Sermon

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May 18, 2003
5th Sunday of Easter
1 John 3:16-20
Pastor Robert Raasch

A Biblical Look at Love

1. The Love God Demands
2. The Love Christ Showed
3. The Love Believers Share

Can I ask you a rather blunt question? Do you think that Mount Olive is a loving congregation? Do you think that, by and large, we are people who express our love for one another in words and actions? Do you think that visitors regard us as a warm, caring congregation or cold and unfeeling toward our fellowman?

Now, before you answer that, I want you to remember that Mount Olive is made up of people just like you. So I ask you, are you a loving person? Would you say that you love people, and show it with your words and actions?

But even before you answer that question, maybe I should ask, "Does it matter?" Does it really matter whether you and I are people who show our love for one another? Does it reallymatter whether a church has an atmosphere of love? I mean, as long as our church teaches the pure Word of God and as long as we believe what the Bible says, that's all that really matters, right? Nobody is ever saved by their love. We're saved by faith in Jesus Christ. That's all that really counts, right?

Hmmm. Have I sufficiently muddied the water for you? What role does love play in our congregational life? Where does love fit in our relationship to other people or in our relationship to God? My friends, these are some of the questions which the Apostle John addresses in the text we have before us this morning. Here, John allows us to take what we might call,

A Biblical Look at Love

We'll look at love from three different angles. We'll consider:

1. The Love God Demands
2. The Love Christ Showed
3. The Love Believers Share

First, let's look at the Love that God demands. Now maybe you're thinking to yourself, "Wait a minute. Does God really demand our love? Does God really say, 'You must love me?'" Well, as a matter of fact, he does. Remember what Jesus said was the first of the two greatest commandments? He said, He said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." Because God is our Creator and Redeemer God, he has every right to expect that we regard him as more dear to us than anyone or anything else in the world. As God, he has every right to demand that we "fear, love and trust in him above all things."

But not only does God expect us to love him, he also expects us to love our fellow man. Jesus says that the second greatest commandment is "Love your neighbor as yourself." In other words God demands that our love be directed both upward and outward. God demands that our love for our fellow man be equal if not greater than our love for ourselves. But that love is to be more that just a warm feeling toward our fellow man. Rather it must be something we do in our daily lives.

Isn't that the point that John makes here in our text? He says, "Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue, but with actions and in truth." Or as the New Evangelical Translation puts it, "Let us put our love into action and make it real." In other words, God expects us to do more than just talk the talk, more than just pay lip service to love. But rather, God expects us to do something to prove our love for our fellow man. St. James gives an excellent example of that kind of love in action when he writes, "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, 'Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" (James 2:15-16 NIV) Reminds me of something from the sporting world. When a sports agent wants the team to show how mush they value his client, what does he say to them? He says, "Show me the money!" What does that mean? It means, "Don't praise my client and go on and on about how valuable he is to your team-and then offer to pay him peanuts. Put your money where your mouth is. Show me the money!"

In a sense, isn't that what God demands of you and me? God says, "Show me the money" or in this case, show me your love! Or, as St. Paul put it in Galatians 5:6, "The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love." And what happens if we don't put our faith into action? What happens if we don't show our love to God and our fellow man? Well, then we're basically guilty of hypocrisy. And you can be sure that God can smell hypocrisy a million miles away. And not only can God smell it. So can the people around us. And you know what hypocrisy smells like? It stinks! It stinks when we repeatedly act like we are the most important people in the universe. It stinks when we are quick to tell our children what they are doing wrong, but fail to tell them what they're doing right. Or when we expect people to help us, but resent it when they ask us to help them. Or when we see people in need and even though we have the ability to help them, we refuse to do it. We turn our back on them. We push them out of our minds.

