Could it be possible that love could have the last word in conversations with your spouse and your family?
Speaker 1:I believe that is true. Here's why because God, because love, because beloved. You are sacred beings of love. Love is already in you. One of the things that love does is unstop the well of love that is already there. One of the things that love does is more love only equals more love. We're grateful this morning, in the presence of love, that you might be able to hear and receive the love that you really are.
Speaker 2:You know, what you're saying is beautiful and all, but sometimes those are just pretty words that people say at church. I wonder if we really can understand the practicality of that. I know for myself, I've heard that. But then I feel like I'm being taken advantage of. When I feel that overwhelming sense of taking advantage of, I figure, well, I need to say something, I need to defend myself, I need to take my stand here and I can justify that.
Speaker 2:I would argue with any boss or any person that would defy my sense of happiness or success or whatever, or any family member or wife or whatever. It really boiled down to the fact that I had to come to terms with. Can I really trust God? Will I really trust him that God has the best for us, that God will take care of this situation, will bring justice to us? That is when I finally ventured out in the waters of actually holding my tongue, actually letting love have the last word. It's a practice. By no means am I standing here perfected in this because my children would stand up and say boo, not true.
Speaker 1:I've told them not to. No, they wouldn't do that. None of us have. We're not booing anyone here.
Speaker 2:Maybe my friends would, maybe we're not booing anyone, but it's a process that I urge you to surrender in, because I think there are more people like me that might be listening, that have that sense that and really can we boil down to that place of trust that God is taking care of you and going to take care of us.
Speaker 1:One of the beauties that when we gather together is we tell a better story, because sometimes in our mind we tell stories like I'm being taken advantage of or we have an inner narration that may need some healing, and so when we tell stories together we may remember better parts of the story. We were just at a funeral last weekend and somebody started sharing a story afterward around a table about the woman who has since gone on into an eternal realm and they said remember when? And they told their story. And then somebody said but remember this. And then added another perspective she also loved this. And then someone else said but don't forget about this. This was also her and I was thinking what a better story when we all tell the story.
Speaker 1:And that's what Jesus did when he said to Mary upon his resurrection go and tell the boys that I'm alive. Go and tell them. There's better news than we could have even imagined. And the resurrection was not the end of it, beloved. It's the ascension and it's our invitation to practice resurrection. I don't know if you knew that, but you can practice resurrection in your own life. You can practice allowing things that were without hope to now have hope and allow resurrection to begin in your life, and so together we're going to offer a better story this morning. And one of the things that I love about all of us together is especially when someone among us would say I feel like maybe I'm getting taken advantage of and maybe someone else can show us there's areas that we can be gracious in or have gratitude for, or someone else can say to us I know how that feels, I also felt that way, and so not only just to maybe offer perspective, but maybe offer companionship in a difficult time and to say I hear you, I'm witness to that kind of pain.
Speaker 2:You know, what you're saying really inspires me because, you know, I think that when we pray a prayer like your kingdom come, your will be done. Sometimes we put that off in eternity, you know, and what if Jesus's coming could be in you and I every day?
Speaker 1:Yes, we're waiting around for his return.
Speaker 2:But what if he lives inside of each one of us? What if that was the deal?
Speaker 1:That's the deal. That's the right. Yes, thank you Jesus. And so what if?
Speaker 2:his coming was you getting out of the way? Oh, don't shut me down because I'm preaching good. What if, really, the influence in the world will be you and I getting out of the way and really believing what his words say are true and that love will conquer, you know, will bring light to darkness? What if the Christ in you is bright enough to stamp out darkness everywhere you step?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Thank you for that one Amen. Well, no, that's such an encouragement.
