The L.E.T. Principle

April 26, 2009

John 15:9-17

9 As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.  10 If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.  11 I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.

12 "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  13 No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.  14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.  15 I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father.  16 You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name.  17 I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

NRSV

Here is one of those incredible but true stories.

Last fall, Trevor Wikre played football for Mesa State in Grand Junction, Colorado. Midway through the season, during practice, his right pinky finger got twisted and broke in a freak accident.

He reluctantly left practice, and went to the hospital. The doctors said that Trevor would need pins inserted and ligaments repaired in order for his pinky to look more like a finger and less like a pretzel. It would take four months to heal, so his football season was over.

“No way,” said Trevor. “This is my senior year. We’ve got to make this work.

“We can’t,” said the docs.

“We can,” insisted Trevor. “We can cut it off.”

You can only imagine the look on the doctors’ faces. “I beg your pardon? What did you say???”

But Trevor insisted. He explained,

“To have somebody tell you that you’ve played your last game of football, I just wasn’t going to let that happen. I couldn’t do that to my teammates. I’d take a bullet for those guys.”

So, after what must have been a ream of consent forms, Trevor got his wish. The surgeon amputated his pinky.

He wasn’t completely satisfied. He still had to miss a game because of the operation. “Something stupid like the stitches would rip,” he groused.

Incredible!

What he did had quite an effect on others. Some of his teammates admired him. Others, who were nursing injuries of their own, weren’t quite so sympathetic. “Thanks a lot for making the rest of us look like wimps!” His fiancée was supportive, though; she said that if Trevor could sacrifice for  
the team, “I know that if he ever needs to sacrifice for our future, he’ll do it.”

Let’s hope their wedding doesn’t cost Trevor an arm and a leg!

Now, I really don’t understand how anyone could do that. Sacrifice a body part for a game? That doesn’t compute with me. Personally, I think some priorities are more than a little out of whack. And yet there’s one thing that is impressive: in his mind, Trevor was making a natural sacrifice for a group of people, for his team.

Which leads us to what Jesus said today.  
Huddled with his disciples in an upper room, he’s telling them how to live together once he’s gone. This is his farewell conversation with them. There’s a sense of urgency behind his words. He doesn’t have much time left. He has to get across to them what it’s going to take for them to be the church after his Resurrection.

In the piece of the passage we heard today, we can see three things that are essential if these men are to carry on the church. These three things I’ll call the “L. E. T.” principle.

The “L” stands for LOVE each other.

Trevor tried to explain his decision to sacrifice by saying that he couldn’t let his teammates down. “I’d take a bullet for those guys.” That’s a bit of an exaggeration, of course.

But it wasn’t exaggeration for Jesus. Looking at his friends that evening in the upper room, and feeling his heartstrings tugged by each one, he said,

"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.  –John 15:12-13

Hear that? He calls us not “parishioners,” not “colleagues,” not “business associates.”  Rather, he calls us, “friends.” People his heart goes out to. People who make him laugh, make him cry. People who move him so much that he’s willing to sacrifice, not a pinky, but his life for them.

If the church is the church, then the people have to love each other sacrificially. They have to show costly love.

“Friends,” I’m privileged to see this in action in this church. Love that’s not just spoken. Love that is shown, fully, brightly, and at great cost, at times.

Look at the varied programs we have. A Care Team, and a Keepers Program. A kids clothing exchange. Financial seminars. A prayer shawl ministry. A special needs fund. A prayer chain.

And then there are the things you all do individually for each other that show love. So many of you ask how “so and so” is doing, and volunteer to make a call or a casserole. One person one Christmas said, “I’ve been blessed this year, and I want to give $2k away to help others in this church who may not have a bright Christmas.”

These are all ways the people at Concord Trinity are saying, “I’d take a bullet for those guys.” These are all ways of thanking Jesus for actually doing it.

Back to the LET principle.

The “E” stands for…

ENJOY each other.

It might come as a shock to you, but football players like to have fun. Trevor didn’t sacrifice just for guys who knew each other only on the football field. He gave it up for guys he palled around with. They’d talk, laugh, party. Might have lived together in an athletic dorm or apartments.

And it might come as a shock that Jesus liked to have fun with his buddies as well. He ate and drank with them. He joked with them. No wonder he said in today’s passage, “I no longer call you servants, but friends.” You don’t have fun with servants, but you enjoy your friends.

We, here at CTUMC, have a responsibility to have fun.

We take that responsibility very seriously. Look.

Without talent shows, road trips, Wednesdays Alive dinners, potlucks, sports, dodgeball, trivia night, picnics, bonfires—without opportunities to relax with each other and have fun, we are in danger of taking ourselves too seriously. And what’s worse, without opportunities to have fun, we miss out on opportunities to get to know each other, learn from each other, grow with each other.

