Love Takes Time…with Your Neighbors

This sermon was preached on 10/25/09 at Our Savior. It is the second in a series called “Love Takes Time,” which is a stewardship emphasis on our use of time. The sermon text and series title were produced by the WELS for congregations to use as a stewardship emphasis. The sermon itself, though, is my own work. Some congregations celebrate Reformation Sunday on this date. My congregation will be doing that next week.

Love Takes Time…with Your Neighbors

It's not very often that we proclaim anything to our neighbors. At least I know it hasn't been often with me. But I remember a couple of times when I consciously tried to get a message out to all of my neighbors. It was several years ago when my family lived in the middle of a lot of houses, and there was just something we had to let people know. So I remember I went to the store, looked for a sign and a stake to pound it in to the ground. Then I went home and put the sign up for all to see. Can you guess what the sign said? "It's a Girl!"

We let our neighbors know when we're really happy about something, like having a child. Some people might let their neighbors know when they feel very strongly about something, like political issues. "Vote for So-and-So!" "Vote yes for this!" "Vote no for that!" All said with signs in the yard.

But what else do we do with our neighbors? Maybe when someone moves into town we'll give them some food. Maybe if there's someone really organized in your neighborhood you'll even have cookouts and parties.  Most of the time, though, many of us probably don't have much meaningful contact with our neighbors. Maybe we smile when we pass each other. Maybe we nod. Maybe we even exchange a few words about the weather. But meaningful contact? It almost never happens.

As Christians, we have a different view of our lives than other people probably would. We recognize some things that others would never think about. We know that we are sinful, and that those sins earn God's wrath. But we also know that we're blessed with a Savior who loved us so much that he paid the punishment for our sins, and he lived the life necessary to earn a place in heaven -- and he gave it all to us. That's good news! That's the good news, and when we think about it, we realize how blessed we are to know it!

Having the love of Christ in our lives is bound to change our lives, to change how we live.  That's why this sermon series has been talking about how Christ's love affects our calling in our lives. We're not just called by God to do whatever we want for ourselves. We're called to live for him who died for us!

And as a part of that, we want to view the people around us, people like our neighbors, in a different way. The Bible tells us this, first in the book of Leviticus (Lev. 19:18), and then repeated by Jesus as the most important commandment besides loving God. What is that commandment? "Love your neighbor as yourself." (Mk. 12:31) Love your neighbor. And don't just love them; love them like you love yourself. If there's something you'd want for yourself, if there's something that makes you happy, then loving your neighbor as yourself means you want that something for them, too.

But that's not easy. Love takes time with your neighbors. We just talked about how little interaction we really have with our neighbors. So how can we change that? Why do we want to change that? That's where God's Word comes in, where the Holy Spirit not only helps us understand, but gives us the motivation of Christ's love to want to share his love with others, even our neighbors.

Our text from Colossians deals with this topic. There the Apostle Paul writes, "Pray for us...that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains." (Col. 4:3) Remember, as Paul mentions here, that he's in prison. He's in chains. And he's not in chains for stealing or murder, he's in chains because he's been proclaiming the "mystery of Christ." And what is that mystery? The mystery is that God sent his only Son to live and die for the sins of the whole world, to bring eternal life to all who believe. That's the mystery of Christ: the gospel. Paul had been thrown into prison because he proclaimed that gospel.

And now, instead of wanting to forget the message that got him thrown into prison, Paul wants more opportunities to tell it! He wants God to open a door to let him tell that message of Christ's love. Why would he want that, when it included such risk to him personally? Because Paul loved his neighbor.

Loving your neighbor is something that flows directly out of knowing the gospel! You remember that John 3:16 tells us that God sent his one and only Son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. But do you remember why he did that? The first part of the passage tells us! "For God so loved the world..." (Jn. 3:16)

The whole reason Jesus died for sinners like us is because he loved us! And it's that love that motivates our love. "We love because he first loved us." (1 Jn 4:19) Jesus' love for us is what makes us want to show love. "He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves, but for him who died for them and was raised again." (2 Cor. 5:15) To live for Christ means to live for those for whom Christ died. People like our neighbors.

Yet, many times we just don't want to. Some people might be offended hearing about Jesus. We don't want to talk to our neighbors because it takes too much time, and we're awfully busy. We don't want to deal with our neighbors' problems when we have so many problems of our own. It's so much easier just to live our own lives and do our own thing. Our neighbors? Well, they're good for a nod of the head. Maybe good enough to talk about the weather with. But to actually share the message of Jesus with them? Maybe later... or maybe not.

Do you see how selfish we can be? Do you see how we can be so focused on ourselves that we don't even care, don't even give it a second thought, when someone doesn't know their Savior? If we think about it at all, we think, "That's their problem." Or, "Someone, should really talk to him." But then we just forget about it and go back to our own lives.

Thank God that he didn't treat us that way. Thank God he sent Jesus to us when we were lost in our sins. Thank God that even though our sins weren't Jesus' problem, he took them onto himself, he took them on his back, right onto the cross, for our forgiveness, for our life, all because he loved us!

