Traditional Worship

35:55 I love the Charmands. Did you hear what they said? Paul has been serving, he says, probably almost 50 years. In Maryland, 40 years. 50, 40 years of faithful service showing up again and again and again. I'm going to say more about them in the message, but we just celebrate them and the way they are living into this campaign already to love one another. You know, the name that you give a campaign can awaken imagination. It can generate excitement. It can garner momentum to help a campaign win. Let me give you some examples from the last 100 years of presidential campaigns that won, partly because they just happened to pick a name, a slogan that helped to build momentum. In 1920, Warren G. Harding picked the campaign title, A Return to Normalcy. In 1932, Franklin Delano Roosevelt chose, happy days are here again.

36:56 In 1960, John F. Kennedy used, a time for greatness. In 1964, Lyndon B. Johnson used, all the way with LBJ. In 1980, Ronald Reagan used, are you better off now than you were four years ago? and then in 1984, Reagan used, it's mourning in America. Bill Clinton in 1992 used, it's the economy, stupid. In 1996, he used a bridge to the 21st century. George W. Bush in 2000 used a compassionate conservatism. And then in 2008, Barack Obama used change we can believe in. And then, of course, we all remember in 2016, Donald Trump using the campaign slogan, Make America Great Again. And these are the ones who won.

37:50 And I think they all picked campaign names that helped build momentum. Well, I want to take our election cycle campaign name, love one another, and I want to put it right alongside these other campaigns. because we believe that it is just as important, that is maybe more important, more powerful than any of these other campaigns or slogans. We believe that we are campaigning for love, that we are campaigning for the most powerful force in the universe, that after all the folks get elected and all the legislations have passed, that in the future, nothing will have a greater impact on the quality of life for people in our country than this, that if we love one another. So would you say it again with me? Love one another. As a matter of fact, make it personal. If you're wherever you are, turn to the person next to you and tell them, love me.

38:46 So here we are, loving one another. And the thing about this campaign is that, about any campaign slogan is that it can sour really fast if you don't live into it, if you can't defend it in face of current reality. So there are two questions that I want us to ask about the Love One Another campaign. Number one is can we defend it in light of current realities? And number two, do we have the will and capacity to live into it? Now, I know when I say that, you guys, some of you may say, duh, like, of course we can live into love. Of course, love is gonna win because we just assume that everybody believes in love and that there's so much talk about love in our culture that is so well celebrated that everybody believes in love. It's a no-lose election cycle campaign that if we call people to love, we're calling people to participate in something that they deeply believe in.

39:45 We're calling people into something that has no conflict. But I want to invite us to slow down a moment on that because if you really pay close attention, I don't know that people believe in love as much as we say we do. And I don't know, I don't think as a matter of fact, that love is without conflict. As a matter of fact, isn't it interesting that the person who lived most by love in human history, Jesus was crucified because he loved? Think about that for a second. The person who was most committed to love was executed as a public criminal because of his love. I think that when you get beneath the surface, that there is a kind of resistance to love that doesn't get spoken. As a matter of fact, 50 years ago, Stevie Wonder wrote a great song that was a part of his album that's being celebrated this year.

40:39 It was called Songs in the Key of Life. And the first song on the album was a song called Loves in Need of Love Today. And I think Stevie Wonder picked up on something. He discerned something about the difference or the gap between people expressing a commitment to love and people really living that out. And the words go, love's in need of love today. Don't delay, send yours in right away. Hate's gone around breaking many hearts. So stop it, please, before it's gone too far. I think Stevie was getting into the reality that although we talk about love and we celebrate love, we preach about it, we write about it. But when you get beneath the surface, there is a doubt about love or there's a resistance to love. It's almost like people say, hey, I told you I love you, leave it alone, because love becomes a defense mechanism. It becomes a way of keeping us from engaging in substantive conversations and in substantive action.

