Loving the Image Bearers of God

I’m not sure how many of you have read "The Free Methodist Way," but if you haven’t, I encourage you to do so. It's important to understand what the church you attend teaches, believes, and its core values. "The Free Methodist Way" breaks down the values of our denomination into 5 essential core values. They are: Life-Giving Holiness, Love-Driven Justice, Christ-Compelled Multiplication, Cross-Cultural Collaboration, and God-Given Revelation. I am not going to go into each of these today, but I will likely do a sermon series at some point where we dive into each of them in depth. For today, I wanted to look at a specific passage from the core value of Love-Driven Justice. Here's what it says:

"Love is the way we demonstrate God's heart for justice by valuing the image of God in all men, women, and children, acting with compassion toward the oppressed, resisting oppression, and stewarding Creation."

There’s a lot to unpack in just that one sentence; it’s a weighty statement, and I could probably write a whole sermon series around just that main idea. However, today I want to focus on the first part, which says: we demonstrate God’s love by valuing the image of God in all men, women, and children. How often have you thought about that? That God's image is carried in every man, woman, and child? Every person you meet is an image-bearer of the Most High, of the El-Shaddai. And that we are to value each person because of God in them? With some people, I am sure that is a lot easier to believe than with others.

With that in mind, the next question then is: how do we value the image of God in others? What does that look like? Well, in my opinion, from what I can see and understand in the scriptures, to value the image of God in man looks a lot like loving them. It looks a lot like serving them. It looks a lot like being the hands and feet of Jesus as you pour into their lives.

But why hear it from me in my words, when Jesus explained it so well himself? Here are the words of our Savior that I am referencing.

Matthew 25:31-46

31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, 36 I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ 37 Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? 38 And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? 39 And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ 40 And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’

41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not clothe me, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ 44 Then they also will answer, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not minister to you?’ 45 Then he will answer them, saying, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me.’ 46 And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.”

Let that set in a minute: "What you have done to the least of these you have done unto me, and what you did not do unto the least of these you have not done unto me."

What have you done for the least of these lately? Did you drive past while they were broken down on the road, or did you stop to check on them? Did you call on the sick or the widow, or the mother with a new baby? Or were you too busy to notice or care? Did you check on that person sitting alone to make sure they were okay, or did you walk past because you didn't know them? There are so many ways in which we can love each other and love God in the process, fulfilling what Jesus called the two greatest commandments.

Matthew 22:36-40

36 “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” 37 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. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Let me explain all this in simple terms. When we are devoted to God, when our love for Him is first, and we have made Jesus the Ruler over our souls, we receive the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is called the "helper," and He serves several specific functions. One is as our teacher, another as our comforter, and a third is really a response to the first two, because as we grow in relationship and obedience to the Holy Spirit, the fruits of the Spirit develop in our lives. So what's the purpose of the fruits of the Spirit? Let's look at them now:

Galatians 5:22-25

22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24 And those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

25 If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.

These qualities are truly blessings. Who wouldn't want a life filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control? It’s important to notice, though, that these blessings not only benefit the individual who possesses the Spirit but also extend to others around them. As we embody these qualities, we naturally bless those around us as a by-product of living in this manner.

I like the way a Pastor by the name of Bill Johnson explained it, "We are blessed to bless others." And the cool thing about that is, as we bless others, we are loving God. That's how the Kingdom works. Yahweh pours His love and His Spirit into us, and we pour that love into others, and we love God by introducing others to His love, because they are made in His image.

It's a beautiful circle. We are blessed to bless others for the glory and honor of our Savior. This is why my approach to ministry is best summed up by: Seek the Lost. Serve them in Love. Introduce the Savior. But there's another side to this I want to address, because it applies specifically to some conversations I have had since coming here. And don't worry, I am not naming names! I only bring up the conversations because it revealed the need.

This need is one of many challenges that I personally face, and I have come to realize through these conversations that I’m not alone in it. Several of us here need to hear this and remember that both you and I are image bearers, which means we are also deserving of His love. For many of us, this can be difficult. We often take on the role of givers, focusing on pouring into others and meeting their needs, while neglecting our own. We convince ourselves that we don’t need anyone except God, that it is more vital that we pour out, and that we are selfish if we let anyone in to know our need. But that is a lie straight from hell.

God wants us in community with other followers, both to give love and receive. So why is it such a struggle for many of us to accept help from others? Typically, it boils down to a couple of things; sometimes, it is even both of them. Pride or low self-esteem. This became painfully evident to me in my relationship with my husband and my dad.

Nick has always been a gentleman. He opens doors for me and often tries to carry heavy bags for me. I say "tries" not because he can't do it, but because I wouldn't let him. I would always respond with something like, "No, I've got this; I don't need your help." I did the same with my dad. We would often go back and forth about it. He would reach for my bags, and I would either swat him away or grab the bag before he could, saying something like, "I've got this; I can handle it."

I used to believe I was being independent and strong by always doing things on my own. However, that sense of 'independence' was really a façade, masking deeper reasons for resisting any help. These underlying issues boiled to the surface one day when my dad tried to take my bag again, and I, of course, wouldn't let him. Then he asked me that question that caused me to re-examine everything: "Why won't you let me love you?"

His words hit me like a ton of bricks. All this time, they had been trying to show me love, but I was rejecting it. It wasn't because I am a woman and they view me as weak; it was because I am their daughter or wife, and they love me. So, why couldn't I allow them to love me? I wrestled with that question and talked to God about it for a while. Gradually, I began to let them carry bags for me and made sure to thank them for their kindness. And in that process, I began to realize that behind my rejection of their help, their acts of love and service, was a deep belief that I didn't deserve it. That I was unworthy of love. Pride covered that up at first; it was the loud voice crying, "I can do it myself! I don't need anyone!" But beneath that, there was another softer voice that finished those pride statements with things like "Besides, no one cares about me anyway. Everyone is busy." Or "I don't want to be an inconvenience."

Let's pause and revisit the 2 greatest commandments:

Matthew 22:37-39

37 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. 38 This is the great and first commandment. 39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Yes, we need to pour into the lives of others; we need to recognize that they are image bearers of the Most High and that one of the ways we show love for God is by loving them. Our blessings are to bless others. But the flipside of that is, we too are the image bearers of God and deserving of love. God wants to show His love for us just as much as He wants us to show that love to others. People make up the church, and the church is the body of Christ here on earth, so people are the hands and feet that carry God's love to the broken and hurting, inside or outside the church.

So, as we prepare to leave here today, this is what I hope you will take with you: As an image bearer of God sealed in the Kingdom by the finished work and blood of our redeemer, you have been called to both give love and receive it.