Life is A Gift, Love is The Point

Message transcript is AI-generated and may not be 100% accurate.

Matt: I have heard from 10,024 different people this past week who have been interested in either like being here tonight to hear from our Lady Giovannelli, or giving you a livestream link of sorts because…There's like a lot of different flowery language we can attach to this thing. Let's just be real though. Like you're facing, you're sitting in the presence of somebody who's facing an adversity that is not anything that anybody else in this room has faced. And, and coming with that is both the blessing of clarity, but also like the blessing of wisdom, and sobriety, and being able to see things for what they actually are. It's not a small thing. I know this is Sunday, it's another church service, but you're in the presence of something special tonight. So my only invitation, I guess, like it's less of an introduction, Lynnie. I meant to pump your tires a little bit more, my apologies. But like, come with open hands and open ears to hear something tonight that you didn't expect to hear. Be humble enough to learn something that you didn't expect to learn. 

Debbie: I was telling Matt earlier, I was remembering it, you know, a little over two years ago. It seems like yesterday we stood up here as Lynn and Gino renewed their wedding vows. And what I said then I continued to hold this true today, is that the Giovannelli family are an all-in kind of family. So one of the things that the firm says, they had a huge New Year's Eve party last night at their house. But the truth is, we've all been a witness to Lynn's all-in, navigating this horrible disease of ALS and she continues to be a light that shines. Like you said, Matt, I mean so many instances I've been in, we've sat at her feet and just listened to her love and her wisdom. So we are overwhelmingly grateful that we could be here tonight, that Lynn's agreed to speak with us, to share some of herself like she's continued to do throughout her journey with us all tonight. And we're grateful for this community of people who showed up and have loved this family because they've showed up for so many. So with that, we would love to invite Lynn and Gino. 

Lynn: Hi friends. It's so great to see you all. Thank you so much for coming. I was reflecting this morning, I feel a little like Moses. I've got the ALS voice, like “God, not me.” But He said “Yep. Get up there sis.” So here I am, super thankful. I'm thankful for the opportunity. Because of the New Year's Eve party last night, my voice is a little quieter than usual, but we'll go with the flow. Patti might need to pump me up a little. So our family has been part of the table for 12 years. We joined just before my breast cancer diagnosis when we were back at CPC. And at that time this community rallied. Here we are again, rallying again. So thankful for a community like this who just keeps relentlessly showing up. It's cool. I wish everyone had the opportunity (minus the ALS) to experience this. So anywho. Matt every week—for those of you that don't come to The Table regularly—says who you are, is more important than what you do, even if what you do gets more attention than who you are. Sit with that for a sec. It's true. But 21st century American culture says what you do is the most important thing. 

So when you're a girl like me who used to be a super doer—ask anyone, it's true—to be sitting here now with a disease that has slowly but surely chipped away at my ability to do. I can no longer, you know, walk, dance, brush my teeth… You could imagine all the things that are tricky for me today. What I'm so encouraged by is that who I am is the most important thing. Look at your neighbor and remind them of that. Okay, take a minute. Remind your neighbor who they are is the most important thing. God doesn't give two hoots what they do. Cool. That's good news. Okay, anyway, I forgot where I was.

So this experience of of not being able to do a whole heck of a lot has made me… So I'm part of BSF every Tuesday morning at 7:00 AM if you're available, it's really a great time. But our group one fellowship was like “Come up with two words that describe your current season.” So think about that for yourself. What two words would you use? Some people were like “rat race,” some people were like “pure joy.” Mine was “daily dependence.” It's really minute by minute, but truly daily dependence. And it had me thinking about manna and the way God designed us to be daily dependent. We don't really like it. I don't really like it. But to be daily dependent has me in such a sweet spot of realizing that we're in it together. We're supposed to be in it together. We're not supposed to be so sufficient. We're not supposed to be the superstar all the time. And really that's good news we're designed that way. Even though I fight it, like I don't wanna have to be like, “Hey, Stefano, when you have a second, can you pop down?” If you saw the number of texts I have. Our family group chat is called “Balls” because they all have balls. [Laughter] And I am constantly saying, “Hey Siri, text balls.” Oh! She, she just answered! Anyway, I'm constantly saying, “Can you please pop down? Hey, if you have a second.”

