I must admit, my sermon this past Sunday went in a direction I hadn't planned. Suddenly, my slides were wrong, my notes were wrong, and my plan was wrong. So, we took a left hand turn right into a new topic: Love. It all started when I noted that Paul was asking the Galatians if he was their enemy for telling them the truth that keeping the law couldn't save them. Immediately, I sensed the need to add context. Paul's words were not out of a concern that he be seen as right. It was out of a concern borne of love for the Galatian believers. 

My concern is that the church in America today is divided and weak in many quarters. In a reflection of our greater political scene, many in the church are seeking to win arguments for the sake of being right, and nothing more. The church at Ephesus had a similar problem in Revelation 2:1-4. They had worked, labored, exhibited godly patience, fought against evil, and ferreted out false teachers. They had persevered, had even more patience, and labored again and again for Christ, and all of that was GREAT! Literally, all of those things were wonderful, but they ended up condemned for their lack of love. 

Paul addresses the importance love in I Corinthians 13:1-2 where he states that all the GREAT works we do for Christ are utterly meaningless if we don't have love. Furthermore, Jesus commanded us to love one another in John 15:12. He says that our love for each other is how people will know we are His in John 13:35. Does that mean we ignore truth? Certainly not! The truth matters, as Paul pointed out in Galatians. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, after all (John 14:6). However, it means that when we stand for truth, especially within the church body, we do so with self-sacrificing love for each other. This doesn't necessarily change what we say, but rather how we say it.  Galatians 6:1 says that if someone is overtaken in a fault, those who are spiritual are to restore them in a spirit of meekness, knowing that we could also fall in the same manner.  Love matters most in our efforts. Because PEOPLE matter most in our efforts.

My encouragement to you this week, is to consider your words carefully. Remember that we are the body of Christ, and when one of us is injured, the whole body suffers. As for our church, I know that we love each other. Let us not be tempted to fall into the trap of mimicking the world's anger and hatred even for a good cause. We must reflect Jesus to the world instead. 

I Peter 4:8 And above all things have fervent love for one another, for "love will cover a multitude of sins."

Love you all,

Pastor Clark