Submitted by admin on Mon, 15/09/2008 - 7:37am
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In 1952, Florence Chadwick was the first woman to attempt to swim the 26 miles between Catalina Island and the California coastline. She had lots of help and support in her endeavor. As she began, she was flanked by small boats watching for sharks and prepared to come to her rescue if she got hurt or grew tired. What they couldn't do, however, was help her with her thinking.
After about 15 hours of swimming a thick fog set in. Unable to see ahead of her, Florence began to doubt her ability. Her mother was in one of the boats and Florence told her she didn't think she could make it. She swam for another hour before asking to be pulled out. As she sat in the boat, she learned she had stopped swimming just one mile short of the coastline, hidden by the blanket of fog.
"If I could have seen it," she said, "I would have made it."
Two months later, Chadwick tried again. And even though the same thick fog set in, this time was different. Later she explained. She finished the swim, she said, because she kept a mental image of the shoreline in her mind while she swam. [Wikipedia]
Faith—the substance of things hoped for—helps us see things that cannot be seen with the natural eye. Faith and hope gets us through the fog of disappointment and discouragement. They build our confidence and give us the stamina to persevere through tough times when we cannot see past our present troubles.
The last two weeks we've looked at faith and hope in the Book of Hebrews. We've seen how important faith and hope were for those early believers. They were going through difficult, challenging times. The experiences they were living discouraged their morale and stretched their faith.
What was true for those early believers is also true for us. Faith and hope are absolutely essential for survival! Those who are discouraged or ready to give up need a fresh infusion of faith and hope. When troubles drain our energy and resolve, when disappointments erode our confidence, Hebrews reminds us: Hang in there; don't give up.
But even with faith and hope, we still need something more—something else just as important, something else just as necessary for our spiritual survival. That something else is love.
The Bible says,
"There are three things that will endure—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love." (1 Cor 13:13, NLT)
God's Word often links faith and hope together with love. Other examples...
...faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven... (Col 1:5)
...putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet. (1 Thess 5:8)
So as you might expect, Hebrews doesn't only talk about faith and hope. It also speaks of love.
10 God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them. 11 We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, in order to make your hope sure. 12 We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (Heb 6:10-12)
What can we say from all this? We can say that faith, hope, and love—all three—are needed to finish our journey.
Now when I talk about love, I'm not talking about so-called "love" found in a Hallmark card. Love is not syrupy, sentimental words.
Last Monday was our 35th wedding anniversary. And we bought each other some very nice cards. [I'd chase you across a hundred playgrounds, a thousand school yards to play this game of love with you. Catch you, kiss you, never let you forget, "You are it" for me and always will be.] But these words didn't make supper for me each night this week. These words didn't pick up the paint brush and help my wife paint the bedroom Friday. Words alone don't cut it!
I'm talking about love in action. Love that speaks louder than words. I'm talking about love that puts on its work clothes, rolls up its sleeves, and gets down to business. Love in action will get dirty, will let go of its own plans, will go outside the comfort zone.
Those who are struggling, who are discouraged, who are wavering, who are bombarded by disappointment and trouble need more than faith and hope. They also need love—practical love shown by others in tangible acts of encouragement and help.
We all have difficulties at times. We all struggle from time to time. But when others come around and support us in love, we gain strength to keep on going.
Giving and receiving love, however, doesn't come easily to us—not the love that is selfless and sacrificial; not the love that lays itself down for another person. That kind of love runs contrary to our natural instincts for comfort, convenience, and self-preservation.
Can we learn how to love? The writer of Hebrews tells us that we show love to God when we help (i.e. serve) his people (6:10). He tells us we must be diligent to show this love to the very end (6:11). It will take work and commitment to show God's love! How can we be diligent in expressing love to others?
1. Check your connection to God.
When a hurricane hit South Florida, Norena's home was one of many that was severely damaged. The elderly woman received an insurance settlement, and the repair work began. However, when the money ran out, so did the contractor, leaving her home with no electricity. Without any family to help or money to finish the repairs, Norena lived without power—for 15 years! All the homes around her had electricity, but Norena wasn't connected. Everyone else had AC, but Norena wasn't connected. Her neighbors had hot water, but Norena wasn't connected. It wasn't until just last year that someone noticed her plight and alerted the authorities who got her reconnected.
In the same way, storms in our lives can damage our connection to God. At first we get bothered and upset, but if we don't do something about it right away, we can grow complacent. In time, we learn to make do. We forget what it was like to have that connection. KUTV, "Woman Turns Lights on After 15 Years in the Dark," KUTV.com (2-17-07)
Don't be complacent about your connection to God! If we want to love as God calls us to love, we need to make sure we're connected to God. We cannot love if we're not connected to the One who is love!
We need to have a fresh experience of God's love. We must drink deeply from his infinite supply. We must open our hearts again to God's incredible, amazing love. We must realize all over again that we did not deserve his love, that we could never earn his love. When we begin to grasp how much God loved us on the cross, though we were sinners and rebels, then we can begin to tap into his flow of love.
Love needs to grow in us so it can flow through us. We need to be connected to God so his love can grow in our lives. It's not until we experience God's love that we can love others as we should, because God is the source of perfect love.
...God is love... (1 John 4:8,16)
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. (1 John 4:7)
God is the source of love.
People in New Orleans probably don't appreciate it, but the mighty Mississippi River flowing into the Gulf of Mexico begins up in northern Minnesota at Lake Itasca. Every river has a place where it starts.
Love is like a river. And just as a river has a source, we need God who is the Source for love to flow through our lives and out to others. Without that Source, we will become spiritually dry and parched in our soul. It will be impossible for us to love because you can't get a river out of a desert. We need to return to the Source! You need to return for a fresh experience of God's love!
