"The Greatest Power On Earth"

Jan 31, 2016  Psalm 7,  1 Corinthians 13:1-13,   Luke 4: 21-30       

Have Faith, hope, Charity that’s the way to live successfully, how do I know the bible tells me so.  These three attributes of God will outlast through out our lives but there is one greater, and as we read in 1 Corinthians today, it endures all things and is forever unending as it is eternal, Gods LOVE!  Beautiful words, in this old song and their truth is undeniable. Take a minute and listen to this:  Anyone remember Roy Rogers & Dale Evens?  

 Let us take a moment and take a closer look at three wonderful gifts from God, faith, hope and love. 
In order to maintain faith, faith requires us to trust.  When we put our trust in the unseen we develop the faith to believe that all things are meant for good, and it does not exclude pain, hardship, suffering or loss. 
According to the scriptures it is our faith that makes us whole, and it is faith that offers us a pathway to God.    When we begin to walk the path of faith it will teach us to live above our circumstances.  Do you personally know of anyone who does this?  Just recently I watched some of the sled hockey games for paraplegic on TV. It was fast and exciting Faith has to be a part of their lives.  Our faith teaches us that when difficulties befall someone, they somehow do not allow their circumstances to victimize them, dictate or restrict them from living a full life.  It is as though the light of faith surrounds them.   This light shines more brightly on those who follow this path in life, regardless of their circumstances.   Dare to walk the higher road of faith and it is there that you will find a direct path to the holy, a pathway that leads to God. 

Now of course there is a lower road folks that you can choose, you can choose to be the victim of your circumstances but it is longer and more difficult and you do not have to be paralyzed to travel it. This road contains twists and turns that often lead one into agonizing fear and darkness.  There your feet will fell as though you are standing on quicksand not on a firm foundation.

Proverbs 3:5 tells us “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding.”  There is a nugget here folks for those who the ears to hear.   Faith that produces trust will not only encourage you to follow, it will create in you a thirst to seek one of the ones whom God chose to embody his attributes to show us the way. 

A women who had twin boys age 7 was perplexed with the attitudes of the two.  One was an optimist the other a pessimist.  Out of frustration she took them to a psychiatrist “is there some way I balance them up” she asked.  “On their next birthday” the Dr. said “fill the bedroom of the pessimist with new toys, and the bedroom of the optimist with horse manure. That will do it”.   On their birthday the mother did as the Dr. had suggested.  She peeked into the room of the pessimist only to hear him say “bet my brother got better toys than I did.”  Then she peaked into the room with the optimist, there he was digging in the manure as he said “with all this manure there must be a pony in here somewhere.”  Isn’t it ironic at how true this story is?  The more manure that seems to pile up around the faithful, the more hope they seem to contour up to find opportunities.   By the same token the more opportunities that seem to pile up around a pessimist, it just never seems to be good enough.

Hope seems to live in the house of the optimism, the house of possibilities.  Hope is the lifeline given to those who have faith.  Faith and hope work in harmony with the spirit to produce faithful followers.  With the hope found in faith, one no longer needs to hide in the shadows of fear or darkness, but rather seek the sanctuary of living in the light. 

For those who come to faith and begin to live with hope, they can be blessed with something more powerful than anything the world has to offer.  It has the power to set the captive free, to feed the poor in spirit, revive what appears to be dead and change the circumstances of the lost.  Some of the most astonishing side effects of this blessing are:  it can change the greedy into the sharing of their wealth.  It has the power to change self-centeredness into the awareness to consider your neighbor.  It can change unforgiveness into the compassion that leads one to forgive the unforgivable and the list goes on and on.  Love is a blessing to all who have received it and share it.  This blessing is the power found in Agape love.   This love is not to be confused with the love the world knows as romantic love, nor is it the brotherly love we hear of spoken within the scriptures, love of neighbor or self.  No, it is a special love known to us as Agape love.  Agape love is best described to us in the reading from 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 this morning.  This is love in its purist state, meaning it is completely void of condition, free with no strings attached.  It is not influenced by good feelings nor exotic pleasure.  It is not measured or affected by partridge or personal performance and as strange as it may sound, this all powerful love is often associated with non-acceptance, discomfort, suffering, pain or even death.  Jesus, along with many others, have offered their lives in exchange for this love of others.   This love is not cost effective in human terms because you become the barrier of the cost.  Its power is limitless and although connected to, it is not like faith, hope and other forms of love because this love does not stop with your physical death.  Agape love is timeless, universal and as Paul so beautifully puts it, this Love endures all things and is forever unending as it is eternal. 

Let us give God thanks for this love and let us reach out to others as we try our best to show God’s Agape love, or unconditional love to the world.   
                                            " Perhaps Love"