Members are United in Love

ME: Intro

As some of you may already know,

I did not grow up as a Christian.

Christ saved me when I was in high school.

So, I was only a Christian for a couple years as a teenager when I left for college.

At that time, the appeal of church for me was nice friends, fun things to do, enjoyable messages, and music that made me feel good.

So, when I got to college I made some nice friends through the Fellowship of Christian athletes on campus,

And we had plenty of fun things to do,

And by that time I knew enough good speakers and good music that on Sunday morning all I had to do was sleep in,

Then pull up a couple good songs and a good message on my computer,

And I thought I was doing church.

But it wasn’t like I didn’t love God or His people.

I did!

I really did!

But I just didn’t think church was that important.

And I was not an isolated case.

Church, especially the commitment of membership,

Which we have been clarifying this year,

Is seen as outdated,

Or even a spiritual hindrance to some.

And there are a variety of reasons people might feel this way.

Some people are simply indifferent toward church.

They just kinda feel like church is there if you need it.

They don’t really get excited about it,

But they aren’t hostile toward it either.

It is just not that important to them.

Others are more just uninformed.

They don’t understand how our modern idea of church fits in the Bible.

So, they do not understand why church is important.

Because they think they only have a personal relationship with Christ.

Others have this uncertainty about church.

They might visit church,

Or may even attend somewhat regularly,

But they are hesitant about seeing church as anything more.

So, they never commit to truly being a part of a local church.

Then you have the outright independent ones.

Those who think they can be lone ranger Christians.

They don’t want to be stuck with all the burdens of church.

They don’t want church people up in their business.

So, they come to church when they want,

They get what they need out of it,

And they go home.

Never doing anything more,

Pushing back if they are asked,

Or outright leaving if they ever stop getting what they want out of church.

But regardless of a person’s specific reason for thinking church is not that important,

What college me came to understand,

Is that it all boils down to a failure to take seriously,

How God intends the local church to be central to the life of His people.

This failure is why people don’t become committed members of a local body.

And I am not just talking about having a name on a membership roll.

I am talking about committed love being expressed in a local body.

Last week,

Our Grow Elder, Paul Haynes,

Taught us about unity in the Church,

Highlighting five areas of unity we must have in the church.

The final one was unity of love for one another.

Which comes from Jesus’ teaching in John 13:31-35.

So, this morning we continue the subject of unity,

Where we see how Members are United in Love.

Slide

Our outline for this passage is simply,

The Glory of Love (vs. 31-32)

The Availability of Love (vs. 33)

The Command of Love (vs. 34-35)

Christ’s members are united by committed love.

WE: The Glory of Love (vs. 31-32)

Let’s back up a couple chapters in John to understand the context of our passage this morning.

At the end of ch. 11,

It says that the Jewish celebration of passover was at hand.

So, as the Jews were gearing up for passover,

Jesus kept drawing attention away from their celebration,

By having the audacity to raise His friend Lazarus from the dead.

As a result of this and other miracles,

Some Jews were believing what Jesus had been teaching.

But others who did not believe,

Began asking what they are going to do about Jesus.

They said,

If we keep letting Him do these miraculous things,

Everyone’s going to believe in Him.

So, they devised a plan to arrest and kill Jesus.

Immediately after that, Jesus triumphantly marches into Jerusalem in ch. 12,

Where the Passover would be celebrated.

As everyone was exalting Jesus,

He began teaching how He must die.

Suddenly, this crowd began to thin out,

Thinking, this isn’t the guy who is going to overthrow Rome!

So, in ch. 13,

Jesus and His disciples go to a private upper room.

The first thing Jesus does in this upper room is wash His disciples’ feet.

Then He reiterates His imminent death to them.

Before dropping two bombshells;

That one of the disciples would betray Jesus,

And Peter would deny Jesus three times.

This is the setting of our passage.

Now, imagine being in that room.

You just saw Jesus raise Lazarus from the dead!

You were in that raucous crowd that was cheering for Jesus as He triumphantly marched into Jerusalem!

Then you go to this private room with Jesus.

When suddenly, He puts on a robe, grabs a basin, and washes the disciples’ feet.

After He puts the basin and rags away,

He says one of the disciples,

One of the men in that room,

One of the men that has been living with Jesus for years,

Will betray Him.

Then after Jesus tells Judas to do what he is going to do quickly,

Judas leaves,

And no one know why.

Not only are you at a loss,

But your emotions would be on such a roller coaster!

The room is silent as the door closes behind Judas.

