“Learning From and with Our God of Unconditional Love (Together, in a Variety of Ways)”

“Love’s Primary Concern” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 4:21-30

The question I am asking and answering, from a biblical perspective, is “What is love’s primary concern”? Answer, to foster unity. Unity has a better chance of coming about when one speaks truth, whatever the cost, in a humble, kind, and just way. That way we demonstrate our love for God and others. I have two examples.

My first example that love’s primary concern is to foster unity is the transformation of Knox Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, California.  A decade ago, the John Knox Presbyterian Church in Pasadena was down to twenty people in worship. A group of young persons who were tired of their megachurch experiences wanted a church where they could be connected with people of all ages in a meaningful way. They showed up at John Knox and felt those twenty people were open to such a venture. Gradye Parson notes, “The older members saw their sincere interest and took the risk of letting them set the tone for the congregation. That tone included regular doses of bluegrass music despite having a twenty-four-rank organ. The church rebound began, and now is a healthy church with lots of young families.”[1] Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a, “It [Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” God’s unconditional love bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things.

You are loved by God. God has chosen you.

Like Paul, we recognize that because of God’s unconditional love for all people, the discipleship practices of sacrificial giving and social justice are non-negotiable. Again Paul writes, this time in 1 Corinthians 13:3, “If I give away my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” Acts of unconditional love are not about the one doing the loving. Unconditional love is self-less and not self-congratulatory.

Like Jeremiah, we recognize that because of God’s unconditional love, God has called us to proclaim good news to anyone and everyone. Donald K. McKim writes, “The message of Christ is for all, and our calling during Epiphany and in all seasons is to proclaim this message to all.”[2] God’s unconditional love was on the move in and through Jeremiah’s life. God’s inclusive unconditional love for the people was evident through the words and actions of Jeremiah and he figured prominently as a model of faith for the people of God.

Like Luke, we recognize that because of God’s unconditional love, God spoke truth to power through Jesus’ self-disclosure in the synagogue. Following Jesus’ disclosure in the synagogue that the reading in Isaiah was fulfilled in the people’s hearing, the Jews were amazed and spoke well of him. According to Luke, initial amazement turned to hostility, as the audience took exception to Jesus. The people were filled with rage. Why? Blair R. Monie writes, “…because Jesus proclaimed a grace that was wider and more generous than they were. We are happy when the ‘right’ people are forgiven, accepted, or healed, but we’re not so sure that we want those things extended to people outside our favored circles, or that we want to extend that grace ourselves.”[3] God’s unconditional love for all people affords us an opportunity to explore ways we have things in common with those who are different than ourselves.

My second example, that love’s primary concern is to foster unity, comes from the sermon of The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, delivered at the National Cathedral on the occasion of the Inaugural Prayer Service, the day after the Inauguration. The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde began with a Prayer and then read the text on building one’s house on solid ground from Matthew 7:24-29. I quote:

Joined by many across the country, we have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a nation – not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.

Unity, in this sense, is the threshold requirement for people to live together in a free society, it is the solid rock, as Jesus said, in this case upon which to build a nation. It is not conformity…Unity is not partisan.

Rather, unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect; that enables us, in our communities and in the halls of power, to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree.

Unity at times, is sacrificial…a giving of ourselves for the sake of another…

Jesus of Nazareth, in his Sermon on the Mount, exhorts us to love not only our neighbors, but to love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us; to be merciful, as our God is merciful, and to forgive others, as God forgives us…

Now I grant you that unity, in this broad, expansive sense, is aspirational, and it’s a lot to pray for – a big ask of our God, worthy of the best of who we are and can be. But there isn’t much to be gained by our prayers if we act in ways that further deepen and exploit the divisions among us…

Given this, is true unity among us even possible? And why should we care about it?

Well, I hope that we care, because the culture of contempt that has become normalized in our country threatens to destroy us…Contempt…it’s a dangerous way to lead a country.

And we are right to pray for God’s help as we seek unity, for we need God’s help, but only if we ourselves are willing to tend to the foundations upon which unity depends. Like Jesus’ analogy of building a house of faith on the rock of his teachings, as opposed to building a house on sand, the foundations we need for unity must be sturdy enough to withstand the many storms that threaten it.

