Covenant
United Methodist Church
Sunday School 9:45 Worship 8:30 & 10:45 am
NORMAN COUSINS IN HIS BOOK “THE HEALING HEART” WRITES OF HIS OWN PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OF SURVIVING A HEART ATTACK. IN THE BOOK HE PATS DOCTORS ON THE BACK FOR THEIR SKILLS AS TECHNICIAN’S, BUT HE ALSO SAYS THAT WHILE MANY DOCTORS ARE SKILLED TECHNICIANS THEY ARE NOT ALL PEOPLE PERSONS. MANY HAVE NO TRAINING AT ALL IN COMMUNICATION. THEY DON’T REALIZE HOW PATIENTS LOOK FORWARD TO THEIR VISITS AND HANG ON THEIR EVERY WORD. NOW THERE ARE TIMES I WANT YOU TO HEAR WHEN I HAVE FOUND DOCTORS WHO ARE ABLE TO DO BOTH. THEY ARE CAPABLE TECHNICIANS AND HAVE MASTERED THE ART OF COMMUNICATING WITH THEIR CLIENTS. BUT THERE IS A POINT TO BE MADE BY WHAT COUSINS SAYS. THE POINT IS THAT THERE IS NOTHING MORE POWERFUL THAN THE HEALING POWER OF LOVE. WE AS A PEOPLE WANT TO PUT OUR POWER INTO THE MILITARY, INTO ECONOMIC STRENGTH, AND POLITICAL CLOUT, YET OVER AND OVER THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT THERE IS NOTHING MORE IMPORTANT THAN THE HEALING POWER OF LOVE!
I THINK THAT IS WHAT OUR SCRIPTURE TODAY CAPTURES. YOU KNOW THE SCENE…IT IS THE CHRISTMAS SCENE. FIRST ZECHARIAH SEES AN ANGEL, THIS OLD MAN IS TOLD HIS ULTIMATE DREAM WILL BE FULFILLED. HIS ELDERLY WIFE WILL HAVE A BABY. THEN ELIZABETH IS GIVEN THE SAME MESSAGE. THERE LIVES WHICH AT ONE TIME SEEMD USELESS ARE HEALED AND TRANSFORMED NY GOD’S LOVE. THEN THE SAME HAPPENS TO MARY. MARY VISITS ELIZABETH. WHEN THEY GET CLOSE TO EACH OTHER THE CHILD IN ELIZABETH’S WOMB LEAPS FOR JOY, AND IS FILLED WITH THE HOLY SPIRIT! (IT’S JOHN THE BAPTIST IN THERE REMEMBER!) ELIZABETH BLESSES MARY, THEN MARY SPEAKS THESE WORDS OF SCRIPTURE, THEY ARE OFTEN CALLED “THE MAGNICAT.” MARY SAYS, “MY SOUL MAGNIFIES THE LORD AND MY SPIRIT REJOICES IN GOD MY SAVIOR. FOR HE HAS BEEN MINDFUL OF THE LOWLY ESTATE OF HIS SERVANT AND FROM NOW ON ALL GENERATIONS WILL CALL ME BLESSED.”
DO YOU RECOGNIZE WHAT HAPPENS TO MARY. GOD’S MAGNIFICIENT LOVE TRANSFORMS HER, AND HEALS HER.BUT SHE ISN’T THE ONLY ONE IN THE BIBLE THAT HAPPENS TO. GOD’S LOVE TRANSFORMS A MOTHERLESS CHILD LEFT IN A BASKET INTO MOSES THE MAN WHO LED THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL TO THE PROMISED LAND. GOD’S LOVE TRANSFORMS AND HEALS A YOUNG SHEPHERD BOY INTO DAVID A MAN AFTER GOD’S OWN HEART. GOD’S LOVE TRANSFORMS A BLIND PHARISEE NAMED SAUL BENT ON KILLING CHRISTIANS INTO, PAUL, THE GREATEST DISCIPLE FOR CHRIST THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN. GOD’S TRANSFORMING LOVE WORKS THAT WAY IN OUR WORLD. THE BIBLE TELLS US SO.