Speaker 1:I do want to ask a question. When you say get out of the way, in the same way let's talk about that just for a quick minute, because I think it's important that we recognize our belovedness and we begin with belovedness. And when we're saying get out of our own way, it's maybe an egoic way of thinking or maybe a way that we've protected ourselves for a long time, not our true, beloved, beautiful, love selves that is how the Christ is reimagined in front of us but to say to get out of our own way, maybe to get past the thing that is slowing you down or that you've used for years and years and it doesn't work anymore, or things that we've tried to comfort ourselves with and yet we still feel brokenhearted, beloved. Today is a good day to practice resurrection. There's a new way to live and there's a way to live in love and to live in light and to be light and to be loved to the whole world.
Speaker 2:Well, we ought to preach on that. I think we're going to do it today. I think so. But you know, for us, we put out this image of what we think we are, or what we want people to believe we are, and we spend so much time propping that up. And that's your ego, that is your persona, that's the thing you want people to see, and I got to tell you it's a false self, it's something that you created in your imagination. And if we can get out of that and let who God made us to be and the Christ in us to manifest, then the ability to be generous, the ability to be kind, you know, the ability to triumph in situations where we continually are overwhelmed and defeated because we're doing it in our own strength and you were never meant to. And so maybe today we ought to talk about how, how do we get that ego out of the way? How do we die to ourself?
Speaker 1:Oh, I like this kind of language. How do we die to self but also have the hope of saying what is being resurrected Dear, what is being resurrected in us is so beautiful and so good. It's not just death and that's the end. This is the message of Christ. There is so much more. There is so much more love, sacred love between us for the entire world. I remind you of the Apostles letter to the church at Ephesus, and he said before the world was formed, God had you in mind that you would be made whole and holy by God's love. That is the goal that wholeness, full embodied faith, that love would be preeminent in our thoughts and in the way that we engage the world. And so the understanding is that love will bring us wholeness and that wholeness and holiness are equating.
Speaker 1:I was thinking about this this week and going around, because I was paying attention to things that are sacred. I'm getting some things together for Easter and in this Lenten season we put some things away and we're looking for things, and I was thinking, you know, looking at this and thinking this is sacred. And then I began to challenge my own self in going well, is there anything that is profane? Is there anything that is not sacred? And I couldn't find anything. I kept looking for things that were not sacred, and yet I kept finding them, because I kept finding creation. I kept finding goodness. So, whatever you look for beloved, you will find. If you are looking for the sacred, you will find it everywhere. You will find it in nature, you will find it in your neighbor, you will find it in the air around you and you will find it in yourself.
Speaker 2:But if you're looking for problems, no one here is doing that.
Speaker 1:No one is looking for problems. No, no, no, no. What we're doing is we're looking for places of resurrection, and there's a difference. When you see something and it is dead I love a line from the Princess Bride it doesn't mean it's all the way dead. There might be some life in there still, and so maybe in our own lives we look for, is it possible we can allow love to bring us back to life?
Speaker 2:This week Thomas and I put a trellis over our grapevines. We had those posts and then we put trellis over it, and so every year in February I prune the grapevines once a year, and so I was kind of a little long now, you know, because here's March and but I want to get that trellis up because I wanted to fish some of those vines up now so they'll grow over, so we can walk under my dreams. One day grapes will be hanging from that thing. I don't even like grapes, but it's the coolest thing. So I had grapes in my backyard when I was a kid, so I just like them.
Speaker 2:So we got this up here and then it was just when you prune them back, like 80, 90 percent. So except for I just keep the vines and what's on the wires. And then I was saving some of the good ones that were going the right direction to go up and I was fishing them up in the trellis and a son was baking yesterday and I sliced my fingers so many times with those pruning things. I put them in my pocket and then reached down. So I'm aggravating stuff and so this one particular is like all the grapevines are different sizes and the ones, the skinnier one, and so it didn't have like hardly any, and so I'm rifling through all of these you know vines to try to find them, sweat and hot and cut them, you know. And then I got this one and it's dangled right, you know, and there's only like two on this one that could reach. The rest of them were good and Heather walked by.
Speaker 1:Well, you're not going to tell that part of the story.
Speaker 2:No, no, no, no take the other part of the story. It's so good.