But the reality is I know that sometimes those texts are met with an eye roll possibly, or a, “it's not a good time.” But what it's done for our family to knit us if I didn't think it was possible to knit us closer together, but it has, that's not bad. So while I wouldn't wish this on anybody, truly anybody, there are elements of being in the front row seat of my own life that are great. I mean, I don't really know if I have wisdom, but I do have clarity around what matters. And really the thing is all the things I was busy about before doing, it's not bad stuff. PTO, volunteer, you know, cooking, running around, socializing, it's all good. But I think I was distracted. And now that I'm in the position of daily dependence and who I am being more important than what I do, being certain about that, it's like there's some real beauty in that. 

Okay, back to my notes. So I don't wanna beat a dead horse, but on Christmas, if you were here, Matt preached about Joseph who really doesn't get a lot of attention. No speaking lines in the Bible. And for him, Matt shared with us how, you know, life wasn't going as planned. I so related to that man, because up until my diagnosis, every New Year's, Gino and I would be like, “Okay, what's the theme of the new year?” It would be the year of fitness, or the year of travel, or the year of tennis, or the year of whatever. Think about—all good stuff. We had a lot of fun. Sometimes we would cut out of magazines, the vision board and [to Gino] Right? They were very cute. But the reality is, Joseph. Mary. Life doesn't go as planned. So getting the diagnosis in July of 2020, I shifted. No more vision board. Now we're doing the word of the year. So in 2020, I'm gotta get this right, 2021, it was the year of savor, savoring. My body was still pretty good. So like savoring the trip to the beach, um, traveling with family, cooking, things I loved. Savor. The next year, 2020, where are we? 2022 was the year of Hope, because I really invested my time in clinical trial research, um, tons of alternative therapies. Hope, hope to me at that point meant maybe I'm the one that this disease won't take. Why not? 

So happy New Year, everyone. What's your word? My word this year is With. With. Emmanuel, God with. Look around. Here we are, The Table—with. Look at your family and friends—with. I have a meal train thanks to Susan, Susan Gallagher—with. Andrea came over to do my makeup tonight—with. The Park people that showed up last night to ring in the New Year—with. So much with, you guys. Sitting in my seat, I think my life always had a lot of with, but in this chair right now, it's constant with. The most important with is God. God is such an encourager that even though I'm sitting here, can't hug you, can't dance, can't, dot, dot, dot. I am so peaceful because the  God of the universe is with me, with Gino, with the boys, with my parents, with my siblings, with you. Thank you, God. So there's a little bit of Scripture. We gotta do scripture ‘cause we're at church. There's two pieces of scripture that to me are super encouraging. And because Gino’s Gino, he's gonna read to you.

Gino: Okay, Isaiah 43:1-7, The Message. 

But now, God’s Message,
    the God who made you in the first place, Jacob,
    the One who got you started, Israel:
“Don’t be afraid, I’ve redeemed you.
    I’ve called your name. You’re mine.
When you’re in over your head, I’ll be there with you.
    When you’re in rough waters, you will not go down.
When you’re between a rock and a hard place,
    it won’t be a dead end—
Because I am God, your personal God,
    The Holy of Israel, your Savior.
I paid a huge price for you:
    all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in!
That’s how much you mean to me!
    That’s how much I love you!
I’d sell off the whole world to get you back,
    trade the creation just for you.

So don’t be afraid: I’m with you.

Lynn: Did you catch with, with, with, with, with, with. That's good news. Good job, Gino. 

Gino: Thank you. I can't believe I'm getting choked up over verses. But anyway, yeah. 

Lynn: It should choke us up. It's such good news. Okay. 

Gino: Need the second one too? 

Lynn: Yeah. Okay. Hang tight. 

Gino: We got one more for you. It's a shorter one. 

Lynn: This one we have posted in our bathroom at home.

Gino: Joshua 1:9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

Lynn: So, yay God, God promises us His presence, his peace, his protection in disease, divorce, depression, addiction, loneliness, incarceration, you name it. He's got you. That's good news. So whatever your hole is, whatever the ache is, whatever the knocking your head against the brick wall is, turn to these verses. It's such an upbeat thing. So for me, I'm very thankful that Jesus came to show us how to love, how to suffer, how to be with. God with us is Jesus coming down and showing us how. Because we really don't know how. He's the example. So when I get—my skin crawls in bed because I can't turn over, ask Gino, he'll tell you. Um, I think about Jesus. I know I'm putting myself in high company, but I do think about him like, okay, you asked for the cup to be taken. Me too. I don't freaking want this, but if the cup can't be taken, make it count. 

