[The following is a manuscript of my sermon delivered on Sunday morning, the 28th of May, 2017, Memorial Day weekend. Look for the video on our Vimeo channel: http://vimeo.com/pilgrimreformedchurch.]
Tomorrow is Memorial Day, the one day each year we set aside to commemorate and remember all those people who died while serving in our country’s armed forces throughout her history. At its heart, we might say that Memorial Day is really all about love – love of country, love of freedom, love of others above self – and about sacrifice - putting the needs of other folk ahead of one’s own.
Our Lord knew all about love and sacrifice. Listen and follow along to what Jesus tells us in the Gospel accounts of the Apostles Mark and John, first from Mark’s chapter 12 verses 28 through 31, and then from John’s chapter 15, verses 9 through 17, and I’ll be reading both from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible.…
Our Lord knew all about love and sacrifice. Listen and follow along to what Jesus tells us in the Gospel accounts of the Apostles Mark and John, first from Mark’s chapter 12 verses 28 through 31, and then from John’s chapter 15, verses 9 through 17, and I’ll be reading both from the New King James Version of our Holy Bible.…
28 Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?”
29 Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 And 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. 31 And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
--Mark 12:28-31 (NKJV)
9 “As the Father loved Me, I also have loved you; abide in My love. 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.
11 “These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may remain in you, and that your joy may be full. 12 This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. 14 You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you. 17 These things I command you, that you love one another.”
--John 15:9-17 (NKJV)
Let us pray… Father God, Your Son Jesus tried so hard to get Your people to hear Your message, the same message He repeats to us in Your holy word. Speak to us now, Father, through Your Holy Spirit directly into our hearts, that we might receive, understand, and obey Your message this morning. Help us to not let religion interfere with our worship. In the blessed name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
While watching the Memorial Day parade, little Johnny turned to his mother and asked, "Mamma, don't soldiers ever go to heaven?" "Of course they do!", his surprised mother exclaimed. "What makes you ask?" "Well, there are so many soldiers with beards, but I never saw any pictures of angels with beards", little Johnny explained. The mother thought for a moment and replied, "Oh, that's because most vets who go to heaven get there by a close shave."
I think there may be many who get to heaven by a close shave. After all, it is only by the grace of God, by virtue of the selfless act of Jesus our Lord, that we sinners are granted access to heaven. That’s as close a shave as anyone will ever get.
Memorial Day - a time to remember great sacrifice. Nowadays, though, I think most people simply consider it an extra day off, the beginning of summer, a time for picnics and grilling out and playing games. They might give a passing thought to those who gave their lives in service for our freedom… before heading off for a day of fun in the sun.
There really should be more to Memorial Day than family picnics and a day at the lake. We should remember and honor the men and women who died so that each one of us might live free. We should remember the sacrifice they made for us. And for those of us who call ourselves Christian, this day should also bring to mind another sacrifice that was made on our behalf, just so we might live free. Our Lord Jesus gave His mortal life in service to His Father God so that we might be set free from our sin and gain eternal life in heaven.
When we think of love, John 3:16 usually comes quickly to mind - God’s great love, shown by sending His only Son into the world, that we might be saved from eternal damnation if we only believe in Him. Or we think of Jesus telling us to love one another, just like we love ourselves. In our scripture reading from Mark’s Gospel account, Jesus reminds us that we should also love God, with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength. God commands us to love Him – this is His very first commandment – but we should also love God because He loved us first, and He still loves us, no matter what foolishness we get ourselves into.
Then Jesus reminds us that the part about loving our neighbor came from God too, that it is actually the second commandment. It’s something He repeats so often in our Bible, in one form or another, that we think it came from Jesus, but our heavenly Father issued this command to us through Moses, long before Jesus came to earth.
When we move into our reading from John’s Gospel account, Jesus clarifies why all this stuff about love is so important. Just as His Father God loves Him, Jesus loves us. And He wants us to abide in His love!
To abide in something means to live in it, right? So Jesus wants us to live in His love! To me, that carries two meanings. First is to be enfolded in and surrounded by the warm love that Jesus has for us, the love that is Jesus, the same love that God feels for Him. To walk each and every day in that great love, to go to sleep in it and wake in it. To know love and to be loved. To live within the love that is Jesus. The second aspect of this is to love like Jesus loves. And that’s pretty much the objective behind the second commandment He keeps reminding us of.
