Finding Love in Our Differences

NOTE:

This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely, that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.

Engagement

Singer/songwriter David Wilcox tells a story to introduce his song “Fearless Love”. He uses a couple words that most of us probably find offensive, but in this case I think the value of hearing the story as David tells it outweighs any potential offense.

[Carpenter story]

Christmas is the story of another carpenter whose purpose was also to build bridges - both bridges between us and God and between us and our fellow man.

Tension

And boy do we need that! Unfortunately it seems like more than ever we have become really good at building fences in our culture but not nearly as good at building bridges. We have seen that in a number of places over this last year.

We’ve undoubtedly seen that in our political process. We’ve always had differences of opinions in our politics, but in this last cycle we have all observed downright hatred and vitriol that has often been manifest toward those with differing views and unfortunately, a lot of that has even come from Christians.

We’ve seen that in race relations. And unfortunately, the church has not been immune to racism, either.

We’ve even seen that in how churches have responded to the COVID pandemic. Every pastor I know has experienced the pain of people leaving their churches over this issue.

But the good news is that Christmas is the evidence of God’s love for us - a love that builds bridges and overcomes these kinds of differences.

Truth

So far in this series, we’ve only been able to take a look at a few of the characters involved in the Christmas story. But most of us are familiar enough with the story to understand how the birth of Jesus built bridges between such disparate groups of people.

His birth built bridges between young and old.

His birth built bridges between male and female.

His birth built bridges between the earthly shepherds and the heavenly angels.

We won’t have time to talk much about the magi, who likely appeared on the scene a couple years after Jesus was born, but they are evidence that Jesus built bridges between Jews and Gentiles.

Simply by being born, Jesus brought together all these different groups. And as He lived here on earth for the next 33 years, He would continue to build bridges among all those various groups. This morning I want to explore the nature of the love that made that possible and how that kind of love also makes it possible for us to build bridges and love others who may be different than us.

In order to do that, we’re going to look at a passage that is not usually associated with Christmas. It doesn’t describe any of the events surrounding the birth of Jesus. But it does describe is the “why” of Christmas.

1 John 4:7–21 ESV

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. 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. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 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 love because he first loved us. 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. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

It’s really pretty easy to pick out the main idea in this passage:

If I love God, I will love others like God loves me

There is obviously so much to unpack in these verses and we’re only going to be able to scratch the surface, but that is more than enough to leave us with some really practical guidance that will help us to build bridges with God and with others.

You may be asking where Christmas fits into this passage. There is really nothing here about the birth of Jesus. Or is there? Three times in this passage, John writes that God demonstrated His love by sending His Son into the world. Isn’t that exactly what happened when Jesus was born? Each of those three verses tells us something about the gifts we receive as a result of God manifesting His love for us that first Christmas.

God demonstrated His love for me by sending His Son to provide me with:

Life

We see this in verse 9:

1 John 4:9 ESV

In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.

There is a big difference between mere existence and real life. Every human being exists, but not all have life in the sense that John writes about it here. As we have talked about the last three weeks, the presence of Jesus in our lives makes it possible for us to have hope, peace, and joy. That is the kind of life Jesus made possible when He came to earth that first Christmas.

Reconciliation

We see this in verse 10:

1 John 4:10 ESV

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.

I want to call your attention to the word “propitiation” in that verse. Since this word is only found a handful of times in the New Testament, this is a theological term you might not be familiar with. It basically means to placate or appease the wrath of God. Pretty much all religions, both ancient and contemporary, teach that man appeases God by offering gifts or sacrifices. But the Bible is clear that we are incapable of doing anything that would appease God and that therefore the work of propitiation can only be the work of God Himself.

Although it’s not popular today to talk about it, the Bible is clear that God is one day going to pour out His wrath on the unrighteous. And without Jesus, we would all be included in that group. We would be sentenced to an eternity in hell in order to satisfy God’s justice. But when Jesus died on the cross, he satisfied God’s wrath on behalf of those who would trust in Him. Paul explains this idea more fully in his letter to the churches in Rome:

Romans 3:23–25 ESV

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins.

