A Sermon for the Outdoor Service

A grandmother asked her granddaughter whom she loved most, but the girl answered that it was someone else, not her grandmother. Instead, she told her that she knew which books her grandmother liked and what kind of work she did.

God is asking us the very same question. Though he knows full well that we love the world more than him, he longs to hear that one word: that we love him. When Naomi left God, lost everything and came back, and when Ruth, with no claim of her own, turned her steps toward him, God rejoiced greatly at that single choice and opened his arms to embrace them.

Love that is never expressed remains unknown to the one who is loved. Even if we offered everything we have, it would be of little help to God; yet when we open our mouths and confess that we love him, he is proud of that heart and delights in it. We must be Christians who make God smile in this way.