What are the foundations of unity?…

The first foundation for unity is honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, which is, as all faiths represented here affirm, the birthright of all people as children of the One God. In public discourse, honoring each other’s dignity means refusing to mock, discount, or demonize those with whom we differ, choosing instead to respectfully debate across our differences, and whenever possible, to seek common ground…dignity demands that we remain true to our convictions without contempt for those who hold convictions of their own.

A second foundation for unity is honesty in both private conversation and public discourse. If we aren’t willing to be honest, there is no use in praying for unity, because our actions work against the prayers themselves.

Now to be fair, we don’t always know where the truth lies, and there is a lot working against the truth now, staggeringly so. But when we do know what is true, it’s incumbent upon us to speak the truth, even when – and especially when – it costs us.

A third foundation for unity is humility, which we all need, because we are all fallible human beings. We make mistakes. We say and do things that we regret…we are perhaps the most dangerous to ourselves and others when we are persuaded, without a doubt, that we are absolutely right and someone else is absolutely wrong. 

The truth is that we are all people, capable of both good and bad. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn astutely observed that “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties, but right through every human heart and through all human hearts.” The more we realize this, the more room we have within ourselves for humility, and openness to one another across our differences, because in fact, we are more like one another than we realize, and we need each other.

Unity is relatively easy to pray for on occasions of solemnity. It’s a lot harder to realize when we’re dealing with real differences in the public arena. But without unity, we are building our nation’s house on sand.

With a commitment to unity that incorporates diversity and transcends disagreement…we can do our part, in our time, to help realize the ideals and the dream of America.

Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.

And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.

Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.

May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.[4]

Knox Presbyterian Church accomplished unity through and with a very diverse congregation. The Right Rev. Budde asked our President to work for unity, which he promised he would, in the midst of polarized citizens, policy, and goals for our country. Every Christian is called by God to live the radical gospel of Jesus’ unconditional love; to affirm that all people are created in the image of God; and to treat everyone with dignity even in disagreement. Love’s primary concern is unity. Foster unity. Build the common good on solid ground. Amen.

This sermon was preached on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, 02 February 2025,

 by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

Copyright  2025

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Gradye Parsons, Our Connectional Church (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 34.

[2]Donald K. McKim in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1, 211.

[3]Blair R. Monie in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1, 222.

[4]Excerpts taken from The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon given at the Inaugural Prayer Service on Tuesday, January 21^st at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.

“Learning From and with Our God of Unconditional Love (Together, in a Variety of Ways)”

“Saying No to False Options for Love” – Nehemiah 8:1-3, 5-6, 8-10, 1 Corinthians 12:12-31a, Luke 4:14-21

Epiphany is the radical inbreaking of God’s love into human experience in the birth of Jesus. The baptism of Jesus is the radical inbreaking of God’s love into human experience in that Jesus represented every human being past, present, and future.

The radical inbreaking of God’s love into human experience continues today. Each day, the radical inbreaking of God’s love impacts your life. Those moments of revelation when you realize that God is moving in your life confirms God’s mission in and through you for the sake of others. We are in this thing called the Christian life, together. Listen to Henri Nouwen connect the dots regarding our connection to one another:

Living with … handicapped people, I realize how success-oriented I am. Living with men and women who cannot compete in the worlds of business, industry, sports, or academics but for whom dressing, walking, speaking, eating, drinking, and playing are the main “accomplishments,” is extremely frustrating for me. I may have come to the theoretical insight that being is more important than doing, but when asked to just be with people who can do very little, I realize how far I am from the realization of that insight. … Some of us might be productive and others not, but we are all called to bear fruit: fruitfulness is a true quality of love.[1]

A life that bears fruit is one where being present with another demonstrates Jesus living his life through you…. the radical inbreaking of God’s love is happening through you for the sake of another.

The scribe Ezra, in the book of Nehemiah, points us to the importance of the Law. The Law, the Ten Commandments, restrains evil, convicts of sin, and aids our understanding of God’s will.

