NOT WHAT WE BELIEVE... WHAT WE LOVE
19/11/2018
Yesterday morning, something happened during the sermon. It happens a lot but not with the same power as it did yesterday morning. Something broke in. It wasn’t in the notes in front of me. It wasn’t in any of my preparation thoughts. It came out of the blue and it was as fluid in my mind and fluent in my speech as anything I have ever said. It was the word for yesterday. It even came with a little pulpit thump! It is the word that people have spoken to me about since, talked about at home and even while climbing a mountain. For those of us of faith, the Holy Spirit interrupted.
I had nothing to say on Brexit, so the Spirit interrupted and told me I had. A phrase I have been using for some years from the books of James K A Smith broke in. We are not what we believe, we are what we love. The gut has us. The kardia in the chest drives us. As a preacher I need to fill my congregations hearts with the good news of Jesus Gospel much more than their heads. Our heads can be full of grand ideas but if the chest, gut and heart are full of other things, what we believe doesn’t matter. The apostle James suggested it would end up as faith without works - dead!
So… the challenge yesterday morning was for all of us in Fitzroy. What do we love? Yet, I also sensed it was a political comment on what is driving all of our politicians…
We are not what we believe
We are what we love.
Trump will get four more years
I am sure of it
Convinced by the ordinary man on the street
Who said
I don’t like the way he goes about it
But I know he has made America a better place
Than it was two years ago
Let me paraphrase
I really don’t like the way he goes about it
But I am better off
Let me explain that
He acts against everything I believe in
But he is giving me what I love.
We are not what we believe
We are what we love
What we love pounds our chest
What we love grabs our gut
What we love drives all our decisions
By-passing our beliefs
With its sheer force
It pushes and pulls us to ideologies
To red lines
To borders
To flags
To language acts
We can believe a million good thoughts
But if our love is misplaced…
It is why Jesus had a golden rule
That everything else he said was built upon
A command that ties up every other command
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
And with all your soul
And with all your mind
Love your neighbour as yourself
And in case you mis-define neighbour
Love your enemies too.
With that in our gut
With that thumping our chest
Our hearts will overflow
With humility, peace and justice
Salvation and shalom
For EVERYBODY
Not just for what I love.
To know someone
Do not ask them what they believe
Discover what they love.
We are not what we believe
We are what we love.