"Loving With No Strings Attached"

Sermon Delivered By Reverend Richard E. Stetler – July 22, 2012

Centenary United Methodist Church

Genesis 1:24-2:4; Mark 6:30-34, 53-56

 

    A number of times you have heard me say from this pulpit that God’s love is a one-way street.  Actually, all love is a one way street.  Several times I have said this during a wedding ceremony and I noticed several people in the audience showing surprise on their faces after hearing it.  They winced because most of us have been taught that love is a two-way street.

    In the Genesis creation story, the author verbally painted a remarkable picture of God’s love creating an ideal environment in which humankind could live.  After creating our world, the author wrote that God looked at what he had made and was very happy. 

    The only direction loving energy travels is away from its source.  We do the same thing when we create something of value with our thoughts, emotions and energy patterns.  This one way street is our pearl of great price. It is a quality every person has the potential to radiate.  We can only spoil what we do when we attach expectations.

    Earlier in my ministry, I prepared an exercise for our junior and senior high youth fellowship on extending unconditional love to members of their families.  I asked the kids to look for ways to be helpful.  They were directed to vacuum, dust, do the dishes, wash the car, mow the lawn, organize the family room so that it was more presentable and help their brothers and sisters with their homework. Further, they were to compliment their parents on how wonderful the meals were and how grateful they were to have them as parents. 

    Their homework assignment was to write their observations in a journal on how they felt after performing each deed.  Secondly, they were to write any responses or reactions expressed by those who experienced what they did. This activity would continue for three weeks.

    The young people were really eager to get started, and during our Sunday evening meetings the kids shared what they had written in their journals.  Some of them said things like, “If you think your Mom went nuts, mine was off the wall.  She asked me if I was in trouble at school, and should she expect a call from my teacher?” 

    More interesting than the responses from their parents were the feelings and thoughts the kids developed by being helpful and cooperative on a consistent basis.  They were to engage in these activities without expecting even so much as a “Thank you.”  Training in the art of one-way loving proved to be a valuable experience for these young people.

    None of the kids had a bad experience even though some would have preferred an exercise with love as a two-way street. Some of them were looking for approval from their parents, and would have appreciated some recognition for what they were doing.

    They confessed that sometimes they felt awkward by not responding when their parents said things like, “Please tell me what you want?  What has brought this change in you?”  Since this was an exercise in loving for love’s sake, I asked them to respond, “I am doing these things because I want to.”

    In our Gospel lesson today, Jesus and his disciples were literally exhausting themselves preaching, teaching and healing.  Loving always makes us more attractive, but when we add the component of healing, countless others came running.  In fact, life became so hectic that Jesus said, “Let’s get out of here and find a place where we can be alone and at peace.  We need a break and perhaps we can rest awhile.”  (Mark 6:31) 

    If there was a downside to loving for Jesus and his disciples, it came when they realized that there was no shortage of people who wanted Jesus’ healing touch.  Mark wrote:

As soon as Jesus and his disciples got out of their boat, people recognized them immediately.  People ran to them from all over the region.  Wherever Jesus and his disciples were, people found them and brought their sick, many of whom were still lying on their mats.  Everywhere Jesus traveled, from villages, towns, and farms, people would bring their sick to the marketplaces and beg Jesus to let the sick, at least, touch the hem of his cloak.  All who touched it were healed. (Mark 6:54f)

    It is difficult to love without attaching strings.  People can take us for granted.  There was an episode during Jesus’ ministry when he healed ten lepers and only one came back to say, “Thank you.”  Jesus said, “Were there not ten of you?  Where are the other nine?” (Luke 17:17)

    During the 1980s the United States Department of Agriculture decided to give away butter and cheese to needy families.  The government had purchased these products from processors as part of its Farm Subsidy.   I was involved with the distribution when we lived in West Virginia.  The process was well organized, but when something is being given away without cost, people came early in the morning to get in line.  

    The responses from people were everything but gratitude.  There were people that came through the line as many times as they could, hoarding cheese and butter.  Middle and upper income people were also in line.  We heard people say, “Well, it is about time our government did something like this!  Do you know what other products will be next?  Do you have a date for the future distributions?”  The words, “Thank you” were rare.

    Try to imagine what would happen if someone on our island could restore the health of everyone who was ill.  It is no wonder that Jesus and his disciples became exhausted.  Healing became a major distraction to what Jesus was doing.  He wanted to teach his listeners and they wanted his cheese and butter.  He wanted them to recognize their spiritual journey and they wanted healed bodies.  What Jesus experienced is still alive and well today. 