Paul writes in a third lectionary text for today, 1 Corinthians 12:12-13, “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in the one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and we were all made to drink of one Spirit.” To know that all who profess faith in Jesus Christ, regardless of their differences, are included in the family of God, requires us to trust that God loves all unconditionally. We are one body connected to one another to advance the kingdom of God.

Jesus states in Luke 4:18, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.” One day, Jesus went to the synagogue. There, he stood up and read from the scroll of the prophet Isaiah. It was the custom to read the scripture in the synagogue. It was the custom of the people to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath and to hear the Word of God read. It was the custom of the people to go to the synagogue on the Sabbath and be with one another in the presence of God. But Jesus challenged custom with one short sentence, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me.”  God became personal. Jesus brought good news to the poor, proclaimed release to the captives, restored sight to the blind, let the oppressed go free and proclaimed the year of the Lord’s favor.

God’s love marks the beginning of creation and the consummation of the new heaven and earth. God’s unconditional love leads us to transformational daily living every day until the new heaven and earth is consummated at the Second Coming of Jesus. The radical inbreaking of God’s unconditional love compels Christians to remember, tell, and live the way of Jesus by being just, kind, and humble. The Confession of 1967 states this about the importance of unity and Jesus’ mission,

The life, death, resurrection, and promised coming of Jesus Christ have set the pattern for the church’s mission. His life as man involves the church in the common life of humanity. His service to humanity commits the church to work for every form of human well-being. The church is called to bring all people to receive and uphold one another as persons in all relationships of life: in employment, housing, education, leisure, marriage, family, church, and the exercise of political rights…^[2]

Humility, kindness, and justice are at the core of the Gospel.

Saying no to false options for love is a daily exercise. Finding love in being successful in my career is short-lived and a dead end. Struggling to experience love when a long-standing friendship goes south is troubling. But our knowing and experiencing love does not begin and end with that failing friendship. Learning that our experience of being loved begins and ends with God is a gamechanger.

 

In a sermon entitled The Beauty of Biblical Justice, pastor Timothy Keller defines the biblical concept of shalom as universal flourishing, wholeness, and delight. Keller states, “God created the world to be a fabric, for everything to be woven together and interdependent.”

 

Keller illustrates his point with the following picture of biblical shalom: “If I threw a thousand threads onto the table, they wouldn’t be a fabric. They’d just be threads lying on top of each other. Threads become a fabric when each one has been woven over, under, around, and through every other one. The more interdependent they are, the more beautiful they are. The more interwoven they are, the stronger and warmer they are. God made the world with billions of entities, but he didn’t make them to be an aggregation. Rather, he made them to be in a beautiful, harmonious, knitted, webbed, interdependent relationship with one another.”

 

Then he offers a concrete example for the need to practice the Bible’s call to shalom. In large cities around the world, children are growing up as functional illiterates—largely due to school and family situations. By the time they become teenagers, they can’t read or write. According to Keller, at that point, they’re often locked into poverty for the rest of their lives. Some people pin this problem on unjust social structures; others blame the breakdown of the family. But nobody says it’s the kids’ fault.

So Keller concludes, “Nobody says that 7-year-olds need to pull themselves up by their bootstraps. And yet, a child born into my family has a 300 to 400 times greater chance for economic or social flourishing than the kids in those neighborhoods. That’s just one example of the way in which the fabric of the world—the shalom of this world—has been broken … . It’s not enough to do individual charity; you have to address [larger social issues].”[3]

Live Spirit led lives. Exercise the spiritual gifts. Bear the fruit of the Spirit. Say yes to the true option of love, Jesus Christ. Demonstrate the good news of Jesus to the marginalized, hurting, and hopeless. More people will join the journey of living a better life now as well as inherit eternal life.[4] Amen!

This sermon was preached on the Third Sunday after the Epiphany, 26 January 2025  by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas 

Copyright 2025 –  Steven M. Marsh – All rights reserved.

[1]Henri J.M. Nouwen in Lifesigns. Christianity Today, Vol. 35, no. 12.

[2]Book of Confessions, The Constitution of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) Part 1(Louisville, Kentucky: The Office of the General Assembly, 2014), sections 9.32, 43-45 on pages 292-294.

