All people are loved by God just the way they are

Listen to this sermon at: https://4allpeople.sermon.net/21451892

If you believe the headlines, it is not such a great time to be the church.

Over the last several decades, across our nation church participation is down–the number of people who come to church, give financially to support a church, or volunteer at a church has decreased. In particular, the church is losing younger people who often see the church as a place that is judgmental and hypocritical.

The largest growing demographic of people of faith are known either as the “nones”, people with no religious affiliation, or post-Christian. People who identify as post-Christian do not believe in God, do not pray, and do not attend worship. The number of people who identify as post-Christian is increasing. According to a study by the Barna Group, 42 percent of people in the city of Columbus identify as post Christian.

So the trends for church engagement and participation are not on our side.

Second, we live at a time when our society is divided.

It is striking that Jesus longest prayer in the gospels is in John as he is facing his coming betrayal and crucifixion. The thing Jesus prays for that takes up the entire chapter of John 17 is that we would be one. Jesus prays that we would be one just as he and the father are one. Jesus prays that we would “become completely one” so that the world would know God’s love.

While this is Jesus’ longest prayer, it only takes 15 minutes of watching the news to see that as a culture and a society we are as far from one as you can get. We have allowed fear to divide us along lines of race, class, age, ability, gender, sexual orientation, language of origin, country of origin, and just about any other way you can imagine.

Even in the church, Jesus prayed we would be one and we are far from one. Today, there are hundreds of denominations, some of whom work together and many who don’t.

Even within our own United Methodist denomination we are divided right now over whether or not globally we will be a church for all people. Here, at the corner of Parsons and Whittier, we were founded as a church for all and we will always be a church that welcomes all people, no matter the color of your skin, the amount of money in your pocket, how you identify yourself, or who you love. We know who we are and if anything we will dare to live on the side of loving too much, if that is possible. But for our denomination who has always theologically emphasized grace, we will see if in practice that grace can truly extend to all.

So we live in a world where nationally and locally fewer people are participating in church, we live in a culture that is divided, and we are part of a denomination that is divided.

On the surface, that does not sound great. If all you did was look at the headlines you might think it is not a great time to be the church. But I am here to tell you today, don’t believe the hype.

It is for this very moment and very time that we are called to be the church, to be a church that does what a church is supposed to do.

Despite all of the things I have just described, our church has consistently grown since its inception 17 years ago. We have experienced steady growth across the years. Last year was the year of our largest worship attendance and this year we are averaging 10 more people in worship than we did last year.

So in the face of all that is going in around us, why does this church continue to be an active, vibrant, and growing community?

First, and foremost, I believe it is because God is at work here. God’s Spirit has moved and is moving among us in ways that we never expected. There are things that happen in the life of our church that I can only laugh and shake my head and say it’s a God thing, because it is all too wonderful and amazing to simply be our work.

Second, while God is at work here, we have been responsive to it. We have been described by others from the outside as the church that does what a church is supposed to do. We work together with God and we have found that when you grab on the coattails of the Holy Spirit and are a part of what God is a part of, that our God is a God of abundance and God always provides.

The headlines are untrue. In the face of all that is going on around us, the truth is that there is no better time to be the church than right now.

This is the very time to be the church of diversity and of unity that Jesus prayed for.

So over the next several weeks we are going to explore what does it mean to be the church.

For us, I believe it means embodying our founding core values that are listed in this insert.

All people are loved by God just the way they are.
All people are welcome.
All people desire inclusive community.
All people desire relevant worship.
All people seek hope and healing.
All people have within themselves the God-given power to improve their lives.
All people have gifts to give and a desire to serve.
All people desire affirmation.
All people are capable of being transformed by God, in and through Jesus Christ.

When we live out these core values in the ministry of our church and in our individual lives, we discover what it means to be the church.

The first of these core values is really the foundation for the rest of them: All people are loved by God just the way they are.

