Old Lea Bethel Baptist Church

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.

In every heart, there is a room for love and a room for hate, sharing a common wall. The wall between might be called focus. The door of choice swings both ways. Our exertion of thought and energy determine the direction the door swings most often.

Yesterday, a synagogue was attacked. Innocent people were killed. In the past, it’s been churches, mosques, temples, schools, offices, and the list goes on. The weapons have been guns, knives, automobiles, planes, and this list too goes on. The energy has always, always, always been hate. There is no love, there is no Divine, there is no God in these choices. Anyone who sees love here is looking through a distorted and twisted lens.

It’s tempting to become discouraged and exert our thoughts and energy on the hate. It’s tempting to swing that door toward hate and give it greater visibility. Like a great balloon, as we hold the door open, hate inflates with each breath of our fear.

Instead, let’s focus on the love in this world. While one man was making a poor choice to kill, caregivers around the world were helping others to live. While one man focused hate on a synagogue, many were showing love in the name of their faith. One rampaged in a house of worship up north, while entire houses of worship volunteered in Florida and North Carolina for hurricane survivors. Let’s give the breath of our praise to inflate love.

When we focus on the fear, hate grows. When we focus on faith, love grows. The choice of the swinging door is daily. Where will we exert our power?

Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.”

Presence is a gift. It is a present like none other. It is the gift of one spirit completely focused on another spirit. Love, Time and Talent are brought to focus in that singular moment. Presence is personal. Giving the gift of presence requires a mindful choice. We choose to be solely focused on a person or an experience in that moment. If there are distractions, we’ve not chosen to be present.

This is an age of distraction. Phones interrupt conversations. Work distracts from family. Social media replaces friendship. Electronics mindlessly absorb time. Parents ignore children in favor of Facebook. People text one another, while sitting across the table from each other. The art of letter writing is passing away. The craft of the personal phone call is on life support. The days of a personal visit to someone’s house, for some time with coffee on the porch, is thought to be odd.

Presence takes focus. A complete presence, giving all to another human being, for a period of time, is a present, a gift. When we focus a letter on someone, focus a phone call on someone, or focus a home visit on someone, we gift love to that person. We reach into our souls and extract a measure of love. That measure must come without strings. When we gift time to a person, we reach into the limited time that God has gifted to us and we extract a portion to spend on another.

Give the present of your presence to someone needing it today. In the end, it will not be the present that the child remembers, but the presence. It won’t be the compliment the spouse recalls, but the presence. It won’t be the praise the pastor treasures, but the presence.

When we’re called home, the Bible is quite clear. We won’t be judged on the presents we brought, but how present we were as we brought them. God won’t ask about the gift we gave, but about our heart as we gave it.

Our presents mean nothing to God in the absence of our presence.

1 Peter 3:4 rather let it (beauty) be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.

When we can’t be the artist, we can be the artist’s inspiration. We can model the beauty, we can communicate the peace, we can echo the love that will inspire the artist.

Poets and songwriters write of love – flowing words and melodies that grab our heart and transport us into the emotion the artist is experiencing. Painters transform blank canvas into beautiful women using only paint, brush, and the inspiration held in heart.

The artist must have talent, this is true… but he must also have inspiration. She must have something that draws the music of the heart out. The talent is nothing without the inspiration. Inspiration, inspire, In Spirit – The Spirit inspires the art.

Artists exist in all mediums. There are artists leading business – they create the business using inspiration and talent. Artists lead non-profits – they’re inspired by a passion and create the non-profit to answer a societal gap.

When we cannot be the artist, we can provide inspiration for the artist. Being beauty, being God’s spirit in bodily form, being love and gentleness always – let the beauty inspire. I may have no talent to paint, but my love and encouragement may quicken the hand of the one who does.

 Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Life is a balance of investments. We trade off between four basic areas each day, in every decision we make. Love, Time, Talent, and Money are being bartered in our effort to optimize this experience we call life.

Worldly design tells us to “go for the money”! Trade all love, time, and talent in pursuit of dollars. Build the bigger house, buy the nicer car, take the more lavish vacations. Invest all in pursuing what others will see and covet.

Divine design tells us “love is all that matters”! Use money, talents, time to amplify love. Focus on spouse, children, parents, neighbors, and strangers. Love your enemy. Do it all in secret and with pure motives. Give, with no thought to receiving.

Imagine a line extending between an endpoint on the left labeled “World” and an endpoint on the right labeled “Divine”. Our truth, what we will do, our focal point, lies somewhere along the line between the two extremes. As we move along this line, left to right, we become more personally invested.

