The Basic Need of a Spring
by Ian Biss 1/20/02
Intro . . .
The late Peter Marshall, an eloquent speaker and for several years the chaplain of the US Senate, used to love to tell the story of “the Keeper of the Spring,” a quiet forest dweller who lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slopes of the Alps. The old gentleman had been hired by the town council to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removing the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise choke and contaminate the fresh flow of water. By and by, the village became popular attraction for vacationers. Graceful swans floated along the crystal clear spring, the mill-wheels of various businesses located near the water turned day and night, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was magnificent.
Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semi-annual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man’s eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. The keeper of the purse inquired “Who is the old man? Why do we keep him year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn’t necessary any longer!” By a unanimous vote they dispensed with the old man’s services.
For a season nothing changed. By early autumn the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A couple days later the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks and a foul odor was soon detected. The millwheels moved slower, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, so did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.
Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they hired back the old keeper of the spring . . . and within a few weeks the river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps once again.
This story is an accurate picture of what the church becomes when fervent love has been forsaken by its members. The saints must remember and always strive to love one another if our lives as brothers and sisters in Christ are to be healthy ones. Peter stresses this truth in our text this morning.
Read Text 1Peter 4:8
Exposition
Above all things, not above certain things, not above all things except, no, Peter says above all things, be fervent in love. Let’s examine this word fervent a little more closely. This word may be considered an action word, because when you are fervently involved in something then you are excited, you are struggling, as a runner struggles to finish a race. You are participating, not just watching others, and finally, you are committed to a goal. All these things are apparent in those things you do that you are fervent about. God wants you to be fervent in love with one another, because love covers a multitude of sin.
Application
I’m sure that you know what I’m going to ask next. Are you fervently in love with the person you are sitting next to? God wants you to be. Are you struggling to love the other people in this church? Yes, that’s what I asked.
Are you struggling to love your co-laborers in Christ?
Friends, contrary to popular opinion, love is not an easy thing to do. I believe in fact, it is the most challenging thing the Lord has commanded us to do. Just ask my wife, she’ll be all too eager to share with you just how hard it is to love me.
I say this jokingly, but in truth it is all too easy to take a defeatist attitude about fervently loving one another and just quitting, or not even trying to love others.
Quote
Frederick the Great said, "The more I get to know people, the more I love my dog." Although it may be true, God has commanded us to love people, not dogs.
* "Followership," Joseph Stowell, Seeds Tape Ministry, Aug. 25, 1993
The simple truth is, that if you are going to live a life that is fervent in love, you are going to be deeply hurt by those you are trying to love. You are sinful human beings, and you are going to hurt one another, and you are going to be hurt by one another.
And the fact that you are sinful human beings makes it so important that you are fervent in love to one another, Because . . .
Love covers over a multitude of sin
Exposition
You are a sinner living in a sinful world. Where there is sin, there is guilt, pain and despair. The only thing that can cut through the sin, shame, and pain, is the love of Christ. In order for the love of Christ to reach a hurting world, it must show forth from the lives of believers. This verse ends with the reason you are to stay fervent in love, and that reason is: because love covers over a multitude of sin.
Application
When you were a child, and you fell down and skinned your elbow, what made it feel better? That’s right mom kissing your boo-boo made it all better. Her love made the pain go away.
Let’s go back to the first time you did something you knew was a sin, do you remember how lonely you felt, how bad you hurt inside? You wanted to tell someone, to get it off your chest, you wanted to be accepted again. The missing ingredient was love.
The most important thing you will ever do is care for someone who is caught in a sin, because your love will cover over that sin. Your love and acceptance of a sinner will cover their sin as if it were never there.
Friends when you look back over your life the memories that will bring you the most joy will be of those who have loved you, and those you have loved.
Illustration
Greg Louganis recorded an unprecedented double/double in Olympic diving when he won gold medals in the men’s 3-meter springboard and platform competition in both the 1984 and 1988 Olympics. Few will ever forget how he fought back in 1988. In the springboard event he missed one dive and hit the board with his head. Physicians stitched his cut, and he went on to win. In the platform diving he won the gold on his final performance with an incredible reverse three-and-a-half somersault tuck. It was a breathtaking finish that brought Americans to their feet. It was the same dive that clinched the gold for Louganis in the ’84 games. When reporters hounded him in Los Angeles he gave them a very unusual response. They asked, "What were you thinking about as you prepared for your final dive?" Maybe they were referring to the pressure, or to the fact that that dive is extremely dangerous and killed a Soviet diver just a year before in 1983. Louganis’ simple answer was, "I was thinking that no matter what happens, my mother will still love me." When Greg was just eleven, he became very frustrated at his diving performance in an early and important meet. Frances Louganis took her son aside and said, "I do not come to see you win. I come to see you dive. Just do your best. I will love you no matter what." That unconditional love carried her son to forty-three national diving titles, six Pan-American gold medals, five world championships, one Olympic silver medal, and four Olympic golds. Unconditional love can cause anyone to excel.
* Reader’s Digest, June 1988, p. 163-170
Conclusion
People are looking for other people to fervently love them. It is your duty - no it is your privilege, to fervently love one another. You are lost, all men are lost without the fervent love of another.
Illustration
The Spanish have a story about a father and son who became estranged. The son left home, and the father later set out to find him. He searched for months with no success. Finally, in desperation, the father turned to the newspaper for help. His ad simply read, "Dear Paco, meet me in front of this newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your father." On Saturday, eight hundred young men named Paco showed up looking for forgiveness and love from their estranged fathers. The world is filled with people who desperately long for reconciliation--with each other, and with God (2 Cor. 5:18-19).
* Homemade, Jan. 1993, p. 1
So what does all this have to do with the basic need of a spring? Well, for those of you who haven’t figured out that the discussion today truly wasn’t about the basic of a spring, it was about the basic need of a church, and that item every church needs to survive is:
Above all things have fervent love for one another: because love covers over a multitude of sins.
