Where is the Love?
Notes
Transcript
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another. 14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” 15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
FROM THIS PASSAGE OF TEXT I’D LIKE TO USE THE SUBJECT...
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
THERE WAS A HIT SONG BACK IN THE EARLY 70’S......IN 1972 TO BE EXACT .....PERFORMED BY ROBERTA FLACK AND DONNY HATHAWAY....TITLED.....”WHERE IS THE LOVE?”
IN THIS SONG, FLACK AND HATHAWAY SING ABOUT A RELATIONSHIP THAT’S JUST NOT WORKING OUT.
IT'S A CLASSIC CASE OF GIRL LEAVES BOYFRIEND, TELLS ANOTHER GUY SHE WILL LOVE HIM, THEN GOES BACK TO HER ORIGINAL BOYFRIEND, LEAVING DONNY AND ROBERTA TO ASK, "WHERE IS THE LOVE?"
UNLIKE MOST MALE/FEMALE DUETS, THEY AREN'T SINGING TO EACH OTHER, BUT ARE BOTH TAKING THE ROLE OF THE PERSON WHO IS ON THE SHORT END OF THE RELATIONSHIP.
IN OTHER WORDS, THEY BOTH WERE VICTIMS TO THE LOSS OF LOVE......
MANY OF US....IF NOT ALL OF US.... HAVE BEEN IN A SIMILAR SITUATION....WHERE A ROMANTIC LOVE DID NOT GO THE WAY WE WANTED IT TO GO.......
AND WE ENDED UP WITH A BROKEN HEART......
IN OUR TEXT THIS MORNING BROTHER PAUL IS TALKING ABOUT A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOVE.......NOT THE EROS-ROMANTIC OR SEXUAL LOVE.....THAT FLACK AND HATHAWAY WERE TALKING ABOUT....
THE APOSTLE PAUL WAS ADDRESSING THE GALATIANS ABOUT LOVING ONE ANOTHER IN A SOCIAL OR MORAL SENSE..... FROM THE GREEK VERB A GA PAY O....
WHICH MEANS TO THINK OF ANOTHER’S WELFARE OR WELL-BEING...... TO WELCOME....TO WISH WELL TO ....
IN OTHER WORDS.....YOU WANT TO DO RIGHT BY THAT PERSON....AND TREAT THEM WELL.
YOU SHOULD TREAT THAT PERSON AS YOU WANT TO BE TREATED......
PAUL USED A PROFOUND EXPRESSION OF THE KIND OF LOVE THAT WE ARE TO HAVE .......BY SAYING....
Galatians 5:13 (NRSV)
..... but through love become slaves to one another.
AND TO MAKE THINGS PERFECTLY CLEAR ON HOW WE ARE TO LOVE....HE SAYS.....
14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
YES MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS.....WE ARE TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS WE LOVE OURSELVES.
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
IT IS IN THIS PERICOPE THAT PAUL IS ADDRESSING GALATIAN CHURCH AND THE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM..... FREEDOM OF A CHRISTIAN IS ROOTED IN ONES ABILITY TO LOVE ONE ANOTHER.....
NOW I KNOW ON THIS 4TH OF JULY.....WE HEAR A LOT ABOUT THE WORD FREEDOM........WHAT IT MEANS TO HAVE FREEDOM…THAT THIS NATION RECEIVED IT’S FREEDOM FROM BRITAIN…...OR THE NATURE OF BEING FREE.......
FREEDOM IS A WORD THAT YOU MAY HEAR A LOT TODAY.....
BUT LET US BE REMINDED THAT EVEN THOUGH THIS NATION GAINED IT’S FREEDOM FROM BRITAIN ON THIS DAY....BACK IN 1776........
IT WASN’T UNTIL JUNE 19TH OF 1865.....THAT ENSLAVED AFRICAN AMERICANS.....WERE EMANCIPATED FROM SLAVERY.
AND IF TRUTH BE TOLD....BLACK AND BROWN PEOPLE STILL DO NOT HAVE THE FREEDOM THAT THE CONSTITUTION CLAIMS THAT ALL MEN AND WOMEN HAVE.....