Speaker 1:This is so good. Let me tell you how it went. Beloved, You're justing when you say that I am Jesus.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no. So here's what happened.
Speaker 1:I am justing also. But I really did the wrong thing.
Speaker 2:So she walks by and just cuts it and goes on.
Speaker 1:It was causing a problem, I just cut it right off.
Speaker 2:There was so much work, I worked all of this, just connect right there and I have one and it's dangling, and it's dangling, just so I can you know. And then I'm getting.
Speaker 1:And I was so mad?
Speaker 2:Do you know what I mean when you're just like I'm working here, it's hot, I'm doing all this thing, and then she goes. Oh sorry.
Speaker 1:I did. I did I apologize After I saw what it happened it didn't pay off.
Speaker 2:My like it didn't match.
Speaker 1:Sorry.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to communicate something to people. Heather, do you ever want to get to extract a pound of flesh from someone? Do you ever want to some way make them pay for what they have done to you, the harm they have done? And I am sitting out here hot, angry, cut up, broken hearted. There's no way to tape that back on. She has ruined my efforts.
Speaker 2:And then God says love gets the last word. Oh, but I got some stuff to say. And there's, what is that? Let's talk. What is that thing that demands the pound of flesh, that demands the last word? What would have accomplished by me brow beating her? No, no, more better than any kind of brow beating that she would try to give me. We would tear one another down.
Speaker 2:Our own home that we want, with that we say out of our mouth, is a home, a built on love and exists on love. But not when I'm pissed, not when you cut my, my grapevine. Now, somebody help me out. Now I just custom church. You better believe that I'm serious now. I mean, we have got to make a choice here, church.
Speaker 2:And I wanted, and I thought, a lot of stuff, but I didn't say any of them. She knew that I was mad, and so she gave me some space and let me deal with my own issues, because it's my fault. Now, you know, and it's not right for me to intimidate and scare and any of those things, and so all of those things I'm trying to. Well, honey, it'll grow back next year, but there's, there's a choice for us and you have to decide.
Speaker 2:What kind of home do you want? Do you want a Christ? Because you know what I want, more than my way and to have said what I needed to say I want the presence of the living God. I want God's love that conquers death in the great that, that. I want that kind of peace and sweetness where where her and I can make mistakes around each other and not be criticized and judged for it. I'm preaching to some people right now who live in that and feel like you're well, look, it's all right unless you make me mad. And when you get me mad enough, when you got me mad enough, then now I have to know there's never anyone who has the power to make you anything. You give over to it. And I'm preaching right now.
Speaker 1:That's why I'm letting you go. I'm just listening. Just listening.
Speaker 2:And so are we going to give over to that continually, or will we give over to the spirit of love, to kindness, and let that permeate our home? Because I'm going to tell you something All I would have did is have shame after I did what I did, because you know how. I know I've done it before. Don't, don't say amen.
Speaker 1:I said nothing.
Speaker 2:I left. But it ain't funny. It ain't funny the abuse and the hurt that I've put on my family because I've decided I I've been pushed too far. Well, you know what? Now you get my wrath.
Speaker 1:Tech, it's like, it's like wrestling up here. We just got to make sure we know who's going in, because I think that when you ask, like what is it, that needs to be heard, why do I need to say something? When someone's angry, we have to recognize we're brokenhearted. There's a hurt. Dennis had worked really hard and he wants to have a place for the family to enjoy it, and he had suffered in the heat and he had intention to make this one vine go a certain way. And I do want to tell you that was his intention.
Speaker 1:But we all know plants do what they want. Like that may never have worked, even if I didn't go out it, but I did. I just came by and I just cut it, clipped it right off. So I know that's not an excuse. That's not an excuse.
Speaker 1:But here let me say what's happening is sometimes, if we're not aware of our own brokenheartedness, what we do is we in turn break someone else's heart. We want shared emotion and so if we're aware that what we are is brokenhearted, we can ask the spirit of God, the comforter, to come and heal us. We don't have to try to break someone else so we can have mutuality. We can say, holy Spirit, what I wanted didn't happen and I wanted good, I wanted good. That's when it's difficult for us, when we want good things for someone else and we are criticized, or when we intended for it to come out a certain way and it didn't. Those are the times when things really hurt, and so when we go to the tax today some of the Greeks some Greeks who had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration paid a visit to Philip.