41:36 Just say, I love you, and let's leave it alone. And it's almost as if people are saying, I said it, I wear the T-shirt, so don't ask me about it. Because when you get beneath that, there is this kind of cynicism about love that you'll begin to see. So let's talk about that first question. And can love be defended in light of current realities? I believe that it can, but many people don't believe that. People think that love is something that's good for holidays and birthdays and for kiddos, maybe a funeral or two. But when we start talking about the harsh realities of our world, the real problems of our world, when we start talking about the hurtling of curse words and bombs dropping and dark places and frightening places and societies falling apart and families falling apart, we don't believe that love can stand up in those kinds of dark places.

42:30 As a matter of fact, we think that when we really begin to get into the harsh realities of life and of everyday life, that love has to be set aside because it can't withstand the darkness of our world. It's kind of interesting that we think that way because God has a totally different perspective. It was when the world was at its very worst that we're told in John 3, 16, that God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son, that when things were at their darkest, when they were at their most frightening, when things were at their very worst, that God believed in the power of love. But it's very interesting. That's very different in how people react, that when things are harsh, when things are dark, when we're struggling, when we're fighting, when we can't see our way forward, we don't believe in love. And then when we get to the personal level, that second question, are we able, are we willing to live into it?

43:27 We're willing to live into it when it comes to our kids until they become obstinate teens, by the way. We're willing to live into it with the people we like, the people we get along well with. We're willing to live in, to believe in love and to talk about love and celebrate love as long as it's easy. But as soon as love requires us to love somebody we don't like, to love our enemies, to love someone who's hurt us, to love someone who's undergirded us, to love someone who's undermined us, whenever we get into the tough part of love, then we usually revert back to our old ways of relating to people. And that's with manipulation, intimidation, domination, and oppression. Or we just disappear on people. I've done that so many times. I was sharing with someone just the other day that I've made a decision to never do that again, that there were times previously in my life and even in my ministry that when it became hard to love people, when it became hard to embrace and care for people, sometimes I just disappear and hope they never show up again because that's what we do.

44:34 We either go to manipulation or intimidation or oppression or we just disappear because we haven't figured out how to love when it's hard. I was thinking about this concept and decided to play around with AI and asked it to create a little cartoon for me, pick graphic for me that depicts love on the ropes. I want you to take a look at that picture and I hope you laugh. It's meant to make you laugh. Just take a look at that picture. Defeated by fear, defeated by anger, defeated by alienation and loneliness. And that's what it feels like. That's what Stevie Wonder was talking about, that it feels like that in the world today, that when we really push up against the harsh realities of life or in difficult relationships, that we don't believe in love.

45:29 And so what we need is a strategy, not just a slogan, not just a statement. We need a strategy that will help us live into love so that when we campaign for love, that we can do it with courage and with a fierceness because we're living into it. But how do we do that? How do we love when it's hard? How do you love people who have hurt you? How do you love people who have betrayed you? How do you love people who have rejected you or ghosted you? How do you love people who are harming you or harming others? How do we love in hell? That's what we need, a strategy to do that. And so I wanna turn to our scripture now. And I want, because I think our text, the story for today can help us. And it gives us some strategies for how to love when it's hard. But before we do that, I want to give you a definition of love that I'm working with today. Because I want to be clear.

46:20 There are so many definitions of love that are out there. I want to be clear about what I mean today in today's message by love. Now, a couple of weeks ago, at the beginning of this series, McRae DeVega, who preached an amazing message, gave a definition of love that comes from Greek studies using the word agape, which is a word that was actually created by Christians. And it means the love of God, the unconditional love of God operating in the human heart. I think that's a great definition. I think it's very helpful, but I want to try to, I've spent the last two years, as a matter of fact, trying to come up with a definition of love that I think is more practical, that uses ordinary language, that's more in the linguistic and our cognitive framework of modern people. And this is what I've come up with. You don't have to agree with it, but I wanna offer it to you today. And that definition is this, that love is serving others so that they can become whole and live well.