[3]Taken from Timothy Keller, “The Beauty of Biblical Justice,” byFaith, (October 2010).

[4]In preparation of this sermon, I have benefited from the thinking of Glen Bell, Melissa Browning, Khalia J. Williams, Shannon Craigo-Snell, Cynthia A. Jarvis, Warren Carter and Blair R. Monie in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, Cynthia L. Rigby and Carolyn J. Sharp, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 192-194, 194-195, 196-198, 199-202, 202-203, 204-206, and 206-207.

 

“Learning About Jesus is a Life-Long Journey” – Isaiah 60:1-6,  Matthew 2:1-12

2024 is over. 2025 has begun. We stand in a line of souls who loved, love, and will love, because of God’s unconditional love. I’m in the midst of reading Richard Rohr’s newest book, Eager to Love. I’m learning about Jesus and it’s a lifelong journey of discovering the depth of God’s love for me and others. Richard writes this about love, 

Francis and Clare (St. Francis and St. Clare) died into the life they loved instead of living in fear of any death that could end their life. They were both so very eager to love, and they somehow knew that dying to the old and unneeded was an essential part of living this love at any depth.[1]

Let us not forget the past year too quickly. Have we recounted the gracious deeds of God, the Lord, in our lives? Our past has a profound impact on the present and the future.

The movie Les Misérables, based on the novel by Victor Hugo, opens with a vagabond curled up on a stone bench on a desolate French street corner. His bedraggled appearance makes him seem dangerous and causes the townspeople, from whom he sought food and shelter, to snub him. Finally, he slumps over in dejection—until a passerby points to a place where he can find refuge.

He goes to the door and knocks. The homeowner, the town’s bishop, is startled by the late-night visitation but attentively listens to his story. His name is Jean Valjean, and he reveals that he is a recently released convict and marked by the authorities as dangerous. Even so, the bishop welcomes him into his home and serves him dinner.

Later, in the middle of the night, despite the bishop’s kindness, Valjean double-crosses him. Valjean remembers the sparkling silver spoon he used to eat his soup at dinner and sneaks to the dining room to steal the bishop’s valuable silverware. The clanking of metal arouses the bishop, who rises to inspect the clattering below. When they meet face to face, Valjean strikes the bishop, leaving him unconscious, and escapes with a heavy knapsack of silver.

The following morning the bishop’s domestic servant laments the loss of her silver, but the bishop seems unperturbed, telling his domestic servant, “So we’ll use wooden spoons. I don’t want to hear anything more about it.” Moments later, authorities appear at the bishop’s manor with the stolen silver and Valjean handcuffed. Looking deeply into the thief’s eyes, the bishop says, “I’m very angry with you, Jean Valjean.” Turning toward the authorities, he asks, “Didn’t he tell you he was our guest?” “Oh, yes,” replies the chief authority, “after we searched his knapsack and found all this silver. He claimed that you gave it to him.” Stooping in shame, Valjean expects the bishop to indict him. A new prison sentence awaits him. But the bishop says, “Yes. Of course, I gave him the silverware.” Then, looking intently at Valjean he asks, “But why didn’t you take the candlesticks? That was very foolish. They’re worth at least 2,000 francs. Why did you leave them? Did you forget to take them?” The bishop orders his domestic servant to hurry and fetch the candlesticks, while the authorities stand dumbfounded. They ask, “Are you saying he told us the truth?” The bishop replies, “Of course. Thank you for bringing him back. I’m very relieved.” The authorities immediately release Valjean, who is shocked by the turn of events, and the bishop thrusts the retrieved candlesticks into Valjean’s knapsack.

Once the authorities leave, the bishop drops the heavy bag of silver at Valjean’s feet. After peeling away Valjean’s hood, which was cloaking his guilty face, the bishop sternly looks him in the eyes and orders Valjean, “Don’t forget don’t ever forget you’ve promised to become a new man.” Valjean, trembling, makes the promise and with utter humility asks, “Why are you doing this?” The bishop places his hands on Valjean’s shoulders, as an act of blessing, and declares, “Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil. With this silver, I’ve bought your soul. I’ve ransomed you from fear and hatred. Now I give you back to God.”[2]

The Danish theologian and philosopher Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855) reflects on the importance of the past, but not losing focus on moving forward in the present to the future when he writes, “Life can only be understood by looking backward, but it must be lived looking forward.”[3] This is the thrust of our reading in Isaiah 60:1-6. Isaiah describes what he sees. He sees a broken community being restored. Isaiah see the City filled with light. Isaiah in 60:4 “Look around, and you will see your children coming home.” The nations of all the earth make a procession to the city all the while praising God and bringing the very best gifts fitting to be placed in the house of God.