JUNETEENTH COMMEMORATES THE END OF SLAVERY IN THE U.S. ON JUNE 19, 1865, ABOUT 2,000 UNION TROOPS ARRIVED IN GALVESTON, TEXAS TO ANNOUNCE THAT MORE THAN 250,000 ENSLAVED BLACK PEOPLE IN THE STATE WERE FREE BY EXECUTIVE DECREE. THE MESSAGE CAME MORE THAN TWO YEARS AFTER PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN ISSUED THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION.
ON JULY 5TH 1852 ....ABOLITIONIST FREDERICK DOUGLASS GAVE A KEYNOTE ADDRESS IN ROCHESTER NY .....
IN HIS SPEECH, DOUGLASS ALSO CHALLENGED THE HYPOCRISY OF INDEPENDENCE DAY BY ASKING "WHAT TO THE SLAVE IS THE FOURTH OF JULY?
HE ALSO STATED "WHAT, TO THE AMERICAN SLAVE, IS YOUR 4TH OF JULY? I ANSWER; A DAY THAT REVEALS TO HIM, MORE THAN ALL OTHER DAYS IN THE YEAR, THE GROSS INJUSTICE AND CRUELTY TO WHICH HE IS THE CONSTANT VICTIM."
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
I BELIEVE THAT THIS YEAR THE 4TH OF JULY IS LOOKED AT DIFFERENTLY BY MANY AFRICAN AMERICANS....ESPECIALLY WITH JUNETEENTH BEING MADE A FEDERAL HOLIDAY.
I DON’T KNOW ABOUT YOU AND YOUR HOUSE.....
BUT.....JUNETEENTH IN MY FAMILY IS MORE LIKE THE FOURTH OF JULY.
WE DO RECOGNIZE THE FOURTH OF JULY, BUT WE HAVE MORE OF A CONNECTION WITH THE EMANCIPATION
PROCLAMATION AND JUNETEENTH CELEBRATION......
I BELIEVE MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT THE APOSTLE PAUL GAVE US A PRESCRIPTION ON HOW WE ARE TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS....
NOT JUST OUR CHRISTIAN NEIGHBORS.....BUT OUR NON-BELIEVING NEIGHBORS......
OUR MUSLIM NEIGHBORS...... OUR JEWISH NEIGHBORS
........OUR NEIGHBORS THAT PARK IN FRONT OF OUR MAILBOX........
OUR NEIGHBOR THAT CUTS THE GRASS OVER ON OUR PROPERTY AND SCALPS IT.......
OUR NEIGHBOR WHO MAY NOT SPEAK WHEN WE SPEAK TO THEM......
AND WHEN WE DO A THAT MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS......I BELIEVE THAT WE WILL EXPERIENCE THE NATURE OF CHRISTIAN FREEDOM THAT PAUL TALKS ABOUT.
BUT PAUL ISN’T THE FIRST ONE TO TELL US THAT WE ARE TO LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES.....
MOSES PENNED THE WORDS IN LEVITICUS.
18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against any of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.
Jesus also told us.....in Matthew 22:39
Matthew 22:39 (NRSV)
39 ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
By quoting Lev 19:18, Paul shows that the law itself upholds love as the main goal of law keeping.
If truth be told my Brothers and Sisters......
I believe that the lack of love in our nation.....for one another.......for Black and Brown lives.......by the police..... between the different races and religions......and even between Christian brothers and sisters.......is why we have so many issues in our nation today.......
Where is the Love?
Let’s look at what Brother Paul tells us we ought to do…
He lets us know in the first verse of this chapter...
1 For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.
PAUL STATED HERE HOW YOU NEED TO BE CERTAIN TO MAINTAIN YOUR FREEDOM.
SPIRITUALLY SPEAKING, YOU FOUGHT HARD TO GET WHERE YOU ARE.
YOU MAY HAVE SACRIFICED FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO FOLLOW CHRIST.
AND MAYBE YOU ENDURED CRITICISM FOR YOUR FAITH.
YOU SPENT HOURS OF DEVOTION IN LEARNING THE BIBLE AND THE WAYS OF GOD.
13 For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters; only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for self-indulgence, but through love become slaves to one another.
WHEN PAUL SPOKE TO THE GALATIAN BELIEVERS ABOUT BEING “CALLED TO FREEDOM” (V. 13), HE MEANT THAT THEY WERE PRESENTLY WALKING IN FREEDOM.
