GOD'S HEART LONGS FOR US
Part III of "Why the Church? Because God So Loved the World"
Luke 15:11-32
Revelations 3:14-18
We started this series with the Parable of Lost Sheep, the first of three parables in Luke 15 which remind us of God's mission to redeem the lost, and the God's joy in each person's return to God. Unfortunately, as the Parable of the Prodigal Son shows us, sometimes the lost don't know they're lost or what they have lost.
There was a man with two sons ... and both of them, in their own way, were lost.
The younger son lost only money, but the older son lost something more important -- relationship. He had placed so much importance on being the good son, that he had forgotten that he was a son and brother. His response to the news of his younger brother's return, filled with anger, judgement and entitlement, showed that there was little love for his sibling and no understanding of his father's joy.
And in their own way, the pharisees who jeered Jesus for spending his time with "tax collectors and sinners" were just as lost as the people Jesus was hanging out with.
They had lost sight of the purpose for which they had been chosen -- to be a blessing to all people; to be a nation of priests who represented God to the nations of the world and lived out God's love in a way that benefited all those around them. To love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, and just as importantly, to love their neighbor as themselves.
When we become disconnected from our love relationship with God and neighbor, it's easy to lose sight of the calling Christ has put on our lives and the life of the church and for the concern for others and their well-being, spiritual and otherwise, to grow cold.
I know that all too well. For a lot of years I was too busy being the good daughter to see beyond the walls of the church and my circle of Christian friends. It took God moving me out of my comfort zone, across the state of Iowa from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids to change my perspective.
After moving to Cedar Rapids, I was visiting different United Methodist Churches, looking for a new church home when I happened to attend worship in a new church start. As I looked around at the Harley t-shirts, the tattoos and body piercings, people who didn't know how to dress and behave in church, God whispered in my ear, "This is what my church is all about."
The message in Revelations 3 to the church of Ladocea is a harsh one. "Luke-warm, I want to spit you from my mouth!" the Lord tells them. They had lost sight of what the church, Christ's body, is all about. Going out and making disciples of all nations.
They were a minority in a culture of pluralism, and were being persecuted for it. (Sound familar?) They decided to play it safe, They turned their focus inward, living on their past works. When a church does that, it loses the vitality that comes from an active relationship with God and their neighbors. They weren't prospering in the way that counts -- in fruitfulness, that is having a relationship with God through Christ that results in lives that have a positive, tranformative impact on the world.
In their own way, they were as destitute and lost as the prodigal son and his brother.
We don't want to be a luke-warm church.
In Revelations 3:18, God urges us to "buy gold from me that has been purified by fire so that you may be rich, and white clothing to wear so that your nakedness won't be shamefully exposed and ointment to put on your eyes so that you may see." (CEB)
God calls us, as individuals and the church to continually come to Him to be reformed and renewed by His love so that we may see other people through His eyes. God's heart longs for us and for all people. God wants us to be more than "good" people. He has created us to share in His mission for redemption of the world through Jesus Christ and in the joy of sharing the good news that God so loves the world.
If we lack the vision of God's call on our lives and on the life for the church, let us seek it.
If we lack love for the lost and the least, let us knock on God's door until we have it.
If we lack courage and boldness to grasp the opportunities God puts before us to be fruitful, may God's grace help us find it.
Luke 15:11-32
Revelations 3:14-18
We started this series with the Parable of Lost Sheep, the first of three parables in Luke 15 which remind us of God's mission to redeem the lost, and the God's joy in each person's return to God. Unfortunately, as the Parable of the Prodigal Son shows us, sometimes the lost don't know they're lost or what they have lost.
There was a man with two sons ... and both of them, in their own way, were lost.
The younger son lost only money, but the older son lost something more important -- relationship. He had placed so much importance on being the good son, that he had forgotten that he was a son and brother. His response to the news of his younger brother's return, filled with anger, judgement and entitlement, showed that there was little love for his sibling and no understanding of his father's joy.
And in their own way, the pharisees who jeered Jesus for spending his time with "tax collectors and sinners" were just as lost as the people Jesus was hanging out with.
They had lost sight of the purpose for which they had been chosen -- to be a blessing to all people; to be a nation of priests who represented God to the nations of the world and lived out God's love in a way that benefited all those around them. To love God with all their heart, mind, soul and strength, and just as importantly, to love their neighbor as themselves.
When we become disconnected from our love relationship with God and neighbor, it's easy to lose sight of the calling Christ has put on our lives and the life of the church and for the concern for others and their well-being, spiritual and otherwise, to grow cold.
I know that all too well. For a lot of years I was too busy being the good daughter to see beyond the walls of the church and my circle of Christian friends. It took God moving me out of my comfort zone, across the state of Iowa from Des Moines to Cedar Rapids to change my perspective.
After moving to Cedar Rapids, I was visiting different United Methodist Churches, looking for a new church home when I happened to attend worship in a new church start. As I looked around at the Harley t-shirts, the tattoos and body piercings, people who didn't know how to dress and behave in church, God whispered in my ear, "This is what my church is all about."
The message in Revelations 3 to the church of Ladocea is a harsh one. "Luke-warm, I want to spit you from my mouth!" the Lord tells them. They had lost sight of what the church, Christ's body, is all about. Going out and making disciples of all nations.
They were a minority in a culture of pluralism, and were being persecuted for it. (Sound familar?) They decided to play it safe, They turned their focus inward, living on their past works. When a church does that, it loses the vitality that comes from an active relationship with God and their neighbors. They weren't prospering in the way that counts -- in fruitfulness, that is having a relationship with God through Christ that results in lives that have a positive, tranformative impact on the world.
In their own way, they were as destitute and lost as the prodigal son and his brother.
We don't want to be a luke-warm church.
In Revelations 3:18, God urges us to "buy gold from me that has been purified by fire so that you may be rich, and white clothing to wear so that your nakedness won't be shamefully exposed and ointment to put on your eyes so that you may see." (CEB)
God calls us, as individuals and the church to continually come to Him to be reformed and renewed by His love so that we may see other people through His eyes. God's heart longs for us and for all people. God wants us to be more than "good" people. He has created us to share in His mission for redemption of the world through Jesus Christ and in the joy of sharing the good news that God so loves the world.
If we lack the vision of God's call on our lives and on the life for the church, let us seek it.
If we lack love for the lost and the least, let us knock on God's door until we have it.
If we lack courage and boldness to grasp the opportunities God puts before us to be fruitful, may God's grace help us find it.
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