2. Check your relationships.
We need to be connected not only to God, but to his body, the church.
From [Christ] the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work. (Eph 4:16)
It's often by connecting with others in the body of Christ that God connects with us. It's when we love others that we love him more fully and completely.
"...he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him as you have helped his people and continue to help them" (6:10).
If love is going to help us make it "to the very end," as Hebrews says, we need to be part of the church, part of the body of Christ. Love in the body of Christ goes both ways. We need to give and receive love.
Love needs to grow in us so it can flow through us. When we're connected with others, when they touch our lives, they help us grow in God's love. By the same token, if love is going to flow through us back to them, we also need that connection.
Isolation from others cuts us off from what God wants to do in us and through us. Spiritual lone rangers, religious hermits, and mavericks have a hard time finding ways for God's love to flow.
A month or so ago the phone rang at our house. Now I have to tell you, I don't like telemarketing calls, so I always check the caller ID to see who's calling. Just as a matter of course, I try avoid telemarketers. On this particular day, the screen read: "Unknown number. Unknown name." Normally I would have just let the phone ring. I wouldn't choose to talk with some unknown number or some unknown name. But for some reason I picked it up.
On the other end of the line came the voice of my son, who had taken a trip to visit a missionary pilot in Brazil along a tributary of the Amazon River. "Dad!" he said, "I just called to tell you I made it okay! I'm at Mike Bunn's house right now."
Of course that phone call made me feel very good. And to think—I came that close to not picking up the phone! That close to not connecting with my son.
So many people choose to ignore the call to love. They choose not to connect with others. Instead they choose to cloister themselves away, insulated from interruptions, avoiding inconveniences, guarding their time and their space. But when we're not connected, we miss experiencing love.
God's love was meant to be shared—and that's why we need to be in relationship with others.
No matter how determined and strong we may be as individuals, God never intended for us to deal with life on our own. He never intended for us to battle the enemy alone. The love of God expressed through his people, the church will help you get through hard times. Those who are hurting encouraged by others who have felt the pain; cancer patients strengthened by cancer survivors; sick or home-bound get a visit or a meal; frazzled single mom offered childcare...
9 Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: 10 If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up! 11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? 12 Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. (Eccl 4:9-12)
We become stronger in Christ when we learn to rely on each other and help one another. We do better together than we can ever do apart. This is what love must be—connecting and strengthening believers with one another.
Hebrews says love displayed diligently in practical ways will make our hope sure. Love in action strengthens those whose faith is weak. Love shown in practical ways gives new courage to those who are wavering in their faith.
God's love connected with the world because Jesus came in physical form to the world, because Jesus went to the cross, because Jesus gave his life.
Now, the Bible says, we are the body of Christ! And God still connects with the world through the physical body of Christ. Through us God's love connects to the hurting, the discouraged, the lonely, the struggling. Through us God's love picks up one who's been knocked down, dusts him off, steadies him, and helps him on his way. Through us God's love wraps a comforting arm around one suffering great loss. Through us God's love cooks a meal, fixes a leaky faucet, pays an electric bill, mows a lawn...
Doug Nichols is director of Action International—the organization our missionary friends Jeff and Mary Ann Anderson work with.
Years ago Doug was working in India when tuberculosis forced him into a sanitarium for several months. He had not yet learned the language, but he tried to give Christian literature written in their language to the patients, doctors, and nurses. Everyone politely refused. They didn't seem too happy about a rich American (to them all Americans are rich) being in a free, government-run sanitarium. (They didn't know he was just as broke as they were!)
The first few nights he woke around 2:00 a.m. coughing. During one of his coughing spells, he noticed an older patient across the aisle trying to get out of bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and tried to stand, but he was so weak he fell back into bed. Doug didn't understand what he was trying to do, and the man finally fell back into bed exhausted, crying softly.
The next morning he realized what the man had been trying to do. He had been trying to get up and walk to the bathroom! The stench in the ward was awful. Other patients yelled insults at the man. Angry nurses moved him roughly from side to side as they cleaned up the mess. One nurse even slapped him. The old man curled into a ball and wept.
The next night Doug again woke up coughing and noticed the man across the aisle sit up and again try to stand. Like the night before, he fell back, whimpering.
Doug didn't really want to become involved, but he didn't like bad smells. So he got out of bed and went over to him. When he touched the man's shoulder, his eyes opened wide with fear. Doug smiled, put his arms under him, and picked him up. He was very light due to old age and advanced TB. He carried him to the washroom—just a filthy, small room with a hole in the floor. He stood behind him with his arms under his armpits as the man took care of himself. After he finished, Doug picked him up, and carried him back to his bed. As he laid him down, the man kissed him on the cheek, smiled, and said something he couldn't understand.
The next morning another patient woke Doug up and handed him a steaming cup of tea. He motioned with his hands that he wanted one of those tracts Doug had been trying to give out. As the sun rose, other patients came. They also wanted the booklets. Throughout the day nurses, interns, and doctors asked for literature.
Weeks later an evangelist who spoke the language visited Doug, and as he talked to others he discovered that several had put their trust in Christ as Savior as a result of reading the literature. What did it take to reach these people with the gospel? It wasn't strength, it wasn't health, it wasn't the ability to speak their language, it wasn't a talent to talk persuasively.
He simply took a trip to the bathroom. He simply showed God's love. Doug was willing to get dirty, to let go of his own plans, to go outside his comfort zone. Leadership, Vol. 15, no. 2
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. (1 John 3:16-18)
...you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it. (1 John 3:18, CEV)