Love As Jesus Loved

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Today is the fifth anniversary of Jeanette and I being here at New Beginnings church.

Eli came down from his room on Friday with a bag in his hand. It had a gift inside for his friend. It’s not Christmas, nor was it his friends birthday, Eli just wanted to give his friend a gift, something that belonged to him.

Now before you get all mushy and say awwwww. It was a pair of star shaped sunglasses that didn’t fit him anymore. While the sentiment was sweet, the question remains, “would he have given the glasses away if they still fit?”

We all have things we are willing to give away for the right occasion or person, we do it all the time. It’s called sacrifice and it is how we show love.

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There are a lot of ways Jesus showed his love…willing to sacrifice was one of them, and we are called to do no less. How or what exactly are we suppose to sacrifice?

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As we get started, it is important to remember that if we sacrifice and that sacrifice is not rooted in love, it is just a todo list of obligations.

The biggest difference between love and obligation is that love says “I get to do this”, obligation says “I have todo this.”

So what does Jesus say about sacrificial love, what does it look like? How can we know we are living in it? There are a lot of places we could go, but I want to focus on Luke 14 this morning and see what we can learn from it about how to love sacrificially.

Luke 14:25-35

25 A large crowd was following Jesus. He turned around and said to them, 26 “If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else—your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. 27 And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.28 “But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? 29 Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you. 30 They would say, ‘There’s the person who started that building and couldn’t afford to finish it!’31 “Or what king would go to war against another king without first sitting down with his counselors to discuss whether his army of 10,000 could defeat the 20,000 soldiers marching against him? 32 And if he can’t, he will send a delegation to discuss terms of peace while the enemy is still far away. 33 So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.34 “Salt is good for seasoning. But if it loses its flavor, how do you make it salty again? 35 Flavorless salt is good neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown away. Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand!”

Did I hear that right…we must hate everyone else??? No, we don’t get to hate anyone…

What Jesus is saying is that your love for me should be so strong, that your love for your family could be mistaken, by the casual observer, as hate...

Illustration: How many of have ever had a friend who you were close to and then they got into a romantic relationship? Once that happened, they disappeared. They didn’t talk to you much, you didn’t hang out as much…it’s almost as if they abandoned you, or if they hated you now. But their love for you hasn’t changed, its just their love for their new romantic interest is superior...

Superior Love, That’s the kind of love we are to have for Jesus if we want to be his disciple…A love that is greater than our love for anything else. So great that it makes our love for all else seem like hate.

It is interesting that Jesus uses the word disciple here. To be his disciple you must have superior love for him. If your love for Jesus is not superior to all else then you are just a fan, not really a disciple...

A fan is emotionally invested and may even be financially invested, but is not wholly invested. Being Wholly invested, being a disciple of Jesus, means everything you do revolves around becoming like Jesus.

Superior Love doesn’t let your family dictate how often you go to church.

Superior love means your family doesn’t keep you from giving financially as God asks.

Superior love demands you teach God’s principles to your family.

Superior love moves you to faithfulness to Jesus even if your family abandons you.

Jesus does not stop with superior love…he goes on in vs 27 and says:

And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

Jesus extends the terms of discipleship. Not only do you have to have superior love, but you also have to have singular loyalty.

First this does not mean you are disloyal to others, but your loyalty to others is in line with your loyalty to God.

The greatest kind of loyalty is one that says I will follow you even if it means my death.

It frustrates me when people use the cross as something lesser than complete devotion. Phrases like “it’s just the cross I bear” when referring to a difficult family member, an unsaved spouse, an illness or a bad situation. That is not what Jesus is talking about. Jesus is not talking about a part of you life in which you suffer. He is talking about being a dead man walking.

People who bore a cross in Jesus’ day was already sentenced to death and was on their way to be crucified. Discipleship means willingness to follow Jesus even to death. And I know may of you think that you would be willing to do that, but ask yourself

Would someone be obedient to God even unto death, if they aren’t obedient in life?

Will you be faithful in death if you aren’t faithful with your time in life?

Will you be faithful in death if you aren’t faithful with your thoughts in life?

Will you be faithful in death if you aren’t faithful with your words in life?

Will you be faithful in death if you aren’t faithful with your finances in life?

Will you be faithful in death if you aren’t faithful with your witness in life?

The difference is being just a follower and being a disciple.

To be a disciple you have to follow Jesus, but just because you follow Jesus doesn’t mean you are a disciple.

A follow doesn’t really participate, they are invested more than a fan, but their involvement is limited to their willingness give up what is important to them. When the going gets tough, the follower goes home...

So you cannot become my disciple without giving up everything you own.

What does this look like?

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