Love

I want to begin tonight by all of us utilizing our imagination. Imagine a universe where no one feels unwelcomed. Imagine a universe where every life is cherished. Imagine a universe where everyone knows that they belong, that they have a place, that they have a purpose and that they are loved. Imagine that you were capable of giving that love to everyone. Imagine a universe where love has no limits. That sounds pretty awesome doesn’t it.

Well can I let you in on a little secret? That is the universe that God created.

Think back with me to the beginning. What was God’s original intent for bringing about life on this earth?

In the book of Genesis, we find a clue that helps us understand God’s purpose for his creation.

In Genesis 1:26 it says that God created mankind in His image. We were specially made by God, to reflect His image. But not only were we created to reflect his image, but we were also created to have perfect fellowship with God and each other, his creation. We were created to love God and his creation, but we were also created to be loved by God and his creation.

Genesis 1:26 (ESV)

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

But unfortunately, that is not what happened. Not by any fault of God but because of our own doing. Because of sin, God’s original intent for his creation was altered. We are no longer able to the fullest extent live out God’s eternal purpose of love.

But thankfully God and his son didn’t want their creation to be wasted so they came up with a plan to renew all things to the way in which they originally intended for them to be.

We first read about this plan in Gen 3:15 and then everything that is written from that point on both in the OT & the New points to their plan.

The plan as we now know was to send Jesus; but why? Because God so loved his creation, the world that he gave…

You see God did not want to abandon us once we left him in the garden but rather, he wants to restore his creation back to the way it was in the beginning. God wants to restore the true meaning of Life.

So, with that in mind, this evening as we come to the book of Matthew the first of the four gospels, we find ourselves smack dab in the middle of Jesus final week before his death burial and resurrection. Jesus ramps of his talk about his coming kingdom and how he is going to restore all things to its original intent, through ultimately the cross.

And in Matt 22 we see that the Sadducees and Pharisees begin questioning Jesus about his radical teachings. In Matt 22 starting in verse 23 the Sadducees, people who only followed the first five books of the OT and these are the same people who did not believe in life after death, this group of people come to Jesus to refute his claim that there will be life after death.

You may remember the Sadducees wanted to know if a woman had been married multiple times because her previous husband had dies, they wanted to know who she would be married to the resurrection or after life.

You see this exchange about whose wife will a woman be in the resurrection seems like a strange way for us at least to pin Jesus down on his teaching about his coming kingdom and the resurrection but it made perfect since to the Sadducees because they thought that God created us with the soul purpose of getting married having kids and then dying. They wanted to know how there could be more to life, specifically life after death.

So, Jesus in his response to their question about who will be married to who in the resurrection says in verse 29 you are sadly mistaken because you don’t know the scriptures. Or another way to put it you don’t know the story that the scriptures are telling, you have failed to see that the scriptures have been pointing to this very moment. The moment when I am resurrected and establish my Kingdom in order to begin renewing everything to the way in which God intended. Matthew 22:29

Matthew 22:29 ESV

But Jesus answered them, “You are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God.

Well sadly the people were not satisfied with this answer so the Pharisees said let me see if I can trip Jesus up. So they asked him the question in verse 36; teacher what is the greatest commandment in all of scripture. And Jesus responds vs 37… Matt 22:37-40

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

So, what is Jesus trying to communicate here? I believe what Jesus is trying to get the people to see during his last week is they have missed the point as to why Jesus came. Jesus tells the people that the entire Bible, the law and the prophets has been preparing them for this very moment, but they missed it.

Jesus says the reason why I created all things was for the purpose of love. I am on my way to the cross so that I can restore God’s original intent for his creation. To restore the meaning of life. God’s intent for us was to fully love him and love one another for all eternity. No wonder Love is the greatest command in all of scripture.

All of us in here this evening we long for the day when we will all live with God and each other in complete love and unity but for Jesus this never remained speculation. For Jesus if his creation was going to be restored to where love of God and love of people was second nature than for Jesus this wasn’t something that was to happen in the future but rather it was to begin now. That is why Jesus prays that his kingdom come, and his will be done on “where” on earth as it is in heaven.

Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV)

Matthew 6:9–13 (ESV)

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.

So, what does all this mean? Well, it means that God expects us as members of his present kingdom to begin living as if this is a reality today. We need to begin now living in the kingdom where we DO love God and love each other. And this is only possible if we trust that Jesus loves us, died for us, was raised for us and that he is coming back for us.

The reason why we are devoting an entire quarter to the topic of Love is because this is why God created the World and us. He created us to love Him, His Son and everyone else. So, with that lets talk for just a few minutes about what it truly means to love God and love neighbor.

Love Your Neighbor

How many of you guys love rules?

