Tonight I led worship at FBCSmyrna, Tennessee like i have been doing every Wednesday since I began interning there (about 1 month). Normally the talk for the second service is done by David McCaman who is quickly becoming a very influential person and overall close friend. But tonight David passed the mic on to a 15 year old kid. I cannot even remember this guy’s name. David prefaced by saying that what’s-his-name had accepted a call to full time vocational ministry as a communicator at a summer camp a while back, and that he was going to let him teach the lesson that night. I commend the kid. There was in abundance of 300 people there. I would say that a lot of 30 something year old speakers have not spoken to that many people, especially on their first time.
Anyways, the first thing out of the kid’s mouth is “what’s up guys?” followed by a murmur from the crowd. He follows with “how ya doin’?” Murmur. I completely called it. In my mind I knew he would say that first. At this point all that I could think about was that it was about 7:30 and I had not eaten at all. I had already planned on running down the street to the McDonald’s to avoid starvation and I now knew that I wouldn’t really have to miss anything since I probably not get much out of the message from this kid.
Mistaken I was.
As I am preparing to leave I hear him saying something about an ING commercial. Many of you have probably seen this commercial. I think that I have seen it 94 times? Yea. It shows a guy about to cross the street and then a woman grabs his arm to keep him from walking into a car, and then it goes on to show various scenes of people performing what many call “random acts of kindness.” So since I have seen this commercial 94-ish times I decided to stay another minute and see what he was going to say about it. He went on to say some other things that I cannot quote simply because I was replaying the commercial in my head and inadvertently tuned him out. I caught back up with him when he read this:
“The first of all of the commandments is: You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment…” -Mark 12:29-30
(P.S. Who has not heard that? In spite of that I am sure you would agree it’s important. Note the parallel structure for emphasis.)
“…And the second, like it (the 1st; v. 29-30) is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” -Mark 12:31
So, all of that was in red. Jesus said it.
My mind begins to wonder again as I walk out of the room and towards my car. I end up back at the commercial. A detail that I noticed when I saw the commercial the first time that I believe was more important that the simple fact of people displaying those acts of kindness was the fact that at the end of every scene there was a person across the street or in a car driving by or in some other sort of position watching that event unfold. i would argue that the individual that saw that felt something at that point. Maybe a tug on his or her heart to share that same love.
POINT: LOVE CAN SPREAD LIKE WILDFIRE. As Christians we carry a message of hope and love in our hearts. Or we should. Christ in us is not bondage or hate or separation or judgment. Christ in us freedom and love and community and hope! Christ was the ultimate lover! He hung out with the sinners, the outcasts, and the lame. Jesus laid down his perfect life for us to save us from eternal separation from the God who created us. I chose not to say “to save us from Hell” there because when I think of non-Christians dying I do not think of them burning in Hell. That is not to say that I do not believe that Hell is a real place, but I believe the overall feeling of separation from the God who loves you enough that he died for you will torment you more than anything. Especially knowing that you had the opportunity to accept that free gift of love and rejected it.
So my question I spoke of in the beginning… here it is:
Why?
Christian translates to “little Christ.” Being “little Christs” WHY don’t we show the love our counterpart so easily showed? The church is the body of Christ for our time here. We are the messengers! The world looks at us and sees what Christ is supposed to look like but I bet HE would not recognize us. He would say, “I do not look like that. Where is your LOVE?”
To use the commercial one more time… Jesus’ love for us is not like the woman that grabbed the man’s arm and pulled him back onto the sidewalk to keep from getting hit by the car. It would be like the woman (Jesus) stepping in front of the man who was about to get hit so that she got hit and not him. She sacrificed her life for his. Difference? Yes.
Jesus gained nothing by dying. We gained everything from His death.
Jesus loves people with an undying love. His love lives on today because he rose from the grave. We carry Christ along with His love in our hearts. LET IT OUT!
I am making a commitment to love. To love God. To love people. To change the way I think. TO CHANGE MY HEART. So that people can see what God is supposed to look like.
Thank you what’s-his-name.
