(Yesterday's message was delivered at a family reunion of the Conaway/Thomas Families)

THE CHEESY SIDE OF LOVE

Last year as I traveled down a country road on a Saturday Morning I encountered a young boy, about 10 years old, riding a bicycle. He was wearing jeans and a frayed flannel shirt, battered tennis shoes, had reddish brown hair, freckles, and blue eyes.

I caught myself almost slamming on the brakes in amazement, for this young boy looked as I think I looked at that age. It seemed as if I was meeting myself 50 years ago. Even the bicycle looked like my old homemade red rider.

Since that day I often wonder what I might have said to him if I had actually stopped and talked to him and discovered that somehow he or I had encountered a time warp that had brought us together.

The thought is not all that strange – I feel that the Transfiguration of Jesus meeting with Moses and Elijah on the mountain was a documented time-travelling event.

Either way, could I have said something to me that would have changed my life for the better, encouraged me not to make the mistakes I’ve made, or otherwise turned my miserable childhood into good experiences?

The answer is probably not. I would not have understood because I was not ready to understand, and my Guardian Angel had a lot of work to do in my life.

I would remain lonely, feeling unloved, angry, and lost. I would stay self-centered, greedy, envious, and devious for a long time. I would not be a good person who valued others, neighbors, or myself. I would remain an under-achieving punk until I went into the Navy in 8 years.

The only thing I would have going for me would be a bright and engaging mind filled with questions and a desire to read anything I could get my hands on. I was intelligent but belligerent, hostile, suspicious, deceptive, sneaky, and very lonely.

Love, friendship, loyalty, honesty, and truth were things I could read about but could not experience firsthand. Little did I know God would be with me every step.

I was not ready to learn the primary lesson in life we all need: it’s not what life does to you that determines who you are, but rather what you do with life’s possibilities that matters. Among those possibilities is our ability to come to understand who and what our Creator is, and what the key to getting right with Him is. 

Friends, there are few words in the English language that get used in more ways than the little four-letter word “love.” That little boy had no understanding of “love” and no way to see it around him even if it was there.

That little boy’s sin, his parents’ sin, human sin, destroyed any attempt to introduce him to even the basics of love. He was unreachable by human means. He had to learn it by being lead by the urgings of the Holy Spirit - that God’s love endures.

I have learned since then. I love my wife. I love my daughter. I love baseball. I’d love to be rich enough to travel. I love to watch the sunrise. I love my church. I love my God. I love my Savior.

BUT our human nature assumes that I’d also love to see all my human enemies fall down and break their necks. Love can be used in a negative connotation as well as a term of endearment. It separates and brings together at the same time. Human love requires conditions.

It’s why God’s law and definitions are necessary.

Confusing? I know. I feel it too. We all do, but did you ever stop and think about the true meaning of love. I mean the real meaning and not the lip service kind. The kind that makes me bawl my eyes out when I read or hear a sad story, or see unjust anger, animosity, or hate.

It’s the kind of motivations that I think built our country and drove our founding fathers to speak of inalienable rights to life, liberty, and happiness.

Did you know that God wrote (through the Apostle Paul) a passage of scripture for us that should guide our lives and tell us the true nature of humanity, without the conditions our society of hyphenations, special interest groups, and other barriers we’ve built?

It’s the passage that could be called the “ALL LIVES MATTER” clause that God has promised that gives us His assurance of unconditional love.

The notion that God doesn't love His creation unconditionally, and has placed conditions and qualifications, and segregated His love is the deception that the Serpent used to deceive Eve and it's one that is tearing our world apart. We humans are categorizing and sorting ourselves into incompatible (supposedly) groups.

Human Love versus God's Love?  

With all due respect, it’s not the one in Mr. Webster’s dictionary, but the one in the Word of God, the Book of 1 Corinthians Chapter 13.

The author, Mr. Paul, says that even if he could speak with the tongues of men and angels but did not love people, his words would mean no more than a cymbal crash. That if he had the gift of prophecy, could fathom all mysteries and had all knowledge and even had faith that could move mountains, he would still be nothing without love.

Let me quote verse 4 directly:

“Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

Mr. Paul goes on to say that prophecies will cease and knowledge will pass away but love goes on forever, and that love is even greater than faith and hope. When we look at this description of love we can see how far we have drifted from God’s standards in our world today.

Paul says love is patient. We, and I mean this collectively – including myself – have basically run out of patience. We want what we want, and we want it right now. Heaven help the service person or the worker at the fast food place who stands in our way of getting it right now.

Let’s go to see what else Mr. Paul has for us: Love is kind. Love washes the dishes occasionally, puts aside important work and takes the time to look at the drawing your first grader brought home from school, and is so proud of.

Love is not envious. It rejoices when one of our friends accomplishes something, instead of saying, “That should have been me. Why him? He’s no smarter than I am.” We are supposed to be happy for our friend’s good fortune.

Love doesn’t boast. When you see old friends, say, at a grocery store or Wal-Mart, are you ever tempted to let everybody know just how successful you’ve been in your life, the house you live in or the car you drive or just how wonderful your son’s college grades are?

Love does not dishonor others.

Love does not lord it over other people just because you can. In fact – in my humble opinion – the way you treat other people is the measuring stick as to what kind of person you really are.

Love does not fly off the handle and understands about the daughter’s new boyfriend, the son’s first speeding ticket, the grandchild who broke your favorite vase or the black sheep of the family who is always in some kind of trouble.

Love protects and trusts, and the institution of Biblical marriage is built on those two principles. Marriage is about protecting your loved one – protecting them from harm, from hurt, from anything the world brings to your doorstep – and without trust, there can be no successful marriage.

When we look at God’s definition of “love” we realize how deep His perfect love for us goes. He wants us to love each other just like He loves us, and oh, people, just think about just what a wonderful world we’d live in if we would.

How does the old song go? “What the world needs now is love sweet love.” I couldn’t agree more. But we’ve failed at conditional love in today’s world so much so that it doesn’t work anymore. We don’t need worldly human love.

We need the old traditional unconditional love that God has for us, the kind that says, “My laws and rules and commandments must be obeyed for my love for all of you to understand and be happy.” I love the sinner but I hate the sin.

If God didn’t feel that way that little boy so long ago would have remained hopelessly lost and doomed to die a worthless death with no eternal hope.

This is what our country needs, and what we need. We need old fashioned take charge, take an interest, American love based on Christ’s Love, for country, self, and family. It took a lifetime for that little boy to learn this. That’s what I’d tell him! What do you think? Amen.