We are justified, or made right with God, only through the blood of Jesus. His death on the cross appeased God’s wrath and made it possible for God to pass over our sin. And without coming to earth and being born as a man, that propitiation could have never taken place and it would be impossible for any of us to have a relationship with a holy God.

Salvation

This third aspect of God’s love is seen in verse 14:

1 John 4:14 ESV

And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

God sent His Son into this world to be our Savior. Only Jesus makes it possible for us to be saved from eternal punishment. As John points out in the verses that follow, God’s love casts out fear because those who have placed their faith in Jesus no longer have to fear eternal punishment.

But the salvation that Jesus provides goes far beyond that future benefit. In the present, He saves us from ourselves - our doubts, our fears, our anxieties, and the chains that result from our sin.

These three ways that Jesus built bridges reveal that...

God loves me:

Unconditionally

As John writes in verse 8, God is love. That is His nature and His character. So His love is not in any way dependent on what I do. God loves us so much that He didn’t wait until we got our acts together before He sent His Son into the world.

We have looked at this verse frequently, but it is one that certainly merits coming back to over and over. In fact, it is a verse that I think every disciple of Jesus ought to memorize to continually remind us of the nature of God’s love.

Romans 5:8 ESV

but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

That may very well be the most amazing verse in the Bible! Do you understand what that is saying? While I was still a sinner, while I was an enemy of God, while I wanted nothing to do with God, He sent His Son to this earth to die on a cross, not because He deserved it, but because He wanted to build bridges between a holy God and sinful men like you and me.

Sacrificially

God’s love for us was costly. It cost Him the life of His Son. Sometimes we are prone to think this was plan B or C or D for God, but the fact is that it was always plan A. This was not some last resort for God, but it was always the way He planned to demonstrate His love for us. Everything in the Old Testament, including the sacrificial system, was to show us that we are completely incapable of appeasing or satisfying God by anything we can do and to point us to Jesus, who would do that on our behalf.

And it’s not like Jesus had to be dragged kicking and screaming to leave the glory of heaven to come to earth and give His life for us. As Jesus told us in His own words, no one took His life. He voluntarily laid it down for us.

John 10:17–18 ESV

For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”

So in this passage, we see how much God loves us. But, as our main idea reveals, that is only part of the message we need to take away today.

If I love God, I will love others like God loves me

In the same way that God’s love for me is manifest by His actions in sending Jesus to this earth that very first Christmas, if I genuinely love God, it will be manifest in the way I love others. John couldn’t have made that point any more clearly than he did in verse 20:

1 John 4:20 ESV

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.

So since that is true, it has some very practical implications for how I am to love others:

Application

Therefore, I must love others:

Unconditionally

My love for others should never be dependent on how they treat me. It should never be dependent on what benefit I am going to get out of that relationship. It should never be dependent on whether that person is of the same race as me or has the same political views I have. I am to love others simply because they have been created by God who loves them and desires for them to have a relationship with Him - period! Anything less isn’t really the kind of love that John is writing about here.

Sacrificially

If I counted correctly the word “love” is used 27 times in this passage. In English, we have just one word for love. And for the most part, that word has come to mean that I like something a lot. So I use the same word when I say “I love pizza” as I use when I say “I love my wife” or even “I love God”. But in Greek, there are a number of different words for love, each of which describe different aspects of love.

Here in this passage, John uses the Greek word “agape” all 27 times that our English translations use the word “love”. That Greek word describes the selfless love that puts the welfare of others ahead of our own. It is a choice much more than it is an emotion.

That means that true “agape” love is almost always going to be costly. it will cost us our time, our energy, our talents and abilities, and our financial resources. It might even cost us our life, just like it did with Jesus.

Action

So far, a lot of what I’ve shared has been rather theoretical. So I want to close with a few suggestions of some practical ways we can love others like God loves us. Obviously this list is far from complete. But hopefully I’ll at least get you to start thinking about how you can apply this message in a practical way. So as I go through the list, I want to encourage you to take some notes that will help you actually implement one or more of these things this week, and maybe even today.