HE THEN CAUTIONED, “DO NOT USE FREEDOM AS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE FLESH” (V. 13).
WHEN WE ARE WALKING IN FREEDOM WE CAN TAKE IT FOR GRANTED, FAILING TO REMEMBER OUR PAST.
WE CAN FORGET HOW WE WERE ONCE HELD IN BONDAGE - WHETHER SPIRITUALLY, OR AS A PEOPLE - AND FORGET THE GREAT PRICE THAT WAS PAID FOR OUR FREEDOM.
WE CAN ALSO FORGET OUR ORIGINAL OR FOUNDING VALUES, AND FAIL TO REMEMBER OUR MORAL BOUNDARIES.
AT THIS POINT WE WILL BEGIN WALKING IN THE FLESH, SERVING ITS PASSIONS AND DESIRES, AND STEPPING ON PEOPLE WHO GET IN OUR WAY AND DOING ONLY WHAT WE WANT TO DO, NOT CARING WHAT OTHER PEOPLE THINK, OR HOW THEY FEEL, OR WHO WE HURT.
TO THIS PAUL ANSWERED, “THROUGH LOVE SERVE ONE ANOTHER” (V. 13).
LOVE IS JUST THE OPPOSITE OF SERVING ONESELF; AND ONE MAJOR KEY IN SUSTAINING A COUNTRY IS SERVING OTHERS BEFORE SELF.
CHRISTIANS, WE ARE CALLED TO BE FREE; BUT NOT TO DO WHATEVER WE WANT TO DO.
YOUR FREEDOM IN CHRIST IS NOT A LICENSE TO SIN.
YOUR FREEDOM IN CHRIST IS SHOWN THROUGH SERVING OTHERS HUMBLY IN LOVE.
SO THAT MEANS....WHEN YOUR NEIGHBOR DOES YOUR WRONG.....YOUR FREEDOM IN CHRIST ....DOESN’T GIVE YOU THE FREEDOM TO CUSS THEM OUT......
WHEN YOUR DRIVING IN A PARKING LOT TRYING TO FIND A SPACE TO PARK....AND SOMEONE CUTS YOU OFF AND TAKES YOUR SPOT......DOESN’T GIVE YOU THE FREEDOM TO GIVE THEM THE FINGER....
CAN I GET AN AMEN?
BUT THEN LOOK AT WHAT PAUL SAYS NEXT....
14 For the whole law is summed up in a single commandment, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
IN VERSE 14 PAUL SAID THE ENTIRE LAW IS FULFILLED IN LOVE.
IN
MATTHEW 22:37-40
, JESUS SAID, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND. THIS IS THE FIRST AND GREAT COMMANDMENT. AND THE SECOND IS LIKE IT: YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF. ON THESE TWO COMMANDMENTS HANG ALL THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS.”
IF YOU LOVE THEN THERE WILL BE LESS CHANCE OF BREAKING ANY LAWS....
......AND LESS CHANCE THAT YOU WILL HARM OR TRESPASS AGAINST ANOTHER HUMAN BEING.
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
THE BIBLE TELLS US ......
IN.....
24 Do not seek your own advantage, but that of the other.
1 Let mutual love continue. 2 Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing that some have entertained angels without knowing it.
3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility regard others as better than yourselves.
34 I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.
BY LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES, CHRIST HAS MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR US TO FAIL BECAUSE WE ARE VERY GOOD AT TAKING CARE OF OURSELVES.
WE WANT WHAT IS BEST FOR US AND BY MAKING OUR OWN SELVES AS THE BENCHMARK OF HOW WE SHOULD LOVE OTHERS, CHRIST HAS SHOWN US HOW TO TRULY LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR.
MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS...ANOTHER IMPORTANT TEACHING IN LOVING OUR NEIGHBOR AS OURSELVES .......
IS THAT WE REALIZE THAT WE SHOULD NOT WAIT FOR WHEN WE FEEL LOVED BEFORE WE START TO LOVE OTHERS.
WE DO NOT HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL WE FEEL THAT WE HAVE A SURPLUS OF SELF-LOVE BEFORE WE GIVE IT AWAY TO OUR NEIGHBORS.
THE COMMANDMENT MADE IT PERFECTLY CLEAR: LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR EXACTLY AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF. NO MORE AND NO LESS.