So thanks for showing up to, to be in it together because at the end of the day, love, I love that Matt says this—this is going on my tombstone: Life is a gift. Love is the point. The rest is only garbage. It's only gobbledegook, it's all, you know what I mean? It's, it's not unimportant, it's not, you know, insignificant. But love is the point. So if you're in a place of like, being annoyed by stupid stuff, stop it. Love is the point. Okay, I have a few more notes. Hang on. 

Gino: You want me To scroll for you, buddy? 

Lynn: Yeah. I need my cheaters. Oh, I know! One last thing, I can't not say this, this, this, um, Advent. Every Monday a group of people gathered at my house. Just so beautiful to um, talk about Kate Bowler's advent devotion. She's, if you don't know her, Google her. She's amazing. She's someone too who understands suffering and love. But we were talking about, I don't remember what we were talking about, but my friend Alison said, “Pure joy is witnessing another person operating in their full gifting.” The gifting from God. So it looks like carpentry. We had a friend come over, friend widen doors in our house to make it easier. Out of nowhere! What?! It looks like cooking, makeup, doing the Christmas spray so that our house feels festive. It looks like this. So like, being in full gifting, it looks like Marco at the piano, you know, it looks like all these things. So truly when you don't feel joy, look for it. Look for someone else operating in their gifting. And you'll be blown away at the joy you feel by seeing them in their gifts. 

Praying is another one. I know so many people in this room praying, praying for me, praying for our family. Thank you. That's a gift. So seeing that experiencing that is so awesome. God designed us each not to do everything but to do our part. So keep doing your part. Are you giving me the axe? Oh, two more things. One is: at the beginning of the service, Marco played piano. So I've always said to the kids and their friends, “Embrace the crooked path. The crooked path is the straight path with God.” So Marco, when was it? So about a Month ago. So about we got back from Italy, PS Italy was great. But we got back from Italy and Marco had his senior recital at IU and he wrote a song called Embrace the Crooked Path. It was his first song in his recital. And at his recital, it was him on piano of course, but two saxophones, a trumpet, drums, guitar, blah blah blah. They were all awesome. But he, at the beginning of the service, and at the end today, is gonna play that song. It is so cool. But what is awesome to me is how many of his friends have said they're getting ready to graduate, right? They're seniors. Seniors in college. What are you gonna do? “I'm embracing the crooked path.” Because if God's with you, it's not crooked, it's by design. So don't freak out. Be on the crooked path, but look for God on it. 

So the closer I get to heaven, the more comfortable I am with the mystery. There's so many things I wish I knew. There's so many things I wish I had certain answers for. I don't. But my comfort, my comfort with the mystery has gone way up. And my certainty that heaven is great has also gone way up. I know what John says: God's preparing a place. It's not a bad thing. It's for me, it's for you. We're all pilgrims walking each other home. So let's enjoy the ride. It's, I mean, it's no picnic to be me, but the number of cool, beautiful, unexpected, joyful things that have been in our path in the last two and a half years are crazy good. So we keep looking for it. I live expectantly that today's gonna be a good day. I look for God with me. I look for people operating in their gifts. It brings me so much joy. 

Today, Andrea, I wasn't gonna ask her because I knew she was out late too, but she texted me and said, “Hey, want me to come do your makeup before The Table?” What a good idea! 

Gino: Andrea does it way better than I do it. Mascara is my downfall honestly. 

Lynn: But the cool part is as I sit in my seat, again, not able to do a whole lot. Um, and if you get my texts and they don't make sense, it's because it's voice to text and it often doesn't make sense. But like I find it amazing how often I'm like, “Hmm, this would be great, but I'm not gonna bug 'em.” And they just show up. That's it. It's what, look around. It's what we all do for each other. But like, don't miss the gift. What else? 

So keep looking for what God is doing to grow you along your crooked path. God is not finished with you or me until our last breath. That's good news. So I'm very grateful to a God who pursues you and me. He is way more interested in who we are than what we do. And He's Emmanuel, God *with* us. Thanks, friends. Thank you. [Applause]

Debbie: Thank for your words. God with us. That's a promise that we hold tight to throughout our life. One of the things, when Lynn was talking, that I was reminded of is you can't walk away from time with Lynn without being in awe of God. And that sounds funny. We spend some time on Friday mornings and some deep conversation, and some hard conversations. And as hard as they are, I always walk away and I'm so in awe of a God who continues to show up even in some of the hardest circumstances that I've even witnessed as a pastoral care pastor. 