When we consider Money, it’s almost purely of the world. It is very impersonal. The dollar bill I hold today will be in another hand tomorrow. To accumulate large wealth is not bad – to make it our focus is bad. To focus and sacrifice talent, time, and love (on the altar of life) to money shifts us away from the divine and toward the world. While we can trade love, talent, and time for money, we can’t trade money for talent, time, or love.

When we consider Talent, it’s more personal. No two people share the same talents. Though perhaps similar, each is unique. Talent is personal. Talent may be appreciated, but cannot be replicated. We trade talent for money, but no amount of money can buy talent. No amount of talent can be traded for time or love. When we trade talent for money, we are investing more personally than when we simply give money.

When we consider Time, this is even more personal. Time cannot be created. We each have a set amount each day. Giving time to someone or a cause means personal investment and other opportunities placed on hold. We trade time for money, we trade time to develop talent, but no amount of time can be traded for love.

When we consider Love, this is the most personal of all and is positioned on the divine end of our line. Love is completely unique. It is unlimited in capacity. You have only to look as far as the parent sacrificing all for the life of a child to understand this. Giving love means a purely personal investment. None of the other elements can be traded for love, but love is often cheapened in pursuit of the other elements. It is closest to divine.

Jesus warns us – value the most valuable most. Value love above all else. Fill the heart with love. Don’t trade the true gold of love in pursuit of trinkets and idols. In the end, Love will be the only treasure that follows us to heaven. All else will remain behind.

Philippians 4:13 – I can do all things through Him who strengthens me.

A man stood on the dock and looked at a boat. “I believe that this boat is my way to the other side.” His friend stood with him for several minutes. Finally he asked, “Are you going to get in the boat?” “No”, the man replied. “Are you going to untie the boat?” “Hadn’t planned on it.” Clearly a little frustrated, his friend asked, “Do you have any intention of even starting the motor?” “None whatsoever,” was the reply. After a few more minutes, the man again said, “I believe that this boat is my way to the other side.” His friend replied, “I believe it can be the way, but you have to cooperate and at least get in the boat.”

People quote Philippians 4:13. Many, who know no other verses, can whip this one out at a moments notice. But, like our friend above, what they’re really saying is that they have no intention of making any effort whatsoever. They may as well be saying, “Christ can do all things and my part is to let Him.”

I agree that Christ can do all things! But that’s not what the verse says. It says I can do all things. Christ does the strengthening. Christ adds the courage. Christ adds the wisdom. Christ adds the discernment. All of this strengthens me for the “thing” at hand.

I often speak with people about calling. Like our friend on the dock, they’re simply waiting around for God to call, answer, perform, report back, and let them know how it all turned out. But, God doesn’t work like that. God calls. It isn’t until we answer that the connection is made. We don’t receive based on calling. We receive based on the connection made through our faithful answer.

Answering the call creates a spiritual connection through which flows strength, courage, wisdom, discernment, blessings, sensitivity to the help of others, and the list goes on. It is a list as infinite as the power of our God, but we must answer.

The power to effect change in this world is not found in the calling. It is found in the connection made by the answering. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us, but we must be willing to faithfully answer.

Luke 16:15 And He said to them, “You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

As Christians, we are called to be humble. Humility is not a place we go, but a journey we take. It’s not a spot at the end of the road… it is the road. It’s not an easy road. Pride is a constant road hazard. Lust calls from the sides of the road, trying to draw us off.

Some are quick to proudly share how humble they’ve become in their walk. They’ll trumpet about how long they pray, how often they forgive, how much they’ve overcome persecution. They puff up as they talk of humility. They’re proud of being humble.

It’s important to stay humble about being humble. Pray in secret, in a prayer closet. Give in secret so even your left hand doesn’t know what your right hand is doing. Observe your walk with God, not to be seen by others, but to be in communion with God.

The moment we believe that we have become more humble than others, we are no longer humble. We are proud of our humility. When we feel that we are better than another, as we kneel to pray for him, we are no longer humble. When we give to another, while thinking critical thoughts of him, we are no longer humble.

God does not honor pride – in fact, Proverbs 6:17 has a proud look leading the list of seven abominations before God. God hates pride because it causes separation between our heart and His.

Stay humble about being humble. Pray for your enemy without telling him. Give to your neighbor secretly. Bear the criticism of others silently. Let God do your talking. He speaks louder than pride.