Go and Be the Church
Notes
Transcript
Why should they listen to you?
Why should they listen to you?
Running Toward the Plague: Christians and Ebola
By Eric Metaxas, Christian Post Contributor
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2014
Between 250 and 270 A.D. a terrible plague, believed to be measles or smallpox, devastated the Roman Empire. At the height of what came to be known as the Plague of Cyprian, after the bishop St. Cyprian who chronicled what was happening, 5,000 people died every day in Rome alone.
The plague coincided with the first empire-wide persecution of Christians under the emperor Decius. Not surprisingly, Decius and other enemies of the Church blamed Christians for the plague. That claim was, however, undermined by two inconvenient facts: Christians died from the plague like everybody else and, unlike everybody else, they cared for the victims of the plague, including their pagan neighbors.
This wasn't new—Christians had done the same thing during the Antonine Plague a century earlier. As Rodney Stark wrote in "The Rise of Christianity," Christians stayed in the afflicted cities when pagan leaders, including physicians, fled.
Candida Moss, a professor of New Testament and Early Christianity at Notre Dame, notes that an "epidemic that seemed like the end of the world actually promoted the spread of Christianity." By their actions in the face of possible death, Christians showed their neighbors that "Christianity is worth dying for."
https://www.christianpost.com/news/running-toward-the-plague-christians-and-ebola.html
Main Idea - Love Compels Believers to Go and Be the Church!
Main Idea - Love Compels Believers to Go and Be the Church!
Interrogative
Transition
Before You Can Love Others, you must Love God (vs. 28-30)
Lead in…Life has slowed way down for many of us. Students and teachers are home from school. Many in the service industry are sidelined right now. And I understand that this can be quite discouraging. And it is easy to sit back and spend every waking minute online, watching Netflix, playing video games or whatever makes us feel better.
But I want you to take a different tack. Don’t just look at this as a time where you can waste time, look at this time as a gift.
16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil.
I realize that you may be facing financial pressures and anxiety about the future, but there is no better place then for you to spend your time than this...
Grow in your love for God!
In the gospel of , the religious having a dispute amongst themselves because of the way Jesus is answering there questions. Verses 18-27 give us the specific conversation.
As always, Jesus handles this with brilliance, grace and truth. Take a look at ...
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?” 29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 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.’
Mark 12:28-
According to verse 28, a scribe hear all the hubbub and decided to engage Jesus in another question.
28 And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, asked him, “Which commandment is the most important of all?”
This scribe didn’t seem to have an agenda with the Lord, but he did desire to know which law was the weightiest.
John D. Grassmick said this about this Scribes desire...
Traditionally the scribes spoke of 613 individual commandments of the Mosaic Law—365 negative ones and 248 positive ones. While they believed all were binding, they assumed a distinction between weightier and lighter statutes and often attempted to sum up the whole Law in a single unifying command.
But Jesus answers in a grace and truth filled way.
His answer is interesting. He combines two Old Testament verses from the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible, written by Moses).
The first verse is a claim to the monotheistic nature of God.
His answer is interesting. He combines two Old Testament verses from the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Bible, written by Moses). The first verse is a claim to the monotheistic nature of God.
29 Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.
Mark
This is from and are the opening words of the “Shema” meaning “Hear.” The Shema was recited twice each day, in the morning and evening by devout Jews. It included verses 4-9, along with and Numbers 15:37-41.
4 “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 5 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. 6 And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.
Deut 6:4-6
It is the basics of the Jewish faith. And the first line of this is crucial for their, the Jews understanding. “The Yahweh our Elohim, the Yahweh is one.”
That God is our covenant keeping God.
That this covenant keeping God is one - Other nations had many gods for all kinds of different occasions. The Jewish God was one God who was sufficient for all things. And there is no other God before Him. Which is the first commandment. Jesus, I believe, quoted the beginning of the Shema for this very reason - to reiterate the supreme nature of the God of the Jews and that what He says is true, good and to be obeyed!