Ever since you were old enough to listen and comprehend you have been following rules. But not just us, everyone since the beginning of time has been following rules. Adam and Eve were given one rule, don’t eat of the fruit in the midst of the Garden. Man, kind has never lived in a time where there were not rules.

Because of this, I believe many people have gotten the wrong idea about what truly matters in this life.

God, the creator of us all never intended for us to live our lives thinking that life was all about following all the rules. But unfortunately, that is how many people view their very existence.

Many people view God as the authoritative rule maker and our very existence is to simply do what he says. They view the Bible as simply a book of rules. A book of dos and don’ts. Unfortunately, many people in the Lord’s church view the Bible this way.

Many people believe that they live their lives for the sole purpose of following all the rules and making sure that others keep all the rules.

In fact, this idea is nothing new because it is exactly what the religious leaders of Jesus day believed that their job was. They believed that it was their job to make sure that everyone followed all the rules. They went through their Bible and determined that there were about 613 rules and then they divided them up between the most important rules and the least important rules.

Many of the religious leaders of Jesus day and unfortunately many so-called religious people today believe that it is their job to make it seem as though it is almost impossible to follow God because of all the rules.

It is this mindset that Jesus constantly had to fight against when it came to trying to teach people what truly matters in this life. It is this mindset that Jesus was fighting against when it came to trying to teach people what the meaning of life is?

Let’s look again at how Jesus responded to the question; what is the greatest command in the Law? Matthew 22:37-40

Matthew 22:37–40 ESV

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

As I read Jesus’ response to their question it seems to me that Jesus is trying to get across to them not only here but elsewhere in scripture that the religious leaders were making it too difficult for people to follow God.

Thus, Jesus in his answer to the rule enforcers simplifies all of the commandments of God into one word.

It would be like today if Jesus was your teacher at school, and someone said teacher what is the most important rule. Rather that Jesus pulling out the syllabus and saying well there is not just one that’s important you need to do thus this this this and this.

Thankfully for our sake that is not what Jesus did here. Instead, He says let me make this easy for ya. There is one word that brings together all the commandments in the Bible. Anybody want to take a guess at what word that is? LOVE!

Jesus is telling these religious leaders that if you are going to obey my father than you need to understand that there is nothing in the world more important than love. Let me say that again because this doesn’t just apply to people in Jesus’ day. As followers of Jesus today, we need to understand that there is nothing in the world more important than love.

But not just love for anything or anyone. But Love for God and your neighbor.

Ok so when we think about Jesus simplifying the gospel with one word. When he gives the people the second command, love your neighbor, why is it that he responds to them by saying and the second is like it?

By responding this way Jesus is making it clear that both of these commandments hold equal weight. Loving your neighbor is just as important as loving God. One is no greater than the other and you can’t obey one without obeying the other.

John in his writings makes this abundantly clear.

1 John 4:20 ESV

If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.

John says if you claim to love God but hate your brother or neighbor than you are nothing more than a liar.

In other words, you are not fulling anyone, and you are especially not fulling God.

Guys loving your neighbor just like loving God is of utmost importance.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Romans 13.

Remember that we have already seen that Jesus has simplified the law by binding it all together with the word, love.

Now listen to what the apostle Paul has to say about love in Romans 13 starting in verse 8.

Romans 13:8–10 ESV

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

Somebody tell me, according to Paul how important is it to Love your neighbor?

Ya, Paul says if you want to fulfill the law of God than love your neighbor. In other words, if you want to receive eternal life than you better be loving your neighbor.

Paul explains to us here how it is possible that one word can fulfill the Law of God. He says when we truly love our neighbor than we will automatically do what the other commandments of the law require. Because someone who truly loves their neighbor will not murder or commit adultery or steal or covet. And by loving your neighbor you are demonstrating that you love the Lord your God with all your heart. Jesus would say it this way in John 14:15. If you LOVE me than you’re going to keep my commandments.

John 14:15 ESV

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

OK, so thus far we have seen that if we truly Love God and want to fulfill the law of God than we must love God & our neighbor. Because I believe most of us don’t struggle so much with the first command I want to focus more on the second by answering the question Who is my neighbor? How would you answer that question?

Let’s turn to Luke 10:25-37. In Luke 10 another person comes to Jesus to try and trick him by asking him what he needed to do in order to receive eternal life.

I love Jesus’ response because in essence what he says is, why are you asking me, you’re the one who know the law, you tell me.

I’m sure this threw this lawyer off his game for a minute, but he was able to answer correctly and anybody what to take a guess what the correct answer was. Ya, Love. Love God and love your neighbor.

Realizing that he wasn’t able to stump Jesus he then poses the question, well then, who is my neighbor. Let’s listen in to Jesus’ response starting in verse 30.

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

OK, according to Jesus who is one’s neighbor? The man who treats people like the Samaritan.

