Love Is... Intentional

Recap of The Week

God’s Love = Good - Life

Worlds Love = Terrrible - Death

We Need to Love Others

We need God’s love - Humility

I want to bring out our main text of the evening

1 John 3:16–18 ESV

By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

We have talked about love all week. We know that our example of Love comes from Jesus himself after he laid his life down for others. That’s the kind of love that we are called too.

You might be thinking “Tim - you sound like a broken record” I get it, but you have to understand that love is something so important to the way that we live and operate and from literally birth we are taught in a way that is not healthy. Even in Christian homes, sometimes the mark is missed. I can’t tell you how many things God had shown me through personal study in my bible that I didn’t learn in Sunday School or in my own house. Not that I am any better, I’m not and I know I am still missing stuff. I’m just saying that It’s good to have this stuff talked about a lot.

Jesus spoke in parables a lot. A Parable is a simple story used to teach and show a moral principle. Today’s parable is found in Luke 10, I have it up on the screen for you, it’s a story so buckle up

Luke 10:25–37 ESV

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 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.” And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 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. Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 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. 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.’ Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”

So, let’s unpack this for a moment. There was a guy talking to Jesus, and he asked Jesus how he could gain eternal life. Jesus then asks him what scrpiture says, so he quotes the commandment that we have all been talking about this week. Love God, love others. More specifically, love your neighbor. So then this guy, asks “well who is my neighbor.”.

Jesus then goes on to tell the story of a man that was beaten and left to die. This man was beaten, stripped naked, and left to die.

A rabbi walks by... nothing

A Levite walks by … nothing

A Samaritan walks by and something amazing happens. The Samaritan bounds this guys wounds up and takes him somewhere where he can get the care that he needs.

He used his meds, he used his donkey and he used his money to get that guy the help he needed.

I just want to make a few points here based on this passage.

Jesus made you “Good Enough”

When we see people around us that need help when we have “the worlds goods” and we feel like we might should help them I’ve seen a lot of people not because they say things like - “i’m a mess, I can’t help anyone else who is a mess”

Culturally, the Jews were racist agains the Samaritans. People of that time thought that the Samaritan was a “less than”. By Jesus telling this story to a Jewish person he was saying a lot of things but something I think we need to remember is that the power of Jesus enables us all to serve and love everybody regardless of our status. You can help the bully, you can help and love on the popular kid. If God is providing an open door for that then you should run through it.

You don’t need to go looking for people to help.

I think we all get wrapped up with leaving camp or a conference like this and we search out people to go and help. We’ll like try and invent the next homeless shelter or something. I want to encourage you. If that is what God is laying on your heart right now. You need to go do that and only that. You need to prayerfully consider how God is working in your life and make that dream God has given you a reality.

But sometimes, we go home and are presented with a need and we don’t want to fill that need because it doesn’t seem needy enough. God has placed you, his child at the foot of that need. If God is asking you to love someone well, it’s a big need.

You’ll see stuff & get messy

The man was stripped - naked

The man was covered in blood

Scooter story

Jesus described a situation where this man went and bound up his wounds and placed him on a donkey. You can’t do that without getting a little blood on your fingers.

Expect to see things that may shock you - dont be supprised. Expect to be heart broken

Expect to get messy. Both in your life and actually covered in maggots.

It will cost you your stuff

The wine and oil that the man used here did not fall out of the tree that the man had laid down by. It was his.

It might cost you the gas in your car because you pick someone up from church. It might cost you your summer because you gave up your time to be at staff at camp. It might cost you your college fund because you felt called beyond a shadow of a doubt to give that fund to a missionary so that they could start a church.

I had a youth pastor that used to go out of his way to let people borrow his stuff. I remember him telling me that he loaned his suburban out to someone and I thought “him? you’re not getting it back” I asked him if he was worried wether or not he was going to get it back. He said - no, it’s God’s anyways.

Your stuff is God’s anyways. Give it back when you are called to.

It will cost you your money

It will cost you your time

Don’t be discouraged by others not helping

Intentional Love Impacts Lives.