Slide

Then, in vs. 31,

Jesus breaks the silence.

Saying, “Now.”

Now that Satan has entered into Judas,

Now that Judas has committed his heart to this betrayal,

Now that he has gone out into the darkness,

Now that the events of the arrest, suffering, and crucifixion will come quickly,

Now, Jesus says,

The Son of Man is glorified.

Think about that for a moment.

The Son of Man,

A title for the Jewish Messiah,

The Savior,

Jesus,

Is glorified.

The same Son of Man whom Jesus said must be lifted up.

In other words,

The same Son of Man who must die a humiliating death,

Being crucified to a tree.

The Son of Man who is not only betrayed by one of His closest friends,

But also denied even being known by another.

The Son of Man who will be arrested, abused, beaten, mocked, and murdered.

The same Son of Man who just got done doing the work of a servant,

Washing His disciples feet.

Now, Jesus says,

That Son of Man is glorified?

That makes no sense!

Everything seems to point to the Son of Man being humiliated.

Instead, Jesus says,

Not once,

But five times in two verses,

That He is glorified.

Not only Himself,

But God is glorified,

And God glorifies Him.

At once, God glorifies Him.

How?

How could this be possible?

That at the threshold of His greatest humiliation,

God’s glory would be revealed through Christ?

God’s glory would be revealed in the cross?

Christ’s glory would be revealed on the cross?

How?

Because, the Bible says, God works all things for His glory and for the good of those who love Him.

So, even though one of the closest people to Jesus,

Just left this room to join the conspirators against Jesus.

Jesus knows that God is working this for good and for God’s glory.

The Bible turns worldly expectations upside down.

Christ’s glory is intimately bound up in His suffering.

And we can only see the glory of Jesus on the cross with eyes of faith.

So, in this confusing, emotional, vital moment of silence after Judas’ departure,

Jesus wants us to understand that the betrayal and His crucifixion that follows,

Serves to glorify God.

Because, the Bible teaches that our sins deserve God’s wrath.

But Jesus has the unique ability to satisfy the wrath of the Father.

He can bear the sins of humanity.

He can accomplish salvation.

So, the cross shows that His infinite worth completely satisfies the consequences of our sin.

It shows that God is absolutely just in His commitment to righteousness by punishing sin.

It is the perfect display of God’s mercy and justice,

Grace and righteousness,

Love and holiness.

In other words,

The cross displays the glory of God’s love for us.

GOD: The Availability of Love (vs. 33)

Slide

We know this,

Because we are not actually in the room.

Instead, we have the Bible to explain this to us.

The disciples who were in that room, however, did not understand.

All they are hearing,

Is that Jesus is leaving.

So, for them,

This brings into question the continued availability of His love once He is gone.

So, without them saying anything,

Jesus knows they want to go with Him.

But the path that lies before Jesus is a path that only He can take.

Only He can bear the sins of the world.

The disciples have their own path they must take.

It is not the same path,

But it is a path that is similarly filled with suffering.

So, Jesus draws near to His disciples in this crucial moment,

Communicating to them with great tenderness.

He cares for, and nurtures them,

Addressing them as little children,

Using close, intimate, gentle language,

To display the ongoing availability of His love,

Even though they cannot go with Him.

Similar to the Jews,

They could not get to heaven by their obedience.

Only Jesus is perfectly holy.

Thus, only He can go into heaven on His own merit.

Neither the Jews nor the disciples can.

Therefore, only Jesus can go to the cross as the perfect sacrifice.

Slide

But in doing so,

Jesus continues to teach in 14:2,

That He is going to prepare a place for His disciples in the Father’s house in heaven.

For this reason,

He compassionately warns His disciples that His departure is coming soon.

He wants them to understand He is only with them a little while longer,

Their remaining time together will end shortly.

The betrayer will return soon with troops to arrest Jesus,

And take Him to the cross.

Jesus knows all that is moments away.

So, He says,

Although the disciples will look for Him,

They cannot go where He is going.

But His departure does not leave them without His love.

Just the opposite.

He goes to prepare a place,

Guaranteeing the availability of His love.

YOU: The Command of Love (vs. 34-35)

Slide

Then, after all of that,

Jesus finally gets to the command of love in vs. 34-35.

Notice, Jesus does not say,

A new suggestion I give you,

Or a new idea or a new philosophy.

No, Jesus says, He is giving us a new commandment,

To love one another,

Just as He has loved us.

The term commandment should immediately bring the mind to the OT law.

