8-10-08 Loving those around you

 

Note: This was a song service in which song and sermon where interwoven.

 

I was a union electrician for 20 years before I became a pastor. And one of the things that I learned as an electrician was that most people who were in a trade took their trade very seriously. There were words like craftsmanship and quality and excellence that were the foundation of our trade. We each prided ourselves in doing high quality work. We prided ourselves in being craftsman. People who did low quality work were kind of looked down upon.

 

I learned as an apprentice electrician that the quality of your work was like your signature. If you did low quality work somebody would walk by and say, “Are you going to put your name on that? In other words, is that workmanship something that you’d put your name on? The work that you’ve done is that something that you’re willing to put your name on for the entire world to see? Is the work that you’ve done something that you’re proud of, and something that you want to represent you?

 

In the trades, the quality of work that you did was a direct correlation to who you where. The quality of the work that I did was my signature. It said something about who I was.

 

As you listen to this next song, think about the phrase, “Are you willing to put your name on that?

 

Empty hands held high
Such small sacrifice
If not joined with my life
I sing in vain tonight

May the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Let my lifesong sing to You
Let my lifesong sing to You
I want to sign Your name to the end of this day
Knowing that my heart was true
Let my lifesong sing to You

Lord I give my life
A living sacrifice
To reach a world in need
To be Your hands and feet

So may the words I say
And the things I do
Make my lifesong sing
Bring a smile to You

Hallelujah
Hallelujah
Let my lifesong sing to You

 

Did you catch the line, “I want to sign Your name to the end of this day, knowing that my heart was true” Have you ever thought about that? As children of God, as Christians, as people who go to church, we represent God.

 

Think of it this way. As an electrician I represented my employer. The quality of the work that I did represented them. If I did shoddy work, then it reflected on them. If I did high quality work, then that reflected on them too.

 

As children, you can either bring shame or honor to your parents by what you do, by how you speak to people, by how you care for people, by the respect or lack there of that you give to others.

 

In the same way, we represent God. We are, as the Bible says, Gods hands and feet. We are his body (1 Cor. 12). What we do either honors God or it shames him. So here’s the thought. At the end of the day, after we’ve done our work, after we’ve interacted with all kinds of people, after we’ve spoken all kinds of words, after we’ve done innumerable acts, can we sign God’s name to the end of our day?

 

When I look at everything that I’ve done today, when I look at all the work that I’ve done, when I look at how I’ve treated my wife and my kids and my co-workers, when I look at all that I’ve said and done to all the people whose lives I’ve touched, can I sign God’s name to the end of the day and say, that reflects who God is. We are all trades people here. Our trade is our life. God calls us to be a people who create and do and be in a way that would reflect him.

 

Here’s the piece that I want to focus on this morning. How are we doing at loving our neighbor? More specifically, how are we doing at loving those that are hurting, maybe not outwardly hurting, but hurting deep down nonetheless? As you listen to this next song, think about this question; what is this young girl yearning for? What does she need? How can you and the church play a role in her life?

 

“Does Anybody Hear Her”

Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?
Or does anybody even knows she’s going down today
Under the shadow of our steeple
With all the lost and lonely people
Searching for the hope that’s tucked away in you and me
Does anybody hear her? Can anybody see?

She is yearning
For shelter and affection
That she never found at home
She is searching
For a hero to ride in
To ride in and save the day
And in walks her prince charming
And he knows just what to say
Momentary lapse of reason
And she gives herself away

If judgement looms under every steeple
If lofty glances from lofty people
Can’t see past her scarlet letter
And we never even met her

He is running
A hundred miles an hour in the wrong direction

 

What is the young girl looking for? Love. This song makes me think of another song by Waylan Jennings. See if you recognize it. Song clip.

 

I was looking for love in all the wrong places
Looking for love in too many faces

 

This young girl is looking for love, because she didn’t get it at home from her father. Her dad was never there for her. Father’s who have daughters, remember that if you don’t love them, then they will look for love in some other boy or man.

 

Does anyone hear her? Does anyone care? God calls us to love our neighbor, but one of the things that I’ve notice in the church is that people don’t even know each other. How can I love someone I don’t know? If I don’t know their story, how can I see their pain?

 

A young woman who’s dad was never there for her. He never showed her love. He was never there to talk to. He was never there to support her, to root her on, to be her balcony person. And as she grows into a young woman, there is a deep emptiness in her, a deep place within her that should be filled with a father’s love, but instead of love there is a deep ache. There is a deep need within her.

 

She meets a young man. He likes her. He holds her. He maybe even tells her that he loves her. That empty tank within her receives several drops of love and it feels so good, so good in fact that she looses all reason, all control; she is overcome with the feeling and she gives herself away.

 

She gets pregnant because she so desperately needed someone – she needed a man to be there – to fill her empty heart – she needed love – but instead she got sex and a baby – a young woman broken. Does anyone hear her? She comes to the church alone, hurt more than ever, needing love more than ever. She needs someone to hold her. She needs someone to care. Would anybody dare?

 

 

God commands us not to judge, but it happens all the time in churches. God commands us to love our neighbor as our self, or to love those around us in a manner that we would like to be loved. How many men and women have grown up without the love of one of their parents? How many children currently are growing up without the love of one of their parents? How many people are currently suffering from not enough love or no love at all from their spouse? You cannot love people without knowing people deeply; without taking the time to hear their story; without taking the time to really hear them, to maybe hear their pain.