Speaker 1:Philip, I'm so glad that you're here this morning in person, because I love to read the scriptures about Philip. But we have a Philip in our midst and since we're seeing his name, I like in the scripture he's a really good guy, which our Philip is too. But I, like you, know when things are approved and beautiful in this way. But they paid a visit to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and they said, Sir, we want to meet Jesus. Now I don't want to just brush by this Well, there's so much more that I want to get to but in this idea that somebody else had heard about Jesus, they had heard a lot about him and they knew that Philip kind of knew him and they were like, Sir, we would like to see Jesus.
Speaker 1:I wonder how many times our neighbors actually would say to us I would like to see Jesus, or the people that we work with I would like to see Jesus. And so I think that we have to pay attention to this is not just a one time event, but this story, this account, gives us perspective into someone else's life. They'd heard about him, but they would like an interaction with him, and so they ask his friends. Beloved, we are friends of Christ, and so very often what the world needs, when they ask us for something, is they need to see Jesus.
Speaker 2:But it's so good when you say your neighbors need to see Jesus. You know, this morning time changing everything. We're trying to sleep and then we hear beep, beep, that piercing sound of machinery backing up. And then right next door, in that lot, like just right next to the house, they got up before the crack had dawn.
Speaker 1:And they are moving.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, and they're moving. You know, and I'm thinking, you know, sunday, really you have to do this on the Lord's Day, when we're trying to sleep, you know. And so I mean all those things I wanted to, you know, ask them and say, but when I made eye contact I just smiled and waved, and so I want to maybe address that idea that we think God's gonna come in and just change your feelings and all of a sudden you're just gonna float around and feel happy about everyone. But I want to offer you the consideration that maybe those things in life are gonna still annoy you, but you're gonna recognize what transformation happens when I surrendered to Christ in them. Amen. Did you know? I was struggling with that this morning with those people. I went on a completely different route.
Speaker 1:It was loud, like right next to our bedroom window, and I thought, well, they have really big machinery, that's really big tools, that's loud. And then I thought to myself I'm so glad they have really big tools, that's a really big job. And then in the morning was very early still dark in fact, the sun wasn't up and I said, oh my gosh, I bless the work of their hands. May it be done quickly. And this is why, because I run the dishwasher all hours of the night, beloved, I know that I make noise with my tools. That dryer has those wool balls in them and it is thumping, thumping, thumping all hours of the night, all hours of the morning. But those are my tools for my work and I want them blessed. So when I heard somebody else's work, instead of being annoyed I thought, oh, I also have tools that annoy other people. Bless them, bless them, may they not hear it. I might pray. I didn't get to you, apparently.
Speaker 2:My thing is high school and she's master's or bachelor's or whatever.
Speaker 1:No, but I saw the I swear we are on this thing, you know. I heard that noise and thought of my own noise.
Speaker 2:It was 5.55 and I turned the dryer on this morning. I never arrived at that thought.
Speaker 1:Well, I came to that thought and I blessed the work of their hands. Big tools make big jobs possible.
Speaker 2:Back to the drawing board.
Speaker 1:Philip told Andrew about it and together they went to ask Jesus. I love this part too, Because somebody comes to Philip and says, hey, we want to see Jesus. And Jesus is like let me talk to my brother. And so he goes and he gets his brother like I don't know if we should let him in, I don't know if we should tell him this, you know, like I don't know how this is gonna go, but let's have a conversation. So he has a side conversation with someone and they go ask Jesus about these Jews who have, these Greeks who have come to ask. We pause here for a moment to thank you for joining us today. If you're finding this episode meaningful, would you take a moment to share it with a friend? This podcast is made possible thanks to the generosity of people just like you. If you would like to support the ongoing work of First Love Church and the continued work of our podcast, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg, reminding you to like, follow and subscribe.