The text in Matthew 2:1-12 articulates the role of the wisemen in Herod’s attempt to trap the baby Jesus. The wise men had nothing to do with it. They gave gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. The wisemen paid homage. Herod attempted to spread terror and fear. The wisemen affirmed a new king was coming and Herod would come unhinged.[4]

All of us have a past. All of us are living in the present. All of us have a future. The past, present, and future are all part of what God is doing in and with your life. If you do not believe in God through God’s son Jesus Christ, then I invite you to eavesdrop on the following discussion. And those of you who have trusted your life to the love, care, and mercy of Jesus Christ listen too. Nothing has happened in your past, is happening in your present, and will happen in your future took place, takes place, or will take place outside of the presence of God. God was, is, and will be with you. The gracious deeds God has done, is doing and will be doing in your because you have believed God and God’s promises made in and through Jesus Christ.

We can do this my friends in the freedom we receive in Jesus. Again Richard Rohr writes,

Once we can accept that Jesus has given us an illuminating lens by which to see and measure all things, we can no longer treat Christianity as a threat—or allow it to be a threat—to human or cultural freedom. In fact, it is true freedom’s greatest ally. The gospel is a process much more than a product, a style more than a structure, a person more than a production. It is a way of being in the world that will always feel like compassion, mercy, and spaciousness—at least to honest and healthy people. How different and healing Western history could have been if we had received such gospel freedom and modeled it for others![5]

But it is not too late to continue rewriting the story by learning that loving God and loving others is a game changer. Every day in 2025 asks you to walk in the interval between birth and death by recounting the gracious deeds of the Lord. As Martin Thielen writes, “…forgiveness is a major biblical theme and a huge emphasis of Jesus. I’ve concluded that at heart, forgiveness is a gift, in at least three ways. First, forgiveness is a gift to others…Second, forgiveness is a gift to God…Finally, forgiveness is a gift to ourselves.”[6]  Yes, forgiveness is the greatest act of connecting God’s love and your love to others. By recounting the gracious deeds of the Lord, we are embraced by forgiveness. By recounting the gracious deeds of the Lord, we participate in the ends that God desires.[7] Liberation for humanity is at the heart of God. Happy New Year! Amen.

This sermon was preached on the Second Sunday after Christmas, Sunday, 5 January 20245

in the Great Room and Sanctuary by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

 

Copyright Ó 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Richard Rohr, Eager to Love (Cincinnati, OH: Franciscan Media, 2024),

[2]Taken from http://www.preachingtoday.com/ Les Misérables, rated PG-13, released 1998, based on the novel by Victor Hugo; written by Rafael Yglesias, directed by Bille August; submitted to Preaching Today by Melissa Parks, Des Plaines, Illinois | posted 4/16/2001.

[3]Soren Kierkegaard, as quoted in David Bouchier-Hayes, “’Life Can Only Be Understood by Looking Backward; but It Must Be Lived Looking Forward’ –Soren Kierkegaard (1813-1855),” Irish Journal of Medical Science 174 (March 2005).”

[4]The exegesis in the two paragraphs above was influenced by Glen Bell, Melissa Browning, Joel Marcus Lemon, John C. Holbert, Rodger Y. Nishioka, Ronald J. Allen, and Michael L. Lindvall in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1, 143-145, 146-147, 148-150, 151-153, 153-154, 155-157, and 157-159.

 

[5]From Richard Rohr’s daily meditation, January 1, 2025.

[6]Martin Thielen, Searching For Happiness (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2016), 69-70.

[7]Idea gleaned from Emily Askew in David L. Bartlett and Barbara Brown Taylor, Feasting on the Word, Year A, Volume 1, 150.

