Loving God

Introduction

Scripture is full of illustrations of humanity worshiping God. We read the story of David entering Jerusalem with the arc of the Covenant and worshiping God with all of his might. He danced in front of the Lord in such a way that his wife was embarrassed for him. Not that husbands we should always dance in a way that completely embarrasses our wives, but David was giving all he had to the Lord.

The Disciples worshiped God with everything they had on the day of pentecost when they preached the Gospel with such fervor that people thought they had been drinking. This list goes on and on of Biblical illustrations of people showing their love to God.

But there is probably no greater expression of the outpouring of love from the people to God, worship, than when Jesus entered into Jerusalem triumphantly. When we talk about this event in church we tend to focus on Jesus riding into Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, with the posture of a conquering king. While there is nothing wrong with this view of this passage, I want to look at the events of Jesus’ entry from a different perspective. I want to look at it from the perspective of the love poured out from the people. How they worshiped God incarnate, how the people of Jersualem showed their love in action.

Love God with all you have

The people gave Jesus all they had

The disciples brought Jesus a colt

Matthew 21:2–3 NIV

saying to them, “Go to the village ahead of you, and at once you will find a donkey tied there, with her colt by her. Untie them and bring them to me. If anyone says anything to you, say that the Lord needs them, and he will send them right away.”

This would be a families prized possession

The people laid their cloaks on the ground in front of him

Matthew 21:8 NIV

A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

They literally gave Jesus the shirts off their backs

To Show God our love we must give him all we have

We must give up what we love most for God

Possessions, Ideals, even un-edifying relationships

By giving up what we love most for God we are showing God that he is most important to us.

Story about dad taking the last ice cream cone.

Love God with all you are

The people called out to Jesus worshiping him with everything they were

Matthew 21:9 NIV

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!”

This was the ultimate act of worship

Romans 10:9 NIV

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

There was no fear of the authorities

There was no fear of other Jews’ criticism

They worshiped Jesus with their whole heart

Psalm 100 NIV

A psalm. For giving grateful praise. Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the Lord is God. It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.

We show our love when we worship God with everything we are

When we sing out in worship

When we proclaim his name to everyone we meet

When we are not ashamed of the Gospel

When we show love to everyone we meet

Conclusion

This is truly the embodiment of love in action. When people gave all they had and all they were to Jesus. They reciprocated the love that Jesus poured out on them and gave it back to him.

God is offering that same love to us and when we fully accept the love that God wants to give us then we can fully show that love back to God. It flows through him to us. So today allow God’s love to fill you so that you too can pour out that love to the world and then back to God. Let us pray.