Speaker 2:This is a lot like church government. You know it's church getting in the way of Jesus. You know, now we gotta decide where they're gonna let the people see Jesus. Can we just tell you right up front you get to see Jesus.
Speaker 1:Yes, thank you very much Right we'll just spoiler alert, no one gets to tell you you can't talk with Jesus.
Speaker 1:Now Jesus replies to Andrew and to Philip they're there having a conversation. I don't know, maybe he wasn't dressed yet. That's how I go. I like there's a reason. Jesus wasn't talking to them particularly. They went in and they said hey, you know the, these people have come and they wanna talk with you. And then Jesus says to his people, to his friends, to Philip and to Andrew Now the time has come for the Son of man to enter his glory.
Speaker 1:Now, because we're in this side of history, we understand this is the beginning of the farewell discourse. Jesus knows that he is gonna die and he keeps telling his friends don't panic, I know that this is gonna happen and then there's going to be a resurrection. They do, of course, do not understand it. It doesn't make sense to them in their brain. But this is the beginning of this. Jesus says I tell you the truth. So he's trying to explain this to them through ways of plants and agriculture. Unless a kernel of wheat is planted in the soil and dies, it remains alone. But its death will produce many new kernels, a plentiful harvest of new lives. Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.
Speaker 2:You see where we're going with this today. You're tracking with me. You know, and maybe you've read this kind of verse before and it's like you know, how do I? You know, what does it mean to lose your life? You know, and we all have been given this life and you can lead it, however, in whichever direction you want, but if you will stop your will and your way of doing things, you're gonna die to that. You have to die to that unhealthy, unholy desire of addiction if you wanna be free. But you will have to die to that.
Speaker 2:And there's many, many times in our lives, daily, that we can choose to die to the ego and choose to die to our way of doing things. And I'm gonna tell you something I believe this from the bottom of my heart. I don't know where this teaching was in my younger years and I wish I had known it. But the opportunity I cherish every opportunity to learn to die, because by the time I actually die, I'm gonna be really good at it. I want to be. I don't want, you know, and I've been in hospice with people that die peacefully, because they know where they're going and they've loved well and they've served well and there's a peace. And then I've watched people fight it and fight it with their last choking breath and I gotta tell you I've seen people with regret and I've seen people without any and I'm telling you there's something about that place of service and love and dying to it. And it's painful, boy, when someone cuts your vine, but and she's so sorry.
Speaker 2:That's just easy.
Speaker 1:In a million years. I would have rather cut my hair than cut that vine, but this is the whole.
Speaker 2:I would much rather the vine be cut. I love your beauty, okay, so, like we do, make no mistake, we don't want Melcopa, you don't want any kind of to bloodletting. I just, I just with that, but I just, you know, I just want to remind you that it's practical, that it's happening today, you know, and there's these beautiful opportunities for and God will, because he loves you so much, he will give you an opportunity to just come against your will, come against your ego in your way, and maybe that's why things are always tough for you, because you continue to demand your way.
Speaker 1:Let's talk about, maybe, why we would demand our way just for a hot second. Because maybe you're afraid if you don't stand up for you, no one else will. Maybe experience has told you, if you don't put yourself first, no one else will. But I want to tell you something that, deep within yourself, you already know God is good and can be trusted. Love is good and can be trusted. In fact, it is the prophet in the first testament where God says don't seek your own good, because I, the Lord, have already planned it. Here's what I know about a good party. My daughter throws a great one. Sometimes I don't even want to throw a party because she throws such a better party.
Speaker 1:This is true about God too. If you have plans for your life beloved, let me tell you something God has bigger and better ones, and so being able to trust in that belovedness, in that love that is already in the universe around us, to be able to say what I can believe in is not just healing, but I can believe in abundance, I can believe in hope, I can believe in the power of love that will allow us to look at death square in the face unafraid. For many years, people have said don't look at those things, but let teaches us look at it. Look at it unafraid, because you know we're just passing through. This is a threshold. This time, this realm that we're in even is changing, and so it is an invitation into the realm of love, into the realm of knowing that God's presence is with us, even if we find ourselves buried.