JESUS FIRST TEACHES US THAT THE GREATEST OF ALL COMMANDMENTS IS TO LOVE GOD WITH OUR WHOLE BEING BECAUSE GOD IS THE FOUNDATION OF LOVE.
IT IS ONLY BY LOVING GOD THAT WE TRULY LEARN HOW TO LOVE. RIGHT AWAY CHRIST FOLLOWS IT UP WITH LOVING YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF BECAUSE ONCE WE PUT GOD AT THE CENTER OF OUR LOVE, WE LEARN HOW IT IS TO GENUINELY DO THE SAME FOR OUR NEIGHBORS.
CAN YOU SAY TODAY THAT YOU LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR LIKE YOU LOVE YOURSELF?
HOW CAN WE SAY THAT WE LOVE GOD IF WE DON’T LOVE OUR NEIGHBOR?
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
In verse 15.....
Paul says.....
15 If, however, you bite and devour one another, take care that you are not consumed by one another.
PAUL USES VIVID IMAGERY.....OF WILD ANIMALS IN A DEADLY FIGHT......ATTACKING AND BITING ONE ANOTHER .........TO WARN THE GALATIANS THAT ATTACKING ONE ANOTHER ULTIMATELY WILL DESTROY THEIR COMMUNITY.
ALTHOUGH PAUL WAS SPEAKING METAPHORICALLY....AND THE GALATIANS WOULDN’T REALLY BITE ONE ANOTHER.......HE WANTED TO GET HIS POINT ACROSS.......
THE WORD ....”BITE” IN THIS VERSE.....CAN MEAN TO ABUSE.....OR TO CRITICIZE ONE ANOTHER......
IN OTHER WORDS.....WHAT PAUL WAS TRYING TO TELL THE GALATIANS.....AND REMIND US ALL TODAY IS THAT WE SHOULDN’T BE FIGHTING WITHIN OUR OWN COMMUNITY.....
WE SHOULDN’T BE DOING ONE ANOTHER WRONG IN OUR OWN CHURCH.......
BACKBITING......FIGHTING.....GOSSIPING.....JUDGING WITHIN OUR OWN CHURCH.....
SAYING THAT YOU LOVE THE LORD.......THAT YOU WANT TO SERVE........
BUT THEN YOU DON’T WANT TO ACT RIGHT IN THE CHOIR......
COMPLAINING IF YOU ARE ASKED TO SERVE ON A MINISTRY.....
YOU WANT YOUR BLESSING FROM GOD......BUT YOU DON’T WANT TO SERVE........
NO WE SHOULD NOT BE DOING THAT......
HOW CAN WE LEAVE THE FOUR WALLS OF THE CHURCH AND GO OUT AND LOVE OUR NEIGHBORS..
.....IF WE CAN’T EVEN LOVE OUR OWN CHURCH FAMILY?
WHERE IS THE LOVE?
I’M ABOUT TO CLOSE FBC......BUT LET ME POSE THESE QUESTIONS FOR YOU......AND CHALLENGE YOU THIS MORNING?
HAVE YOU TALKED BEHIND SOMEONE’S BACK?
HAVE YOU FOCUSED ON ANOTHER’S SHORTCOMINGS INSTEAD OF THEIR STRENGTHS?
REMIND YOURSELF OF JESUS’ COMMAND TO LOVE OTHERS AS YOU LOVE YOURSELF (MATTHEW 22:39).
WHEN YOU BEGIN TO FEEL CRITICAL OF SOMEONE, PRAY FOR THAT PERSON AND MAKE A LIST THEIR POSITIVE QUALITIES.
IF THERE ARE PROBLEMS THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED, IT IS BETTER TO CONFRONT IN LOVE THAN TO GOSSIP.
A PERSON CANNOT LOVE ANOTHER AS HIMSELF OR HERSELF.......WITHOUT PUTTING RESTRICTIONS ON HIS OR HER ACTIONS... FOR LOVE DOES NOT HARM ANOTHER PERSON.
ON THIS 4TH OF JULY.....A GOOD THOUGHT TO REMEMBER IS THAT.......” TRUE FREEDOM IS NEVER THE RIGHT TO DO WHAT WE PLEASE.”
.......BUT TO BE PLEASED TO DO WHAT IS RIGHT IN THE LORD.
WHERE IS THE LOVE?