47:18 Let me say it again. Love is serving others so that they can become whole and live well. That when I say love one another, I'm not talking about liking people. I'm not talking about getting along with people. I'm not talking about patting people on the back and being nice to folks. I'm talking about doing the hard work to serve people, to help them become whole and live well. I don't know if that's helpful for you. It's helpful for me because it helps me to remember that loving people is not about my emotions. It's not about my feelings. It's about a commitment to serve people. And it's that definition that I want us to work with today. Now let's turn to the text. So in the story, Jesus is with his disciples and they're in a desolate place, a desert area outside of a city called Bethsaida. Some people pronounce it Bethsaida, but they are there in the desert and Jesus has been teaching.

48:14 And then he tries to withdraw to a lonely place, maybe so he can for respite, maybe so that he can rest. But as he withdraws, the crowd continues to follow him. So then Jesus welcomes them as Jesus often does when he tries to withdraw and the people keep coming. He just continues to teach and continues to give. And in that moment, Jesus continues to teach and continues to connect with people. And the disciples look up and they realize that it's getting late. And they begin to plan and prepare ahead of time. They see a problem coming that if these people are here at dinnertime, that we're gonna be responsible for trying to feed them because you're gonna have thousands of people out here in the desert and they're gonna be hungry. And so let's get rid of the problem before it comes. So as the problem develops, the people do, Jesus keeps teaching and they end up there at the time when it's time when folks get hungry and they're ready for something to eat.

49:13 And the disciples say, send them away. I want to hold on to that moment right there and talk about how that is often what happens when we're trying to love people. The disciples were willing to love as long as it was easy, as long as Jesus was teaching and they were just standing there watching, observing, as long as they thought that this whole experience with this crowd would be over and they would get the folks back into the city by dinnertime, they were fine with saying, we love you. But when love required more of them, when love became problematic, when they faced the problem of having to try to feed thousands of people, the disciples responded, send them away. And it's very interesting.

50:04 Jesus responds differently. Instead of sending them away, Jesus says, no, you give them something to eat. Jesus moves toward the pain, towards the problem. Now, I want to ask you a question. What do you do when you're loving people, when you're trying to love people, and they become problematic or the situation becomes problematic? And people have different ways of responding. Sometimes when people see pain and problems in the world, they try to profit from it. For some people, they play politics with it. It's interesting how so many of our political discussions get into this whole thing about politics when it's really just about caring for people. If kids are hungry, for example, what does that have to do with politics if kids are hungry? But some people will play politics with people's pain. Some people will use theology to try to minimize people's pain.

51:02 Or some people blame the people for their suffering. Or we do what I was mentioning earlier. We just disappear on people. We try to get rid of painful people in painful situations by passing them on to others. Let someone else handle that. But Jesus responds differently. Jesus moves towards their pain. And he demonstrated something that I admire in Jesus and that I admire in all people throughout human history who have this capacity that when they have the opportunity to withdraw, to retreat, that instead they move towards people's pain and people's problems. These amazing people who have every, sometimes even the right, because they've already given so much, to just pull away and leave the problems for somebody else. Instead, they move towards the pain, towards the problem, and they get involved.

52:00 And I wish I could get this truth out to every young pastor, every young person, every leader, and every local church, that if you really want to make a difference in the world, if you really want to help people, if you want to be great, there's no way to do it unless you're willing to take on tough problems, unless you're willing to move towards pain and darkness and allow the power of God to be at work through you in those difficult places and in those difficult times. Jesus said that you really don't demonstrate the love of God until you have to love when it's hard. This is how he says it. he says that people have said to you, I love your friends, but hate your enemies. But I say to you, love your enemies. Pray for those who hate you and despitefully use you. Be as your father is in heaven, who causes the sun to shine on the just as well as the unjust.

52:57 Jesus is literally saying that it is not until we have to love when it's hard that we really demonstrate the love ethic of Jesus. And so like the shermans, that's what I love about their story. They kept showing up. Can you imagine being a servant for 50 years? Can you imagine serving for 40 years? Can you imagine all the times that people show were unappreciative of their service? Can you remember all the times that they were overlooked? Can you imagine all the times that they were tired? And then after 10 years, 20 years of serving, they could have easily said, hey, we've done our part and we can retreat to a safe place and enjoy the rest of our lives. but here they are still serving because they're not afraid to live into the pain and live into the problems of their times. And so that's what Jesus is calling us to, the face the difficult times and not run away.

