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   On Valentine's Day, some bright children were asked their thoughts about love.

The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Christians: Synergize - Joshua 6: 15-20; Mark 6: 34-44
- February 14,2010 - Cicero United Methodist Church - Everett J. Bassett

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            On Valentine's Day, some bright children were asked their thoughts about love. Here
are some responses. Manuel, age 8, says: 'I think you're supposed to get shot with an arrow or something, but the rest of it isn't supposed to be so painful." Gavin, age 8. says, "Lovers hold hands because they want to make sure their rings don't fall off since they paid good money for them." Dave, age 8, has a rough time with love. He says, "Love will find you; even if you're trying to hide from it. I've been trying to hide from it since I was five, but the girls keep finding me." Ava, age 8, has practical advice about love: "One of you should know how to write a check. Because, even if you have tons of love, there are still going to be a lot of bills." And Erin, age 8, has even more practical advice: "Don't forget your wife's name. That will really mess up the love."

            Great Valentine's Day advice. Of course, the day is more associated with not-so-
practical stuff. The spirit of Valentine's Day is romantic love that goes way beyond the practical. The image is 'falling in love,' and the beautiful story, told so many times in Hollywood and elsewhere, shows two people destined for each other falling starry-eyed together, with little concern for the consequences. It is a day for Romeo and Juliet. And the patron saint, St Valentine, is known to have secretly performed marriage ceremonies for Roman soldiers and their brides when the Roman emperor was forbidding people to get married. It's a beautiful, romantic legend. And being someone myself who is absolutely in love, I cherish the romantic meaning of Valentine's Day, as I lrJ10W many, many couples across this congregation do.

            In truth, however, Valentine's Day = like love - can suggest a much wider meaning.

There was much more to the original St. Valentine's - and there are several saints by that name - than simply blessing couples in love. They are remembered and honored because they represent the widest applications of the word. They had absolute love and devotion for Jesus Christ; they were passionately outreaching to the poor and struggling; they sought to live in harmony with nature and humanity; they reflected all the 'loves' that Jesus taught about: Love the Lord, your God, with all your heart and soul and mind and strength. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love the stranger. Love your enemy. People Jesus taught were always trying to find the limit - how far should love go? And then, as the old saying goes, Jesus said, "This far." And he stretched out His arms and died on the cross. That's the quality of love that followers of Christ are challenged to imitate.

            But what is love? That's a question that has been asked endlessly, and answered thousands of different ways, none of them quite filling the bill. And I don't claim that I will give a perfect definition today. But I have a little different way to approach it today, thanks to this sermon series I've been preaching about Steven Covey's seven habits of highly effective people. As I said a couple weeks ago, the first three habits were more internal habits - things you cultivate inside yourself to be effective in life - be proactive; begin with the end in mind; put first things first. The second three are the relational habits - things you cultivate to be effective in relationships with others - whether it's your spouse, your friend, your school, you co-workers, the company you work for. They are, Think Win/Win, Seek First to Understand, and, the one we will focus on today - a strange word, but a cool one, I think - Synergize. That's Covey's sixth habit.

            It's probably not a word we use often in everyday language. But we do use a closely related word - energize. 'Energize' is a powerful word. It means we have found strength, we have found passion, we're ready to get things done. These next couple weeks we're going to be atching some very energized people at the Winter Olympics. They will be paying close attention to their energy supply - watching what they eat and drink, how they sleep, their mental state of preparedness - all of that.

            The prefix 'syn' means 'together,' as in the word 'synchronized.' That means, 'in time together.' So when we move it over to the word of the day, 'synergy' is the energy, power, and possibility that we find when we come together. And how you can tell that synergy happens, says Stephen Covey, is that the whole is more than the sum of the parts. So, here on Valentine's Day, what if we looked at romantic love that way? Two individual people - and let's say they are two quality, more-than-competent people. Their lives are productive and effective. But they come together and they experience this wonderful thing called love. Yes, maybe they fall in love, and it becomes like a Hollywood romance. But maybe it is a deep friendship, or a family bond between siblings, cousins, parent-child - whatever. What you see in that relationship, I believe,
and maybe what defines it as love, is synergy. Something happens in that relationship that is bigger than the two people.

