Today we continue this year’s stewardship theme, Echo God’s Love as we study our response to God’s love.  Our text is from Paul’s second letter to Timothy read earlier, specifically when he writes, “6 For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7 For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.”  Today we discuss the opposite of what Paul is commanding Timothy, “The Echoless Christian.”   Take out the folded brochure in your bulletin as we use it to walk through today’s passage and our lives as Echoing or Echoless Christians.

            It is God’s command to his disciples and to all of his people to be echoing Christians.  “Echo God’s love” is a strong reminder to all of us that as Christians we respond to the love which we experience in Jesus Christ.  Just as an echo is a reflected sound, so our loving behavior toward God and toward other people is a reflection of the love God has show to us. Just as “We love because He first loved us” so also “We give because He first gave to us.”  Paul commends Timothy as he states, “I remember you in my prayers…”   

            The thought of an “echoless Christian” is really an impossibility,  an inconceivable combination of ideas. If you are a Christian, if you are a child of God, your life, your words and actions, are going to echo God’s love.  At the same time, if your life does not demonstrate the love of God in what you do and  say, you would have to seriously question whether you are a person who is a child of God.  Yet Satan tries in many and various ways to tell us to stop this echoing as indicted by the “No Echo” sign on the cover page.  Satan does not want the message of God’s love echoed in this world. 

            Paul reminds Timothy that he is the result of God’s love being echoed through his mother and grandmother, and those who brought this message to them.  And, the echo is not going to die out as Timothy echoes this message throughout his life as an evangelist and teacher of the word.  All of you gathered here today are evidence that this echo has not died out in the nearly two thousands years since. 

            But each one of us is a sinner and each finds himself being an echoless Christian just the same. The question on page two [in the brochure] challenges each of us to take a long hard look at our own lives. If our lives aren’t echoing God’s love, or if our echo is weak, where is the problem? When we really examine our lives, each and every one of us, pastor and people alike, must confess that there are times, in the family, on the job, maybe even here at church, when our lives don’t do a very good job of echoing God’s love. There are times for all of us when we are far from being as loving and as lovely as our God would have us be. Because we are sinners, because we live in a sin ravaged world, there are times when our echo of God’s love is anything but loud and clear. If that is true, and we know that it is, where is the problem?  Why is our echo of God’s love weak?

            Page three offers one possible answer to that question that maybe the problem is with God.  Maybe the sound source for our echo, that is God and His love, are just too weak. Is our God not abounding in love?  No way.  That is not the God we know.  We have a God who is almighty, abounding in love, king of the universe, steadfast in His mercy and grace.  Now that is our God. We do not have a weakling God.  We have a God who is powerful and who expresses that power through the greatness of His love.  Paul reminds Timothy how God has always been there in the grace of Jesus even before the beginning of time [v. 9] and when Jesus came and lived among us as he destroyed death once and for all.  [v. 10]  When our echo of God’s love is weak, we can be certain that the problem isn’t because God’s love is weak. The sound source for our echo, God and His love, are always powerful.

            If the problem isn’t with God, then there is only one other possibility. The problem must be with us. As we look at the next three pages, 4 through 6, there are three possible causes for the weakness of our echo.

            There is an optimal distance between the source of a sound and the reflecting surface to produce a perfect echo.  As you begin to increase the distance between the sound source and the reflective surface, the echo becomes increasing weaker.  As Christians, we increase the distance between ourselves and our God when our worship in God’s house becomes infrequent, when our prayers are reserved for emergency or special situations only, when our study of God’s Word is easily postponed for reasons of our convenience or preference, when our opportunities for Christian service are put on indefinite hold.  There is something very scary about getting too far away from God.  The farther we get from Him the easier it is for us to increase that distance more and more.

            It is very frightening to realize that there are lots of people in this world including many who are listed as active members of churches (including Immanuel) who talk about being close to God, but who are putting more and more distance between themselves and their Lord every day. And just as it happened to them, it can happen to you and me.  Spiritual distance between the Christian and the Lord can and does weaken the echo of God’s love.