53:53 But how do you do that? What was it about Jesus that allowed him, that gave him the capacity to deal with pain and problems? And what is about the sharmons that allowed them to do it? And I think it's right here embedded in the text and I wanna turn to the text now. First of all, I think Jesus showed amazing compassion.

54:14 It's right here. Jesus looks at them and instead of seeing problems, instead of seeing pain, he is moved by compassion. This happened to Jesus on another occasion. In Matthew chapter nine, Matthew tells the story that Jesus is out and he's teaching and the people are there with him. And it says he looked out at them and saw how they were suffering and how they were so broken. and Jesus had compassion for them and began to ask his disciples, hey, pray, pray. I think it was one of the few times in scriptures that we get to see Jesus in a place of just brokenness and just having his heart broken from seeing the pain of people's lives. And he begins to ask his disciples, hey, pray, pray, pray, pray, and ask God to send more people to help me bear the pain of both my compassion and the problems of the people.

55:07 And so here in this story, Jesus is moved with compassion. This is what I call compassion. Compassion is when a pain or problem grips your heart and you can't let it go. When pain or problem grips your heart and you can't let it go, you can't sleep, you can't turn it off. Years pass and it's still ruminated in your heart and in your spirit. I saw this happen. I heard about a story that this happened right here on resurrection. There was a little girl, I'd never met this little girl. Her Sunday school teacher told me this story that she was in Sunday school class one Sunday and that she started talking about that she had seen some homeless people and it had upset her. First time she had encountered that.

55:50 And so she had, that happened during the week, but she came to church on Sunday. And in Sunday school, they literally had to pull her out of the class and have a special session with her just to kind of console her and to help her work through that. And then they share that with the parents. But I love that story because that means that this kid was moved with compassion, that something gripped her heart and she couldn't let it go. And so days later, it was still bothering her. How can I live in a world where there are people who don't have a home, who don't have a place to stay? Man, I wish I could be around. I hope I'm around. I've never met this kid, but I wish I could be around and see what happens with her. Because I'm telling you that when people get gripped with compassion, when people get gripped by a problem and they can't let it go, that's usually some amazing things happen. I know a lady who in her childhood got gripped by the issue of poverty among children. She was born and raised in Argentina and out on a trip with her grandfather, she ran across some children who were living in poverty and it gripped her heart and she couldn't let it go.

56:59 Move fast forward several decades, several years. She has an MBA from Harvard University. She's working as a corporate executive. She's serving on the board of this organization called Children's International that helps children in poverty. And that problem, that pain still has her heart. And so at some point she gets invited to move from the board to being the CEO of the organization. And I want you to hear about this organization, Children's International. is an organization that serves 200,000 kids, helps them to find a way forward, takes care of them. And then years later, they pay it forward. So years later, Susanna Esherman got gripped. This grip that took over her heart as a child that she's still living it out because she couldn't let it go. That's compassion, is when something grips you and you can't let it go.

57:52 I wonder what problems, what pain has gripped your heart. and you can't let it go. And if it has, that's a great way to love when it's hard is to be moved by your compassion. Number two, I think you see in this text that Jesus shows that he has deep convictions. When you see problems and you see pain and it gets hard, if you have deep convictions, your convictions will help you to live into the problems and the pain. When you have this sense about you that there are some things that are absolutely right and there are some things that are absolutely wrong. I think Jesus looked out at that crowd that day and he saw people who were hungry and it was his conviction that there was no reason for people to be hungry. I think the same thing can happen to us. We can't fight every battle, but I bet you have some things that you have deep convictions about that when you look into the world that you see it and it makes you mad.

