Believe #21 Love RUMC Sept 10, 2017

(intro video)

Believe #21

Love

RUMC Sept 10, 2017

Some have observed that after a person has owned a dog for a while they begin to bear an uncannily resemblance to each other.

    Others have observed that couples who are married for a long time being to act a lot like their spouse.

Why is it that those of us who have been hanging out with Jesus for a long time don’t look more like Jesus? We should, you know.

We are coming to the last leg of the BELIEVE series of readings, sermons and lessons.

•           We spent the first 10 weeks learning how to think like Jesus; talking about basic Christian doctrines or beliefs.

•           We spent the second 10 weeks last spring seeing how what we believe should directly influence the way we act. We talked about moving from belief to spiritual practices that bring us closer to Christ. We talked about acting like Jesus.

•           Now we are going to see that not only do our beliefs shape our actions, but in addition, our beliefs and actions should change who we are on the inside.

That is after all that the gospel is about. “The old has died and behold the new has come,” being “born again,” “Have the same mind in you which was in Christ Jesus.” The heart of the gospel is a call to be more and more like Jesus.

 If all of that is a little hard to wrap your head around, remember, THINKING like Jesus, leads to ACTING like Jesus, which then helps us grow TO BEING like Jesus.

As we enter into these weeks, I want you to know that this is a critical stage. Here is where the changes in our thinking and acting begin to take root. This is where the faith of our heads and the faith we have been practicing, begin to be the faith we live. Others begin to notice the change in us. As they notice the difference Jesus makes in our lives, we have the opportunity to influence them and through them, the world.

We are going to focus on 10 Christ-like heart-qualities that we should be nurturing in our lives. You will find many of these in Galatians 5 and recognize them as the Fruit of the Spirit.

What is the first word you think of when I say Jesus, right off the top of your head. <<<>>> I thought of love.

You know Jesus loves me. Jesus was the most-loving person who ever lived. If we are going to be like Jesus, we have to be filled with love.

We don’t want the kind of love the culture knows. The message we are sent from birth is that love is conditional.

We can fulfill the condition in a number of ways:

•           People love us when we perform well.

•           People love to be around someone with a nice personality

•           People love to see people with an attractive physical appearance.

Therefore, we work. We work long hours. We work out. We work to find love. Why? Because we have been taught that love has to be earned. Almost all human love—is conditional.

Guys, has your wife ever done this… you try to do something nice and have a tender moment by randomly out of the blue telling your wife that you love her? Then instead of reciprocating she asks, “Why… why do you love me?” Why? I don’t know… I just do. Maybe, to be honest, I love you a little less now that you have pushed me in a corner and asked why. Suddenly that sweet moment has evaporated.

Now, I’m not criticizing Robyn or any of you for occasionally doing that. They just want to know what we all want to know: “Why am I worthy of being loved?” Perhaps, the underlying insecurity is, “Tell me, so I can keep meeting your conditions. Then you will keep loving me.”

We ask because we are conditioned to believe that love is conditional. That’s all we’ve ever known.

That is the world’s equation for love… If we to do enough of what someone likes… and avoid the stuff they don’t like… maybe we’ll deserve their love.

It overflows into pop theology…“If you stop doing bad things, then God will love you.”

“If you do good things, then God will love you.”

People spend our lives trying to EARN love and completely miss this truth: TRUE LOVE IS GIVEN, NOT EARNED.

God has a different formula for love.

•           When John was looking for a short definition of God, he put it as clearly as possible. Three words: God is love. Not just any kind of love. Agape love. Unconditional. Unquenchable. Unrelenting. Never-ending love.

•           When Paul was trying to describe salvation, he said we are saved by God’s Grace. Nothing we do but the free gift of grace in Jesus Christ.

So God’s formula is : “God’s loving nature” + “God’s amazing Grace” = “Love”

Perhaps a mother’s love at its best is the best human example of unconditional love.

It all starts 9 months before the mother even meets the baby.

•           At first, the baby makes her sick. 

•           Later he causes her to gain weight. The weight makes her waddle like a duck and live in sweat pants.

•           The extra mouth to feed causes her to crave bizarre combinations of food: Pickles + peanut butter; bananas + mayonnaise.