But you've allowed all of us—because of your courage and your honesty and your embracing of the both/and of how much this, how hard this is, but yet seeing God in the middle of it. So thank you. And as we as a community wanna surround this family with God's word and some prayer. So in the next few minutes, Maggie will be walking around with a microphone. Just raise your hand if you were given a scripture card and then you can stand and read your scripture. We'll just sit in those words with the guitar playing. And then when that's done, I'm gonna ask The Table team and Lynn's family and the Board to come around Lynn and her family and I will pray for us. 

Reader: Come to me all who are weary and burdened. I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me. For I am gentle and humble in heart. And you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light. Matthew 11:28-30

Reader: Rejoice in hope. Be patient in tribulation. Be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12

Reader: The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you. He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. Deuteronomy 31:8

Reader: Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess for He who is promised is faithful. Hebrews 10:23

Reader: The Lord is my shepherd. I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside quiet waters. He refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his namesake. And even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil for you are with me. Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me and in the presence of my enemies, you anoint my head with oil and my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever. Psalm 23 

Reader: Behold God is my salvation. I will trust and will not be afraid. For the Lord God is my strength and my song and he has become my salvation. Isaiah 12:2

Maggie: Can you put your hand up if you have a scripture?

Reader: May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

Reader: For we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7

Reader: Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Reader: God is our refuge and strength and ever present help in trouble. Psalm 46:1

Reader: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword as it is written “For your sake we face death all day long. We are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all of these things, we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 8:35-39

Reader: I love the Lord for he has heard my voice, he heard my cry for mercy because he turned his ear to me. I will call on him as long as I live. Psalm 116:1-2

Reader: I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13.

Reader: But now God's message, the God who made you in the first place, the one who got you started. Don't be afraid. I've redeemed you. I've called your name, you’re mine. Or when you're in over your head, I'll be there with you. When you're in rough waters, you will not go down. When you're between a rock and a hard place, it won't be a dead end because I am God, your personal God, the holy of Israel, your savior. So don't be afraid. I'm with you. Isaiah 43:1-3

Reader: I have said these things to you so that in me, you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart, I have overcome the world. John 16:33

Reader: But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. John 14:26-27

Reader: Love the Lord Your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength and love your neighbor as yourself. There's no commandment greater than these. Mark 12:30

Maggie: Does anyone else have one and I missed you? The word of the Lord, thanks be to God.

Debbie: Table team and anyone on the table board and your family, if we can come around, Lynn and everyone else will just, you can put your arm out, do whatever you're comfortable with, face this sweet family. Let's pray. 

Holy and gracious God, we gather here today as yours. We are yours. And God, while we are all filled with gratitude for Lynn and who you created her to be, how you love her, and how you love this family, and how you love this community, and how they love one another. And we hold that gratitude, that joy together with heartache. Because this is hard and we don't know how to do it. But what we do trust God is that you do. So we are grateful. We Are grateful that you are a God who promises to never leave us To Walk with us always. And God, we lift up Lynn and Gino and Marco and Luca and Stefano, God. We're so grateful for how you prepared them, how you connected 'em and wired them as one. The gift that they belong to one another. The gift of doing this hard thing together. I'm so grateful for all the people here in this room, how they've showed up and how they're loving. And as Lynn said, living out of their gifts for your glory. So God, continue to carry this family in the days and weeks and months ahead. We acknowledge uncertainty and not knowing what's ahead. But what we do know, is that you love Lynn and you love this family and that you will never leave them. Give them, God, a supernatural sense of your peace. Give them the courage, the strength, the perseverance to wake up every day. And like Lynn said, “This Is a good day. It's a new day.” Continue to shine your light and your love through Lynn and this family and through all of us here, God. And above all, give them a deep sense of hope that you've got them, that you are with them, and that you'll never leave them. We pray all this in the name of Jesus. And all God's people said, amen.

