Will You Pass The Test Of Love In The Sounds Of The Spirit?

 

Good Morning Friends,

  
 

This morning I hear birds. But earlier it was silent which got me to thinking about the sounds in the Bible tied to emotions. There are the voices and sounds of trumpets in battle, the sound of a shaken leaf brining faintness into the hearts of enemies, the sound of alarms and of bells in the presence of God, and the long blast of the ram’s horn, and shouting and the sound of pipes sounding with joy, the sound of abundant rain, the sound of feet, the sound of grinding teeth, and the sounds of singers with psalteries and harps and cymbals. The sound of Jesus being whipped and nailed to the Cross. These sounds evoke something in us as does the snorting of horses and the cries of people, and of waters rushing and milestones grinding. Perhaps someday we will hear the sound of angels. So, this morning close your eyes and think of a person you love and the things that you love about them the most and the sounds in your hearts you associate with them. Now think about a person you dislike and the things that prompt you to dislike that person and the associated sounds. Now remember that God’s love is so profound that He gave His Only Son so that both individuals you just considered might have life eternal. Now friends open your eyes, knowing that God redeems the sounds as well as our souls. It is easy to assume that God loves the people we love, or the people who seem to be doing good things. But that is not the way God’s love works. God’s love and God’s message will not be thwarted by our attitudes or the disbelief of those who have no hope, or even our shortsighted focus on perceived self-interest in the stress filled quarantined world we live in. Eighteen percent of adults and 25% of children have what are called anxiety disorders. Depression becomes part of the lives of 15% of people. One million people commit suicide each year. People often need professional help. For this is serious business for this life as well as the next and professionals have their place. But we all have a role we can play and like Peter need to feed Christ’s sheep with a commitment to help those we can and like David we need to make music to sooth the soul. So, Will You Pass The Test Of Love In The Sounds Of The Spirit?
 

Scripture: Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.” When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. Then someone arrived and announced, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
 

Acts 5:17-26 (NRSV)

  
 

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life. “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Those who believe in him are not condemned; but those who do not believe are condemned already, because they have not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. For all who do evil hate the light and do not come to the light, so that their deeds may not be exposed. But those who do what is true come to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their deeds have been done in God.”

  
 

John 3:16-21 (NRSSV)

  
 

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

 

John 13:34 (NRSV)
 

He said to him the third time, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter felt hurt because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” And he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.

  
 

John 21:17 (NRSV)
 

And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him.

 
 

1 Samuel 16:23 (NRSV)

 
 

“The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

 
 

John 3:8 (NRSV)

 
 

My soul makes its boast in the Lord; let the humble hear and be glad. O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the Lord, and he answered me, and delivered me from all my fears. Look to him, and be radiant; so, your faces shall never be ashamed. This poor soul cried, and was heard by the Lord, and was saved from every trouble. The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him and delivers them. O taste and see that the Lord is good; happy are those who take refuge in him. O fear the Lord, you his holy ones, for those who fear him have no want.

 

Psalm 34: 2-9 (NRSV)

 

Message: God has an incredibly deep and unconditional love for the world. It really boggles the mind. We might expect this love is just for those of us whom God created to reach out to the Creator, and we would not be totally disappointed, but God also reaches out to the lost, broken and horribly messed up part of creation who have rebelled against Him as well. God reaches out to us through Jesus Christ and though us when Christ rules in our hearts. And the implications of this are massive. Now before you say it is too hard to love, think for a moment how lost, broken and horribly messed up we were before Christ offered us forgiveness and peace. And think about how Jesus was rejected, and the disciples rejected. And understand that the birth and life of worshipping communities face the same challenges. Friends, there is a pattern set here of birth and success and persecution. We see the pattern in the life of Jesus and the imagery of the Bible teaches the same thing. I see it in Rembrandt’s painting of Saul and David. The thing is that the message of God will not be obstructed. We see it in the example of what happened to the disciples in today’s passage from Acts and what happened to Saul when David played music. The Lord taught His disciples that persecutions would come but Jesus also made it clear that even the gates of hell would not prevail against the love of Christ. So, we are compelled to be kind. We are compelled to love in the face of potential future rejection. Jesus makes it clear; God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world. It is not so much about being fearful of God as being in awe because God sent his Son to teach us the Way of love in the Spirit. Friends, with each heartbeat, with each breathe, God is telling us that we have an invitation to life abundant if we would only listen to love. Friends, there is wisdom in sounds of the Spirit that should be part of our spiritual awakening, even as they test the depth of our commitments.

 
 

And So, God’s perspective about how to live in the light of love is the one to have. We read about it in the writings of John. We have John instructing us on the personal, perfecting, and preserving power of a love that castes out fear. This scripture in good Hebrew fashion asks us to live like there is no tomorrow but it also asks us to see God’s Kingdom at work in the lives of all of us. It asks us to love in the love of Jesus. And that it hopes for an ever-widening circle of love is instructive. We are to learn to love like God, mature in the faith, joyously recognizing the value of the poor and sick and suffering, but also learn to be loved by God as the Spirit abides in us. Here the life of Jesus, the man, God, and love became linked in an accurate, detailed, and permanent, way in the sounds of life. Here we are reminded that this unity of God and love becomes available to us to experience when we focus on Jesus Christ as a transforming agent for us all. We learn to love God’s way, a way that casts out the wants of the world, the fear of the world…the anxiety of life.  We learn that we can live deeply in Christ’s love and the love of the Father as His children. We begin to understand that though we live in a world where sin is fatal, the God begotten are the God loved and can become the God protected, the God forgiven. Friends, too many people make a mess of their lives because they do not deal with the issue of God in their lives…love in their lives properly. With so many concepts of love in the world, it is important we discover Jesus and the perfect love that castes out fear…the love that creates a good work in us and others. Friends, because Christ first loved us so too, we can love. Because His standard and example of love meets the test of time and is applied without boundaries, we too can discover the greatest possession, experience the greatest certainty, find joy in the greatest difference, have assurance in the greatest promise, and rejoice in the greatest opportunity…love that transforms us. 

 
 

Pray we realize that our hearts will be restless until they rest in God’s love. Pray we realize that wherever we find Jesus we will also find the love of the Father. Pray we understand that believing in love is the joy of life. Pray we have courage in the face of challenges of those with jealousy and indignation. Pray we have love that overcomes the world. Pray we serve to point others to the life from above. Pray
we incline our ears to the sounds of God. Pray in the hearing we sense the speed, perspective and impact of a power that connects and compels us. Pray we respond to the leaning of the Holy Spirit evoked in music. Pray that God’s kindness is reflected in our intonation. Pray that our hearts are filled with a love that echoes with a sensation that connects us to something eternal. Pray that when we stand at the door … we are ready to listen… ready to sing with joy… ready to answer. Pray we be changed. Pray we have a sound heart. Pray we have a sound mind tamed by God. Pray we stay in tune. Pray we listen for the sounds of God. Pray that we feel God’s love. Pray we have a faith-filled love that encourages others. Pray that we are prepared when the trumpet sounds.

 
 

Blessings, 
 

John Lawson