In his first letter to the far-flung Christian church, the Apostle John adds even more to this discussion of how God’s love affects us. Listen to what John says in his 1st letter, chapter 5, verses 1 through 3, as written in the Contemporary English Bible…
When we believe in Jesus as God’s Son and accept Him as our Lord, then God adopts us into His great family and we become one of His own children. If we love God as our heavenly Father and obey Him, we should also love His children – all of His children. We show Him our love by obeying Him, and we obey Him by loving others, by showing others His love.
It’s all about love: God’s love for us, our love for God, His and our love for all others. If love isn’t important, why is it repeated so many times in our Bible? Why did Jesus tell us over and over to love one another? What could be any clearer than His words in verse 12 that this is His commandment, to love one another as He loves us? It’s not a suggestion, it’s a command! If Jesus Christ is indeed our Lord and Master as we claim He is, then we must obey His commands!
Today we honor those who did obey that commandment, who loved others, even people they would never know. They loved so much, they lay down their mortal lives for us all. They gave everything so that we might be free. Theirs was the greater love Jesus spoke of in verse 13: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Those we commemorate today did just that, and Jesus did, too. He gave everything for us, because we’re His friends. But to remain His friends, we need to obey Him. In case we should forget, Jesus explains that the choice wasn’t ours. We didn’t choose Him – He chose us. He chose us and anointed us that we might bear fruit that lasts. And that fruit is our love shared with others.
These things Jesus commands us, that we love one another. And that we love one another with the same selfless, unconditional, sacrificial love with which He loves us. A greater love.
So very many men and women in our armed forces and many others that serve, like our police and firefighters, have shown that greater love. Many are willing to do so in the future. Our veterans put themselves in a position to when they served.
Now it is fairly unlikely that any of us will ever be required to lay down our lives for any others, but we should be willing in our hearts to do so. For greater love has no one than this. This Jesus commands us: that we love one another.
In the glorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, everything You do, You do out of love. Even when we are unlovable, even when we seem incapable of love, even when we don’t love ourselves, You love us. Father, You are love, and You showed Your love by sending Your only Son into the world to save us from ourselves. You love us and want us to love You, and to show our love by loving all Your children. Forgive us, Father, when we fail to do so, when we feel we can’t love, when we refuse to even try. Help us obey Your commands to love.
Please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You from our hearts, acknowledging our belief in Your Son Jesus and our acceptance of Him as our Master, rededicating ourselves to Your service, promising to repent of our disobedience and sin, seeking Your forgiveness, listening for Your voice…
Lord Jesus, over and over You gave the same command: love one another, love others as you love yourself, love as I love you. Lord, we find it easy to love those who love us. And it’s not too hard to love those who at least don’t try to hurt us. But Lord, when it comes to loving those who hate us, who mean us harm, who want nothing but our destruction, then we often fail to obey Your commandment. Being willing to lay down our life for a friend is easy compared to thinking about giving our life for one who hates us this much. Forgive us, Lord, when we struggle to obey You. Help us understand and show a greater love.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith. Amen.
While watching the Memorial Day parade, little Johnny turned to his mother and asked, "Mamma, don't soldiers ever go to heaven?" "Of course they do!", his surprised mother exclaimed. "What makes you ask?" "Well, there are so many soldiers with beards, but I never saw any pictures of angels with beards", little Johnny explained. The mother thought for a moment and replied, "Oh, that's because most vets who go to heaven get there by a close shave."
I think there may be many who get to heaven by a close shave. After all, it is only by the grace of God, by virtue of the selfless act of Jesus our Lord, that we sinners are granted access to heaven. That’s as close a shave as anyone will ever get.
Memorial Day - a time to remember great sacrifice. Nowadays, though, I think most people simply consider it an extra day off, the beginning of summer, a time for picnics and grilling out and playing games. They might give a passing thought to those who gave their lives in service for our freedom… before heading off for a day of fun in the sun.
There really should be more to Memorial Day than family picnics and a day at the lake. We should remember and honor the men and women who died so that each one of us might live free. We should remember the sacrifice they made for us. And for those of us who call ourselves Christian, this day should also bring to mind another sacrifice that was made on our behalf, just so we might live free. Our Lord Jesus gave His mortal life in service to His Father God so that we might be set free from our sin and gain eternal life in heaven.
