Infinite Love

 There once was a man who was so interesting and good

that people came from all over to hear him teach

He became such a good teacher and leader that some other leaders started to be afraid

they didn't know if Jesus wanted to take their jobs

One night

Jesus was in an upper room with his friends

they were celebrating the festival which remembers the day the Israelites left Egypt and crossed the reed sea

Jesus and his friends were eating flat bread, lamb, grilled vegetables, and drinking wine

Jesus started to teach his friends

He offered them encouragement

and reminders

a summary of all that he had taught them

Jesus reminded them that the Greatest Commandments

are based in Love

Love of God

Love for ourselves

Love for others

Love. Love, love, love, love, love.

What a four letter word.

Its a complicated thing

love.

I say this as someone who grew up in a loving family

with multiple people having mental health struggles

I say this as someone who has broken off relationships

and been broken off from.

I say this as someone who has lived her entire life as part of very different congregational communities

I say this as someone who is married

who knows the joys of sharing my life,

and the daily frustrations.

Love.

The second time I fell in love,

It was such a surprise and I fell so hard and so fast

that the next week I was on the phone with my friend KariAnn

and after saying all the typical crazy things you say when you've fallen in love,

I also said: 

Oof, I feel ten years older than last week. 

Love can give us direction and purpose

Energy and focus and something to hold on to,

And it can also increase our sense of responsibility and care for the fragile things in this world

people

us

each other

Our pets

Our land

Our world

Love is always going to be hardest thing we get to do in our lives

it keeps asking us to be open

To suffer pain

And risk 

Risk our feelings

Our money

Our time

Our lives

Love is Also the best thing we get to do in our lives

Love is

"more than feeling"

it is a promise

a loyalty

a struggle

a longing

a grace

a gift

Love is the ground of all being

everything we know in this universe

the atoms which make us up

the threads that are bound together for our clothes

the annoying pebble in your shoe

the air and water, crops and food, we breathe, drink, and eat

the pollen and cat hair which clings to everything in the spring

the oceans full of fish, plankton, whales, sharks

the forests full of lions, and tigers, and bears

the insects and arachnids

and animals we haven't figured out classifications for yet

the black holes, stars, quasars, and immense sound waves of space

All of this was created in love

immense love

I mean, how in love with creation do you have to be to create black widow spiders

that's some serious love right there

I'm going to be preaching about love my entire career, nine years already with another thirty five to go

and I'm never going to preach a sermon that fully encompasses what God's love means

that is how immense and amazing God's love for us is

In dire circumstances we might say we would be willing to die for those we love

God has done that

God came to earth as Jesus out of love for us

and because of the circumstances

died so that we might be free

free from sin, death, everything which keeps us from living with joy and peace

Jesus, our God who is love,

reminds us to reconnect with the foundation of our being

the reason and purpose we are alive

life is created for love

Of course this is the greatest commandment

without love we become dead inside

we are empty and dark and malicious

and it shows

This is where love really hits the road

love empowers us to rise again

when we get knocked down, knocked out, devastated by what is going on in our lives and in the world

love, the courage of our hearts,

is what helps us become like those magical mythical phoenixes

rising again from the ashes

we are never exactly the same as before

but we can still continue to live and breathe and work love into this world

the commandment of love is a daily practice

a habit we need to work on

kind of like eating healthily

we know it is something we should do

and it will make our lives better

but it takes time and energy and intention

and so we eat daily cheeseburgers instead of daily salads

we allow our self talk to be daily self shame instead of daily self love

we allow ourselves to forget all the hard things taking up our brain space

and judge others when they mess up

and being upset when they judge us because we know all the things going on in our lives

the commandment of love is a daily practice

it looks like saying a prayer in the morning

it looks like cleaning up our messes, whether they are spilling milk or saying something mean

it looks like allowing yourself to be happy when something silly happens

it looks like taking time to enjoy who you are and what you like to do

it looks like living out of abundance, being able to share our toys, our food, our lives, our money, our time

because love means there is always enough

Having lived in this world, Jesus knows

he knows that we internalize shame

and the only cure for shame is love

there is no shame in the presence of love

Jesus invites us to internalize love

to know the only rule we need is one of love

because from love comes grace, forgiveness, peace, joy, empathy

Listen to Jesus' teaching

Know that love is the hardest thing we get to do in this world

Loving is also the best thing we get to do in this world

start a daily practice of love

And know that you are completely unashamedly loved