Sermon: Going Back to the Basics

"Going Back to the Basics"
Fifth Sunday of Easter
John 13: 31-35; 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13 by Rev. Carson Overstreet
Van Wyck Presbyterian Church
April 24, 2016


When [Judas] had gone out, Jesus said, ‘Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, “Where I am going, you cannot come.” I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’ - John 13: 31-35


If I speak in the tongues of mortals and of angels, but do not have love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. If I give away all my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Love never ends. But as for prophecies, they will come to an end; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will come to an end. For we know only in part, and we prophesy only in part; but when the complete comes, the partial will come to an end. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child; when I became an adult, I put an end to childish ways. For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then we will see face to face. Now I know only in part; then I will know fully, even as I have been fully known. And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13: 1-13



Whenever life gets too stressful or too complicated, I create a space to go back to the basics of life. I try to simplify my priorities regarding what really matters. Going back to the basics reminds me of how I should be living each day.

So here is my short list:

1. God – God has turned my life around I want to grow in God’s love and faithfulness.

2. Family – The time is passing quicker each year I want to be present in marriage and parenting. I want to pour my love into these significant relationships and make the time count.

3. Ministry (Work) – God has a purpose in bringing all of us together. God wants to work through our lives, reshape us, and make the love of Christ known. This is true for any work we do. We all share this in our common calls when we follow Christ. Christ works through our unique talents and gifts wherever we are in life.

There are days when our priorities are not in sync. None of us lives them out perfectly. And on these imperfect days God seems to be very silent and very distant. There are days when the dynamics in our homes and community are stressful. There are days when work is tiring and chaotic. In these moments when the stress weighs upon us it is so very important to take a step back. It’s good to look at what holds our priorities together. The guiding center for each of us should be love. For if we do all things without having love in the center then nothing that we do bears the weight of grace.

Paul said this to his church flock in Corinth. Paul sensed his community was being pulled apart by tensions and stress. And even as some of the people in Corinth Church were trying to live out their faith and priorities, Paul encouraged them all to take their spiritual pulse. Paul wanted to make sure his flock was centering their daily lives with love.

There is only one reason we are able to pour our love into the people and situations that matter. God took the first step to be intentionally present in our lives. Our God is a relational God. And God was the first to pour out unconditional love for us through Jesus Christ. God’s love is unique and teaches us how to live through the example of Jesus Christ. God wants us to live our faith through the integrity of Jesus Christ.

Paul tells us that God’s Love bears the weight of grace.

God’s Love is patient. Patience sees annoyances and hardships as opportunities to grow. Patience refuses to react out of anger. Patience looks beyond our human limitations into God’s possibilities.

God’s Love is kind. Kindness is deeply connected to serving others. Kindness extends generosity. Kindness seeks to benefit the good of the whole even through one tiny action or smile.

God’s Love is rejoicing in the truth. Rejoicing is gratitude for the way God bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.

We all know how challenging it is to love the way God loves - to live into Christ’s example. It is not easy to always have an attitude of patience, kindness, and gratitude. I think each of us is aware of our own human limitations – our incompleteness as Paul might say.

There is a shadow side to each of us. Paul describes this side of us with words that are all too familiar: envy, pride, arrogance, rudeness, self-centeredness, irritability, resentfulness. These are our human tendencies. These are our human reactions. When we allow our shadow side to be our primary way of living then it threatens a healthy sense of self. Our shadow side distorts who God intends us to be.

When we do not take the time to nurture this gift of faith and abide in Christ then our shadow side will call the shots. I know when I do not balance my priorities by settling into God’s Word and make time for prayer then I don’t like the person I see. When we allow our negative attributes to guide us instead of love then our shadow side strains our relationships. It threatens the harmony in our homes, the unity of community and even the body of Christ. Our shadow side easily becomes an obstacle to experiencing reconciliation which at the heart of Christ’s ongoing ministry.

All the good that we do on our best days is God’s grace working through us. When we abide in Christ then our lives have a richer meaning because God shows us what we should be focusing on. God’s love shapes us into who we are intended to be.

Christ told the disciples how important it is to keep God’s love at the center of all things. It is not a choice. It is a commandment. It is not a rule but a way of life. If we love one another then the world will know that we are Christ’s disciples. And disciples are not known for doctrine. Disciples are not known for being right. Disciples are known for how well we follow the Teacher’s example.

Jesus’ example is more than just loving neighbor as self. Jesus’ example is loving ourselves and others as he loves us. Christ loves us with the weight of grace. Christ loves us with patience, kindness, gratitude, and truth. God has poured Christ’s love into us with great intention so that we might know the basics of how to live.

Robert Fulghum has a gift of crafting words in a light-hearted way. He took the very essence of life back to the basics of what really matters. His words may be familiar words to you:

Most of what I really need
To know about how to live
And what to do and how to be
I learned in kindergarten.
Wisdom was not at the top
Of the graduate school mountain,
But there in the sandpile at Sunday school.

These are the things I learned:
Share everything.
Play fair.
Don't hit people.
Put things back where you found them.
Clean up your own mess.
Don't take things that aren't yours.
Say you're sorry when you hurt somebody.
Wash your hands before you eat.
Flush.
Warm cookies and cold milk are good for you.
Live a balanced life -
Learn some and think some
And draw and paint and sing and dance
And play and work every day some.
Take a nap every afternoon.
When you go out into the world,
Watch out for traffic,
Hold hands and stick together.
Be aware of wonder.

Fulghum said these things are what he has learned about the Golden Rule and God’s Love.

This past week I came across a phrase that will not leave me. I do not know who wrote it but it summarizes our Gospel lesson.

“In a world where you can be anything, be kind.”

In our lives, people will not remember what we have said. But people will remember how we have made them feel. People will remember how we have lived.

So be kind.
Be the kind of person God is shaping you to be.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Source Referenced:
Robert Fulghum, “All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten” (New York: Random House Publishing Group, 1986, 1988, 2003), pgs. 2-3.