Speaker 2:You know there's issues in your life reoccurring things and when they're, when you see them being a struggle for you and for people around you and in your relationships, you can decide to be stubborn and keep going, or you can let the Holy Spirit unpack things in your life, and that's what. Looking at death, we want to look away, but sometimes you got to look into that. There's a thing that happens at my house and it's happened for years. It's been one of the things and it might seem so silly, but it's been just something that's always been a problem, and it is that when I bring home a styrofoam thing from a restaurant and I exactly cut my meal in half, even though I wanted to eat the whole thing, but I thought to myself boy, this is going to be great for breakfast the next day or lunch or even a snack, and I put it in the fridge. And then I go back expecting to see the thing that I wrote my name on in the fridge and it's gone. And then I do a poll Anyone do a poll? Who ate it? And all the little rodents who snuck in there and took it to have? No, they, just they. No one knows where it went, but it's empty, it's gone and you know, except for the little green decoration on the plate, that was the only thing left in the.
Speaker 2:And I mean I have tried to talk to people and explain this, you know, and I've tried, and there's a thing where you can just justify. You know, I paid bills around here, you know I'll buy you food all this justification but it's like, look at that, it's ugly, it causes a problem. Why don't I look at it? And so I've reluctantly looked at this thing and though I can justify it, and though I can tell you that you know it boils down to we were poor when we were kids and I didn't have a lot, and so you know, getting my share my food it was it meant a lot to me, more than I realized, and so much so that I will sacrifice my wife or my children's peace, or even the way that kindness towards them, my love for them, would be sacrificed over this covenant I made of lack. And so I looked at that ugliness, you know, and and I realized, for whatever reason, that is so important to me, that's more important to me than the people that I love getting fed. It's what it is. Now I could justify a plan and I can ask, and and whatever, and they.
Speaker 2:But at the end of the day, do I want good for my children and my wife she never steals food but in I'm just saying you know, do you want that for your, for your people that you love? Are you willing to lay down your life if you don't get the leftovers that you saved? Because I know, oddly enough, there are so many people that really connect with what I'm saying. They really get behind me when I go. When I go, you gotta yell at them, you gotta write your name, you gotta teach them. But when I say this all of a sudden I get pushed back because this is the hard part here. This is the hard part of dying to yourself every day and all those moments. Yeah, but you gotta teach them. What do you gotta teach them? To rule their house the same way that your parents showed you. That didn't work really great for them and has caused you all kinds of therapy bills. So we're gonna continue in that spiral, year after your generation of generation, or somebody gonna stand up and say, no, I'm gonna teach them that love is the best choice and love would prefer.
Speaker 2:It seems to me scripture says something about that putting another needs above your own. Is that not the definition of love? My needs are to have some leftovers. I ordered six ribs, pastor Lee. I ate three. I disciplined myself so that when I get later I can eat those other three. And they're gone. The vine has been cut, the deed has been done. Help me Jesus. Help me Jesus to love and to have joyfully, not angrily, let it ripped from my fingers, but that my heart and my hands would open up and I'd love like Christ. Love. You got one. Are you gonna rebuttal me? We were already at 90%. She went to 91, but I'm not gonna argue with you.
Speaker 1:Jen's right. Let me just say that let's just from the pulpit, let's just talk about that. There is for us an understanding that in the, what appears a momentary lack for us produces a harvest, a harvest that is generous, that is plentiful, that is bigger than we could imagine. You can have your one vine and you can keep it, or you can cut it back and get more. That's the hope of all of us. If you need more tips on that, you can talk to Amy, who has my governs, and she literally does that for a business, and it is beautiful work, but she'll tell you all about. I just ask her and then she tells me what to do. So sometimes we need other people in our lives who will say to us yes, cut that back. You can trust that God is good. You can give that away freely. Instead of going through lives with tight, fisted, closed hands. We can open our hands and experience. Do you know what you can carry with this? Only what you have with this?
