Grace to you and peace from God our Father and our Lord and
Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen
Well, it’s time.
It’s time we talk
about “it”.
“Talk about what?”
you say.
“Well, “It”.
“It” is that one
thing that is more important than anything else.
“It” can be hard
to define, but we all know “it” when we see “it”.
Some have “it”.
Some don’t.
I once attended a
leadership seminar put on by the Disney corporation. They talked about “it”.
“It” was one of
the most important things they did.
“It” was the key
to their success.
Another word for “it”
is the “X Factor”.
“Well, that helps
a lot!” you say.
“What is that?”
The “X Factor.”
You know.
The “X Factor” is
a variable in a given situation that could have the most significant impact on
the outcome.
For the Disney Corporation,
and all their theme parks, “it” refers to this special quality that creates a
magical kingdom, a happy place, and an experience that keeps people coming
back.
One of the things
that Disney focuses on is that they are there to provide entertainment.
One of the
feelings that they hope to create for their customers goes back in time to the
joyful anticipation of going to the movies.
In order to set
the stage for that experience, they pay attention to details.
Whenever you
enter a Disney theme park one of the first things you will notice is the
unmistakable aroma of freshly popped buttered popcorn.
First thing in
the morning, and it is almost irresistible, that pleasant smell of the popcorn.
But their goal is
not to sell popcorn.
Rather it is to
bring you back to a point in time when you entered a movie theater. They want you to be prepared to see ‘the
greatest show on earth’. The smell of
popcorn helps.
One of the other
things we learned about Disney theme parks is that they are two storied. They don’t look like it. They don’t look like it because all we see is
the stage. But in the basement, the
underground, is the back stage area. A
lot happens behind the scenes in the backstage area. But on stage, everything is in
character. You never see Mickey Mouse
taking a break.
Whenever anyone
is on stage, interacting with the public, they are in character.
The power of “it”
is how Disney describes this X Factor, this intangible quality that is
the key to their success.
But you didn’t
come here today to hear about Walt Disney and the Disney Way.
We’re here to
talk about the Church.
Our faith.
And how we can
share our faith with others.
Paul writes in
Romans:
“Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord
shall be saved.”
But how are they to call on one in whom they
have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of whom they have never
heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are
they to proclaim him unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are
the feet of those who bring good news!”
What is the “X Factor”
for the Church?
What is the “It”
that makes all the difference?
Some have “it”
and some don’t.
It’s hard to
describe “it”, but we know “it” when we see “it”
And this is the
thing, if we don’t experience “it”, we know that something is missing.
Churches have
tried all sorts of things to be successful.
Programs to meet
every conceivable need.
The Razzle Dazzle
of a high production, professional quality, performance for worship.
Creating an
environment in which people feel at one and the same time at home, and in a
sacred space.
One of the
struggles for a small congregation like us is that we look at the bigger
Churches and all they do, and feel bad because we simply do not have the resources
to do all those things that seem to make the big Churches attractive places to
worship.
But all that ‘stuff’
that the mega Churches do, is not the X Factor, the “it” that makes the
difference.
What is “it”?
What really makes
the difference?
“It” is simply
this:
Do you have love
for one another.
The beauty of
this is that a small congregation like ours is as capable of loving one another
as the largest congregation, and in fact, may be even more capable.
I give you a new commandment, that you love
one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By
this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one
another."
At times we
struggle with how we can bear witness to Christ Jesus, and what is required of
us to do so that others might come to a saving faith in our Lord.
We envy those who
are eloquent, who seem to have all the right answers, and who say all the right
things.
But only one
thing is required of us.
That we love one
another.
There is no other
way to bear witness to the love of God that is ours in Christ Jesus than to
love one another.
People know it,
when they see it.
And if they don’t
experience it, they know that something is missing.
But as simple as
it seems, there are often challenges.
Sometimes we
simply don’t talk about it much.
There’s a joke
about Ole and Lena.
Lena wasn’t happy
with their marriage and so she got Ole to go with her to see the pastor.
“I just don’t
know if he loves me anymore.” Lena said.
“Well, Ole” the
pastor replied, “do you love her?”
“Of course I love
her”, Ole replied, “I told her that 40 years ago when we got married. And not only that, I told her that if it ever
changed, I’d let her know.”
Do we have love
for one another?
And equally
important, do we take the time to show each other that we love one another.
Or even more
important, do we treat one another in a way that others will be able to see
that we love one another.
Love.
It’s hard to
define, but we know it when we see it.
But there are
certain things that we can do, that lovers do, that bear witness to that love.
How do we love
one another as Christ first loved us?
First, we delight
in each other. Delight. Isn’t that a wonderful word. To love someone is to delight in them. To accept them just the way they are.
Sometimes this is
missing. We find ourselves thinking that
it would be easier to love someone if they were different than they are. But that is not how love works, and that is
not what lovers do.
Delight. You are special. God made you who you are, and you are
beautiful.
The stuff of
love.
Second, to love
is to be willing to accept our differences and forgive our wrongs.
This is what
Jesus does, does he not? He accepts
us. He forgives us.
If we want to
bear witness to the love of God, then we need to practice this fine art of
acceptance and forgiveness.
Our human
tendency is to let these differences and the wrongs that are done to divide
us. Churches fight over the strangest of
things, sometimes. And we tend to prefer
to hang out with people that are like us.
But the fact is
that we are all different. Unique in our
own right.
And none of us
are perfect. We will all make mistakes.
To love is to
accept our differences, and forgive the wrongs done to us.
And thirdly,
lovers treat each other in special ways.
Paul writes in 1st Corinthians, chapter 13:
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not
envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but
rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things.
This is a tall
order. To actually treat one another in
this way, requires discipline, and practice.
Love is patient,
Love is kind.
Well, that seems
simple enough but how often are we too quick to be impatient, and then to act
in ways that are not kind.
How often do we
insist on doing it “our way”, you know, like Frank Sinatra: “I did it my way”?
That’s a hard one
for me. My psychologist once asked me “What
is the first thing you say?” I had no
clue what he was talking about.
“The first thing
you say,” he responded, “is your conclusion.
You think things over in your head so much, that by the time you speak
you’ve already come to a conclusion.”
Insisting on my
own way is a huge problem for me.
It’s a huge
problem in the Church.
We tend to be so
convince that our convictions are right that we insist on doing it “our way”,
and often run right over others in the process.
And if we don’t
get it done “our way” we are prone to leave.
But that’s not loving.
Because finally,
as Paul says, “love never ends.”
It doesn’t end
because someone is different than us.
It doesn’t end
because “somebody done somebody wrong.”
It doesn’t end
because we don’t get our way.
Love, simply,
never ends.
But it takes
practice.
How can we
practice this simple act of loving one another?
I’m not going to
tell you this. You have to figure it out
for yourself.
The reason I’m
not going to give you a list of things to do, is because of my tendency to jump
to conclusions and insist on my own way.
Peace Lutheran
needs to discover its own unique way to love one another.
But this I
know: That unless we have love for one
another, nothing else we do will matter.
By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you have love for one another."
Amen.
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