In Leviticus 19:18, the old commandment says,

To love your neighbor as yourself.

So, there is really nothing new about the command to love in a general sense.

But there is certainly a new element Jesus introduces.

No longer does He say to love your neighbor,

But He says to His disciples that you must love one another.

And unlike the old commandment,

Which said to love as you love yourself.

Jesus ups the standard here,

Saying to love one another as He has loved you.

Slide

So, how is this different?

Because Jesus loves you better than you love yourself.

Don’t believe me,

Think about Christ’s love for you.

He left heaven because He loves you.

There are some days where we don’t love ourselves enough to leave the couch and go for a walk.

He rejected every sinful temptation because He loves you.

There are many times where we succumb to sin,

Despite knowing the painful consequences that come with it.

And Jesus sacrificed Himself,

Dying on the cross for your sin,

Because He loves you.

What sacrifices have you made for your own betterment that measure up?

Jesus loves you better than you love yourself.

So, as His member,

He is commanding you to love your fellow members,

Just as He loves you.

Love each other better than you love yourself.

This is your duty, Jesus says.

And this does not cancel out the command to love your neighbor.

Jesus also taught that you are to love your neighbors,

In fact, He taught that you are to love your enemies.

But Gal. 6:10, for example,

Says to do good to everyone.

But it also says to do good especially to those who are of the household of faith.

So, Jesus is not saying to exclusively love your fellow members.

But He is saying to especially love your fellow members.

Why?

Slide

Because we are Christ’s body.

And since the Bible says that Christ is love.

Then His body is the manifestation of His love in this world.

A love that is unparalleled.

You can only imitate this love when you are compelled by the One who is love,

Who loves you perfectly,

Even though you did not love Him.

The Father willingly gave His Son for you.

The Son willingly gave His life for you.

Now together,

He has given you Himself in the form of the Spirit,

Filling you with His perfect love!

So, trust the God of love,

And taste the reality of His love for you.

This trust and taste overwhelms you with love for God.

This is what sustains you and compels you to obey Christ’s command to love.

As you love your fellow members,

You are expressing your gratitude for God’s gracious love showered upon you.

Because you are compelled by the one who is love,

Causing you to imitate His love.

Slide

As Eph. 5:1-2 says,

Ephesians 5:1–2 ESV

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

Slide

Notice the language,

Walk in love.

The command to love your fellow members is not just talking about an affection for one another,

Nor is it even limited to doing loving things.

No, If you are a member of Christ’s body,

You are to embody the love of the God of love.

Because Christ’s members are united by committed love.

Slide

And, Jesus says in vs. 35,

It is this love that distinguishes Christ’s members,

By this love, all people will know you are His disciples,

His member,

That we are His body.

Three times in two verses,

Jesus commands you to love one another.

But later Jesus teaches that you cannot keep this command,

If you do not first love Jesus.

Slide

Jesus simply says in John 14:15,

John 14:15 ESV

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Slide

Six verses later, He says,

John 14:21 (ESV)

Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me.

And once more,

Slide

Jesus says two verses later,

John 14:23 (ESV)

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word,

There is no mistaking Jesus’ point.

Your love for Him can be measured by your obedience to His commands.

Including the command to love one another as He loves you.

This means, if you don’t love your fellow members,

Then you are ultimately lacking in love for Jesus.

So, the solution is not to try and force yourself to love us,

We are a bunch of wretched sinners.

The more you try to love us for us,

The less you will love us,

We are unlovable!

Trying to love Christ’s members this way is a burden.

Slide

But 1 John 5:3 says,

1 John 5:3 ESV

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

So, if you are finding the command to love one another burdensome,

The Bible says the solution is to love Jesus more.

He says in Matthew 11 that He makes the burden light.

So, you need to go back to the glory of His love,

Displayed on the cross,

And trust and taste the availability of His love.

Saturate yourself with Jesus’ love for you.

Then, as your awareness and appreciation of Christ’s love for you grows,

You will reciprocate a greater love for Him,

Which compels you to love His members as He loves you.

Slide

Pastor Matt Carter’s comments about service are helpful,

He says,

“Humble service flows from the gospel. The power to serve one another is not found inside of us. We don’t tap into inner strength or discover secret power reserves. We fall on our faces before Jesus and beg Him to help us serve others. We rely on the Holy Spirit to enable us to love others and put their need before our own.”

Slide

Did you catch how when Jesus told His disciples that He would no longer be with them.

