Sermon - "I Love You!", by Pastor Ruth L. Foss, Suncook United Methodist Church, Suncook, NH, August 29, 2010

Pastor Ruth Foss
August 29, 2010
Suncook United Methodist Church
Hebrews 13:1-3, 5-6, 15-16 NIV Bible)
Luke 13:10-17 (Common English Bible)


“I Love You!

The love boat soon will be making another run. . . the love boat promises something for everyone . . . (Sing) . . .

How many of you remember the show “The Love Boat”? I remember watching as a kid. I would watch it each week . . . hoping things would work out in the end of these love stories (I think I may have even fallen in love with some of the characters in the stories. . . ). I have always been a hopeless. . . or should I say hopeful romantic. To be swept off my feet by “Mr. Right” and live happily ever after was something that I just knew would happen someday. . . I would be loved unconditionally and I would love in the same way. . . we would have three children, a house with a white picket fence, a couple of horses and a dog. Little girls and little boys too dream of their Night in Shining Armor. We are princesses locked in a tower and need to be set free.

We all have our own Idea about what love should be and how it should look. Unfortunately the vision we have of love may not be the love we receive at all and we wonder where we have gone wrong in life. . . why isn’t love the way we envisioned it to be. . . there must be something wrong with us because our vision of love is the way it should be and we are not living that vision. Is the vision we have for love the vision. . . the way. . . that God sees true love? Is it how our God ordained it to be? Is it the love that kept Jesus’ out stretched arms nail to the cross of Calvary?

Let us pray. . .
Gracious, Loving, God. . . you have called us by name and have loved us before we were born. We thank you for that love that You so richly lavish upon us each and every moment of our lives. We pray for Your loving presence here with us today. May we hear the word you have for us this day. . . may our Spirits stir within us as we hear about a love that surpasses all understanding. May we have eyes to see, ears to hear, and a heart that is open to your still small voice. May your word be heard through me or in spite of me and may the mediations of our hearts and minds be pleasing to you our God, our Rock and our Redeemer.
A men

Love, love love, we all want it. . . we all want to be able to give it to other. . . we are all sure of what love is and what it isn’t. Or do we. . . in the Hebrews passage read today by my lovely assistant Mary Ann we heard about a love that may sound a little strange to us. . . a love that may make us a little squeamish at times. We are told to “Keep Loving each other as brothers” and sisters. Now don’t get me wrong. . . I truly do love other people but do I really have to love that person that gets on my nerves. . . the “Uncle Festers’” of the family? Well. . . the answer to that is Yes! And do I really have to love people as if I was going through the same sufferings that they are even though some may be in their sufferings because of their own doing? The answer to that is Yes! And do I really have to “always” try to do good and share with others? Again. . . guess what the answer is. . . Yes! Well how am I supposed to do that??? Well. . . It’s all about compassion for others. . . It’s all about caring more for others than about our own selves and agenda’s.

Listen to this story about Jesus when He was in the synagogue one day on the Sabbath. . . now here is a real radical man. . . (and I’m going to read from a new translation called the “Common English Bible” and I am reading Luke 13:10-17)) (read passage)

Jesus knew how to love. . . as a matter of fact He was love because His love is what kept Him on the cross. . . Jesus didn’t care what the Pharisees and Sadducees had to say. . . He was in it for loves sake. It was His compassion for those around Him that brought Him to love radically and unreservedly those around Him.

This reading has really made me think about God’s love towards us. During VBS this year, as the story teller, I read to the children the story of the woman at the well. I read it from the voice of the woman herself. You see. . . Jesus offered her a drink from the well of “living water” from which she would never thirst again. But. . . within this well of living water there was something else. . . there was compassion along with that love. Having compassion for others is one of the things that brings us to the place of radical love for others. . . it is what helps us love the “unlovely”, the Uncle Fester’s of our lives. It is this compassion that helps anchor my faith in Jesus’ love for me. It is that hope that will not let me down because as the scripture say” God will not leave me of forsake me.”

Yesterday. . . while I was walking down the street giving out waters. . . I had kind of a revelation. Here it is. . . I was giving out water to people on a hot day who had been standing in the hot sun watching the parade. I was offering them something that they needed. . . a cool drink of water. They needed this life giving water because they were parched by the sun. But it was my compassion for these people that prompted me to do so and because of that compassion I was able to meet their need for the moment. It is compassion that causes us to reach out in love to those around us.

Not only did I show compassion yesterday but so did we as a church. We set out chairs for people to be able to sit instead of stand in the hot sun. . . We as a church worked together to make sure that people had something good to eat with our Fried Dough Booth. . . which I must say was just as good as ever. . . we as a church decided that we would tithe ten percent of our profit to help those in need. . . the list goes on and on how this church shows compassion for those around us.

Church. . . love begins with compassion. . . love is born out of that “virtue”. Love is something that we all need and need to hear someone say it either in action or word. I want you to look to your neighbor next to you. . . tell them you love them no matter what. . . now how great was that. . . you more than likely may have made some ones day. Love really is something that can be “exciting and new” (remember the theme to Love Boat). . . it can be radical and life changing not only for the receiver but also for the giver. Love. . . it leads to compassion and changed lives. Just look at what the love of the author of our faith did for you and for me. It is at the foot of Calvary where we find the strength and joy to say to one another that we love them. . . even the unlovely ones in our lives. Let us play follow the leader with our Risen Lord Jesus Christ and be for the world that healing balm that they need. Oh yah. . . there’s one more thing. . . Jesus loves you and there’s nothing you can do about it. . . and so do I.

Amen?

Luke 13:10-17
Hebrews 13:1-3, 5-6, 15-16
Psalm 112:1-4 (Call to Worship)
Worship Theme: “Treating others with compassion and love.”
and sermon, “I Love You!”
by Pastor Ruth L. Foss
https://twitter.com/PastorRuthFoss
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http://www.ahandmaidenofthelord.blogspot.com
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A Handmaiden of the Lord
http://www.suncookumc.org
Suncook United Methodist Church
http://www.suncookumc.org
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Suncook, NH
August 29, 2010
Fourteenth Sunday after Pentecost


All of my poems are copyrighted by Raymond A. Foss, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012. All rights reserved. Contact me at Ray Foss for usage. See all 20,640+ of my poems at http://www.raymondafoss.blogspot.com Poetry Where You Live.