 

There is a killer in the American church. It is a cancer to the people of God. Its name is Apathy. Apathy is a lack of emotion; it is the lack of interest; it is eyes that don’t see; it is a heart that does not feel; it is a heart that does not care.

 

When was the last time that you have invited someone over for dinner . . . out to lunch . . . to have coffee? When was the last time that you heard someone’s story? When was the last time that you listened more than you talked?

 

I want to sign Your name to the end of this day. Knowing that my heart was true.
Let my lifesong sing to You.

 

Love your neighbor as yourself. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

 

Does anyone hear him? Does anyone hear her? Does anyone care? What does it mean to love your neighbor? What does it mean to love those around you?  Think about these things as we hear the next song.

 

A mother riding on a city bus
Kids are yelling kicking up a fuss
Everybody’s staring not knowing what she’s going through
Somebody said don’t you even care?
Do you let ‘em do that everywhere?
She slowly turned around, looked up and stared
She said Please forgive them
But they’ve been up all night
Their father struggled but he finally lost his fight
He went to heaven
In the middle of the night
So please forgive my children

(They don’t understand)
Everybody’s busy with their own situation
Everybody’s lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up trying to make a dream come true
(They don’t understand)
Everybody’s living like there ain’t no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
Cause you never really know what your neighbor’s going through
(They don’t understand)

A man driving on the interstate
Slowing down traffic making everybody late
Everybody’s staring not knowing what he’s going through
Somebody hollered from the passing lane
Yelled out the window, hey ain’t got all day
The old man looked around and caught his eye
He said please forgive me
You know it’s been a long life
My wife has passed away and my kids don’t have the time
I’ve been left all alone
And its getting hard to drive
So please forgive me children

(They don’t understand)
Everybody’s busy with their own situation
Everybody’s lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up trying to make a dream come true
(They don’t understand)
Everybody’s living like there ain’t no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
Cause you never really know what your neighbor’s going through
(They don’t understand)

A man hanging on a wooden cross
Giving everything to save the lost
Everybody’s staring not knowing what he’s going through
Somebody said you don’t have a prayer
If you were king you’d come down from there
The man just turned his head looked up and stared

He said please forgive them
For they have not seen the light
They’ll come to know me when I come back to life
Go to heaven, to make everything all right
So please forgive your children

(They don’t understand)
Everybody’s busy with their own situation
Everybody’s lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up trying to make a dream come true
(They don’t understand)
Everybody’s living like there ain’t no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
Cause you never really know what your neighbor’s going through
(They don’t understand)

A mother riding on a city bus
Kids are yelling kicking up a fuss
Everybody’s staring not knowing what she’s going through

 

 

Everybody’s busy with their own situation
Everybody’s lost in their own little world
Bottled up, hurry it up trying to make a dream come true

 

What dream are we hurrying up after? The American Dream?What Dream are we trying to make come true?The only dream that is worth chasin’ the only dream that will come true is the dream of up there coming down here. The dream of heaven coming to earth

Everybody’s living like there ain’t no tomorrow
Maybe we should stop and take a little time
Cause you never really know what your neighbor’s going through
(They don’t understand)

 

Did you know that you cannot do anything that Jesus did in a hurry? Nothing! Did you notice the word Neighbor? The command that Jesus gave us was to Love our Neighbor as our self. We cannot love in a hurry.

 

Everybody’s staring not knowing what she’s going through. Passing judgment on another person, before we even know their story. Judging without loving – breaking two commands at once. It ought to be hard to do, but it isn’t, is it?

 

How many of the people around you do you know their story? How many of them do you know their heart? How many of them do you really know? How many of them do you really love? How many of those that you come in contact with every day do you stop to care? When you’re walking in a store, or at work, or at school, are you conscious of people. Do you look at their face, do you see their eyes? Do you look at their shoulders? Do you love them? Do they know that? How are they doing? Are they struggling? Do they need love? What can you do for them that would make them feel better about themselves – better about life? What could you do for them that would make them feel loved? What can you say to make their day brighter? What can you do to show them that you care?

 

Do unto others, as you would have them do unto you. Love your neighbor, those that you find yourself next to, as yourself. How are you doing at that?

 

God, I want to sign Your name to the end of this day. Knowing that my heart was true. Let my life song sing to You. What song are you singing to God and to others?

 

What song are you singing to others? What song are you singing to God?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Life Link:

 

What’s your favorite song right now? It doesn’t have to be a Christian song?

 

Review message

 

The Question – was there anything that you disagreed with in the message? Didn’t understand? Was there anything that touched a chord in your heart?

 

• Is it important to connect with the hurt and pain of others? Why or why not? Is it easy to connect with the hurt and pain of others?
• What if I don’t have any desire to connect with the hurt and pain of others – to love someone that I don’t care about as myself? What should I do?
• What do you think Jesus meant when he said we are to “love our neighbor?” How should we respond to people who “Don’t get it” – their kids are out of control, or they’re driving way to slow or they’ve done something that we deem “Stupid”, or they don’t show up on time, or when someone just inconveniences us in some way; How are we called to love them? Should this kind of love be unconditional, forever, no matter what?
• On a scale of 1-10 how easy is it for you to get to know somebody new and somehow get them to share their story with you? Explain. How could you improve?
• How can we help the people at work, the people next door, people in the church, people in our town, know that we care about them and that they are important to us?