Love is the Point

Summary

Widening circles of love and community transform lives and bring heaven to earth.

Transcript

Well, good morning, Journey Church. If you are seeing this message, outside your window is a winter wonderland, and we are in the throes of our semi-annual winter weather week here in Texas. Out of an abundance of caution, we wanted to make sure that everybody is staying safe, but also that we can connect in this way. So I hope that you are cuddled up with a warm blanket and a hot cup of hot chocolate, surrounded by those closest to you in your life, maybe a fire in the fireplace, or if you're like us, up on the TV, and able to just rest and relax in this time where it is treacherous outside, and we get to experience what the rest of the country calls winter. We wanted to make sure that, being that we were aware that the weather probably wasn't going to cooperate, that we continue our conversation in 2026, that we are calling Widening Circles. As we begin this year, we are focusing on community, and the way that we are focusing on that is considering widening the circles of our community. Community is one of those words that, particularly in the church, it is used so often, it becomes hard to know exactly what it means.

It's in the names of churches. We kind of throw that around, both meaning a geographical area, but also the relationship with one another. So I want to clearly define what we mean when we're talking about community, particularly this year. We're really talking about Christian community, and in Christian community is, of course, knowing one another, knowing God, knowing our neighbors, but also it's another depth of that, and it's opening yourself up to being known. The easy part of relationships is knowing others, right? We love to ask others questions about their lives and about things going on and figuring out who this person is. It's a whole other part of a relationship to open ourselves up to be known, particularly when it comes to being known at the depths of who we are.

And so widening circles, considering our community, is about, first of all, widening our circle with God. God is the center or the source of our lives as followers of Jesus, and we want to cling to that center, right, as that analogy goes. But we also want to grow, and we want to know God more fully, have a more full picture of God. And so as we think about a widening circle of God, it's widening in our love for God, widening in our understanding of God and who God is calling us to be. But it's also about making ourselves available to be known by God. And you say, well, Jonathan, God already knows me, and that's true, but God also gives us freedom, will not force himself upon us, and so we have to invite God to know us on the inside. Jesus says the Father knows your heart, but we have to make sure that we are available for God to know us at the depths of who we are.

For some of us, that can be a terrifying thought. I have been terrified by that thought many times in my life. David, in the Psalm, says, search me, O God, and know me. We want to invite God to know me, and that's part of widening our circle in our community with God. It's also about community with one another, and that's those of us who gather together weekly as a church. We talked about this last week, that we're beginning in February 1 to meet at 10 a.m. at the church building for a time of what we're calling Sunday morning circles, and we're inviting all age groups, the littlest to the oldest, to come together. We have different groups for different ages, and to know one another, but also to be known by those who we are united together as journey, and I want to put a little bit of pastoral pressure on you with a smile on my face, of course, but to say, give these circles a try.

I really do think that they're going to help lead our church as we focus on widening our circles this year. So 10 a.m., February 1, be there, or be square, because you won't be in the circle, right? I know that's pretty bad, but then widening circles includes our neighbors as well, and knowing our neighbors, of course, but also being known by our neighbors, opening ourselves up, leveraging our abilities, resources, and influence to bless our neighbors. That's what our church is about, and that's what we are seeking to do, but also widening those circles to open up and be known. When you think about life, we've talked about this the last couple of weeks, life is circular, right? Earth is literally spinning, right, or rotating. It rotates around the sun in a year.

The sun and the moon rise, and the earth's spinning in a circular fashion. If we are blessed with long life, most of us who experience that are born needing the care of others, and we'll end our life needing the care of others. And we revolve around the source. Physically, the earth revolves around the sun. Our lives revolve around what our source is. And we definitely want to maintain our connection to that source, but we wanna grow in our understanding, as we have said. I was thinking an analogy about this with tetherball.

I don't know how many of you have played tetherball. It's a game that I used to play as a kid. I think it's one of those that has been deemed too unsafe to play, so you don't see them very much, particularly at schools. But every day at recess, when the weather was nice, we were out playing tetherball. There was a long line of kids. And it's a pretty simple game. If you don't know what it is, I'll explain it.

There's a pole, there's a rope, and at the end of the rope, there is a ball. And the object of the game is to hit the ball in your direction, and to wrap the ball all the way around the post until the ball hits the post, while your opponent is trying to go in the opposite direction, and to stop you from winning the game by the ball hitting the post in your way. Usually, somebody gets hit in the face with the ball, and there are tears, but it is such a fun and exciting game to play. But when it comes to community, when it comes to this idea of widening circles, tetherball is a terrible analogy for us. Because what happens when we are so tightly wound around the center, we begin to choke out, we begin to strangle whatever it is that we are holding onto. And we need to learn to loosen our grips. Part of widening circles is learning to loosen our grips, learning to open up, learning to let go of expectations, which is such a huge thing for us.

And as we widen our circles around God, around one another, around our neighbors, it opens up space for God to reveal Himself by His spirits to us, for us to know one another and be known by one another, but also for us to bless our neighbors. And that adds so much value to life. When we consider the focus of our faith in the Western evangelical American church, oftentimes what is viewed as the purpose of our faith is going to heaven when you die, right? Heaven is the point. Now, I wanna say Jesus talked many times about what He called the age that is to come. And I personally don't know exactly what that looks like, but it is exciting to me, however it pans out, because Jesus promised it and talked about it, and it's a beautiful thing. Regardless of whether my visions of what happens after we die on this earth come true or not, regardless of whether my mind can conceive or not, we are not going to be disappointed.