“Worshipping Our God of Unconditional Love (Together, in a Variety of Ways)”

“Love Links Us To One Another and Others” – 1 Samuel 2:18-20, 26, Luke 2:41-52

The Christ Candle is lit. The messiah of hope, peace, joy and love has entered the world. Humanity has been offered grace. The fourth century bishop of Hippo, Augustine, writes this about the significance of the birth of Jesus as God’s most tangible expression of grace, the grace available to humanity,

Our Lord came down from life to suffer death;
the Bread came down, to hunger;
the Way came down, on the way to weariness;
the Fount came down, to thirst.
—Augustine, Sermon 78[1]

He so loved us that, for our sake,
He was made man in time,
although through him all times were made.
He was made man, who made man.
He was created of a mother whom he created.
He was carried by hands that he formed.
He cried in the manger in wordless infancy, he the Word,
without whom all human eloquence is mute.
—Augustine, Sermon 188, 2[2]

It is true. Only Christianity places “grace” at the theological core of its belief system. That is the good news of Christmas and we share it again on this First Sunday after Christmas.

Samuel’s life is an act of grace itself. His mother’s womb was barren until God answered Hannah’s prayer. Samuel was integral in bringing to and exiting from the throne Saul as King and raising up and anointing David as King. Samuel prepared the way for Jesus. We receive from Samuel and Jesus a vision for being God’s loving family, a community of mutual, self-giving, and sacrificial love.

In the Gospel of Luke, we learn that Jesus grew in wisdom, stature, and love. Jesus dispensed grace, positioning himself in relationship to and with others in a profoundly loving way. Melissa Browning writes, “Yes, injustice abounds, but God’s justice always wins in the end. No system of governance has ever lived up to the justice that God expects. Our hope comes in knowing that it is within our power to do the work of justice and mercy here and now, even when our rulers are scoundrels.”^[3]  God’s plan for saving the world through love…loving God and loving others…was and is a methodology of shared leadership. [4] Shared leadership empowers others to know they are loved by God and can love others. Yet, shared leadership is hindered by ego, fear of failure, control, inefficiency, pride/insecurity, and self-sufficiency.[5]

As people of Jesus we need to bear with one another. Grace dispensed in difficult times requires accountability, support, and encouragement. Practicing grace is not a solo endeavor. We are to do this with one another. We need to support one another in this walk of forgiveness as members of the body of Christ. As followers of Jesus wearing “love” is our defining garment.

Peter Wehner, an opinion writer for The New York Times, writes,

If you find yourself in the company of people whose hearts have been captured by grace, count yourself lucky. They love us despite our messy lives, stay connected to us through our struggles, always holding out the hope of redemption. When relationships are broken…it’s grace that causes people not to give up, to extend the invitation to reconnect, to work through misunderstandings with sensitivity and transparency.[6]

Loving God and loving others brings salvation. This is good news.

When you respond to God’s calling, it is good news for the world. You then represent what a human can look and behave like as envisioned in God’s desire. Increase in stature, wisdom, and the favor of God. Just like road works around our city seem to occur all the time, our lives undergo ongoing construction. Your story is constantly being written. Participate with Jesus in the ongoing construction of your life continually shoring up your life of purpose and service. Amen.

 

This sermon was preached on the First Sunday after Christmas, 29 December 2024  

by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary at

Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

 

Copyright Ó 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All rights reserved.

[1]Taken from the Preaching Today website in the lectionary section of illustrations for

December 29, 2024.

[2]Ibid.

[3]Melissa Browning in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 115.

[4]The exegesis in the two paragraphs above was influenced by Glen Bell, Melissa Browning, Joel Marcus Lemon, John C. Holbert, Rodger Y. Nishioka, Ronald J. Allen, and Michael L. Lindvall in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1, 112-114, 114-115, 116-118, 119-120, 121-122, 123-125, and 125-126.

[5]Ideas on shared leadership are gleaned from Sandra Maria Van Opstal The Next Worship: Glorifying God in a Diverse World (Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2016), 92-93.

[6]Peter Wehner, The New York Times, December 23, 2018.

