So Do You See With Eyes of Love?
Good Morning Friends,
Today I am asking us to imagine walking and talking and seeing and hearing and feeling with the Spirit of Jesus…for those people who are dying…for those people facing rejection. I am asking the Spirit of truth to abide with us, to save us and sanctify us and send us out to a world in pain so that God would become even more real for us. The message today calls us to risk with abandon in our relationships and be amazed when confronted with people’s lack of faith, while still receiving in our relationship with Jesus something better than faith, something better than hope. We are called to experience and share what Henry Drummond calls, The Greatest Thing in the World. And sometimes friends, it is hard for down deep we are shallow. We are asked to receive this and give this not because we deserve it, but because we do not deserve it. But Jesus’ whole ministry, calls us to live a life victorious, to experience with optimism and share the more excellent way, to bear the fruits of the Spirit, to be filled deep with the fullness of God in life and yes even in death there needs to be dignity. So Do You See With Eyes of Love?
Scripture:1 6He left that place and came to his home town, and his disciples followed him. 2On the sabbath he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were astounded. They said, ‘Where did this man get all this? What is this wisdom that has been given to him? What deeds of power are being done by his hands! 3Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary* and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon, and are not his sisters here with us?’ And they took offence* at him. 4Then Jesus said to them, ‘Prophets are not without honour, except in their home town, and among their own kin, and in their own house.’ 5And he could do no deed of power there, except that he laid his hands on a few sick people and cured them. 6And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then he went about among the villages teaching.
Mark 6: 1-6 (NRSV)
13And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.
Galatians 5:6 (NIV)
The LORD said to Samuel, “How long will you grieve over Saul? I have rejected him from being king over Israel. Fill your horn with oil and set out; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have provided for myself a king among his sons.” Samuel said, “How can I go? If Saul hears of it, he will kill me.” And the LORD said, “Take a heifer with you, and say, ‘I have come to sacrifice to the LORD.’ Invite Jesse to the sacrifice, and I will show you what you shall do; and you shall anoint for me the one whom I name to you.” Samuel did what the LORD commanded, and came to Bethlehem. The elders of the city came to meet him trembling, and said, “Do you come peaceably?” He said, “Peaceably; I have come to sacrifice to the LORD; sanctify yourselves and come with me to the sacrifice.” And he sanctified Jesse and his sons and invited them to the sacrifice. When they came, he looked on Eliab and thought, “Surely the LORD’s anointed is now before the LORD.” But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him; for the LORD does not see as mortals see; they look on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.” Then Jesse called Abinadab, and made him pass before Samuel. He said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” Then Jesse made Shammah pass by. And he said, “Neither has the LORD chosen this one.” Jesse made seven of his sons pass before Samuel, and Samuel said to Jesse, “The LORD has not chosen any of these.” Samuel said to Jesse, “Are all your sons here?” And he said, “There remains yet the youngest, but he is keeping the sheep.” And Samuel said to Jesse, “Send and bring him; for we will not sit down until he comes here.” He sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, and had beautiful eyes, and was handsome. The LORD said, “Rise and anoint him; for this is the one.” Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the presence of his brothers; and the spirit of the LORD came mightily upon David from that day forward. Samuel then set out and went to Ramah.
1 Samuel 16:1-13 (NRSV)
Message: People are irrational, unreasonable and selfish but they deserve love anyway. Maybe that is why we do so love fairy tale endings…they resonant with us and we are enchanted by them. The essential part of all of them is transformation…in the hope beyond hope that people dying would know that they are loved, that an ugly duckling would become a beautiful swan…that a frog would become a prince…that an ogre would become…well a better ogre. The deepest yearning of the human heart is reflected in the stories of fairy tale characters. And here too in the striving and the hope and the work of life we live in the happily ever after…here we are transformed by love… here in prayer we leave a legacy of a dream come true. That is the essential part of any great story …it is the story of Christianity and it is being played out for those who believe that God is able to do all that we ask or think through a power that works in us for His glory to all generations….forever and ever. The story of David helps us to see things right. It challenges us to look beyond outward appearances into a person’s heart and character. And yet still we are surprised by the choice of David for King. We are surprised by the selection of Jesus as heir to the Davidic Kingdom. What we need to learn is that it is what is inside that counts. David was born last and that is the wrong place in the birth order to become king. Jesus was born first but lowly in a manger in the City of David. Here we must face our prejudices and instinctual inclination to raise up those with the best appearance and abilities. This kind of emptiness drives our society. We want someone to look up to… a king… and unfortunately not one on a cross. Maybe it is because we view heroes in the wrong way. Maybe our last choice is God’s first choice. Maybe our fear is not that we be chosen last but that we not be chosen at all. Saul was rejected and so was Jesus. So do you possess the kind of character God is looking for? Maybe He is still looking for people he can call and use for His glory. Maybe He is looking for specific, surprising people to be His sovereign choice because they have learned to love. Jesus loves us so we can love others and experience with the Holy Spirit the fullness of God. Friends where love is…God is. If you see with the eyes of love it is more than a fairy tale.
Pray we see that which God wants us to see. Pray that God sees the possibilities in us when others are confused by appearances. Pray we glimpse in love His reality. Pray we serve a God who sees when everyone else does not. Pray that we believe that God has a plan for our lives. Pray that we fulfill a dream to become significant because of what God is doing in and through us. Pray we not try to survive by pretense. Pray we be who God wants us to be. Pray we abide in the love of Jesus. Pray we have the wisdom and courage we see.
Pray we join with Him in reaching people with the love of God. Pray we realize we are to invest in people with the love of Jesus so the legacy of God’s mark on the world not be in vain. Pray that in the scars of life we discover love. Pray we see the big picture of love. Pray we see through the eyes of love. Pray those we love are victorious.
Blessings,
John Lawson
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