What is the top action for a believer to engage in? What is the weightiest, most significant part of God’s Law? What is the most important act of obedience for the follower of this Supreme being?
TO LOVE GOD! Listen to the words of Jesus...
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.’
The believer is to use every aspect of their person to love God. The command of God is that we love Him completely!
Why? Isn’t this narcissistic of God to demand that we love Him above all else? No! God is no narcissist. A narcissist is defined as...
nar·cis·sist - “an extremely self-centered person who has an exaggerated sense of self-importance.” - Webster
7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
Well, if God were a mere man, then yes, He would be a grade A Narcissist!
But He is not a mere man. He is the Omnipresent, Omnipotent, Omniscient, Holy God of the universe. There is none greater that Yahweh.
“Clearly Jesus demands we treasure Him over everything…When Jesus becomes greater in the world and I become lesser in the world, my joy goes up. This is not egomania, this is called love.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLuyGjxpDzU
How can this be? Think about it. If God is the greatest, most powerful, most loving being to exist, it is good and loving for Him to demand of us to love Him because there is nothing better or more worth our attention than Yahweh! It’s actually a sin to love something or someone more than God!
“What is sin?
It is the glory of God not honored.
The holiness of God not reverenced.
The greatness of God not admired.
The power of God not praised.
The truth of God not sought.
The wisdom of God not esteemed.
The beauty of God not treasured.
The goodness of God not savored.
The faithfulness of God not trusted.
The commandments of God not obeyed.
The justice of God not respected.
The wrath of God not feared.
The grace of God not cherished.
The presence of God not prized.
The person of God not loved.
That is sin.”
― John Piper
― John Piper
Do you understand why its so important to love God with everything you have?
Because there is nothing or no one more important to love.
And by loving him at that level, you are not only glorifying Him, you are doing the very best thing for yourself!
Because to Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength means you are beginning to understand the kind of Love God has for you.
And it is this kind of love that is really life.
1 John 5
Illustration -
Argumentation - Jesus proves to this Scribe that the 613 laws they identified from the Mosaic law were important. But none were more important than to Love God.
Application - I want you to take a moment and ask yourself this question. Do I love God with ALL...
(as my friend Elliot Richards says, “all means all and thats all, all means.”)
...my heart with all of my soul, with all of my mind and with all of my strength?
By the way the only way you can love like this is if you recognize that God first loved you...
10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
God didn’t just say he loves you - he showed he loves you. How?
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
He died for you!
Ways to Love God
One, really.
15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
Obedience spells L-O-V-E
And this kind of love is only possible if you have a relationship with God through Christ.
Review - Love Compels Believers to Go and Be the Church!
Before you can love others, you must love God
To Truly Love God you Must Love Others (vs. 31a)
Lead in…This is a thoroughly biblical concept. As I have said many time, our relationship with God in inextricably linked to our relationship with other.
20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
1 joh
By loving others, we are demonstrating not only our love for them, but our love for God. This is the second greatest command. Look at Mark 12:31a...
31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:31b
Explanation - What an interesting benchmark God sets for His children. He doesn’t say, “You shall love your neighbor as much as you love you job, or dog, or car.” He says that our love for our neighbor is to match our love for ourselves.
Very wise on God’s part. Why? Because, we really do love ourselves a lot!
This COVID - 19 is a great example of this. People are stockpiling food and supplies for themselves first and foremost...
Another interesting thing about this command is the term neighbor. Who is our neighbor? Jesus answers this question in the Gospel of where He is addressing the same question with a lawyer...
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
Luke 10
Now, perhaps you understand how the Jews felt about the Samaritans. To say they were not fond of them is a huge understatement...
So, the command of God, the second greatest command that Jesus is reiterating is..
Who we are to love - our neighbor (in other words, everyone)
How we are to love - care for them in the same way we care for ourselves.
Illustration - As I was thinking about an illustration that would best demonstrate this command - the name that came to mind is JESUS...
Can you think of a better neighbor?
And the bible says that we were not very good neighbors.
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.
21 And you, who once were alienated and hostile in mind, doing evil deeds,
How did he show his love for you, His enemy?
