Spirit of Love: Loving God

 “Spirit of Love: Loving God” was preached at First Presbyterian Church of Allentown, PA on July 3, 2022. You can hear/watch this sermon here,starting at 28:17.

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Scripture Texts:
Psalm 116
Ephesians 3:14-21

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This summer I’ve been spending my free time at the pool. For me, Sabbath comes from the hot sun, refreshing waters, inflatable chair, and a cold drink, mini umbrella optional. I did this on Friday; I did this the weekend before and the weekend before that… almost every weekend since Memorial Day. I’m sure sometime today and tomorrow – 4^th of July weekend – will also be no exception. Most likely later today, you will find me at the pool under the hot sun floating on the refreshing waters with a cold drink in hand, mini umbrella optional.

The pool I’ve been spending my free time at is 3/4s surrounded by trees. Huge, tall trees – a combination of vines and pines that tower over the pool. It’s beautiful. Lush, vibrant greenery that climbs its way to the skies. A friend noticed how incredible this sight is, and even said that the view is good enough to be a computer wallpaper background. It’s that good!

So of course, while enjoying the summer heat, I would watch the trees as I would float. And I’m glad I did. Because something magical happens.

With every gust of wind, no matter how big or how small, the wind would blow through the trees. And the trees with leaves the size of the palm of your hand, when the wind ran through those, it looks like creation is cheering.

These trees, when given life through wind, would shake their leaves as if they are shaking a cheerleader’s pompoms. Really, it feels like they are shaking their pompoms for me. It feels like they are cheering me on!

“Go Taylor! Enjoy the sun! Enjoy the pool! Enjoy the rest! You deserve it. Love, Creation and Creator!”

There is no better feeling then when Creation itself cheers you on for enjoying a time of Sabbath.

Have you ever had a moment like this? Or something like it.

Have you ever felt true freedom while hiking? Or have you ever felt in crisis during a thunderstorm? Has rain ever made you felt whole again… or perhaps made you remember your baptism?

Have you ever found deeper meaning in something so typical and standard? Where you knew you were having a conversation with God – maybe one you only understood – but you knew it was with your Creator? And the conversation itself was rooted in mutual love.

And it doesn’t have to be in nature like it does for me. It could be through a conversation with a friend or stranger, maybe a song on the radio, a random epiphany, or even in your evening prayers.

I’m sure we all can name a moment that felt like a conversation with God, a loving conversation with God. In fact, my prayer is that all of us have had this moment because it is something God desires for us. Something that God does for us.

These moments of deeper understanding – making sense of the divine out of the mundane – is God’s Spirit at work in the world and in our lives. These moments of conversation with God is God putting work into being in relationship with us—each of us.

The book we are using for our summer series, “We Make the Road By Walking,” written by Brian McLaren, encourages full participation of us as disciples of Jesus Christ to work alongside the Spirit. Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would take the work that he began and extend it across all of space and time. This work of Christ was rooted in creating a global community of disciples that welcome others into an inclusive kin-dom, a diverse embodiment of love, grace, and mercy. The Spirit started this work across space and time on the Day of Pentecost and has not stopped her work since. Across space and time, the Spirit has invited more and more disciples into her work. This work is done through partnership and relationship. So if we believe God is at work at being in relationship with us, and if we are encouraged to participate in God’s work as disciples of Christ, then our full participation starts by us working at being in relationship with God.

In fact, it must start there: to love God in the same way that God loves us. This type of love is called Agape.

Agape love is the highest form of love; specifically the love that God has for creation and the love creation should have for God. This type of love is a deep and profound sacrificial love that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance. If we as creation have true Agape love for God as we should, this agape love naturally extends to our love for our neighbor and the imago dei – or the image of God found in each person.

The letter to the Ephesians, in its short six chapters, mentions agape love twenty times, used equally as a noun and a verb. Twenty times in six chapters; that’s an impressive frequency! It’s used twice in our passage for today. But what it more impressive than the twenty times agape love is mentioned in this letter is the normalcy in which Paul – the attributed writer of this letter – believes this type of highest love can be achieved. Paul believes the people of Ephesus can draw a deeper understanding of the divine out of the mundane, that they be in divine agape love with God if they are comfortable with expressing concrete forms of love to each other and themselves.

Brian McLaren writes that loving God and loving another human being really are not so different. And if you can do one, you can just as easily do the other. If you can love God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind, you can do the same for another human. And if you can love another human with all your heart and soul and strength and mind – whether that be a spouse, parent, child, sibling, or friend – then you can do the same for God. And if for whatever reason, you might struggle to love God or love another, then at the very least remember the love God has for you – a love that knows no bounds – and go from there.

Think of your love for God. And if you have struggled or are currently struggling with your love for God, think of the love you have for your favorite person or persons.

Think of the agape love in your life.

In agape love, we naturally move toward God or that person(s) in a special way. We appreciate the qualities of the beloved. We respect and honor the beloved's dignity. We enjoy the beloved's company and feel curious about the beloved's personhood. We want to support the beloved's dreams and desires. And we make ourselves available for the beloved to respect, honor, enjoy, know, and support us, too, because to be "in love" is to be in a mutual relationship.

This is done by being aware of God’s presence and welcoming God into our presence. It’s done by showing God appreciation and gratitude. It’s done by showing respect for God and who God is and what God has done. Agape love is knowing when to say sorry and receiving forgiveness. Agape love is showing our support for what God desires: love for neighbor, advocacy, hospitality, and justice. And agape love is allowing ourselves to be loved by God and others. It’s allowing ourselves to feel supported in our hopes, dreams, and desires. And agape love is being honest with God and others with our deepest fears, doubts, frustrations, or laments.

Sometimes words suffice. Each of these can be done with simple phrases; phrases you already know.  

“Here I am, Lord.”

“Thank you, God!”

“Hallelujah!”

“How long, O Lord? How long?”

“Lord, have mercy.”

“May your kingdom come. May your will be done on Earth as it is in heaven.”

And sometimes, words aren’t needed. Sometimes love is best expressed through attentiveness to God around us – when not looking, when not trying, without even thinking. Like when floating on a pool on a hot summer day and seeing God cheer for your Sabbath through the ministry of the trees.

As part of God’s beloved creation, we are never alone. We are loved and we love.

As part of a community of faith, we have the means to share this love with others.

This is true agape love.

“I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, God may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”

In other words, I pray that you know true agape love each and every day, in all you that say and hear, in all that you do and experience. This is God’s gift to you. This is God’s love for you.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

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