I REMEMBER A NUMBER OF YEARS AGO IN ONE OF THE CHURCHES I WAS SERVING THERE WAS THIS YOUNG WOMAN IN OUR CHURCH WHO SAT PRETTY MUCH ON THE BACK PEW. I MEAN SHE WOULD LITERALLY SIT IN A CORNER OF THE BACK PEW. SHE JUST DIDN’T WANT TO BE NOTICED! SHE ALWAYS LOOKED A LITTLE RATTY, HER HAIR WAS A MESS, THE CLOTHES SHE DRESSED IN JUST LOOKED TERRIBLE. SHE WAS MEEK AND SHY. SHE WASN’T ONE OF THOSE YOUNG WOMEN THAT MEN SWOON OVER WHEN THEY SEE HER. THEN THIS YOUNG MAN IN THE CHURCH DECIDED THAT HE LIKED THE YOUNG WOMAN…WELL, IN THE 2 FURTHER YEARS THAT I SERVED THAT CHURCH I WATCHED A TRANSFORMATION IN THE YOUNG WOMAN. THE FIRST THING I NOTICED WAS THE SMILE. THEN SHE BECAME MORE TALKATIVE WITH ME, AND CERTAIN PEOPLE IN THE CHURCH. SHE AND FUTURE HUSBAND STARTED WORKING WITH OUR CHILDREN’S MINISTRY. (I WOULD HAVE NEVER THOUGHT SHE WOULD HAVE HAD THE TALENT!) I PERFORMED THE WEDDING CEREMONY FOR THEM SHORTLY BEFORE I LEFT THE CHURCH. SEVERAL YEARS LATER I CAME BACK TO THE CHURCH TO PERFORM A FUNERAL FOR A DEAR FRIEND. I SAW A COUPLE TOGETHER AND RECOGNIZED THE MAN AS PART OF THE COUPLE I HAD MARRIED BEFORE I LEFT THE CHURCH, BUT I DIDN’T RECOGNIZE THE WOMAN. I WAS KIND OF DISAPPOINTED THAT THE MAN HAD LEFT HIS WIFE FOR THIS VAMP. I MEAN THIS GUY WAS WITH THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN I HAD EVER SEEN. SHE WALKED AROUND TALKING WITH PEOPLE SOCIALLY WITH THE PRETTIEST SMILE ON HER FACE I HAD EVER SEEN. THEN SHE SAW ME AND CAME OVER TO ME AND GAVE ME A BIG HUG…IT WAS THAT SAME WOMAN WHO HAD SAT ON THE BACK ROW IN THE CORNER OF THAT CHURCH SO MANY YEARS AGO…IT IS AMAZING HOW LOVE CAN HEAL AND TRANSFORM US…
GOD’S LOVE AT CHRISTMAS TIME HEALS AND TRANSFORMS ALL THOSE WHO ALLOW IT TO. AND WHEN WE ALLOW GOD TO HEAL AND TRANSFORM US, WE BECOME AGENTS OF HIS LOVE TO THE WORLD AROUND US. THAT IS THE REASON AT CHRISTMAS TIME WE DO THINGS LIKE GIVE AWAY FOOD BASKETS TO THOSE LESS FORTUNATE THAN US. THAT IS WHY WE GIVE TO A GIVING TREE HERE AT THE CHURCH. THAT IS WHY YOU GIVE AWAY CHRISTMAS GIFTS TO CHILDREN, THAT IS WHY YOU GO TO SHUT-INS AND THE ELDERLY IN OUR COMMUNITY AND SING CHRISTMAS CAROLS, THAT IS WHY YOU COME AND SHARE ON CHRISTMAS EVE IN A CANTATA. YOU WANT TO SHARE THE HEALING POWER OF GOD’S LOVE WITH THE WORLD AROUND YOU. THIS CHRISTMAS SHARE THAT LOVE WITH YOUR FAMILY TOO. LET THEM KNOW HOW MUCH YOU LOVE THEM AND GOD LOVES THEM.
THE HEALING POWER OF GOD’S LOVE. WE HAVE BEEN HEALED AND TRANSFORMED BY IT THIS CHRISTMAS TOO.