            We can see synergy at work many places - a meeting at church or at work. A group of people trying to solve a problem - each with his or her own thoughts. Then someone makes an offhand remark, or says, "This is probably crazy, but what if ... ?" And  suddenly it's like sparks are flying. - One idea leads to another, and a full-blown solution emerges - something nobody could have thought of by themselves. Or imagine the ways we will see it in the Olympics. Imagine team speed-skating, where skaters on the same team coordinate, drafting for each other, helping each other spring forward, so the eventual speed of the team is greater than the speed of one skater would be. Or imagine two skaters, each of them the picture of strength and beauty in their own right. But put them together as a couple skating, and the result is something far greater -synergy.

            Synergy is a basic principle throughout the Bible. Jesus said it powerfully in Matthew 18: "Where two or more are gathered in my name, I am there among them." When we meet in the name of Jesus, to pray together, to worship, to care for each other, something is happening there that is more than what those two people brought. Christ is there. Power, possibility, love is there. In Romans 8, Paul speaks of it directly when he says, "All things work together for good for those who love God ... " That word for 'work together' is the Greek word 'sunergeo' that we get the word 'synergy' from. If we love God, says Paul, something more is happening than the circumstances that appear to us on the surface. Things are synergizing for good so that the whole of our lives is so much more than the sum of the things that happen for us. How does someone hold onto faith when the world is falling apart around them? Because they are living in synergy with God's Holy Spirit - there is an unseen force that makes so much more possible.

            Our readings for today are two stories where powerful synergy took place. The children of Israel marching around the walls of Jericho. These walls are impregnable, legendary. There is no way this band of Hebrews is going to break through that wall. But their leader Joshua says march around the walls - this time we're going to march seven times around the city. And shout! For the Lord has given you the city. And the people marched and shouted and blew their trumpets. And I'm guessing that if you calculated scientifically the vibration of the ground by their marching, and the decibel levels of their shouting and trumpets, you're going to say, "It won't matter. The walls are too thick." But by the synergy of those people united under God, the walls came down.

            Then there is Jesus preaching to five thousand people - probably many more. And there is no food to be seen, except for one little basket. It's a hopeless situation. "Send the people away", say the disciples. Nobody knows just what happened next. Jesus did start to organize the crowd into smaller groups - and we've seen around here a thousand times how amazing synergy happens in small groups. Maybe as people got to know each other, they began to share hidden food. Maybe the bread and fish in the baskets just multiplied; maybe Jesus made wholesome food out of the blades of grass. All we know is that everybody was fed, and twelve great baskets of food were left over. There was a possibility in that crowd plus Jesus that no one could have foretold.

            The principle behind all of this is God's abundance. Synergy is about God's endless
supply. And we cut off the flow when we think in terms of scarcity. That's the thinking
that can happen so often when we are closed in on ourselves; or when we focus solely on
the human possibility, instead of on the synergy of people working together with God. If
you are feeling hopeless right now, or cynical, or discouraged, I recommend a new habit:
synergize. Start thinking in terms of God's abundance. Re-read the stories that tell us that with God the whole is bigger than the sum of the parts. Remember that all things synergize for those who love the Lord. And reach out. Build faith-relationships - be part of a small group of faith- filled friends (like one of our bible studies around here - people who bring Jesus into the room. Have coffee with people who spark hope and life in you.

            I can't tell you how overjoyed I am to be a part of a church that steps out in faith - that believes in the abundance of God. Hopefully we're not foolhardy about it - that would be just testing God. But we stretch beyond the possible - we'll send another mission team; we'll reach out in the city; we'll invest in our youth; we'll buy the Conference Center; we'll take an offering for Haiti; we'll organize Stephen Ministers and care shepherds - the list goes on and on. No pastor or board needs to keep a lid on this place- as if we could - because no one could predict it all, or account for it all. It is synergy built on the promises of God about the Body of Christ powered by the Holy Spirit. The whole of this church is so much greater than the sum of its parts - thanks be to God.

            There is a personal and even private side to faith. There are things that are just between you and God. May God bless each of us as we work those things out. But faith was never meant to stop there; it is so much more than just working out your own salvation. Faith is about the holy nation, the kingdom of God, the Body of Christ; the power and love that are unleashed when two or more gather in the name of Jesus - God's people joining together to build a planet of peace and justice and hope for everybody. And it's impossible; we can't possibly succeed. But impossible never stopped God. When God's people march and blow trumpets together, walls come crumbling down. We may not see it all. I don't expect the kingdom of God to be completed in my lifetime. But if we keep believing in the abundance of grace, and spreading seeds of hope, Jesus
said some of those seeds will hit good soil, and bear fruit thirty and sixty and a hundredfold. That' something to live for. What joy to be part of God's synergy.