I AM the Way, the Truth, and the Life, Part FourC

Two weeks after the stolen steak deal, I took Helen (eight years old) and Brandon (five years old) to the Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg to do a little shopping. As we drove up, we spotted a Peterbilt eighteen-wheeler parked with a big sign on it that said, "Petting Zoo." The kids jumped up in a rush and asked, "Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?"

"Sure," I said, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. They bolted away, and I felt free to take my time looking for a scroll saw. A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the mall with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little critters while their moms and dads shop.

A few minutes later, I turned around and saw Helen walking along behind me. I was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. Recognizing my error, I bent down and asked her what was wrong.

She looked up at me with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, "Well, Daddy, it cost fifty cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter." Then she said the most beautiful thing I ever heard. She repeated the family motto. The family motto is in "Love is Action!"

She had given Brandon her quarter, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen. She had watched Sandy take my steak and say, "Love is Action!" She had watched both of us do and say "Love is Action!" for years around the house and Kings Arrow Ranch. She had heard and seen "Love is Action," and now she had incorporated it into her little lifestyle. It had become part of her.

What do you think I did? Well, not what you might think. As soon as I finished my errands, I took Helen to the petting zoo. We stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. I had fifty cents burning a hole in my pocket; I never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.

Because she knew the whole family motto. It's not "Love is Action." It's "Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!" Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. When you love, benefits accrue to another's account. Love is for you, not for me. Love gives; it doesn't grab. Helen gave her quarter to Brandon and wanted to follow through with her lesson. She knew she had to taste the sacrifice. She wanted to experience that total family motto. Love is sacrificial action.

Dave Simmons, Dad, The Family Coach, Victor Books, 1991, pp. 123-124.

Today and next week, as we return to John to finish our study on the “I AM” Statements of Christ.

Today we will look at the second command given to us as a cure for all that troubles our hearts, but before we get there, let’s review…

Review:

Final two statements were made in context to disciples in upper room on final night together.

Context; 9 cures for a troubled heart.

John 14:1 - so not let your heart be troubled.

Imperative - believe in God

Promise of future home

Preparing the way to the Father

Assurance of provision to do work of God

An abiding presence in Holy Spirit and Himself

A pair of commands

Picture: Christ is TRUE Vine, Father is Vine Dresser, we are Branches. Christ is source of all life, all blessing, all fruit, apart from which we can do nothing.

Command to Abide – Remain, have true connection and relationship to Christ, not mere profession or casual connection…

When we do, there will be evidences, there will be benefits

You will be clean

You will bear fruit

God will grant requests

Will glorify God (obeying commands reveals abiding in His love and glorifies Him)

Will have joy

A look at verses 12-17 continue this dialogue and give us a second, calls it a new command even though it is old but puts into a new context, command and a greater insight on what it means to abide and how that will be reflected in our everyday life.

Says, if you keep my commands, you will abide in my Father’s love. He is answered the unspoken questions, what command?

He is dealing with the practical implications of abiding. What fruit will be produced, because we know that if the branches abide in the vine, they WILL bear fruit, what fruit will be the evidence of our abiding in the vine? What commands, when we obey them, will reveal the evidence of our abiding and so glorify God?

The command to love one another.

A Command to Love – 15:12-17

12 “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. 17 These things I command you, so that you will love one another.

Mark 12:31 – Sums up all of OT law in two commands, love God, love others.

30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”

This ultimately answers the question, What does it look like to abide in Christ? What does it look like to keep God’s commandments and thus abiding in His love? How do we evidence our love for God and thus prove to be His disciples? What does the FRUIT of abiding in Christ look like? What form does it take?

He says, by loving one another. As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you (vs. 9) he says, and then in verse 12, this is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

He builds a chain. As the Father loved Him, He has loved us. As He has loved us, we are to love others.

What higher standard of love can you give?

Understand, this kind of love must be separated from a worldly charitable love done by moral unbelievers who do not fear God.