22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him,
22 he has now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death, in order to present you holy and blameless and above reproach before him, 23 if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven, and of which I, Paul, became a minister.
Argumentation - That kind of love is breathtaking. Aren’t you glad Jesus loved you in the way that He did? And He continues to as well...
Argumentation -
Application - I understand that we cannot perfectly love like Christ loves. But we are called by Him to walk like Him.
8 for at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light
Loving your neighbor as Christ loved you is a powerful argument for the validity of the Gospel.
What does it look like? What does loving your neighbor mean?
Loving your Neighbor means Participating in the COVID Care Process we have developed at ABC.
Loving your Neighbor means practicing social distancing - We are not participating in this out of fear...
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
We do this out of love and wisdom!
Loving your Neighbor means taking some of the most precious contraband than you have in your home and walking it over to your neighbor and offering it to them. Yes, I’m talking about your toilet paper!
Loving your Neighbor means having mercy on them - mercy for us means to alleviate suffering of another...
Help alleviate their loneliness by using any number of computer and phone apps and spend some “face time” with those people in our congregation - at least a conversation on the phone.
Help alleviate their loneliness by sending an email to someone. And in that email, ask them about themselves. Ask them their testimony of faith in Christ, their spiritual journey.
Help alleviate their loneliness by memorizing some verses together.
These are just some ideas - you can probably come up with a ton more.
The point is this, be prayerful and ask the Lord how you can love your church family, your family and your neighbors (both next door to you and your friends and facebook friends).
In a time like this, it is easy to focus on yourself. Instead, obey God’s command and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.
If every believer obeyed Christ’s second greatest command, the church would truly be the church!
Review - Love Compels Believers to Go and Be the Church!
Before you can love others, you must love God
To truly love God, you must love others
These are God’s Greatest Commands for Believers (vs. 31b)
Lead in…The last part of verse 31 must have shook the self-focused, religious to their core. Look at the Lord’s words...
31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Text
Explanation - I suspect that the religious elite were not excited to hear the answer of Jesus. They loved to have their theological debates about obscure rules and regulation.
Jesus, on the other hand, didn’t philosophize or theologize. No, he went straight to two commands that demanded their whole heart and their whole will.
If they truly loved God and they truly loved their neighbor, it would show up in how they lived their lives.
But the point that they had to come to terms with was this. Out of all the commands of God and out of all the pseudo laws the scribes and pharisees developed, there were none as great as these two commands. In fact, if you review God’s Ten Commandments in , you’ll find the first four are all about loving God and the last six are about loving others.
Folks, these two commands are the greatest from God’s perspective. The sum up all of God’s instructions and laws.
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.”
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.”
The NLT says it this way, “The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
Matt 2
Illustration - My wife is a bottom line kind of person. I, on the other hand like to explain and teach so people get it. God is both. He gives us a great big thick book that we should all understand.
But the truth is this - These two commands, Loving God and loving others, is God’s bottom line!
Argumentation -
Application - ABC - These two commands are what we, as a church are to be known for. We are to love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, strength - our complete person!
We are to also love our neighbor as much as we love ourselves.
This must be true of us as individuals and as a church body.
And as we do, we will change our world for Christ.
Review - Love Compels Believers to Go and Be the Church!
Before you can love others, you must love God
To truly love God, you must love others
To truly love God, you must love others
These are God’s Greatest Commands for Believers
These are God’s Greatest Commands for Believers
Conclusion
Eric Metaxas’ article Running Toward the Plague: Christians and Ebola is a good challenge for us as believers today.
We cannot allow this crisis we are facing to paralyze the church.
Yes we need to exercise wisdom and discernment.
No, we do not operate out of fear! Because perfect love casts out fear!
So what do we do?
Instead of saying “We can’t do anything!” We should say, “Lord, what can I, what can we do for you and your glory?”
Don’t live in fear, friends. Instead use your mind, pray for wisdom, and Love God with everything you have - and love your neighbor as much as you love yourself.
Give Final Application
Land the Plane