Listen to Sermon
Pastor Tom Johnson, September 3, 2017
Michelangelo was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet. He probably is best known by his scenes from Genesis painted on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and his marble sculpture of King David. He said, “The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material. I see the image in the marble and carve until I set it free.”That is what Paul is doing with words in our Scripture today. Within each of us there is the image of Christ. God’s Word and the Holy Spirit chisel away the superfluous material. And by the grace of God, genuine love is set free. Just before our passage Paul spends 11 chapters talking about the grace of God in Jesus Christ. At the end of chapter 11 he transitions into how it ought to look in our daily lives. He says of Jesus Christ, “From him and through him and to him are all things” (11:36). He tells us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice and that is our true service of worship (12:1). And he calls us to understand that God is the giver of faith and spiritual gifts. And that chief gift and command is to love God with all our hearts, minds, and spirit and to love our neighbor as Christ loved us—freely, joyfully, and sacrificially.
“Let love be genuine.” Or, even more pointedly: “make sure your love is genuine.” “Don’t let your love be phony.” “Set genuine love free!” And so our Scripture begins to chisel away to take away what does not belong and set free God’s purpose for our lives. This Scripture is a good one to read through slowly and prayerfully:
Praise you, O God, for your genuine love—especially in sending your Son! He opposed evil and promoted good. He was patient through suffering and persevered in prayer. He wept with those who weep.“…though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Phil 2:6-8) Glory and honor to you, O Jesus, for you did not avenge yourself on the cross but cried out, “Forgive them, Father, for they do not know what they are doing.” You gave your own Body and Blood as food and drink. You are the Bread of Heaven—and the living water. Thank you God for loving us with such genuine love!
And so we confess our flirtation with evil—how sin seduces us into its deadly grip. We have not shown mutual affection. Instead we have all too often shown contempt and dishonor to our family members, friends, coworkers, strangers, and church family. We have been spiritual couch potatoes—too lazy to make the effort be useful tools in the hands of the Holy Spirit. We have been stingy. We have lacked empathy for those who struggle. We do not choose our battles wisely. We fight by our own strength. We think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. We take too long before we truly listen; we are too quick to speak. We harbor bitterness. We think more about getting back at those who hurt us than we do surrendering everything to God in prayer. We have not taken up our crosses and genuinely followed Jesus. We have more fear of the power of evil than we have faith in the goodness of God which overcomes evil—he is the light in the darkness. And no amount of darkness can put out the light.
Help us, Lord, to leave behind everything that is counterfeit and false love. Disingenuous love is a sham. Insincere love is a lie. Forgive us, O God! Renew our faith. Amend our lives. Chisel away at all the phoniness! Set free the image of Christ within all of us that we may love you and one another with genuine love. We know that we can only love because you first loved us. By your grace and mercy, make our lives, our thoughts, our words, and our actions tried and true. As the Master Sculptor, transform us from useless lumps of clay and blocks of rock into divine works of art—a masterpiece of authentic love!
“I am The light, I light the way,
A godly life displaying;
I bid you walk as in the day;
I keep your feet from straying.
I am the way, and well I show
How you must sojourn here below.
“I teach you how to shun and flee
What harms your soul’s salvation,
Your heart from ev’ry guile to free,
From sin and its temptation.
I am the refuge of the soul
And lead you to your heav’nly goal.”
(“‘Come, Follow Me,’ the Savior Spake” LSB 688 v. 2 & 4)
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