| Sermon Thoughts |
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Yesterday at church one of the pastors, Mike, comment that I hadn't sent him any long emails of late (I send him copies of blog entries about his sermons). I laughed and replied that my husband had been too ill for me to attend in several months but that if he preached a good sermon there just might be a new blog entry. LOL Be careful what you ask for Mike!
The sermon yesterday was the last one in a series about transformed relationships. I've no clue what the other sermons focused on so this one had to stand alone. It did. There were actually a number of things I could opt to focus on for blog entries ... and I have to say I'm really proud of myself for noting them and managing to stay focused on the sermon rather than debating the other things in my head as often happens. (Good sermon Mike!)
One thing mentioned in the sermon I will address separately as it is an issue dear to me. The others I will talk about here. I thought originaly two topics, two blog entries. As I review my sermon notes though I see more that I have to say. So I'm just going to type away and see where we go.
One of the opening questions was drawn from Romans 12:9 "Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good" We were asked "Can you crush evil while filled with love?" This is still swirling in my head and it will be interesting to see what others think.
"Can you crush evil while filled with love?"
He went on to define evil as (edited list he was going too fast) poverty, slavery, abortion, pornography, neglect, unjust wars ... Must admit I questioned the definition. It does however meet the dictionary definition ... "things that are morally reprehensible" So I'll go with it.
Then came the comment that really stuck in my head.
"Hate is an indicator of love controlling your life."
Huh? I'd be more inclined to say hate is the absense of love, not the indicator of its depth...at least not positive depth. Now I know many people use hate in a very casual sense, I hate rain, I hate brussel sprouts. Even eliminating that casual hate as an idicator of love just doesn't work ... or does it?
The dictionary defines hate thusly "1 a: intense hostility and aversion usually deriving from fear, anger, or sense of injury b: extreme dislike or antipathy : loathing " Do I have an aversion to poverty? Does slavery make me feel hostile? Abortion, pornography, neglect, unjust wars? Do they leave me with a sense of injury? Yes. Do they make me angry? Sometimes, not always. Do they make me afraid? No, I can't say that they do.
So here I'd have to say, "OK Mike. I'll give you this one...the idea isn't completely unthinkable like I felt during your sermon." That said, I would still debate. Do we act against evil because we feel hate?? Or do we act against evil because we are so filled with love there is no alternative?
I don't FEEL hatred towards any of the things listed in the sermon. What I feel is an all emcompassing LOVE for the people those things touch, so I act, I reach out and embrace. Does that act crush the evil? No, it's still there. It will always be there in this world. Would I love the people any less if they were not being touched by evil?? No, I would not.
So I guess ultimately I do disagree. You can't crush evil while filled with love. You CAN however help mitigate the effects of evil on the life of another by being filled with love. Hate isn't the indicator of love controlling your life. Love itself is the indicator, the degree in which you act on the fullness of Christ's love within you. I don't believe we reach out because we hate ... we reach out because Love gives us no choice.
Well then, I guess I'm not going to ramble on as many topics as I thought. We'll leave the rest for another day. |
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