Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction

Good morning church,

As Bob introduced last week we are going through a series called The Lost Art of Loving.

For the next little while we’re going to be looking at this topic of love and how it looks when we consider our relationships with one another and the people around us.

Really how we should love others around us.

It is easy to say a statement like “I just love everyone” isn’t it.

But it is a whole other thing to live it out in this world around us.

The bible gives us really great insight into this thing called love.

There are many great examples in scripture.

God’s word helps us to define what love is and how we are to love.

On the other side this world also does its job at telling us what love is.

This world dictates to us how we are to love and what it looks like when we act it out.

You know love in the bible and love based on the world are two totally different things.

The world tells us that love is fleeting, it is here in a moment and is gone the next.

Based on the world we can effectively fall out of love with something or someone.

The world tells us that we can pick, choose and refuse who we give our love to.

We can hold it back when it suits us and give it out when the time is right for us.

Love in the bible doesn’t work that way.

And we’re going to spend time this morning looking at at an important scripture in the bible that we should consider when we are looking at this topic of love.

So, I think our question this morning, and what I want us to be thinking about as we continue this morning is, “Who are we supposed to love and what does that love look like in our lives?”

Please turn with me to , “34 But when the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together.

35 And one of them, a lawyer, asked him a question to test him.

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 neighbour as yourself.

40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.””

PRAY

Background

Before we jump into our passage for this morning let’s take a quick look at what has taken place to get Jesus to the point of making this statement.

In Matthew chapter 21 we see Jesus entering the temple in Jerusalem.

This being a natural place for teaching at the time.

While he was here teaching the chief priests and elders came and they began questioning Jesus.

Their first question was around who gave Him the Authority to do the things that he was doing.

And in this we see Jesus responding to their questions by asking them questions.

We then see Jesus begin to teach them through parables.

And you know what the Chief Priests and the elders were only caring for and loving the people whom they wanted.

They viewed themselves on this pedestal and looked down on everyone around them.

And so Jesus’ parables focused on this, pointing out to them how flawed their thinking is.

This had the great effect of just rattling these religious leaders.

Jesus’ teachings left them speechless, stunned and unsure how to continue their line of questioning.

Then we get to the passage that we are looking at this morning.

We see the Sadducees, who were a small group of very wealthy priests who were also part of the government, they were silenced.

Jesus’ responses to their questioning put them in their place, they have nothing else to say.

And so the Pharisees, who were around and witnessed what was going on and who had already tried to trap Jesus without any success, felt that this was an opportunity for them to try again.

And so one of them a lawyer tried to test Jesus.

It’s funny that lawyers haven’t really changed a lot over the last 2000 years.

This lawyer was trying to find a way to trap Jesus, he was trying to trick Jesus into giving an answer that would discredit Jesus.

They never learned, time and time again Jesus gave them a response that would blow them out of the water.

And this time was no exception.

The question that this lawyer asked Jesus was, “Which is the great commandment in the Law?”.

This was an interesting question for them, because the Pharisees put the 613 commandments or laws found in the OT into different buckets, those that were light and those that were more weighty.

They did believe that all the laws with all seriousness, but they believed that some were more important than others.

What they were really doing was trying to get Jesus to trip up and place a law or command higher than another.

They were probably ready for Jesus to say one of the 10 commandments, which were written by God, and to them stood out over all the other commandments.

And believe you me they were ready to argue if Jesus had said one these, they were primed to tell him why another commandment was greater.

But Jesus’ response was amazing.

He didn’t choose one of the 10 commandments.

Instead he chose the command to Love your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all mind.

He said this was the great and first commandment.

And then he said to them there is a second and it is like the first.

He said You shall love your neighbour as yourself.

Jesus said it was on these two commandments that all the Law and Prophets depend on, all of the 613 commandments depend on these.

So we’re going to look at these 2 commandments this morning in light of our question, “Who are we supposed to love and what does that love look like in our lives?”

#1 - Love God

The first and greatest commandment is to Love God with everything we are.

Why do we love God?

Firstly, if you want to read about how much God loves you I would recommend that you read 1 John in the bible and really dial in on chapter 4.

This book is packed with a ton of verses which highlight the love that God has for each one of us.

And so I’m going to look at a few elements of this love from God in this book.

We see in in verst 7 it tells us that love is from God, in verse 8 it says that God is love.

Then in verse 9 it says that God loved us so much that he sent Jesus for us.

In this book John tells us that love as a characteristic comes from God.

He says that this is a trait that God holds and God has shown this love for us by making a way for us to enter into a relationship with him, through his son Jesus.

Love is a

Looking at a physical side we love God because he takes care of us.

The bible says in “Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them.

Are you not of more value than they?” God really does take care of us.

I’ve seen this take place in my life.

Just before God had me enroll in Seminary and start the journey of becoming a Pastor God pulled me out of a career in accounting and out of a job where I was stressed and stretched in my work environment.

God then provided a job where I had the time to study and do ministry, the things that I got the most joy and satisfaction out of.

Not only did he give me the time that I needed but he provided for my family financially, in this he showed me that in all things he takes care of us.

You may also have a story in your life where God took care of you or is taking care of you, and it may be in a way where you may not recognize at first; to be honest I didn’t see God taking care of me in the middle of my situation.

What I knew was that I was moving out of a job where I thought I’d be for a long time and I was going somewhere else.

But looking back I see God opened doors and closed doors to get me to the place where he needed me and he made sure I was taken care of.

Why?

Because he loves me.

Why does he do it for you?

Because he loves you!

The bible also tells us that God has great plans for us.

says “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

He has a special purpose for his people, which he prepared ahead of us.

Because he loves us with such a great love he plans ahead for us, he makes a way for us.

At times it will be painful, we may be uncomfortable and we will maybe not like it.

But God has purpose in his plans for each one of us.

And the reason that he does this is because he loves us!

And a verse that really does make this love alive for me is which tells us that “We love because he first loved us.”

God first loved us.

God takes the first step in our relationship with him.

God seeks us out and calls us to himself because he loves us.

I love how Pastor Kolby in Salmon Arm puts it, when God calls us to himself he gives us significance because he loves us.