World loves with charitable, convenient, conditional, self serving love.

We prove our love for God, by loving others in the same way that Christ loves us. And how does He love us?

Three Ways the Love of Christ is shown to us

Sacrificial – Vs. 13-14

Intimate – Vs. 15

Deliberate (Choice) – Vs. 16

SACRIFICIAL – Vs. 13-14

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command you.

Vs. 13

13 Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

Greater love HAS NO ONE...

1 John 3:16

16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Greater love has no one that this….by this we know love….this will separate worldly charity from true Christlike love.

Total, self sacrificing love.

Christ gave up everything: Home in heaven; presence of Father; use of divine power; life

Philippians 2

5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped,

Jesus IS God but did not allow that to hold sway over him. He did not consider the task before Him to be beneath Him and He humbly submitted Himself to it.

Jesus did not permit His deity/position to created an over inflated view of Himself so that He viewed certain tasks as beneath his status.

Neither should we view our position/status to create an over inflated view of ourselves so that we view others or certain tasks as beneath our dignity.

E.G. – I am the pastor so I should not have to shovel snow, empty trash, or clean the church. (I don’t have to do those things because others willingly serve, for which I am incredibly grateful, but I don’t not do them because I am unwilling, for I am, but rather because others serve so I don’t have to)

Application for Us – It is not my responsibility to clean up after you; Is that true? Maybe so but what is often behind that is not a desire to teach others responsibility but a disdain of them or the task that says why I should I lower myself to take care of you or what should be your responsibility.

It is an attitude that says, if you can’t be bothered to take responsibility or do it yourself, don’t expect me to do it for you.

It is an attitude of pride that says, I cherish responsibility more than you and I am better than you because I value responsibility and I won’t help you continue to be irresponsible.

As parents, grandparents, we need to instill and teach responsibility. I do not want to suggest that is unimportant. BUT, are we using that as an excuse to not legitimately serve others who are in need?

What we should rather do, is come alongside others and help them, serve them while using it as an opportunity to disciple them so that they grow in the area of responsibility

Or perhaps, they are responsible people but are overwhelmed by life and all they need is as sensitive, compassionate person to serve and minister the love of God to them.

It was not Jesus’ responsibility to come and deal with our sin. It WAS above His status. We weren’t, even if we were capable, going to do anything about it either. Yet, Jesus stepped down to do for us what we were not able or willing to do ourselves.

Do we exemplify the same kind of attitude toward others? Are we willing to serve and love even the undeserving? Or are we going to view ourselves as too important, too busy, too indispensable to serve and love others sacrificially.

Look what Christ did…

7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Christlike love is about humbling ourselves and being willing to serve others, others who may NOT deserve it or be worth it….but then, neither were we.

Separation of worldly charity and biblical love…loving others who may not be worth it.

Loving others will cost you. It will hurt at times. Will be messy and hard.

The opening story of a young girl who loved her brother sacrificially, to the point it hurt illustrates the point well.

Yes, Christ died, for His friends, men whom He had called and equipped and loved. He gave everything for them. Friends, not even family, which we could understand even better.

And Christ died for His friends yes. These men to whom He was addressing these words, were His friends. We would be remiss if we neglected to point this out.

However, we are also told in other places that we are to love our enemies and Christ Himself also died for His enemies, not just for these friends who loved Him. He died for the very men who betrayed, denied, and killed him.

Romans 5

6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. 9 Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. 10 For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life. 11 More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

Jesus is tying our love for God directly to our love for others. Our love for others verifies and reveals the strength of our love for God.

How do you know if you are abiding in His love and so proving to be His disciples? By your love for those around you.

Sacrificial love. All consuming, unconditional love. Life giving love.

He says in verse 14, you are my disciples if you do what I command…not that friendship is earned but rather that it is revealed by our obedience to His commands.

As Carson notes…You are my friends if you do what I command. This obedience is not what makes them friends; it is what characterizes his friends.