•           This baby is going to cause a lot of pain and exhaustion.

•           She’s going to cost a lot of time and money.

•           He needs to be fed.

•           She needs to be changed.

•           He cries.

•           She needs to be held. 

The mother does all those things. She spends her nights awake and her days wishing she were asleep.

•           Does the baby say “thank you?” NO.

•           Did the baby do anything to merit this love? NO,

•           The mother loves the child just because that’s what a mother is.

Like babies, we cannot do anything to earn God’s love. Any more than that baby earned the mother’s love. Nevertheless, God loves us … why? Because that’s what God is. God IS LOVE. God cannot help himself… God just loves.

The truth is:

•           You’ll never be good enough. Neither will I.

•           You’ll never be smart enough. Neither will I.

•           You’ll never be pretty enough. Neither will I.

•           You’ll never be perfect. Neither will I.

•           You are flawed.

•           You will fall.

•           You will fail. So will I.

That’s the truth.

Do you know what… none of that matters. None of it factors in to how much God loves you because of His amazing grace. He knows the truth about you and chooses to cover it in His grace.

Grace that says:

•           “You may be weak, but I am strong.”

•           “You may fall down, but I will pick you up.”

•           “You will screw up, but I will be there to clean you up.”

•           “You’re not good enough, but I am.”

•           “You may think you’ve ruined your life, but I will make beauty from this mess.”

And that is all that matters.

The result of receiving such wonderful grace is that we want to share it with others. Once we learn God’s new math, we want to go teach it to others. As disciples of Jesus, we want to throw out of old love calculator and open our arms up to love others in the same radical way God loves us. We shouldn’t have to be told, but Jesus gives us the new commandment. “Love one another, as I have loved you.”

            We want to mimic three qualities of God’s love when we love others.

 Unconditional, Sacrificial, Forgiving… how are you doing?

Lee and Breanna are giving us an opportunity to LOVE LIKE JESUS. That’s what we promise to do as we baptize Ellanor thismorning.

•           Will you love her unconditionally…Ellanor has done nothing to deserve your love. Will you love her anyway?

•           Will you love her sacrificially…Someday Ellanor is going to need someone to love her enough that they will get up off their pew and teach her about Jesus. She’ll need someone to teach her the songs so she can sing Jesus loves me. She’ll need someone to cheer for her at her pewee baseball game and someone to donate money so she can go on a mission trip. Will you love Ellanor enough to sacrifice something for her?

•           Will you love her enough to teach her about forgiveness…Someday Ellanor is going to be watching you. Will she see you talking bad about certain people in Gladbrook? Will she see you quit church because you don’t want to sit next to so and so? Will she see you holding a grudge? What you do is what she will learn. Will you love Ellanor enough to teach her about forgiveness?

That is where the rubber meets the road. How we treat each other. If we can’t show unconditional, sacrificial, forgiving love to a beautiful baby in our congregation, we have a long ways to go to love like Jesus. We have a long ways to go to BE like Jesus.

   A traveler fell into a deep pit and couldn’t get out. Several persons came along and saw him struggling in the pit. Which one is most like you?

•           The sensitive person said, "I feel for you down there."

•           The reflective person said, "It figures that someone would fall into that pit."

•           The judgmental person said, "Only bad people fall into pits."

•           The curious person said, "How in the world did you get down there?"

•           The perfectionist said, "Obviously you deserve to be in that pit."

•           The self-pitying person said, "That’s nothing - you should have seen my pit."

•           The optimist said, "Cheer up! Things could be worse. The pit could be filled with alligators."

•           The pessimist said, "Be prepared! Things will get worse. It’ll probably rain."

Jesus, seeing the man,

•           didn’t care who he was,

•           didn’t care about his own safety near the edge of the pit, and

•           didn’t condemn the man for being stupid enough to fall in the pit.

•           He simply took him by the hand and lifted him out of the miserable pit.

Which one describes you…? I hope I would be most like Jesus. And I hope you would too… because I might be the one in the pit!    

Jesus loved UNCONDITIONALLY, SACREFICALLY, AND IN FORGIVENESS. Go be like Jesus.