Speaker 1:When we were little, we had three flights of stairs up to the up to our bed. There's a lot of stairs, so my grandmother would say to me can you take this upstairs? And so I would come to her with my things in my hands that had to go upstairs and she would look at me and say, baby, you got to come to me with open hands. That meant she had some things for me to take upstairs. But very often we come to God with our closed hands. This is mine, this is what I'm getting, and God has something beautiful for us to take up to the family. Leave that stuff down. Come with open hands to God, to the table of communion, come to receive that so that we can freely give it away boy, is that good teaching?
Speaker 1:those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in the world will keep it for eternity. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am and the father will honor anyone who serves me. And this is what we're talking about when we're saying we are disciples of Christ, that we are people who follow the way of Jesus. The way of Jesus is open hands. The way of Jesus is loving the whole world. This is the way that God loved the world, that he gave his own son. Anyone who wants to serve me must follow me, because my servants must be where I am.
Speaker 2:I just want to interject quickly, one minute, including minute, david, that Christ's invitation is to follow and religion's invitation is to sit down and listen, and so we're not asking you to join this church. If you want to, that's great, but the invitation is to follow Christ. You leave from this place and follow Christ. If coming here helps you follow Him, then we're doing good job, then that's great. But religion will always sit down. I know more than you, but I love that invitation.
Speaker 2:Jesus finds these fishermen and he says get up, come, follow me. There's always that place of motion that it will require something from you, and so I understand that. Maybe we've kind of all been trained in religion, and religion creates this idea that unless I got my masters or my bachelors, and I'm not eligible to speak, or I'm not qualified, I don't pray as good as Heather does, so I can't do it. We all have this gift, and when we rise up and begin to follow, that's when we start to see the real transformation. Amen. So understand that idea to follow and then recognize when you're asked to sit and see what spirit that is where that's of, because God's saying come, come on just as you are, and not that he'll leave us just like we are. God just does what God does in that capacity, but there's this invitation to follow amen.
Speaker 1:We're gonna go to the communion table in just a minute. I'm gonna finish these verses here and I encourage you this is just a short, a little parse of the actual conversation. Go home and read it and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Allow the spirit to illuminate your heart and your understanding and see what you're drawn into. But Jesus is talking to these guys, andrew and Philip. These guys wanted to hear from him and he begins to say things and I appreciate this about Jesus.
Speaker 1:So he starts telling a story and maybe using my holy imagination, philip and Andrew are just like. We just wanted a yes or no. Can they see you or not? And that's not what Jesus gave them. Jesus gave them a teaching because this pattern needs to be repeated. It's not a yes or no could have been for those particular people, but a pattern we can use now as people.
Speaker 1:And so Jesus says my soul is deeply troubled. Should I pray, father, save me from this hour. But this is the very reason I came. Pause just for a moment. If you haven't read this, I'm gonna spoil it for you. But Jesus actually does this. He actually goes to the garden and he actually does really wrestle this out, and I love this part about the humanity of the Christ, who knows what to do, but when he actually has to do it, he has to wrestle it out. There's no skipping over the heartache, there's no skipping over the frustration or the suffering he really does, but he knows the end. He always knows the end. I'm gonna say your will be done. And I was thinking about this.
Speaker 1:I was listening to a woman this weekend and she was saying she said God and I have a weird dance and I was like, well, I wanna hear what that is. And she said he'll ask me to do something and I'll argue and I'll be like, absolutely not, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. And she goes and then always turns out. I say yeah, you're right, and she goes, and that's how I've lived my whole life. She goes. So God and I are in a lifelong argument and I thought that's a great way to really live your life. I think it is, as long as God always gets the answer. There you always win. But she's staying in, because here's even what Jesus say stay in the argument.