John asks a pointed question of each one of us. He says, "If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need, but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?" My friends, I don't know about you, but I am convicted by that statement. Too often I have grown comfortable with my standard of living and kind of closed my eyes to the physical needs of the people in my world. I've thought to myself, "Oh I can't afford to help them."' When in reality it was not that I lacked the time or the money to help. I lacked the love. I lacked the genuine concern for my fellow man. Time and time again, when I consider the loving actions that God demands, I realize that I have fallen far short of what God requires. And therefore I deserve nothing but God's wrath and condemnation. I am not the kind of loving person that God wants me to be. And that bothers me. I feel bad about it. And maybe you do to. The question is, "What can be done about it? How can I fix this loveless heart I'm afflicted with? I can't fix it. But Jesus can. Here in our text, John invites us to take a second look at: II. The Love that Christ Showed.

John puts it very bluntly. "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us." With those words John is telling us that in Christ, God has given us two things. First, he's given us the perfect model of love. You want to know what it means to truly love someone? Then look at Jesus. There is love. Jesus willingly surrendered his life for people who didn't deserve it, most of whom would never appreciate it. And he did it without a hint of mumbling or complaining. My friends, that's the definition of unconditional live-a love which serves as the model for our love.

And yet, Jesus' sacrifice on the cross provides us with much more than a model to follow. He did not die to simply "show us how it's done," show us how to be loving people. Rather he died to give us the power to be loving people. How did John put it in chapter 4? "We love because he first loved us." Because God has forgiven us a mountain of debt through the blood of his Son, we are moved, we are inspired, we are empowered to show our gratitude to God by sharing that same kind of love to others, by forgiving the sins that others have committed against us.

In other words, Christ's love for us is not only the model for our Christian love, it's also the motivation for our love. Christians, because you know how much Jesus loves you-that fact can have a tremendous impact on how you treat others, but also how you feel about yourself.

In fact, John speaks about that very thing when he says "This then is how we…set our hearts at rest in his presence whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything."

What John is saying is this, "Sometimes, when we look at our own loveless words and actions, it really bothers us. We find ourselves thinking, 'How could God ever love me? I mean, I don't even love me!'" That's when we need to remember what John says here, namely, that God is greater than our hearts. He knows all things. That is, he can see the big picture. He sees and takes into account the sacrifice that Jesus made to make us holy. So even though our conscience still gives us grief over our sin, our hearts can be at rest knowing that God has said, "Take heart, son, or daughter, in Christ, your sins are forgiven."

So, what does that incredible love of God, shown to us in the sacrifice of Jesus, mean for our daily lives? Well, St. John tells us that the love God demands and the love Christ showed is:
III. A Love that Believers Share

Once more, St. John: "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers." My friends, isn't that one of the marks of true Christian discipleship-namely, a willingness to make sacrifices for one another, to give ourselves to each other, to truly love one another as God has loved us? Certainly Jesus thought so. Remember what he told his disciples on the night he was betrayed? He said, "All men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

My friends, it is the love which we show to one another that allows the unbelieving world all around us to see what we're really all about. Think of the opportunities that God gives you and me to show our love for one another. There are the easy things like a friendly smile and a warm greeting on a Sunday morning offered to members we know well-and maybe those we don't know so well.

Or how about the love which a shepherd or elder shows when he calls you up and says, "Say, we've missed you at church. Have you been sick? Is there anything I can help you with? Do you need a ride to church? Or think of the love shown by members when they have a conflict with another member, but then are willing to sit down and talk about it, without running and telling everyone else about it.

Sharing Christian love means speaking well of one another, protecting each other's reputation, and taking each other's words and actions in the kindest possible way. Sharing Christian love means looking for opportunities to help each other, holding the door open for the man walking with a cane, bringing a bag of groceries for someone out of work, paying a visit to the elderly in the nursing home, offering up our personal prayers for the people we pray for in church each week. Sharing Christian love means taking the time to listen, to support, to encourage…yes, to love one another.

For when it comes right down to it, isn't that what the Christian life is all about? Everything we do is a chance to show love for God, and love for one another, in keeping with God's will, and in response to God's love, in Jesus Christ. May God bless your live of love, as a beloved child of God. Amen.