He directed their attention toward one another and said,

This is whom I love,

This is whom I have given you.

So, brothers and sisters,

Look around,

This is whom Jesus loves,

This is whom Jesus has given us,

One another,

To love one another.

So, we must be committed to this,

Because we are united by committed love.

Our love for one another must be our most distinguishing feature from the world.

Jesus singles out our love for one another here as the chief indicator to the watching world that we are His.

So, a commitment to Christlike love for one another is the mark of Christ’s members.

Love that is so visible to others that they recognize something is different.

We should be able to ask a random person in Afton what they know about FBC Afton,

And they should say something like,

“Man, those people love each other,

Like really love each other.

Its kinda weird how much they love each other.”

If that is not the case,

Then we are falling short of Christ’s command of love.

But the gospel teaches that we do not throw in the towel.

No, we repent,

We confess our failure to love as Christ loves,

Then saturate ourselves in the glory and availability His love again,

To be compelled to love one another as Christ does.

This is how you keep the command of love Jesus has given you.

WE: Application

So, I want to close with some application of what this committed love looks like.

Slide

First and foremost,

It is important we understand,

Jesus does not only love you in the drastic and extravagant ways.

The Spirit’s loving presence is a daily love in simple and ordinary ways.

So, in your personal life,

This might look like welcoming someone into your home on short notice,

Even if you didn’t have a chance to clean before they get there.

Being willing to take some of the free time in your schedule to help someone with a project that has been a burden for them.

It is being everyday people doing everyday things to love one another,

As Christ has loved us.

For members of FBC Afton,

We sought to summarize this commitment in four broad categories.

First is a commitment to regular prayer.

Implicit in the practice of prayer is that God listens to our prayers.

He expresses His love for us by listening attentively to our prayers.

So, to love one another like Jesus,

We must also be good listeners.

This does not come natural for us.

I am certain we have all been frustrated by conversations we have had where the person you were talking with was clearly not listening.

They were just waiting for you to stop talking so they could say something really profound.

But guess what?

We are also guilty of this as well.

So, love like Jesus,

Listen well,

Then use that effective listening to pray.

Pray for one another,

Pray with one another,

Be vulnerable and humble enough to ask others to pray for you.

And as a body,

We gather to specifically pray on the third Sunday of every month.

So, commit to regular prayer for one another.

The second commitment goes back to what we talked about two weeks ago in Heb. 10:24-25,

Where the author instructs us to consider how to provoke one another to love and good works,

Not neglecting to meet together,

As is the habit of some.

So, we don’t need to go into as much detail here.

But the second commitment is regular attendance.

Faithful church attendance is tightly connected with loving one another.

When the body of FBC Afton gathers,

It should be the place where love is most visibly and compellingly displayed in all of Afton!

Being present, being known, and being active in the body is needed to love each other like Christ loves us.

So, we must be committed to regular attendance.

Our third commitment is regular generosity.

And I confess, this is a far reaching umbrella.

But it is rooted in the fact that Jesus literally gave Himself for us,

He was generous with everything,

Including His own life.

So, loving like Jesus means being generous like Jesus with everything.

This means we give any of the resources we have available to us,

Both material and immaterial.

For example,

Rom. 14:19 tells us to pursue peace and mutual upbuilding.

Or as 2 Cor. 5:18-21 says,

Just as we are reconciled to God through Christ,

We are called to the ministry of reconciliation.

Reconciliation and peace fosters righteousness and unity.

But it is hard work for us.

Pursuing peace requires generosity.

Generosity with patience, humility, grace, forgiveness, and even longsuffering.

But we must also be generous with truth.

As Eph 4:15 says,

We must speak the truth in love.

So, we must speak up to one another,

Help each other avoid pitfalls,

Encourage each other in holiness,

Point one another toward joy,

And the hope of the gospel.

Warn each other,

Admonish each another.

And yes,

When done biblically,

Lovingly discipline one another.

Be mindful,

We can go too far with this.

The Bible does not teach that we do the work of the Holy Spirit and convict everyone else for their sin.

But it also says that if we try to be completely hands off when it comes to caring for,

And offering counsel to one another,

Then we are not going far enough.

So, we are to be generous with our immaterial resources.

But we also must be generous with our material resources.

Rom. 12:8 says that one who contributes, contributes with generosity.

All the resources any of us have are received by the grace of God.

So, God says to generously give back to support the gospel ministry of the body.

In 2 Cor. 8-9,

The Apostle Paul talks about the sacrificial and generous financial giving of the Macedonians.

