Blessed with Love
1 John 3:1-3 (The Message)
October 22, 2006
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
I first met him in the winter of 1974. From the moment he walked into the church parlor that
day, I knew there was something special about him. His manner was so genuinely caring, his smile
was so infectious, and his eyes were so clear you could almost see his soul. Before the night was
over I knew he was the one who I wanted to be the next pastor of our congregation, and so did the
rest of the search committee. But little did I know how much his coming would change my life!
I had been an active church member my entire life, but it wasn't until I met him that became a
true disciple. It didn't happen right away. But the more I listened to him, learned from him and saw
the way in which he sought to live out the teachings of Jesus and answer the call of the spirit in his
life, the more I wanted what he had -the peace, the joy, and most of all the love.
Through his eyes I began to see my own life in a new way. Through his heart I began to hear
the call of God in my life. Through his challenge I began to risk giving my whole being back to God.
It was because of his witness in my life that I was open to hear God calling me into pastoral ministry.
It was with his affirmation and support that I dared to say "yes."
In the years following that decision, as I had opportunities to reflect on my faith journey, I often
said of him "He is the most complete embodiment of Christ I have ever met, and with his beard he
even looks like many of the paintings of Jesus, especially when he smiles."
1 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it--we're called
children of God! That's who we really are. ... 2 And that's only the beginning. Who
knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see
him--and in seeing him, become like him. [1 John 3]
How amazing is that?! The day is coming when we, the children of God, will not only know Jesus,
but we will be like him! In a powerful sermon on this passage titled "We Will Be Like Jesus," Rev. Dr.
Guy Sayles writes:
God wants to make us like Jesus. ... God intends to work in us, with us, and on us until
we fully reflect the spirit and character of Jesus. ... You and I are growing into the
image of Jesus; and even though there are days when we do not seem to be very much
like him, we will be one day. In the end, as Carroll Simcox beautifully put it, "You and I
shall be our real, complete selves for the first time ever. ...
To say that God is in the process of making us like Jesus Christ does not mean that God
is cloning us into exact replicas of Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, a wonderful and gracious
paradox at the heart of the gospel is that the more we become like Jesus, the more we
become our truest selves. Don Wardlaw once said that "to be yoked to Christ is to be a
soul companion with the authentic self God intends for us to be." As we discover deeper
dimensions of Christ-likeness, we uncover more and more of our honest-to-God selves.
...
What blessing! God is at work in us and through us transforming us into our "honest-to-Godselves;"
the fully human beings, the image of God which we were, in the beginning, created to be
and to become. Dr. Sayles continues:
Genuine transformation is not a self-help exercise or a do-it-yourself project. It is God's
work. Transformation happens as God convinces us that we are loved -that, like
Jesus, WE are God's beloved children. ... The words God spoke to Jesus at his
baptism are words God speaks also to us: "You are my beloved son, my beloved
E:\Church Web\Sermons\10-22-06 1 john 3-1-3.doc Last printed 10/31/2006 9:12:00 AM - 2 -
daughter. With you I am well pleased." ... God's love for us is tender and strong,
reassuring and challenging, nurturing and empowering. God's arms of welcome and
affirmation are always open to us. We are God's children. We are loved.
What a blessing! We are blessed with love -God's love! Have there been people in your life who
have loved you with a deep, accepting, affirming, all encompassing love; the people who have seen
beneath the surface of who you might be at the moment to call forth the not yet of who you will
become; the people who even though they know all your mistakes and failures love you just as you
are? If so then you have been blessed with love -God's love, Divine Love. Have there been people in
your life who have challenged you to think deeply about who you are and what you believe; people
who might not have seemed to fit the definition of what we usually call loving, but people who have
none-the-less gifted you as you have learned how to stand up for yourself? If so then you have been
blessed with love -God's love, Divine Love. Have there been people in your life who have loved you
in a deep and passionate way, calling forth the very essence of who you are as a man or a woman;
people whose touch sends shivers of delight through your entire body; people who awaken your own
desires? If so then you have been blessed with love -God's love, Divine Love. Have there been
people -maybe even complete strangers- who have done or said the right thing at the right time to
lift your spirit or restore your faith? Have there been moments when you have been overwhelmed by
the beauty of a sunset or the magnificence of the mountains? If so then you have been blessed with
love -God's love, Divine Love. Did you wake up this morning, gifted with another day of life? If so
then you have been blessed with love -God's love, Divine Love.
As amazing as such blessings are being on the receiving end of Divine Love is not the greatest
blessing Love gives. We are truly blessed with love, when we recognize that we are created to be
love alive in our time and our place!
Hear Dr. Sayles once more:
That deep down assurance that we are loved empowers us to join Jesus in his
compassion for our broken planet, his passion for peace, his hunger and thirst for
justice, his welcoming embrace of the excluded and his tender mercy toward sinners.
Beloved children of God, remember those whom the rest of the world forgets, keep
company with the fallen and the downtrodden, work to turn strangers into friends, and
labor for reconciliation among enemies.
The truly amazing thing about this gift of love is the truth that love is not a limited resource! It's
part and parcel of the whole of creation. It's the energy that pulses through our bodies and connects
us to one another in an amazingly beautifully web of life. The more we love, the more love we have
to give; the more we love, the more ways we find to love; the more we love, the more fully we
become who we already are children of God, made in the image and likeness of God. The impulse to
reach out in love is God at work in us. May we dare to live that love trusting that as we do God is at
work in us, with us, and on us shaping us, growing us, transforming us so that we more and more
fully reflect the spirit and character of Jesus in all that we say and everything that we do. Then we
will know beyond a doubt that we are blessed -Blessed with LOVE! Amen.