SOME PRACTICAL WAYS TO LOVE OTHERS LIKE GOD LOVES ME

Listen

I’ll take this even a step further. Listen to someone who has a different perspective than you do. Back in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s I owned a deli and during that time I employed a young black man named Rodney. Several years ago we reconnected on Facebook. Rodney and I rarely agreed on issues, especially politics. But I really valued listening to his perspective because he experienced things in his life that I will never face. This week Rodney passed away from complications due to the COVID virus and I am genuinely going to miss his perspective on things.

I want to encourage you to have a real conversation this week with someone who is different than you, maybe someone of a different race or someone who grew up in a broken home, or someone who is struggling with an addiction, or someone who is homeless, or even someone who holds different political ideas. And by a real conversation, I mean one where you really listen to the other person rather than trying to convince them to change their opinions or ideas. Who knows, you might even learn something that will help you love that person better.

Encourage

During this COVID crisis it is easy to find fault with others, especially with those who have had to choose the least bad from among a lot of bad options. And I’ve caught myself falling into that trap at times. But since I know how much I personally appreciate those who have encouraged me when I’ve been in that same position, I’m trying really hard to be an encourager rather than a criticizer.

I want you to think this week about who you can encourage, especially those who have been faced with these difficult decisions. It might be a teacher or a principal, or a small business owner, or a health care worker. For me this week, it was the manager of the gym we go to who just found out that the owners are trying to sell the business and who will likely be out of a job in the near future.

If you will take the time to look, there are people all around you who can use a word of encouragement. All that will cost you is being observant and a bit of your time.

Acts of kindness

The possibilities here are endless. It might be as simple as a kind word. At the other end of the spectrum, it might be a much greater expenditure of time and effort, like helping someone move or helping a neighbor with a home improvement project.

The key here is to be observant so that you can determine what the real needs of the other person are. And then if you have the ability to meet one or more of those needs, just go ahead and do it. As we are reminded in the Proverbs:

Proverbs 3:27 ESV

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to do it.

Be generous

One of the aspects of God’s love is that He is a giver. He has given us the most precious gift of all - His Son. So if we are going to love like He loves, we need to learn to be givers, too.

Obviously that includes our financial resources, but it also means being generous with our time and our talents and abilities.

Right now, there are people all around us who could benefit from our generosity. Those of us who are still working and still receiving a regular paycheck have been blessed greatly and God wants us to use the financial resources he has entrusted to us to benefit others and not just hoard for ourselves.

Again, the list of ways we can do this is endless, but let me share a few suggestions:

If you go to a restaurant, or even order takeout, give a generous tip. Many restaurant employees have been laid off and those who are still working have seen significant cuts in their pay.

Buy a meal for someone else. This could be a homeless person on the street or someone behind you in the drive through. Even better, cook a meal and take it to a shut in.

Donate to a charity, especially those who are providing food and shelter for those in need, like the Gospel Rescue Mission or the Community Food Bank. Or if you don’t have the money to do that, go volunteer for those organizations.

Pray

Most of us are pretty good about praying for the people we like. But I want to specifically encourage you to pray for those who you might not particularly like, for those who have offended you or criticized you or for those who are different from you. In other words, pray for those who you wouldn’t normally pray for. Not surprisingly, that is exactly what Jesus commanded us to do. This verse actually instructs us to also do acts of kindness for our enemies as well as pray for them:

Luke 6:27–28 ESV

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.

Now when you pray for those people, please don’t pray for God to make them miserable or to change their mind so that they will agree with you. The idea is to pray for God to bless them. And I can tell you from personal experience that when you do that, God will begin to change your heart toward the other person. It’s really hard to pray for God to bless someone and still hold animosity in your heart toward him or her.

Inspiration

If I love God, I will love others like God loves me

That first Christmas, Jesus came to build bridges among all kinds of people and groups that had so many differences. This Christmas will you carry on that work by loving those around you, even if they don’t deserve it? If you do that, then you will truly love others like God loves you.