So today, give thanks that God so loved the world, that he loved you so much. Today, rededicate yourself to showing that love to others. Show that love to your neighbors. And I don't just mean the people who live on your street. I mean the people in your life, people you see at the store, at a restaurant, even your friends and family. Particularly the ones who don't know about Christ's love. How can you show them his love?

It can be a daunting task. We think we're not up for the challenge. We think, "What if I say something wrong? What if I mess it all up?" We want to just leave that work to people like me, the pastor. And to a certain extent, that's a good point. You're not pastors. I am. Not everyone has the ability to take someone through all their questions about the Bible. Not everyone has the ability to explain everything that someone might need to know about the gospel.

Now, you don't have to be a pastor to be able to do those things, and I think some of you do have those abilities. I'd encourage you to use those abilities when the opportunities come up in your lives or here in church. But if you don't have those abilities, does that mean you can't share Jesus' love with your neighbors? Not at all!
Look at what Paul mentions in Colossians! "Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity.  Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone." (Col. 4:5-6)

Very few of you will ever be given a pulpit and told to preach a sermon. But every one of you has conversations with people. You deal with people at the store, on the street, at school, at work. And everything you do with those people, the way you act at all times, gives a witness to your faith. Do people who know you know that you are a believer? Can they tell from the way you act? It can be a powerful witness!

And sometimes in your conversations the opportunity will come up to give witness to your Savior's love with your words. Does it mean you have to explain everything in the Bible to them? No! Does it mean you have to answer every argument or question that gets thrown at you? No! Your words can be as simple as, "Come and see! Come to church with me. Come take a Bible information class with me. Come talk to my pastor." Out of love, you can point to your Savior in your everyday conversations, in your everyday lives.

And you can even help if you never leave your house. Remember what Paul said in our text! "Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful." (Col. 4:2) God gives you an amazing opportunity in prayer. Because Jesus is your Savior, because he died to make you live, he has given you the privilege of approaching our heavenly Father's throne in prayer any time you want to. And God listens to those prayers! You can pray for your neighbors, your friends and relatives who don't know about Jesus. You can pray about the work that we do here in our congregation. You can pray for me, even as I'm praying for you. Don't miss the opportunity to go to God himself and ask for him to work in the people around you who don't know him, and to strengthen those through whom he is working. What an opportunity we all have, every day, with our prayers!

And yes, I know. This all takes time. It takes time to go back to God's Word and continually remember his love for us. It takes time to appreciate what he's given us as a church and work together for his glory. It takes time to get to know our neighbors, to show them love and look for those opportunities to point them to Jesus. It takes time to devote yourself to prayer. But the time is worth it! When should you start? How about today? God has given you this day. He's given you the love of his Son. So there's no better time than now.

Love Takes Time…to Know God

This sermon was preached on 10/11/09 at Our Savior. The sermon is the first in a series called “Love Takes Time,” which is a stewardship emphasis on our use of time. The sermon text as well as the sermon title (or something close to it) were produced by the WELS for congregations to use as a stewardship emphasis. The sermon itself, though, is my own work.

Love Takes Time…to Know God

How long does it take to know another person? In some ways, it doesn't take much time at all. If you look around church this morning and see someone that you don't know, there's an easy fix for that. Just walk up to the person after church and introduce yourself. Easy. Done. Now you know each other. It really just takes a couple of moments and a few words.

In other ways, though, knowing someone else takes a lot longer. Think about the people in your lives that you know the best. They're probably not people you just met. Instead, they tend to be people we've known for years, even since we were born. When you are growing up, you get to know your family pretty well. But even then, sometimes years later, you get to know them better, you get to know things you never did before. Most married couples thought they knew each other on their wedding day. It doesn't take long for them to realize, though, that they only get to know each other better as time goes on.

To really know someone takes time. It can take all our lives, and it can take all our love. After all, when we really know someone, it means we know their problems, their faults, their little eccentricities that make them who they are. It's a process that requires our love. We have to work at it, we need to seek to know people to really know them better.

It's the same for our relationship with God. Do you really know God? Most of you would say, "Yes, of course I know him! He's Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. He's the Triune God who loved me so much that he sent God the Son Jesus Christ to be my Savior. Because of that, after I die I will live forever with God in heaven." At least I hope that's what you'd say. But even knowing that about God, you don't know him perfectly.

He's a God who hides himself. (Is. 45:15) He doesn't tell us everything he has planned for each one of us in our lives. He hasn't told us why everything happens to us that happens. He hasn't revealed how long our lives will be or how long it will be until Jesus returns to take us to heaven.

But even the things God has told us about himself, none of us knows perfectly. After all, God reveals himself through his Word, the Bible. And how many people have the entire Bible memorized and know all of it perfectly? None of us do! But that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to learn more. In fact, the more we study God's Word, the more we get to know our God, the more we will love him. We'll love him more because we will see his love for us more clearly. Learning more about God, seeking him in his Word, is a life-long process. We will never stop growing in our love for our God and Savior, as long as we never stop growing in his Word. Love takes time, and our love for God grows as we seek God in his Word.