God is faithful, and we can trust in Jesus and what He says and where He is leading us. And my particular understanding is that whatever our visions of what happens after we take our last breath on this earth, it will pale in comparison to what God has in store. But one of the things that Jesus was pretty clear about, that focusing on heaven as the point of being a follower of Jesus misses, is that Jesus talked about heaven coming to earth. This earth matters. This world matters. Christianity is not a ticket out of here, but it is a way to be present here. It is a way for our feet to be in tune with the soil on which we walk, with our neighbors and with God who dwells in this place.

This place matters. It is important to God. It is something that God is breathing life into regularly. And so we learn from Jesus that heaven is returning here. It's returning in our lives on a moment-by-moment basis as we seek the way of Jesus, and ultimately it will return to wipe away brokenness. Jesus taught us to pray, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. This place matters.

And so what we do here matters, and it doesn't matter just as to how it influences what happens when we breathe our last breath. It matters because this place matters. One of the ways that Jesus is known best is as teacher. Regardless of if you are a follower of Jesus or not, the teachings of Jesus are widely spread and talked about. Think about the golden rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. People, regardless of whether they're Christian or not, talk here about turning the other cheek, and that principle's there. Living by the sword, dying by the sword.

Those are all teachings of Jesus that have made their way into popular culture. And for all of the world, I believe that Jesus's teachings are important. If more people would live by the teachings of Jesus, then society would be so much better off. So they're important for everyone, but for us as Jesus's followers, they're not just important, they are authoritative. They are how we are supposed to shape and live our lives. They are what we invite the spirit into our lives to help nurture and mature the way of Jesus within us. One of Jesus's most frequent topics as he was teaching was teaching about the church, the church as his body, his hands and his feet, representation of his presence in the world.

Actually, not a representation, but his presence in the world through the church. Jesus prayed for the church, he commissioned the church, he sent the church, he told the church to go into the world and to make disciples and baptizing them in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And then he says, teach them to follow my commands. This is where Jesus is calling us to follow him and to trust in what he has told us. In this series, Widening Circles, we've read every week from John 15. We're gonna do the same here this morning. But I wanna ask the question as we begin this scripture reading, what are Jesus's commands?

In John 15, verse nine, he says this, "'As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. "'Now remain in my love. "'If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love "'just as I have kept my Father's commands "'and remain in his love. "'I have told you this so that my joy may be complete in you "'and that your joy may be complete.'"

What is Jesus's command exactly? Verse 12, my command is this,

"'Love each other as I have loved you.'" Love each other as I have loved you. That is. Jesus's command. So when we read about our commission to baptize, make disciples, baptize in the name of the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit, and follow the commands, what is the command? To love one another as Jesus has loved us. These words are very similar to what we read in Matthew chapter 22.

Jesus was teaching, and some of the religious leaders came to him and asked him, "'What is the most important law? "'What is the most important commandment?' And Jesus replied, Matthew 22, verse 37, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart, "'with all your soul, and with all your mind.'" This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it, love your neighbor as yourself. Very similar to what Jesus said in John 15. And then he says this, "'All the law and the prophets "'hang on these two commands.'"

So what Jesus is inviting us to see here is that loving God and loving our neighbors isn't just a good thing to do, it is what all of God's presence in our lives, God's movement in our lives, God's salvation in our lives hangs upon. It cannot be understated the significance of what Jesus is commanding us here. One of the ways that we are being challenged this year is in trusting Jesus and his teaching that Jesus's kingdom is en route here on earth, as we've talked about in our lives, moment by moment and in the age that is to come. Jesus tells us to live as he commanded. His command, as we read, is to love God and to love neighbors. And this is how we welcome the kingdom of heaven in our lives and in the world around us. Loving our neighbor isn't simply a polite thing to do, it is how we welcome the kingdom of God here and now.

If Christianity is just an escape ticket out of this place when we breathe our last breath, then loving our neighbor is just the nice thing to do, it's a polite thing to do, and maybe it's an avenue for them to get the same ticket that you have received. But when we understand God's kingdom here and now, not fully, but still just as much here, then we begin to understand that loving our neighbor, that loving God isn't just about what happens in some future moment, but it is about God's presence filling our lives and the world around us and our neighbor's lives right here, right now. It is actually the point. To love God and love your neighbor is the point. That is what Jesus is calling us to. That is the point of our lives here on earth. Love is the point.

And through our lives and by our prayers, God's kingdom will arrive in our community as we love one another. This world matters. Loving God matters. Loving your neighbor matters. That cannot be understated. That actually is the point. Oftentimes throughout history, we're waiting for the right person to get the right amount of power, and when they do, they will lead us into glory, whatever that glory looks like.

But as we study this throughout history, this cycle rises and falls, and the world remains broken. People are scapegoated. People suffer. There's an inequality in the world in which we live. But yet, we tend to trust those ways more than any other ways. Jesus' invitation here is to trust him, his leadership in our lives, where he is leading us as we widen circles with God, with one another, with our neighbors, to trust him and to see where God is leading us to love one another and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And little by little, moment by moment, God's kingdom is alive and well in us and in the world around us.

Love is the point. That is what Jesus is calling us to. I'm so excited this year to flesh out exactly what that means. A lot of this will happen in our 10 a.m. Sunday morning circles, so again, please make plans to be there February 1st, next Sunday. Weather permitting, of course, I think we'll be all right by then. Maybe a little cold, but no ice on the roads.

But stay warm. May the hot chocolate flow this weekend for you. Make sure you stir the chili so that it doesn't burn on the bottom. And grace and peace to you all. We'll see you next week. We'll see you next week.