You see one of the reasons why Jesus seems to be telling this story that most of us here are probably very familiar with is because the one asking this question, who is my neighbor is trying to make a point that not everyone should be considered his neighbor.

There are ancient Jewish writings that taught the people that they should not be neighborly to sinners especially a sinner like a Samaritan.

This lawyer is wanting Jesus to agree with this teaching that some people are worthy of being their neighbor and others are not.

Let me ask you guys do we and other people today have this same attitude about who should be considered are neighbor and who should not be?

Have you ever been like me and thought that, that person is not worthy to be my neighbor. He does not deserve my help or more specifically my love.

Are there people at your place of work or school or the neighborhood in which you live who you think because of the kind of person that they are or because of what they have done, they don’t deserve my love. They don’t deserve for me to be nice to them.

When we have that attitude, we are just like the lawyer in this story.

Obviously, Jesus makes it clear that we cannot pick and choose our neighbors.

But more specifically I love Jesus’ response to the lawyer’s question. Now remember the lawyer asked Jesus, who IS my neighbor right?

Now listen to how Jesus responds to this question verse 36.

Luke 10:36–37 ESV

Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

Do you see the difference? Rather than Jesus telling this man who his neighbor should be, Jesus says don’t worry about who your neighbor is but rather let the neighbor be you.

Rather than worrying if someone else is a neighbor, Jesus’ call is to be a neighbor to those who have need. By reversing the perspective Jesus changes both the question and the answer. Not only should you not try to determine who is worthy to be your neighbor but now you need to care more about giving and helping others than being on the receiving end of things.

OK so, so far we have looked at the command given by Jesus to Love not only God but our neighbor and if we do this than we have fulfilled the law of Christ.

Meaning if we love God and our neighbor than we are going to be people who desire to do what Jesus wants us to do so we can receive eternal life. Luke 10

And by looking at the story of the Good Samaritan we have seen that everybody no matter the circumstances are worthy to me are neighbor or are worthy enough for us to be a neighbor to them.

Now the final thing we need to consider is How do we love our neighbor. What does that look like in today's world?

In order to answer this question, I think it’s important that we understand what Jesus means by love in these passages that we have read.

When we hear Jesus tell his disciples, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (22:39), what do we think he means by that? Do we think he means, have a warm and sentimental feeling in your heart?

You see it doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that this is not the kind of love the Jesus is talking about.

If so, how could we possibly feel that way about people we don’t know? Even harder, how could we feel that way about people who have intentionally done us harm?

If someone hates you and is trying to kill you, it would be unreasonable for Jesus to tell you to feel affectionate toward that person. But in spite of how you feel about that person, Jesus does expect you to love them.

What we need to understand is that love is not a feeling but rather love is action. Turn with me to 1 John 3:16-18

1 John 3:16–18 ESV

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

What we learn from this passage is that our love for others is determined not by our words or feelings, but by our “deeds.”

Our love for our neighbor is determined by our selfless acts of meeting the needs of others.

We measure love by looking to Jesus; because he laid down his life for us, “we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” And if we are willing to die for each other, we are also willing to give anything we have for each other.

Loving people means doing good to them. It means using whatever we have to meet their needs. If they are hungry, we feed them. If they are thirsty, we give them something to drink. If they are lonely, we visit them.

Let’s all ask ourselves are we actively not emotionally but actively loving our neighbors. That is the kind of people God calls us to be.

Conclusion:

As we finish up here this morning let’s reread our main text, Matt 22:36-40

Matthew 22:36–40 ESV

“Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

What I hope you remember from this lesson is that as followers of Jesus, there is nothing in the world more important than love. Love for God, and others.

We all need to understand that love is God’s overarching will for each of us. We were created by God to love. To love God and his creation.

As a minister I regularly hear or have conversations with people about what God’s will is for them in their lives.

People are constantly asking questions like; What am I going to do with my life. Or what am I going to do when I grow up.

But let me suggest that a more important question that we should be asking is am I loving the way God wants me to love.

If we truly do love God with all of our heart and soul and mind, and we love our neighbor than we will not want to do anything in our lives that is contrary to God’s will for us. God can use us anywhere, at any time in any profession to do his will. Especially his will to Love God and love our neighbor. Let’s be people who focus more on love than anything else in this world.

And guess what, when we focus on what Jesus says is most important than we don’t have to use are imagination anymore to imagine a universe where no one feels unwelcome. To Imagine a universe where every life is cherished. We don’t have to imagine a universe where everyone knows that they belong, that they have a place, that they have a purpose and that they are loved.

Jesus came and was raised from the dead in order to establish his Kingdom so that man could once again begin living out God’s original purpose. We as members of God’s kingdom must understand that this reality is not something that we should long for but rather strive for as we live as citizens of God’s perfect Kingdom.