And then in verse 15 He says something profound which reveals the second way…

INTIMATE – Vs. 15

15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.

He reveals that the mark of friendship is intimacy and revelation (knowledge).

A servant does not know what His master is doing. A friend does. Why? Because a friend is permitted into the heart and mind of his friend. He reveals and discloses the intimate and private things of his heart and mind.

Jesus has revealed the things from his Father to the disciples. He has revealed his plan, thus friendship is equated with intimacy and revelation.

Application: If we are to love one another in the same way, what does that say about the kind of relationships we should be having with others?

Majority of relationships are superficial. How’s the weather, how’s your job, how’s your wife and kids, followed by an awkward silence kind of relationships.

In the body of Christ, we are commanded to love one another more deeply than that.

We are called to live in intimate community with other believers.

We are called to live in openness, accountability, and vulnerability with others who can strengthen, encourage, and motivate us toward greater levels of holiness.

We are spiritual blind and we are blind to our spiritual blindness. We need others on a deeper, spiritual level.

Question – how many people know the real you? How many people know your deepest fears, struggles, and weaknesses? How many people know your strongest temptations? How many people know the greatest desires, joys, and ambitions?

Make excuses – Culture; way we were raised, etc. Get over it.

We need intimate relationships with one another, conducted in godly character, and in which there is revelation freely given and revealed. We should be seeking to be and to find the kinds of friends who are godly and with whom we can share our lives beyond superficial matters.

We don’t share because so few are trustworthy. SO few are godly. SO few are caring and compassionate. We don’t share because we are afraid and because we don’t think it will matter.

Excuses – They are not my responsibility; I have people I am responsible for; I have family who I am responsible for; GOD CHARGES US AND MAKE US RESPONSIBLE FOR EACH OTHER IN THE BODY OF CHRIST, THE FAMILY OF GOD.

If none exist, choose someone to disciple and invest in until they are.

Loving others as God loves us means loving intimately and with knowledge and revelation.

Finally, loving others as Christ loves us means loving others deliberately.

Deliberately

Christ says, in verse 16….

16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

He says this in part to repel any prideful notions of being called a friend of God.

He also said this to make the point that they are His friends BECAUSE He chose them, and for no other reason.

Amplifies His grace and character, not our own.

If we are to love one another in the way Christ loved us, it means we must take the initiative; we must be deliberate.

Do you go out of your way, sacrifice your own agenda or comfort to deliberately serve, encourage, or love someone else?

Do you LOOK diligently and actively for ways to serve one another?

Do you overlook others because they seem beneath you, unworthy of you, or not in need of your love?

Jesus reminds them, I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit (Through loving one another as He has loved us –and we when we this, serving, discipling, evangelism, it all follows) and that your fruit should abide.

In other words, your fruit should remain, continue, and never fail. The mark of abiding in love is that your fruit never ceases but continues and grows.

It is also suggested by some commentators, and rightly so, that this fruit which we have been appointed to is the fruit of drawing people to repentance and faith. It can be supported by the statement of “that your fruit should abide.”

Evangelism and seeking the lost is a purpose to which we are called because of our salvation. It cannot be ignored or forsaken.

And when it does, we reveal our friendship with Christ, and our abiding in His love and whatever we ask of the Father, He will grant. For this is the privilege of friends and if we are His, we have his promise.

In short, our love for others is the evidence and fruit of our love for and abiding in the love of Christ. If we abide in Him, we will love others, intimately, sacrificially, and purposefully. We will seek to draw sinners to repentance, regularly, and we will seek to disciple and train new believers that they may not walk away in their immaturity.

Application:

How is this a cure for troubled hearts? How does this fit into the larger sermon series we have been preaching? How does this fit with the big idea of God giving us a cure for troubled hearts?

This is the cure of all that ails our troubled hearts because it gives purpose and meaning to our lives and reminds us we were created to love God and through loving God, we are given purpose.