58:53 It upsets you. and you say to yourself, this shouldn't be. And I wanna ask you, I wanna invite you to pay attention to that because that's a doorway into loving when it's hard. Number three, I think that Jesus showed amazing courage. The disciples were trying to protect him. When they started sending the people away, they were saying, Jesus, this could get embarrassing. Not only what if we can't handle feeding all these people, but what are they gonna say about you when they hear that you failed, that you even tried to feed 5,000 people and you failed. And yet Jesus lived into the moment because he had the courage to love even when it was risky. He had done this before when a woman came into the house of a man and nailed her to his feet. And this woman was, who was a woman who had a questionable past. And so that was a risk that maybe people might associate Jesus with her and think that that was some kind of dynamic or relationship between the two of them.

59:52 and Jesus could have withdrew and just pushed her away, but he had the courage to love her in spite of what might be said about him. Have you heard the story about the woman in California who her kid was attacked by a mountain lion and instead of running away, she ran and fought the lion off? That's what courage does when you have to love when it's hard. As a matter of fact, I don't know what comes first. I don't know whether it's that courage empowers love or that love empowers courage, because scripture does tell us that perfect love casts out fear. And so somehow, as we lean into the problems of our time, we can love when it's hard if we have courage. And then I want to say something that's going to surprise you. I think it takes creativity. We use creativity to do everything but love.

1:00:47 We've used our creativity to go to the moon. We've used our creativity to create amazing technology, AI. We use our creativity to come up with amazing ways to have fun and to have recreation. But we don't use our creativity when it comes to the task of love, the most important assignment that Jesus has given us, the assignment to love one another. And when it gets hard, we give up. But love, when it's creative, will find a way. I invite you to go through scripture and look at all the spiritual gifts. Look at all the spiritual resources we have. Patience, long suffering, discernment, prophetic words, healing, all of these amazing spiritual gifts we have and learn how to use those gifts creatively to love in tough times. If you've got a son or daughter or kid that you are alienated from and you're trying to figure out how to love them, don't give up.

1:01:46 Pull up the physical resources and create a map, create a love map that will help you to love well, even when it's hard. And then finally, I think Jesus used the gift of community. Do you notice how he fed the 5,000? They had five loaves of bread and two fish, but it wasn't those resources. He sits them down in groups. Tells the disciples, put them in groups. And then he begins the feeding process. I don't know. Maybe somehow we don't understand fully what happened. It's amazing how people try to explain the way the supernatural dimension of this. I don't do that. I don't think it was just supernatural. I think it was a human element to it. But somehow in the midst of community and human action and divine presence, something beautiful and miraculous happened.

1:02:41 And I think it happens again and again and again. Can I tell you that if you're worried about this upcoming election, that at the end of the day, at the end of the day, what's going to matter is not who gets elected. What's going to matter for our children, for our schools, for our economy, for our churches, for our families, is not who gets elected. But whether we, on the local level, build communities where we practice the love ethic and we love one another. That's what's going to matter. That's how the early church took over the Roman empire. What they did at the local level was gathered in each other's homes and care for each other, welcome other people into their communities. And in 300 years, this loving people, loving one another and doing it through community took over the Roman empire.

1:03:35 I think the same thing is possible for us in our country, in our world today. I want to invite you into that. I want to close with this. The sharmans mentioned the civil rights stuff, and they were talking about the trips that we do. We have another trip coming up in 2027, and people ask, why do we go on these trips? Because, you know, why go and look at the ugly part of American history? Why go and look at something that's in the past, if it's in the past? Why go look at something that's just going to break people's hearts or make people angry? and I think we do these trips in part because of these five disciplines that can help us to love hard. It's about showing compassion. It's about living out our convictions. It's about having courage to look at pain. It's about looking at pain in the past with creativity to ask the question, how can we ensure that this doesn't happen again?

1:04:34 And then we do it together in community with each other. It's not just one person going, it's a group of us going together and we experience these things together. I wanna invite you to go on our next trip in March of 2027. You can go to core.org and sign up today. Friends, let's love one another, even when it's hard. Let's pray. God, thank you. We love you. Thank you for calling us into this campaign to love one another. And for some, it sounds naive. It sounds like escapism. But we know that if we live into this call, that it is the most courageous and most effective thing we can do in this moment to change the world.