Among the most powerful messages Jesus delivered was when he said:

Those who drink this water will become thirsty again.  However, those who drink the water that I will give them will never be thirsty again.  The water that I will give them will become a spring which will provide them with life-giving water and give them eternal life.  (John 4:13f)

    If we had been part of the crowd listening to Jesus, would we be among the takers?  Would we be any different once our friend or family members were healed?  Today, we pay attention to what Jesus taught because his credibility has been established.  More books have been written about him than any other human being.  He has been our spiritual guide for most of our lives. 

    During his ministry, Jesus was an itinerant teacher that had been a carpenter.  If people had listened, understood and practiced his words, the crowds in front of Pontius Pilate would have been screaming for the release of Jesus rather than Barabbas.   Very few people came to Jesus to hear his message.  They came to witness and experience his healing ministry.

    The magnificent aspect of love is that it is our pearl of great price. Loving becomes our gift, particularly when there are no strings attached.  The responses people have to being loved can be as different as there are people.  Takers rarely recognize and understand the spirit behind those who give freely.  It is best to distance ourselves emotionally from the countless ways that people respond.   

    For Jesus, the politicians had their way and Israel’s healer was put to death.  People living on our island have to be reminded to keep Bermuda beautiful. When governments begin to give people “a free lunch,” often people grow to expect such a practice as an entitlement.  Currently, there are forty-five million Americans on food stamps.     

    What Jesus was teaching was not, “Come to me and have your bodies healed.”  He was teaching how to activate the spring that would provide his listeners with life-giving water that will enhance the quality of their spiritual journey.  He was teaching people how to be healers themselves.  One wonders how many were listening.  How many received the message?

    One of the first movies I saw in Cinemascope was The Robe.  For those of us that can remember that movie, the event was spectacular.  It was a major step by the motion picture industry to inspire moviegoers to fill the theaters.  The movie screen went all the way across the front of the theater.  It was one of those Wow Moments when I was a young boy.

    One scene in that movie imbedded itself in my memory.  A Roman Tribune named Galeo was listening to a woman named Miriam as she sang while playing her harp.  After her performance in front of a crowd, Tribune Galeo spoke to her.  He was inquiring about her relationship with Jesus.  She told him how Jesus healed her. 

    The Tribune said, “But, you are not healed.  You cannot walk.”  She said, “That is true, but for years I was so bitter, angry and filled with hatred toward God for my condition.  Jesus laid his hands on me.  His words and his touch healed my spirit.  Now, I play my harp and I sing to people because I want to share my love and gratitude with them for what God has done.  I am healed and at peace.”  Miriam used her healing as a spring of life-giving water.  She was inspired to give to others through her music.   

    Jesus exhausted himself by healing and by teaching his listeners what they could become if they added the ingredient of love to their attitudes, desires and responses.  Such an addition would serve them throughout eternity.  Many of them, however, settled for the healing – a state that is always temporary.  However, there must have been some people who left Jesus truly inspired like Miriam or we would not be here this morning.

    We need and want inspiration.  We often find what redirects our paths through books, movies, articles in magazines and worship services that feature powerful preaching.  For me, one of these powerful speakers is Tony Robbins, the author that wrote the book, Awaken The Giant Within. After reading it, I was struck with how much he had borrowed from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. 

    Our daughter, Sue, knew that I enjoyed Tony.  Having learned that he was coming to the Washington area, she was going to purchase tickets for Lois and me to attend.  She called with her credit card in hand and was shocked when she learned that the price of a ticket was $650.  She asked why the tickets were so expensive and was told by the Robbins’ organization that the price represented an investment. Obviously, she declined. 

    The Washington Post carried the story the day after the event and it was not surprising to learn that the auditorium had sold out.  Thousands of people were willing to pay that much to be told how to achieve success in their lives. 

    The message Tony delivers everywhere in his unique style instructs people how to reorder their life’s priorities, how to change the attitudes that prevent love from showing up and how to create from the massive resources within them that often remain dormant.  Sometimes our greatest gifts atrophy from neglect.  This is the Kingdom of God Within message, minus the spin that church language often gives its version of what Jesus said.

    We can get this message in most churches on any given Sunday morning for a lot less money.  The problem with “feel good” experiences is that it is much like walking home filled with joy because we were healed by Jesus.   We will not experience the spring that will provide us with life-giving water if we settle for being healed.  Like healing, inspiration can be a fleeting experience.  We often forget most of what we heard in church by Sunday dinner.  Remember, loving is our pearl of great price when we use it without expectations. 

    Like everything that is alive, we nourish our continued growth through giving, serving, blooming, producing and loving without strings attached.  We need to become like the Bermudian hibiscus that blooms even when there are no witnesses.  This is what God did at creation and what God is still doing for us.  God’s love has no strings and requires no response from us. God’s message to us was, “See what you can do with that I’ve given you.”  When we do the same with our version of love being a one-way street, we are in good company.