Finally, the “T” stands for TELL each other.

In sports, you don’t think of guys telling each other their feelings. Just doesn’t compute. Trevor couched his love for his teammates in manly terms—“I’d take a bullet.”  Vince Lombardi, the legendary Packers coach, expressed it better. After his team had won its second Super Bowl in a row, a TV commentator asked him, "Coach, what's the secret of the success of the Packers?" Lombardi didn't hesitate a moment. He flashed those big teeth in a smile and said, "These guys love each other."

Jesus was a lot better at telling his feelings than any football player or coach. Look at these two verses:

As the Father has LOVED me, so I have LOVED you; abide in my LOVE.  If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my LOVE, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his LOVE.  –John 15:9-10

He used the word “love” five times in two verses! He certainly wasn’t afraid to talk about his feelings—he would laugh, he would show joy, he would express disappointment. He wasn’t afraid to cry. He was a man’s man—and part of being a true man was not being afraid to reveal what was in his heart.

If you’re part of a church fellowship, you have to be able to talk about “feelings,” nothing more than…”feelings.”

I appreciate the ways we can do that around here. The staff and leaders of this church understand that the best way is by offering small group opportunities.

And look at what we have. Sunday School for all ages. United Methodist Women, UM Men, and UM Youth groups. 55+ and Singles small group activities. Short-term classes on different topics, including Bible study and book clubs.

One of the most exciting things that’s on the horizon is an all-church small group emphasis. Debbie Irving is helping make plans where there will be small-group study/fellowship opportunities held around the area this summer—be looking for it.

We have over 1100 full members in this church. The larger we grow, the “smaller” we must become: we have to keep multiplying small groups. They are the ways we can share with each other intimately, even as the Master did with his “friends” in an upper room, long ago.

There you have it. The L.E.T. principle.

I wanted to share this with you today, the 2nd Sunday after Easter, because this is the way to keep the Resurrection experience alive, powerful, personal.

Whenever you come into this church on a Sunday, or open up the newsletter during the week, remember this principle. Somehow, in some way, you’ll see it in action. And somehow, in some way, you’ll be invited to be part of it. Loving. Enjoying. Telling.

I started with a football story, and an over-zealous guy.

Let me end with a softball story, and an amazing group of women.

It happened in Ellensburg, Washington, on April 26, 2008. It was a division two NCAA women’s softball game, Western Oregon versus Central Washington.

Both schools were competing for a shot at the national tournament. They were neck and neck in the standings.

They were to play a double-header this Saturday. Western Oregon had won the first game, 8-1. The second game would be crucial, as to Central Washington’s chances in making it to the tourney.

It was the second inning. Two runners on for Western Oregon. Into the box steps Sara Tucholsky…

Sara hadn’t done much all year. She was a part-time outfielder. In 34 at-bats in the season, she’d only had three hits. No one expected her to do much, including Sara herself. She only stood 5’2”, and that’s not much by collegiate standards.

But as luck would have it, at this at-bat, she got into one. And little Sara watched in amazement—along with everyone else—as it cleared the fence. It was the first homerun she’d hit in her four years of playing at Western Oregon.

She didn’t know what to do! She was so excited, she missed first base. Her coach yelled at her to come back and touch it. She turned, to go back to the bag, when the unthinkable happened. Her knee gave out, and she crumpled to the ground, in pain. She’d torn a knee ligament.

Her first base coach yelled at her to at least crawl back to first base. She couldn’t go out and help, because under the rules Sara would be called out if someone from her own team assisted her. The best her team could hope for was that she could somehow make it back to first base. There she could be substituted for. Instead of a homerun, she’d be credited with a single.

There she lay, between the bases, when something so extra-ordinary happened that it would make headlines across the nation.

Mallory Holtman was a four year starter for the opposing team. She owns every offensive record for Central Washington. Seeing the situation, she goes up to the coach for Western Oregon and says, “Excuse me, but would it be OK if we carried her around and she touched each bag?”

Now, if they carried her, Sara would be credited with the homerun. But at the same time, that would mean Mallory’s team would be further in the hole, jeopardizing their playoff chances.

But Mallory got permission from the coach.

The fans at first grew quiet as Mallory and another teammate carried her to each bag. Then they realized what was happening. By the time they’d made their way home, the fans gave them a standing ovation.

The Central Washington coach later said, "It was such a lesson that we learned -- that it's not all about winning. And we forget that, because as coaches, we're always trying to get to the top. We forget that. But I will never, ever forget this moment. It's changed me, and I'm sure it's changed my players."

I want to play on a team that has a Mallory Holtman, don’t you?

Maybe we already are.