Speaker 1:Very often we say things about God and then we turn off the conversation. We don't even go any further. Argue it out, wrestle it out, ask some people you know, have a conversation. This is the very reason I came Father, bring glory to your name. Then a voice spoke from heaven saying I have already brought glory to my name and I will do so again. And when the crowd heard the voice, some thought it was thunder. Other declared an angel had spoken to him. And Jesus told them the voice was for your benefit, not mine. I love that beautiful thing. Like Jesus is showing the pattern, god comes in, reinforces it and says the glory is already given, I'll do it again.
Speaker 1:People around, though, don't always recognize it as the voice of God. Some people just thought it was thunder. Maybe last night you just thought it was thunder and maybe God was speaking to someone. Maybe I say that in jest there was thunder, but maybe it is the voice of angels. But maybe it is this conversation of saying I know what I need to do and I'm following you.
Speaker 1:It's one of the reasons why we follow Jesus to the communion table, because Jesus says I really desire to have this meal with you, and every week, when we gather together, we honor the mystery that comes to the communion table. That is, in fact, a reenactment, a retelling. There is something supernatural that happens here. So if maybe you didn't enter into worship or into connection during worship, or even during the reading of the word or our discussion of it beloved, there is another invitation into connection and it is the holy communion. And it is so beautiful that we get to tell the story together because we get to remind each other.
Speaker 1:All of us are welcomed at the table of the Lord. Not one of us is not qualified to come and to receive the love that Jesus has given us, has set for us, has invited us into, and what we're invited into is an embodied ritual. We're gonna taste bread and not just talk about it. And it's a tiny bit. You will go away still hungry, but it's a reminder of how good and how nourishing food actually is when you're hungry. It's a tiny bit of the wine, but it is a reminder of what it feels like to have your thirst quenched. This is the love of God shed for you, and when we practice together, we remind ourselves and we remind each other. I'll wait for you to receive what you need from the Lord. I'll wait in a line for someone else to be able to receive what they need from God who lavishes a table and says come and eat and come and drink.
Speaker 2:And Heather's gonna finish a couple of these verses real quickly and we're gonna proceed to communion. Heather and I shared that recently we're at a funeral in a particular denomination, decided to have communion in the funeral but because we weren't part of that denomination, they specifically warned us that we were not welcome to partake of the communion. And again I just felt religion stopping us from this gift that Christ offers. So I wanna remind you today that none of you are forbidden to come to this table.
Speaker 2:None of you are excluded from this table. None of you are worthy enough to receive it. We're all graced to come to the table, and by you're not worthy enough, I mean none of us have exceeded the glory of God. And so God extends God's love towards us and invites us to partake. And so if you've been to a church that has told you that you're not welcome, that's not how we see it and if you've never come to the table, we invite you to come today and allow your belief to grow, allow your faith, that seed, to be nurtured, and so there might be a great fire burning in you, or there might be just a little spark, and as we come to receive daily bread, we receive from God what it is that we need for today. And so, by your response of coming forward, you're saying yes, I want what you have for me, and so I want you to hear that you're all welcome. No one's obligated, you don't have to, but we're never, ever gonna stop you.
Speaker 1:I remind you too, after the resurrection, everybody is astonished. They didn't know that Jesus was going to die, even though he told them over and over again. They did not think it was going to happen this way and they were heartbroken and they were afraid and they were traumatized. And when Jesus shows up again, after he talks to Mary in the garden, Jesus shows up at a table and he's talked with them and he's explained things from the first Testament to them and he's reminded them of what they have and then they eat together. And it says when they broke the bread and when they passed it, their eyes were opened and they saw who he was. There is for us an invitation to illumination, to something that is other, when we eat the bread and when we drink the wine.
Speaker 1:There is an invitation to know Jesus in a way that we don't know him any other way, except that we eat the bread and we drink him, and that our spiritual eyes, the eyes of our heart, the eyes of love, are opened and we can see. We hope you've enjoyed this week's sermon. If you would like more information about us, visit us online at firstlovechurchorg.