How it increased over time because it was fueled by their faith in God despite their present circumstances.

The Bible equates the faithful giving of finances as an act of worship to God.

As we say each week,

We have a plate in the back for you to be able to give.

We have online giving available,

You can go to our YouTube page to see a tutorial on how to set it up.

And you can see how our giving is going on the bulletin each week.

It shows how much money came in and how many expenses we had in the previous month.

If you see parenthesis on the bottom,

It means our expenses were higher than our giving for that month.

Recently, we formed a budget team to take a look at our giving and expenses.

And we have been seeing a good amount of parenthesis.

The temptation is to look at our current circumstances,

With expenses being higher than ever,

And income not matching the cost increases.

But like the Macedonians,

Let us have faith in God and the ministry He is doing here,

That fuels an ever growing sacrificial and generous commitment to giving.

Because regular generosity is our third commitment of members.

The fourth commitment is regular service.

Phil. 2 says that Christ left His place of privilege in heaven to serve.

So, if we are to love like Jesus,

We must leave any privilege or luxury we have to serve one another.

We also talked this morning how Jesus washed His disciples feet.

He is the King of kings and Lord of lords,

And He did not treat this task as too menial or humiliating for Him.

Jesus never placed Himself above the servant’s task.

He taught that He came to serve not to be served.

So, no task is too menial or humiliating for us.

We are not above any servant’s task.

We must love like Jesus and come here to serve,

Not to be served.

For example,

I bet you appreciate having a chair to sit on this morning.

Doesn’t seem like much.

It is just a simple chair.

But think about what all happens in one of these chairs week after week.

Someone has been encouraged by another member from this chair.

Someone has prayed for someone else,

Or after hearing the gospel from this chair,

Prayed in this chair to trust in Christ as their Lord and Savior.

Someone else had confessed their sin in preparation of receiving the grace represented by the Lord’s Supper.

Another has wept here,

With arms around them as they are grieving a loss.

Others have sat here,

Anxiously waiting to stand up to worship God,

Or to come forward and get baptized.

It is just a chair.

But God has done many incredible things to people sitting in those chairs.

And there are people who get to be a part of that,

By doing the simple and menial task of sacrificing an hour on Saturday night once a month,

To serve others by setting those chairs up.

This is but one way we can commit to serve.

We have a serve board in the back,

Or you can talk with our serve elder, Adam.

Either way,

We must commit to serving.

Because members are not consumers only,

We provide for the body.

The body depends on our service to one another.

The Bible says when we serve,

We edify the body,

We build one another up in faith,

We encourage one another.

So, these are the four broad commitments we make as members of FBC Afton.

But the Bible does include two privileges for members,

Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

These privileges unite members in committed love.

Because they serve as visible proclamations of the gospel.

It is a declaration that Christ died for our sins and rose from the dead.

As members, we cannot neglect these privileges.

We first participate in baptism ourselves,

And we rejoice at the baptism of others.

Slide

This morning,

We are going to participate in the privilege of the Lord’s Supper.

It is a visceral testimony to the effect of the gospel in the life of Christ’s body,

So, if you are a member of Christ’s body,

You are invited to participate in this expression of committed love.

If you are here and you do not yet trust in Christ as your Lord and Savior,

Then the Lord’s Supper means nothing for you.

But the Bible says that can change in a moment.

All you must do is trust in your heart that Jesus died for your sins,

Then confess that He is Lord.

And you are invited to come and take the bread and the cup.

So, I am going to lead us in a prayer of preparation,

Then once I finish,

You are invited to come to the table while we have music playing.

Once you come to the table,

Take a piece of bread and the cup,

Then return to your seat and have a moment of personal reflection, prayer, confession, or expression of commitment with Christ.

If you are not able to come up,

We have some people who will come to you.

After everyone has a moment,

I will come back up and we will take the Lord’s Supper together.

Pray.

On the night Jesus was betrayed,

In that upper room with the disciples where Jesus gave the new commandment,

He shared a final meal with them.

And at that meal,

Luke 22:19 says Jesus took the bread,

He had given thanks,

Than He broke the bread,

And He gave it to the disciples,

Saying,

“This is my body, broken for you. Do this in remembrance of me.”

So, together we eat.

Luke 22:20 continues saying,

And likewise the cup after they had eaten,

Jesus said,

“This cup that is poured out for you is the new covenant in my blood.”

So, together we drink.

If you would stand,

We are going to conclude this time of worship in song.