I completed my sermon at 6.30am this morning, partly because of my procrastination, and partly because of the difficulty I have trying to hammer it all together. As you know the theme for this series is “For the very first time…”, and though I know what I want to preach about, it still has been very difficult for me. So forgive me if I could not deliver a coherent sermon that would make sense to you. So which of my first time would I be talking about today? Actually, what I am going to share with you today is my many first times, and some of your very first time, that is when I first met and interact with you, person to person.

I have heard from many people that I have changed a lot in the past year, especially when they think back to their first impression of me. So do you remember the first time you met me, or the first time we talked, or the first time you noticed me? Some of you may have already forgotten, or maybe I did not make that big an impression the first time I met you. For those that do remember, think back and here are some descriptions that may help you recall : quiet, unable to look people in the eyes, scary, sullen, fierce, unfriendly, grouchy, sulky. Yes, that was me, just a few years ago. Perhaps to those that are still new here, I am still all these to them. But I would like to say that your impression of me will change, both with time and getting to know me better. I may still look unfriendly, but I am really not that fierce and am quite a nice person underneath this grumpy exterior.

So which one is the real me? And is it important for you to know the real me? Or would I be happy with you knowing me just as far as your impression of me goes? The answer for me is very clear, I would like for you to know the real me, for the real me is nicer. But, what if the reverse was true, that though I may appear to be nice, good and cheerful, but in reality I am quite a nasty person whom I know people would dislike. Then would I still choose to allow people to get to know the real me? Would I still choose to reveal my true self?

Have we all experienced this before? Example, For the lgbt person, who is afraid to come out of the closet because we fear rejection, so we pretend to be “straight”; for the person who tries to present their best façade and hides their insecurites, for fear of being unloved; for the Christian, who when sharing their testimony, must always share about their victories in life over their sins, for fear to be called having little faith. Is this how we are called to live our lives? William Shakespeare said : “God has given you one face, but you make yourself another.” Perhaps we don’t only make one other face, but many other faces which we use to face the world.


Most of us have learnt to compartmentalize our lives very well, at work, we may be the responsible and efficient colleague; in our personal relationships, we could be the promiscuous and irresponsible party; at church, we may be the faithful Christian who studies the bible and know our verses very well; but at home, we may be having broken relationships that we are trying to deny.

We are rationalizing when we tell ourselves one part of our life has nothing to do with the other part, which we know unfortunately is often not the case. We learn to compartmentalize, because we do not like to feel out of control. We hope that by compartmentalizing our lives, this will take away some of the complications in our lives. But in time, we all realise that compartmentalizatio n only creates more and more pressure and confusion in our lives. We may even lose sight of who we truly are. This is because as much as we try to live our lives in these nice compartmentss, the truth is: we are given this one life, one face and one heart. If we close ourselves down in one part of our life, we will automatically be closed in another.

So how do we go about living the authentic life? Do I go out and share all my dirty little secrets? Do we go out and reveal ourselves completely to any tom, dick and harry? Unfortunately, we know that the most likely outcome of that is that we will be taken advantage of by people. The first step to leading an authentic life is to be transparent. Before we can be transparent to each other, we must first be transparent to ourselves, and in our relationship with God. Does that sound easy? How many of us have tried to hide part of ourselves from God. To be transparent with ourselves and with God, we must be able to acknowledge who we are, and accept ourselves, and believe that God has also accepted us as who we are. Accept is such a common word, but I went to look up the dictionary to check out the meaning of accept , and these are some of the definitions:
1. To receive (something offered), especially with gladness or approval.
God has accepted us, and received us with gladness and approval
2. To admit to a group, organization, or place.
We have admitted into the kingdom of God, and if you are here today for the very first time, l hope for you that FCC is this group where you will find acceptance.
3. To regard as proper, usual, or right
Even if we may feel that there is something that is just little bit wrong with us, we are regarded as proper, and usual in god’s eyes.
God does not accept us only when we are good enough, kind enough, pure enough, nice enough. Similarly, we don’t accept each other only when we are cute enough, rich enough, smart enough, funny enough. We accept, period. It is not an easy task to do, we learn to accept others, by learning to accept ourselves first. Only when we can accept ourselves without beating ourselves up for not living up to the standard we set for ourselves, or the standard that others set for us; then we will learn not to impose this standard on others, and accept one another just as who they are. If we believe that god accepts us for who we are, who are we to not accept ourselves and others too.
The second step to living an authentic life is to love authentically. Love- a simple four letter word that is either completely overused or underused in our lives. It can be used as casually as saying, I love my iphone, I love my job, I love chocolate. Yet sometimes we are so selfish with the word love, then we don’t even tell our parents or loved ones that we love them.

