Sunday, March 22, 2009

Dearest God,

I wrote my sermon from inside a love story, yours. I was writing my sermon on Saturday when my pastor husband shared a story from a new book he was reading. The illustration changed the course of my Sunday morning message.

Yours is a love story. The story of Jesus is a love story. The promise of presence at the ascension set the stage for a continuing love story.

Telling a love story is a comforting, joyous occasion. A story that goes on and on, on and on even into eternity is always worth telling. And the fact that I am a minister is a love story itself. I was called to share the story in every way I could. You trusted me with your story. At times it is still hard for me to believe you allowed me in to tell your story.

As I preached, my hope and prayer was that your love would fall upon your people, that they would discover once again the awesome power of your love. I watched as I shared the story of two Amish girls who faced down a gunman with courage, sacrifice and love for the neighbor. It was a powerful story, it is a powerful story of love.

There is so much power in love, dear God. From the beginning you created love, not just some kind of infatuation that one feels for another but rather a love that overrides everything else, love that emits hope, compassion, joy, peace, and faith, of course.

How many times have I been caught up in love from on high? How many times has your love wooed me back home? How many times has love caught me as I was falling? How many times? If there was an exhibit of your love, no building would be big enough to hold it. No museum great enough. I guess that's why I told the story of Marion today who exhibited your love. Her life is the exhibit and her story went around the world. What more could you ask of any of us?

Lord of heaven
and earth,
I stand amazed
at the wonder
of your love.
So long ago
you captured
my heart
by your love.
As a young child
gazing into
the dark night sky
from the
sleepover floor
of my grandmother's
front room,
I felt
the sudden movement
of my heart
as I thought
of you.
Your love
has held
my heart
all these years.
I am
so incredibly grateful.

Loving you always, Andrea