It's my prayer for you that you would know God better. It's my prayer that you seek him in the Bible and grow in your knowledge of his love for you everyday. That's also exactly what the Apostle Paul was praying for in our text from Ephesians. "For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom his whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name." (Eph. 3:14-15) Right here at the beginning of our prayer, we're getting to know God better, because we're reminded that he's our Father.

We all come from different families and have different earthly fathers, but we all have one heavenly Father. He made every one of us. He keeps us breathing. He provides for us by sending rain to make things grow and giving us wisdom and strength to earn money and be able to buy food and shelter and clothing. To put it another way, God is our Father, and he acts like it.

The fact that he uses that word, "Father" tells us something else about God. We might expect that the God who created all things would be pretty scary. If he's powerful enough to form the mountains and fill the oceans, then what could he do to me if I don't listen to him? And, how could I ever expect him to listen to little old me? He's much too powerful and important to pay attention to me...

But no! He's our Father. A Father listens to his children. So we can approach our heavenly Father with boldness and confidence and ask him for things like dear children ask their dear father. (Luther's Catechism) That shows you something about God's love: he listens to us. He hears our prayers. No matter where we are, God hears us. He hears us because of his Son, as we had heard earlier in Ephesians: "Through [Christ] we...have access to the Father." (Eph. 2:18) What love God has that hears us when we pray to him!

That means he hears the prayer in our text, too. We read, "I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith." (Eph. 3:16-17)

Usually, if you're going to ask someone for something, you want to make sure that the person is capable of giving it. I don't care how many of you ask me for a million dollars; it's not going to happen. I don't have a million dollars. But with God, we can ask for anything. He is powerful enough to answer. That's why Paul appeals to God's "glorious riches." God is rich, he's got everything, so we can ask for anything. Paul, though asks for power.

God was a good one to ask for this. He is all-powerful. He made the world and everything in it. So if he wanted to give us power to bench-press 300 pounds, he could do it! But Paul's not talking about physical power. He wants God to give us power in our "inner being." He wants us to have a power that you can't see on the outside, but on the inside. It's in our hearts. And what is that power? "That Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith."

Did you realize that as a believer you have Christ living in your heart? You do! And that really is a powerful thing. On our own, our hearts would probably be in despair. We'd think, "God could never love me, after the way I live. I sin every day, I take him and his Word for granted, I've done so many things that I don't think God could ever love me." But our faith, with Jesus in our hearts, tells us something different. Jesus tells us, "I've forgiven you. I've died for you, but look, I am alive! And you will live, too, because you are connected to me by faith.

And how did we get connected to Jesus by faith? How did he get into our hearts to live there? By God's Word. "Faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the Word of Christ." (Rom. 10:17) The Holy Spirit brought us to faith through his Word, or through his Word and the water in baptism. What love our God has for us, that he takes an unworthy sinner, washes our sins away, and God the Son himself comes to live in our hearts by faith. Could we ever fully understand that love?

Maybe not, but we want to try! In our text, Paul continues his prayer. "I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." (Eph. 3:17-19) God has given us the roots of his love in our faith, and he continues to build on that foundation as we continue to hear his Word. The goal for us is to fully understand Christ's love for us, to understand "how wide and long and high and deep" his love really is.

Of course, we could never truly know God that well that we fully understand his love. Our text says it's a "love that surpasses knowledge." We can't understand it. We can't know it completely. But we can always grow in it. We can grow in it to the point that we are "filled to the measure with all the fullness of God."

So, do you feel like you are growing in your love of God, and in understanding his love for you? Are you seeking God, always thirsting to know more and to grow in his grace? Or are you content with what you have? Does the idea of growing in your knowledge not seem that important, do you think, so what, what's the point?

The truth is, if your faith isn't growing, it's dying. When we don't continue studying God's Word, when we stop hearing it or paying attention to it, our faith gets weaker. Eventually, it could die. And then we would never know God's love, but only his wrath.

But what a testament to God's love that he doesn't want that to happen. In fact, it's his power that keeps that from happening. Remember, Christ lives in your heart by faith, he wants you to keep that faith! He wants you to grow in it! And he promises to bless your faith. How does he do that? Through his Word.

God is here in his Word in our worship services. Going to church isn't meant to be some chore to keep you on God's good side. These services are God proclaiming that you're already on his good side. The services are about God pouring out his gifts on you through his Word, through his Sacraments. Don't stay away from church. Come running to the place where God promises to bless you. Talk to those you know who are no longer in church and encourage them to come and receive God's blessings, too.

God is in his Word wherever you are. Read it. Study it. Come to our Bible studies. Read the Bible on your own. God will bless that as you get to know him better. And yes, it takes time. Love takes time when you are seeking God. But what blessings he gives you as you do! And all the problems and troubles you have in your life, everything you pray for, everything you want or need, remember, God can help you with those things. Remember, he gives more than you could ever ask or imagine. So take the time to grow in his grace. He will never disappoint you.

So let's praise that God with the words Paul used to close our text: "Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen." (Eph. 3:20-21)