So what is authentic love, and what does it encompass? A quote from CS lewis : “To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one…. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in the casket—safe, dark, motionless, airless—your heart will change. It will not be broke; instead it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable… The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love…is Hell.”

To love authentically requires one to be a risk taker. To love at all is to allow ourselves to be vulnerable. Love is not just the warm fuzzy feeling that we have when we think we are in love. We can recreate the feeling while eating a nice bowl of chocolate ice cream, or listening to a piece of good music, or watching a touching movie. To love authentically is to risk being hurt, it is to put ourselves out there, to put our possessions, our time, our commitment, our lives to another. Authentic love requires us to extend ourselves, but not only that, it also requires us to include others.

God’s definition of love, to me, the ultimate definition of authentic love, is exemplified in Jesus Christ, who commands us to love each other as He has loved us. Jesus was betrayed, arrested, and left to die on the cross by the very people he loved. I wonder whether we should be glad that we are fortunate enough, to not have to love to such an extent as to lay down our lives for another, or should we be sad that we do not have the opportunity to experience or to display this act of unconditional love in our lives.

Loving authentically also means we do not choose who we love. As a teacher, I sometimes find myself choosing to love those students that show more interest in class. As a friend, we choose to love only those whom we can click with. As a church, who do we choose to love? Our cell group members? The cute young things? How about those people that makes us feel uncomfortable and awkward, do we choose to love them?

The tendency to choose is natural – the beautiful ones and loveable ones always get chosen, leaving behind those that are not so attractive and not so loveable. How can we help but pick and choose? Only when we become aware, that we are all part of a whole, then we can learn not to choose. If we see ourselves as separate from this human family, then we place ourselves as better or worse, than another, that we deserve something different from the rest. But I cannot choose to just love myself, and not love another, if I see the other as the same as me. Unless I don’t love myself, which can be the topic of another sermon. If we love God, and we love ourselves, we can’t help but also love one another.

Just like the illustration of the church as a body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27.

12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body.

21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.
Only when we see our connectedness to one another, when we see the god in you and me, then we will learn to let the love of god be poured out to each and everyone . There will be no picking and choosing of whom we love, love will not discriminate, and we will just love. We will love both the old and young, the strong and the weak, the men and the women, the haves and the have nots, Christians and non Christians. We will love people who loves us, and also love those who do not love us back. We will love each one for their pains, love them for their wounds and injuries, love them for their imperfections, love them for everything, even if they do things to make us angry.
I think this quote sums it up very well “Love is the Law of God. You live that you may learn to love. You love that you may learn to live. No other lesson is required of Man.” from The book of Mirdad. To end today’s short and sweet sermon, from the mouths of babes, the answers that kids between 4-8 years old gave to the question : “What does love mean?”

"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."--Rebecca- age 8
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You just know that your name is safe in their mouth."--Billy - age 4
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your French fries without making them give you any of theirs." --Chrissy - age 6
"Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." --Terri - age 4
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."--Danny - age 7
"Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen.."--Bobby - age 7
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate,"--Nikka - age 6
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."--Noelle - age 7
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."--Tommy - age 6
"Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken."--Elaine-age 5
"Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt."--Chris - age 7
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."--Mary Ann - age 4
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you." --Karen - age 7
"You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."--Jessica - age 8