Show Me Some Love
Show Me Some Love
Video Clip
What is love?
Songs ask “What is love?”
“Love Stinks”, “Love is a verb”, ask all kinds of ques. About love.
We use the word love in a lot of different ways
“I love cherry pie” “I love walking in the park” “I love dancing the Funky Chicken”
“I love being with my friends” “Man, I love my brother!”
“I love you, man!” “I love my wife” “I love, God” “Jesus loves you”
The word love can have a lot different meanings, depending on how we use it. Many people have turned to the Greek language to help define different types of love. Where we have the one word, “love”, ancient Greek actually has three different words. Each word is generally used for different situations.
Philia: means “friendship”. Love for family, friends, community. Loyalty you feel for people close to you.
Eros: passionate love or romantic love...desire and longing for another person or an appreciation of their beauty. Very physical & emotional kind of love. Personally, I think that this is what most of us today think of when we think about loving another person. Guys in the clip looking for this kind of love. We think about something we desire...something we like and appreciate, and want to be close to. Love focused on something we feel deep down; something we get from the other person.
Agape: refers to commitment to another person. More logical kind of love where you choose to care for another person...regardless of how you feel or how they act. Historical understanding of what Agape means is mostly taken from studying how it is used in the bible. Writers of the New Testament used Agape to describe God and His love for mankind. When Jesus says, “Love the lord you God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind, the writer used the word Agape. Paul, when he wrote 1 Corinthians used Agape to describe love as patient, kind, not proud or boastful or self-seeking. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres. Defined Agape love! Agape more about what you can do for the other person than what you get from them. Eros is more about what’s in it for me.
So this is the kind of love that sees past all the bad stuff we’ve done and says, “I care about you, I trust you, I’m on your side not matter what.”
Agape is the love God has for us that’s described in Romans 5:8 - ”But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”- Jesus sacrifices himself for us even though we didn’t deserve it..
It’s really important to understand this concept of love when talking about God. We say things around here like, “God loves you” or “Jesus loves you”. In a culture where “Eros” love is what we tend to think about when you hear that someone loves someone, those statements can lead down some weird paths…
-whoa-God loves me? What does God want from a relationship with me?
No...God “Agape” loves you...He’s committed to you and your well-being. He wants the best for you, He’s lookin’ out for you, He’s on your side and He’s trusting in you. Jesus, loves you,m an!
This is really the same concept I shared with you a couple of weeks ago when I talked about loving yourself based on a self-image that comes from what God sees in you. It’s God’s Agape love for us that allows us to love ourselves.
It’s the same thing Willie talked about last week when he shared how we should give God our all when we worship Him...We commit ourselves to Him...give Him our Agape loves.
Today I want to have us consider how do we help the world around us et this concept of God’s love in their lives? How do we help them to understand the way God loves them Just as may live has been changed by knowing the Agape love of God, I want everyone around me to experience the same thing. This is a main reason this church exists. We want to be people who help others to experience the true love of God in their lives. That is our mission here.
Our mission is really to continue the mission Jesus had while he was one the earth. That mission is summarized in a verse in John 3:17– main focus for today-”For God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him.”
What did he come for? What did he not come for?
Despite all we’ve done wrong...Jesus did not come to condemn us. What does that look like as we try to carry on that mission today?
This is a question I often ask myself. How do I go about practically helping people be saved through Jesus? How did he not condemn others?
We can take some lessons from how he interacted with others.
Couple of passages to look at.
Luke 5:29-32...spent time with sinners Spent time with people living excessive lifestyles. Didn’t come for those who had their lives all together...He came for those who needed Him. . Jesus called a drunkard and a glutton for spending time with them Didn’t go to join them, but to save them from the ways they were hurting themselves..
...Pharisees were condemning.pointing finger Jesus was saving.
Life would be peaceful if just spent it with “good” people (though really can’t totally escape problems with people). But our lives would b e spent doing nothing for God.
Need to spend time with people doing bad stuff, so they will learn of God’s love in their lives.
-be aware of own tendencies. Alcoholic avoid other alcoholics.
-people living all kinds of excessive lifestyles. Alcohol, drugs, money, sexual behavior. All need
John 4-story of Jesus’ encounter with a Samaritan woman. He sat down at a well-Jacob’s well for a rest. Woman comes to draw water from the well. Jesus asks for a drink...read v 9-
pointed out her sin...but didn’t condemn her. Continued to talk to her. Offered living water.
-point out relationship with Samaritans. Meant something that he even talked to her.
Woman shunned by others...time of day
-girl in Cannon Falls feeling shunned.
-Anna Nicole Smith nobody around her.
drunks/drug users.
-poor & destitute
Follow up on Samaritan woman story:
1 She was an outcast. Jesus took time for her.
1. Anna Nicole Smith 2. 13 year old girl
2. Jesus pointed out sin after gaining respect
-don’t care what you know until know that you care.
People need good Christians to come along and just be their friend so that they can see that they, too have reason to hope and feel worthy. They, too will experience God’s Agape love.
Luke 6:32-36 love enemies.
This may be one of the hardest parts of really following Jesus’ example to not condemn the world. If someone hurts us—they lie to us , steal from us, hate us for who we are, how do we want to respond to them? Other people may even back us up and say that they deserve our anger.
What does Jesus say to do though? Love them.
Don’t condemn them...realize thye are missing God’s presence in their live.s-whether they are Christiathemselves or not...we all have areas where we fall short.
It may take time to rebuild trust, but we need to be careful not to condemn them for the mistakes they make. Careful not to treat them as enemies but love them despite their actions. Realize they either haven’t gotten it yet or still growing.
“Your love”-use words from song in transition
Closing...summary
Amazing love...World is in need of God’s love right outside our doors here. People need people like you and me to help them see God’s love. (use words from songs) It wont’ be easy. It will take putting up with behaviors that you know are wrong/destructive. It will take forgiving people that everyone else says deserves to be punished. You will be accused of associating with the wrong kind of people...That’s OK. Need each other...just one of the reasons we emphasize being involved in a small group. You’ll need the love &support of good friends . You’ll know that you may be the only source of true love...God’s Agape love they’ve ever known. You’ll know that once they receive that love...accept Jesus, then everything else will begin to change by the poswe of the holy spirit.
Jesus said whoever gives up family and friends for Himwill not fail to receive 1000 time as much. God will bless out efforts to show his Agape love to the world around us. Will receive the blessing of seeing someone’s life changed be Jesus!