1 John 3:1-3 (The Message)
October 22, 2006
Rev. Nancy Pfaltzgraf
I first met him in the winter of 1974. From the moment he walked into the church parlor that
day, I knew there was something special about him. His manner was so genuinely caring, his smile
was so infectious, and his eyes were so clear you could almost see his soul. Before the night was
over I knew he was the one who I wanted to be the next pastor of our congregation, and so did the
rest of the search committee. But little did I know how much his coming would change my life!
I had been an active church member my entire life, but it wasn't until I met him that became a
true disciple. It didn't happen right away. But the more I listened to him, learned from him and saw
the way in which he sought to live out the teachings of Jesus and answer the call of the spirit in his
life, the more I wanted what he had -the peace, the joy, and most of all the love.
Through his eyes I began to see my own life in a new way. Through his heart I began to hear
the call of God in my life. Through his challenge I began to risk giving my whole being back to God.
It was because of his witness in my life that I was open to hear God calling me into pastoral ministry.
It was with his affirmation and support that I dared to say "yes."
In the years following that decision, as I had opportunities to reflect on my faith journey, I often
said of him "He is the most complete embodiment of Christ I have ever met, and with his beard he
even looks like many of the paintings of Jesus, especially when he smiles."
1 What marvelous love the Father has extended to us! Just look at it--we're called
children of God! That's who we really are. ... 2 And that's only the beginning. Who
knows how we'll end up! What we know is that when Christ is openly revealed, we'll see
him--and in seeing him, become like him. [1 John 3]
How amazing is that?! The day is coming when we, the children of God, will not only know Jesus,
but we will be like him! In a powerful sermon on this passage titled "We Will Be Like Jesus," Rev. Dr.
Guy Sayles writes:
God wants to make us like Jesus. ... God intends to work in us, with us, and on us until
we fully reflect the spirit and character of Jesus. ... You and I are growing into the
image of Jesus; and even though there are days when we do not seem to be very much
like him, we will be one day. In the end, as Carroll Simcox beautifully put it, "You and I
shall be our real, complete selves for the first time ever. ...
To say that God is in the process of making us like Jesus Christ does not mean that God
is cloning us into exact replicas of Jesus of Nazareth. In fact, a wonderful and gracious
paradox at the heart of the gospel is that the more we become like Jesus, the more we
become our truest selves. Don Wardlaw once said that "to be yoked to Christ is to be a
soul companion with the authentic self God intends for us to be." As we discover deeper
dimensions of Christ-likeness, we uncover more and more of our honest-to-God selves.
...
What blessing! God is at work in us and through us transforming us into our "honest-to-Godselves;"
the fully human beings, the image of God which we were, in the beginning, created to be
and to become. Dr. Sayles continues:
Genuine transformation is not a self-help exercise or a do-it-yourself project. It is God's
work. Transformation happens as God convinces us that we are loved -that, like
Jesus, WE are God's beloved children. ... The words God spoke to Jesus at his
baptism are words God speaks also to us: "You are my beloved son, my beloved
E:\Church Web\Sermons\10-22-06 1 john 3-1-3.doc Last printed 10/31/2006 9:12:00 AM - 2 -
daughter. With you I am well pleased." ... God's love for us is tender and strong,
reassuring and challenging, nurturing and empowering. God's arms of welcome and
affirmation are always open to us. We are God's children. We are loved.
What a blessing! We are blessed with love -God's love! Have there been people in your life who
have loved you with a deep, accepting, affirming, all encompassing love; the people who have seen
beneath the surface of who you might be at the moment to call forth the not yet of who you will
become; the people who even though they know all your mistakes and failures love you just as you
are? If so then you have been blessed with love -God's love, Divine Love. Have there been people in
your life who have challenged you to think deeply about who you are and what you believe; people
who might not have seemed to fit the definition of what we usually call loving, but people who have
none-the-less gifted you as you have learned how to stand up for yourself? If so then you have been
blessed with love -God's love, Divine Love. Have there been people in your life who have loved you
in a deep and passionate way, calling forth the very essence of who you are as a man or a woman;
people whose touch sends shivers of delight through your entire body; people who awaken your own
desires? If so then you have been blessed with love -God's love, Divine Love. Have there been
people -maybe even complete strangers- who have done or said the right thing at the right time to
lift your spirit or restore your faith? Have there been moments when you have been overwhelmed by
the beauty of a sunset or the magnificence of the mountains? If so then you have been blessed with
love -God's love, Divine Love. Did you wake up this morning, gifted with another day of life? If so
then you have been blessed with love -God's love, Divine Love.
As amazing as such blessings are being on the receiving end of Divine Love is not the greatest
blessing Love gives. We are truly blessed with love, when we recognize that we are created to be
love alive in our time and our place!
Hear Dr. Sayles once more:
That deep down assurance that we are loved empowers us to join Jesus in his
compassion for our broken planet, his passion for peace, his hunger and thirst for
justice, his welcoming embrace of the excluded and his tender mercy toward sinners.
Beloved children of God, remember those whom the rest of the world forgets, keep
company with the fallen and the downtrodden, work to turn strangers into friends, and
labor for reconciliation among enemies.
The truly amazing thing about this gift of love is the truth that love is not a limited resource! It's
part and parcel of the whole of creation. It's the energy that pulses through our bodies and connects
us to one another in an amazingly beautifully web of life. The more we love, the more love we have
to give; the more we love, the more ways we find to love; the more we love, the more fully we
become who we already are children of God, made in the image and likeness of God. The impulse to
reach out in love is God at work in us. May we dare to live that love trusting that as we do God is at
work in us, with us, and on us shaping us, growing us, transforming us so that we more and more
fully reflect the spirit and character of Jesus in all that we say and everything that we do. Then we
will know beyond a doubt that we are blessed -Blessed with LOVE! Amen.