Worshipping Our God of Unconditional Love (Together, in a Variety Ways)

“Love Wins” – Isaiah 9:2-7, Luke 2:1-20

Peter Wehner, an opinion writer for The New York Times, writes this about Philip Yancey’s book, What’s So Amazing About Grace?  Wehner writes,

In his book What’s So Amazing About Grace? Philip Yancey describes a conference on comparative religions where experts from around the world debated which belief, if any, was unique to the Christian faith. C.S. Lewis happened to enter the room during the discussion. When he was told the topic was Christianity’s unique contribution among world religions, Lewis responded: “Oh, that’s easy. It’s grace.[1]

It is true. Only Christianity places “grace” at the theological core of its belief system. And that is important, my friends. That is the good news of Christmas. It is when we are embraced by God’s unmerited favor and embrace God who loves us unconditionally that we see life in a new way. The Light (Love) of God has vanquished the Darkness (Hate) that the world and others hurl people’s way on a daily basis.

Isaiah 9:2-7 describes a people who once walked in great darkness and saw a light which increased their joy, released their burden and removed their oppressor. Why? A child was born. And this child had a name. In the naming of a child, great care is taken to choose the name that will bring distinction to the new life. Jesus’ name derived from the Hebrew Yehoshua means “Yahweh is salvation.” Jesus is the name given to the son of Mary and Joseph. Jesus is the promised Messiah who as God incarnate is God’s self-revelation who brought salvation to the world. Isaiah 9:2-7 states other names for Jesus. They are Immanuel: This Jesus is God present with his people, Wonderful Counselor: This Jesus is God who shows humanity show the way to new life, Mighty God: This Jesus is God who brings salvation and justice., Everlasting Father: This Jesus is God who provides and cares for us, Prince of Peace: This Jesus is God who is the One who brought and continues to bring the Reign of Peace on earth, and Son of Man: This Jesus is the “Son of Man” which is derived from the Hebrew ben adam. Ben Adam designates a collective humanity or an individual within the collective humanity. The first Adam is representative of you and me; the second Adam is Jesus, which is representative of whom we become through faith in Jesus.

The readings from Luke lift up the implementation of Isaiah’s prophecy. Again, Peter Wehner writes, “Grace is different. It is the unmerited favor of God, unconditional love given to the undeserving. It’s a difficult concept to understand because it isn’t entirely rational. There’s a radical equality at the core of grace. None of us are deserving of God’s grace, so it’s not dependent on social status, wealth, or intelligence.”[2] This Light (Love) of grace vanquishes the Darkness (Hate) of exclusion. We worship the Christmas Child, Jesus, tonight. Jesus is calling you by name. Wehner remarks,

If you find yourself in the company of people whose hearts have been captured by grace, count yourself lucky. They love us despite our messy lives, stay connected to us through our struggles, always holding out the hope of redemption. When relationships are broken…it’s grace that causes people not to give up, to extend the invitation to reconnect, to work through misunderstandings with sensitivity and transparency.[3]

When you respond to God’s calling, it is good news for you and the rest of the world.

You then represent what a human can look and behave like as envisioned in God’s desire. Isaiah’s voice on Christmas Eve reminds us that salvation is not merely a spiritual victory that works like a lullaby and lulls us into an individualistic complacency. To the contrary, the Christ Child took on the power of darkness, the tools of war and injustice, unjust laws, and the rod of the oppressor. And in the name of Jesus, we join that mission.[4] Believe in Jesus. Embrace the Light (Love). It vanquishes Darkness (Hate). This is the good news of Christmas. Love wins! Merry Christmas. Amen!

This sermon was preached on Christmas Eve 2024 by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh

in the Sanctuary at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas

Copyright © 2024

Steven M. Marsh

All Rights Reserved.

[1]Peter Wehner, The New York Times, December 23, 2018.

[2]Ibid.

[3]Peter Wehner, The New York Times, December 23, 2018.

[4]This paragraph was influenced by Thomas G. Long, David J. Schlafer, E. Elizabeth Johnson, and Paul Simpson Duke in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery, and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1 (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 63-66, 66-67, 75-77, and 77-79.