            A second factor that can weaken our echo of God’s love is when we simply absorb all of God’s love and let that be the end of it.  Some surfaces reflect sound and some absorb sound.  It is like walking into a bare room with the furniture, carpeting and draperies removed.  The sound bounces.  When the room is filled, sound is absorbed and no longer echoes.  It is also possible in your life and mine to simply absorb God’s love, take in all of His blessings and enjoy them for ourselves.  It is easy to take all of God’s good gifts in and do very little to share them.

            We live in a society where the “me” is most important and the sharing with each other is put on the back burner.  That “me” centered life is easy to fall into in our lives of faith.  “I’m saved.  The other guy will just have to take care of himself,” is not echoing God’s love.  If our echo of God’s love is weak, the problem may be that we are simply absorbing it all, never sharing the goodness of our God.

            Page 6 of your little brochure suggests a third factor that can weaken our echo of God’s love.  Echoes can be weakened by something called sound decay.  Sound decay happens when sound waves are broken up and deflected by obstacles like trees, signboards, and buildings.  They can get in the way of the sound, can break up the sound waves, and thereby cause sound decay.  The more sound decay you have, the weaker the echo will be.

            Sound decay can happen in our spiritual lives as well.  We are surrounded by the distractions of a busy world, a busy life-style.  The attractions of appealing items and activities become as treacherous as open manholes.  Whether it is pleasure-seeking, the drive for success on the job or in organizations, there are many things in this busy world that can easily divert our attention from the one purpose God for us in this world, to echo God’s love.  Those obstacles easily weaken our response to the goodness of our God.  Think for a moment those activities and diversions that seem most pleasurable and appealing, but in fact are pulling you away from being an echoing Christian.

            But there is good news. Look at page 7. Here we can see the real power source. The power is not me or you. It is the saving cross of Jesus Christ. “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  It is the power of God unto Salvation.”  [Romans 1:16]  Trusting in the great and precious promises of God, holding on to the cross by faith, this is our real and eternal power!   Paul writes to Timothy that God does not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, his power.  [v. 7-8]  That power has saved you by his grace through faith.

            The task is not impossible with God’s help.  Our echo can remain strong.  We can love our God and love others.  And this good news is even better, because it doesn’t just depend on us. St. Paul in writing to the Ephesians said, “Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power.”  Our echo of God’s love can be strong and remain strong, because our strength is in God and His power makes it possible.  The God who loved us and sent His Son, Jesus, to die for our sins, that God also is ready to keep us in a loving relationship with Him, to keep our echo strong through His Holy Spirit.  Paul reminds us through this letter to Timothy that God’s grace is not accidental, but is by his pre-determined purpose.  That purpose for each Christian is to proclaim God’s love and glory to others so they might be saved also.  The grace of the cross and the victory of the resurrection of Jesus give us joy and peace and eternal hope.

            We look forward to all God has in store for us as individuals and as a congregation during next year.  Page 8 reminds us we can joyfully and gratefully rededicate our lives to our loving God, to rededicate ourselves to personal prayer, to regular worship attendance, to frequent reception of Christ’s body and blood in the Lord’s Supper, to financial support of the Lord’s work, and to greater Christian service in words and deeds.

            We are asking all of our member families to pick up their stewardship packet as they leave worship this evening/morning. Then, during the next two weeks, take some time to work your way through that material. Let it be a time that will help you think about what it means to live each day as God’s child. Let it also be a time for you to establish some spiritual goals for yourselves for the coming year. How are you going to grow as God’s person?  How is your family going to grow?

            Then make a commitment. Not to your pastor, not to your church, not to the leadership of this congregation.  Rather make a commitment to your Lord.  Make that commitment trusting that by God’s strength He is going to make some exciting spiritual growth happen in your life in the year ahead.

            Please join me in praying:

Dear Father in heaven, thank You for showing me Your great love in so many different ways.  But especially I thank You for the gift of Your own Son, my Savior, Jesus Christ.  Help me to echo Your love.  Help me to show my love for You and my love for other people in all I say and do.  Show me how to more fully be the person You would have me to be.  Amen.