If we are guilty of anything, it might be that we have made this kind of affirmation so many times we agree to it without thinking about it. The central statement of our church is that God loves us just the way we are and God is not finished with us yet.

And, as I read this statement, if I am guilty of anything, it is that I use the word love too often and too freely.

When I listen to an album I really like, I will say I love this music.

When I eat a good meal, I love this food.

When I read a good book, I love this author.

I say this so much that people will sometimes call me out on it. When I overuse the word love, I hear the voices of others say, if you love it, why don’t you marry it.

This correction is a good one, because how am I using the same word to describe how I feel after eating a piece of dark chocolate with how I feel about Jennifer to how I feel about God.

Part of it is not my fault.

The English language only gives us one word for love. We have the same word whether we are talking about a movie, a friend, a spouse, or God.

In Greek there are four words for love. C. S. Lewis wrote a really good, small book on this called “The Four Loves,” so if you are interested I would recommend that book. But the four loves are:

Storge, an affection, need based love. We love someone because they provide for our needs. A baby needs its mother. Think of the song we often sing, I need you to survive: “I pray for you, You pray for me. I love you, I need you to survive.” That is storge love. I love you, because you provide for my needs.

The second love is philia, the kind of love we experience in friendship. It is the bond that we have with people who share the same interests and do the same things. I have this with many of my running friends. Back in the first part of July I ran in a 50 kilometer race when it was stupid hot. When I wanted to quit, a friend of mine said what kind of friend would I be if I let you quit. She put ice around my neck and showed up at aid stations to keep me going. I only finished the race because of her help. That is philia, friendship.

The third love is eros, from which we get our word erotic. We could call this valentine’s day love. It is that warm, mushy feeling you have for the person you are in love with. It is a powerful and passionate love and yet it can also be a love that is somewhat self-centered. You can love someone because of how they look or how they make you feel.

All three of these loves are somewhat conditional. Storge, I love you because you provide for my needs; philia, I love you because we have a common interest; eros, I love you because of how you make me feel.

But the fourth is agape. Agape describes God’s unconditional love for us. It is not a love that is earned or deserved, it is not a love based on what you do for me, but is purely a gift.

In our Wesleyan heritage agape is prevenient grace. God loved us before we were ever aware of it. It is a love that surrounded before we drew our first breath, through every mistake we have made, and in every joy we have experienced. God loves us not because of what we have done but simply for who we are.

Agape not only describes God’s unconditional love for us but how we are to love one another.

The word love is used almost 30 times in this scripture from 1 John and in every case it is
an agape love. You could substitute the word agape for love:

let us agape one another, because agape is from God; everyone who agapes is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not agape does not know God, for God is agape. God’s agape was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is agape, not that we agaped God but that he agaped us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beagaped, since God agaped us so much, we also ought to agape one another.

We could do the same thing with our first core value:

All people are agaped by God just the way they are.

This is a love we receive and a love that we share with one another. A love that challenges us not to see someone different from us as a threat, but as a fellow child of God, a person who is also loved, agaped by God.

While as a church I think we do a pretty good job of articulating God’s love for all people and we aren’t perfect at it but we seek to extend that love to all people, I think the growing edge for us is in receiving that love for ourselves.

As I have listened to people in our church, I hear people say that they struggle with really accepting God’s unconditional love for themselves. We hold on to ideas of unworthiness and guilt. Even for me, I 100 percent believe God unconditionally loves the other 7 billion people on the planet, but it is harder to accept it for me.

And if I have a hard time receiving this unconditional gift of agape for myself, then how can I share it with others? How can we love our neighbor as ourselves, if we don’t love ourselves in the first place?

So this week I want to challenge you to do something. When you have a negative self-thought, stop it and say to yourself “I am loved by God just the way I am”. When you wake up tomorrow morning and look in the mirror say out loud, “I am loved by God just the way I am”. Even if makes you laugh, even if you don’t believe it at first, say it anyway.

For when we accept that God truly loves us, just as we are, we can then extend that love to others and be the church.

Amen.