We are to love others….

Sacrificially

Intimately

Deliberately…by choice

Conclusion

Ted Stallard undoubtedly qualifies as the one of "the least." Turned off by school. Very sloppy in appearance. Expressionless. Unattractive. Even his teacher, Miss Thompson, enjoyed bearing down her red pen -- as she placed Xs beside his many wrong answers.

If only she had studied his records more carefully. They read:

1st grade: Ted shows promise with his work and attitude, but (has) poor home situation.

2nd grade: Ted could do better. Mother seriously ill. Receives little help from home.

3rd grade: Ted is good boy but too serious. He is a slow learner. His mother died this year.

4th grade: Ted is very slow, but well-behaved. His father shows no interest whatsoever.

Christmas arrived. The children piled elaborately wrapped gifts on their teacher's desk. Ted brought one too. It was wrapped in brown paper and held together with Scotch Tape. Miss Thompson opened each gift, as the children crowded around to watch. Out of Ted's package fell a gaudy rhinestone bracelet, with half of the stones missing, and a bottle of cheap perfume. The children began to snicker. But she silenced them by splashing some of the perfume on her wrist, and letting them smell it. She put the bracelet on too.

At day's end, after the other children had left, Ted came by the teacher's desk and said, "Miss Thompson, you smell just like my mother. And the bracelet looks real pretty on you. I'm glad you like my presents." He left. Miss Thompson got down on her knees and asked God to forgive her and to change her attitude.

The next day, the children were greeted by a reformed teacher -- one committed to loving each of them. Especially the slow ones. Especially Ted. Surprisingly -- or maybe, not surprisingly, Ted began to show great improvement. He actually caught up with most of the students and even passed a few.

Time came and went. Miss Thompson heard nothing from Ted for a long time. Then, one day, she received this note:

Dear Miss Thompson:

I wanted you to be the first to know. I will be graduating second in my class.

Love, Ted

Four years later, another note arrived:

Dear Miss Thompson:

They just told me I will be graduating first in my class. I wanted you to be first to know. The university has not been easy, but I liked it.

Love, Ted

And four years later:

Dear Miss Thompson:

As of today, I am Theodore Stallard, M.D. How about that? I wanted you to be the first to know. I am getting married next month, the 27th to be exact. I want you to come and sit where my mother would sit if she were alive. You are the only family I have now; Dad died last year.

Miss Thompson attended that wedding, and sat where Ted's mother would have sat. The compassion she had shown that young man entitled her to that privilege.

Let's have some real courage, and start giving to "one of the least." He may become a Ted Stallard. Even if that doesn't happen, we will have been faithful to the One who has always treated us -- as unworthy as we are -- like very special people.

Jon Johnston, Courage - You Can Stand Strong in the Face of Fear, 1990, SP Publications, pp. 111-113.

Miss Thompson almost lost the opportunity to show the love of God to this young boy because she had preconceived notions regarding his worth. When her eyes were finally opened in a moment, she was able to love him as God loved her and by doing so, changed his life.

May we live, not missing the opportunity to love one another, sacrificially, intimately, and deliberately as an expression of our love for God.

When we love God, we will love others as He has loved us.

Christ gives us a pair of commands for all that ails our troubled hearts. A command to abide in His love. To put our confidence, trust, passion, and joy in the person of Christ.

Flowing from that command, a second comes, a command to love others. True joy is found in loving God and when we love God, love for others flows like a river out of us and reveals the evidence of our love for God. So that second command cannot be separated, nor should it be separated, from the first. When we love God, we will love others. Period. It will be the fruit, the result of love for God. Love so deep and pure it rejects cultural isolation and superficiality and moves into the intimate parts of who we are as beings and drives us in hot pursuit of rescuing sinful souls from the clutches of the devil.

And when we find ourselves caught up in such a passion of love for God and others, we have no concern left for the things that ail us.