Matt: We're gonna go into words of institution right now. I wanna apologize if, uh, anyone came here tonight looking for like the “new year, new you” pep talk. If you want stay after, Debbie's, I'm sure she's got some up her sleeve to provide for you. But like, I don't know if your resolutions might be or like what you're carving up for yourself in your own personal story or whatever it is all good. But don't miss like the baseline foundational note that Lynn provided for us tonight: Life is a gift. Love is the point. Life is a gift. Love is the point. Life is a gift. Love is the point. I stole that from you, you didn't even know it though, Lynn. That's the thing about it. What a sacred moment we had tonight. And Lynnie, as you were talking tonight about just, you know, God draws the best forward plans, the best straight paths with crooked lines. And I love that. 

It reminds me of Psalm 23, which somebody read here tonight. I can't remember who it was. So thank you very much, Jen. You know that Hebrew language for though the righteous paths, it's, it's roundabout long about curvy bendy ways. That's what it actually says. It's not just like you moved from A to B. I went to A to A.1, A.2, A.3. Eventually I got to A.7, now I'm here at B. It's the roundabout ways in which we are dying and reborn again and again. And what you just provided us with, it was a gift. And I hope as we walk out of this room tonight, we recognize how sacred this moment actually was. Because it was a gift. You don't find this everywhere. 

On the night before Christ was betrayed, the night when Christ was betrayed, he gathered with his friends in the midst of his own uncertain times where everybody who else was business as usual show up for the meal as Passover season in Jerusalem. Yet he's got this sense about him that his time is running out and he takes the bread that’s sitting in the middle of the table and he lifts it up for all to see. And he says, “This is my body and it's broken for you. In the future when I'm not with you, but you're still with each other, do this in remembrance of me. Remember the with-ness of me. Remember that though you can't always see me, I'm always with you. That's my promise. That's my name.” Same way he lifted the wine that was sitting at the center and he said, “This is the blood of the new covenant. Shed for the forgiveness of all sins, everything that you think might keep you away from the presence of God. This is your evidence once and for all that that's not true. You belong here. You are loved to. You're enough here, you're safe here. You secure you. You're seen here. This is my blood shed for forgiveness, the blood of the new covenant. In the future when I'm not with you, and you lift this cup and you eat from that bread, remember me because I'm with you.”

So we gather every week at The Table when we do that very thing, we participate in the bread and the drink. We'll form two different lines tonight. Left, right. Pretty basic. Um, if it gets weird, just follow the person ahead of you. Before we do so, will you please, if you are able to, stan d with me and just say the Lord's Prayer, the one that Jesus taught us to lift up together. Our God who art in Heaven Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us, not temptation, but deliver us from evil. For God is the kingdom, the power and the glory forever. Amen.

Matt: We’re winding down in a moment here, but before we do, we wanna give you this month, we are going to be going, I, I guess like Debbie, what up until Lent season? Excuse me, the Lenten season. We're gonna be in a series. Lynn's not privy to this information, but we figured with her speaking here tonight, it would just make sense. We're gonna start a series where we're gonna be deriving our sermons from the lives of the saints. You know that saying where it's like “we stand on the shoulders of giants.” You have the gift tonight of listening to a giant, somebody who got close enough to the divine to live to tell about it. To provide a glimpse for all of us to see. And so for the rest of the month or leading up to the Lenten season, whatever that may be, um, we are going to be looking at these lives of the same Christian Church and seeing what kind of nutritional value they have for us as we try to edify and equip and empower our stores. And we love to have each and every one of you with us for it. 

Debbie: Amen to that. And Lynn did not know that we thought it was perfect to kick off that series with her. But you guys, the other thing you probably didn't know: how amazing was the music and the band tonight? The other piece of that though is Lynn and Gino chose all the music. Woo, that was awesome. Thank you. Like Matt said earlier, you and your family are a gift. And it was a gift to be here tonight. I think all of us would say we are forever changed from this holy marking moment in the life of this big community. So thank you guys. So with that, I'd love to invite the whole Giovannelli family up because they will be doing our benediction tonight. Yes.

Lynn: Whoops. Whoopsie. We had to write it down 'cause we couldn't memorize. Okay. So. No matter who you are or what you've done,

Stefano: Who you love or what you've lost,

Marco: Where you've been or where you've stayed,

Luca: there will always be a seat for you at the table

Gino: because you are a loved, beloved child of God.

Lynn: And beloved, you belong.

Gino: She, she bailed me out again. Hey folks, on behalf of the whole Table community, thanks for coming tonight. Yeah, it's great to see all of you. We expect all of you here next Sunday. Thank you.

Lynn: We love you all. Turn me off.