When we think of love, John 3:16 usually comes quickly to mind - God’s great love, shown by sending His only Son into the world, that we might be saved from eternal damnation if we only believe in Him. Or we think of Jesus telling us to love one another, just like we love ourselves. In our scripture reading from Mark’s Gospel account, Jesus reminds us that we should also love God, with all our heart and all our soul and all our mind and all our strength. God commands us to love Him – this is His very first commandment – but we should also love God because He loved us first, and He still loves us, no matter what foolishness we get ourselves into.
Then Jesus reminds us that the part about loving our neighbor came from God too, that it is actually the second commandment. It’s something He repeats so often in our Bible, in one form or another, that we think it came from Jesus, but our heavenly Father issued this command to us through Moses, long before Jesus came to earth.
When we move into our reading from John’s Gospel account, Jesus clarifies why all this stuff about love is so important. Just as His Father God loves Him, Jesus loves us. And He wants us to abide in His love!
To abide in something means to live in it, right? So Jesus wants us to live in His love! To me, that carries two meanings. First is to be enfolded in and surrounded by the warm love that Jesus has for us, the love that is Jesus, the same love that God feels for Him. To walk each and every day in that great love, to go to sleep in it and wake in it. To know love and to be loved. To live within the love that is Jesus. The second aspect of this is to love like Jesus loves. And that’s pretty much the objective behind the second commandment He keeps reminding us of.
In his first letter to the far-flung Christian church, the Apostle John adds even more to this discussion of how God’s love affects us. Listen to what John says in his 1st letter, chapter 5, verses 1 through 3, as written in the Contemporary English Bible…
1 If we believe that Jesus is truly Christ, we are God’s children. Everyone who loves the Father will also love his children. 2 If we love and obey God, we know that we will love his children. 3 We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.
--1 John 5:1-3 (CEV)
It’s all about love: God’s love for us, our love for God, His and our love for all others. If love isn’t important, why is it repeated so many times in our Bible? Why did Jesus tell us over and over to love one another? What could be any clearer than His words in verse 12 that this is His commandment, to love one another as He loves us? It’s not a suggestion, it’s a command! If Jesus Christ is indeed our Lord and Master as we claim He is, then we must obey His commands!
Today we honor those who did obey that commandment, who loved others, even people they would never know. They loved so much, they lay down their mortal lives for us all. They gave everything so that we might be free. Theirs was the greater love Jesus spoke of in verse 13: “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.”
Those we commemorate today did just that, and Jesus did, too. He gave everything for us, because we’re His friends. But to remain His friends, we need to obey Him. In case we should forget, Jesus explains that the choice wasn’t ours. We didn’t choose Him – He chose us. He chose us and anointed us that we might bear fruit that lasts. And that fruit is our love shared with others.
These things Jesus commands us, that we love one another. And that we love one another with the same selfless, unconditional, sacrificial love with which He loves us. A greater love.
So very many men and women in our armed forces and many others that serve, like our police and firefighters, have shown that greater love. Many are willing to do so in the future. Our veterans put themselves in a position to when they served.
Now it is fairly unlikely that any of us will ever be required to lay down our lives for any others, but we should be willing in our hearts to do so. For greater love has no one than this. This Jesus commands us: that we love one another.
In the glorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
Let us pray… Father God, everything You do, You do out of love. Even when we are unlovable, even when we seem incapable of love, even when we don’t love ourselves, You love us. Father, You are love, and You showed Your love by sending Your only Son into the world to save us from ourselves. You love us and want us to love You, and to show our love by loving all Your children. Forgive us, Father, when we fail to do so, when we feel we can’t love, when we refuse to even try. Help us obey Your commands to love.
Please hear us now, Father, as we silently speak to You from our hearts, acknowledging our belief in Your Son Jesus and our acceptance of Him as our Master, rededicating ourselves to Your service, promising to repent of our disobedience and sin, seeking Your forgiveness, listening for Your voice…
Lord Jesus, over and over You gave the same command: love one another, love others as you love yourself, love as I love you. Lord, we find it easy to love those who love us. And it’s not too hard to love those who at least don’t try to hurt us. But Lord, when it comes to loving those who hate us, who mean us harm, who want nothing but our destruction, then we often fail to obey Your commandment. Being willing to lay down our life for a friend is easy compared to thinking about giving our life for one who hates us this much. Forgive us, Lord, when we struggle to obey You. Help us understand and show a greater love.
This we pray in Your glorious name, Lord Jesus Christ, our Master and our Savior, the one true Son of God, in whom we place all our hope, all our trust, all our faith. Amen.
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