A Perfect Sequel

Sometimes it’s tough to get back into the swing of things after a major holiday

Picking up after Easter can be one of those times—”top that!”

The single greatest act of love: the Father sending His Son; the Son dying to pay the cost of others’ sin

After our celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus, this the perfect text to preach

The death and resurrection was the perfect setup for this morning’s text

Review

Overall context: relates to behavior between believers

Some spillover into the rest of the population—loving our neighbor as ourselves

…we will explore some of that in application

Backing up to v. 11

The old message of love from

English Standard Version Chapter 3

that we should love one another

The self-sacrificing, God-like love

The antithesis of love—the example of Cain’s hatred

Pattern

The example of Jesus

He laid down His life for us

He had the means…was the only means to bring us salvation

Luke 24:26 (ESV)

Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things..?

The words of Jesus in Jn 15 13

John 15:13 ESV

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

This becomes the PRINCIPLE by which we should live

Principle

We ought to lay down our lives for others

There is an implied obligation here

It is not expressed this way; but could be taken this way: Since He laid down His life, we should lay down our lives

It is the proof of our having a Christ-like love

Practice

In the early days of the church, it was not uncommon; in the reformation it was again; many atrocities inflicted by many groups; some are still today killed and oppressed

However, in the greater scheme of things, not many believers have been called to give up their physical bodies…their lives

We may, however be called to give up some of our physical possessions—material goods—to help others

We use the means we possess to help our brothers in need

Otherwise, we are closing our hearts to them

If we do not open our hearts, we must ask, “does God’s love truly abide in us?”

Practical Application

Application within the Church

How do we exhibit the self-sacrificing love among believers?

We may wish to review the characteristics of love from 1 Cor. 13 before going any further

It is/does:

...patient, kind, rejoices in truth, bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things

It is not/does not:

...rejoice in wrongdoing, envy or boast, is not arrogant or rude, does not insist on its own way, irritable or resentful (NIV, keep a record of wrongs)

Always keep them plugged into the back of our heads

We have to first deal with the needs of others versus the needs of self—not closing our heart against our brothers/sisters for personal needs

Sometimes needs may be physical, and we have the resources to assist

Solution may not be to throw money at the problem…sometimes it may be

We may need to address it personally and privately, or marshal the resources from other sources—we have a deacon fund to help out with these things as appropriate

Some cautions in order

Keep it private, as confidential as possible

If possible, make it an unknown manner of assistance

The caution is that this may result in enabling…In this case, counselling may be in order

It may be that you have a skill-set, tool, item that is needed

…maybe as a loan, maybe as a gift

One church had a couple mechanics, and a bunch of single moms with rattle-trap cars

A church youth group washing windows for an elderly woman with mobility issues

Mowing lawns

Loaning <gasp> power tools! …maybe the better thing is helping with the project

Possibilities are endless

Once again, caution on enabling behavior: we should be dependent on God; but we should be responsible in our behavior to NOT be a burden to the rest of the body (Northville’s chronic no oil, no food…)

Application outside the Church

We are to love our neighbors as ourselves, distilled from a couple accounts in the Gospels

Micah 6:8 ESV

He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?

We’ll skip through that from the end to the beginning

“Walk humbly with your God”

Only if he is truly OUR God can we really get this right

Many will do altruistic works…but they are of no eternal value

Only with a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ is the one true God OUR GOD

“Love kindness”

We have the example of the Good Samaritan, the inherent warning about being as the religious snobs

“Seek justice”—there is only justice mentioned; no need for any adjectives: no need to parse out differences. e.g.social, economic, environmental, racial…whatever

If there is no justice, there is no love

We must be just in all our dealings—which relies on absolute adherence to Scripture

Love can be Costly

Our love of others reflects our love of God

It’s an extension of our WORSHIP—placing value on God, assigning Him worth

When we look at the matter with that in mind, Rom 12 1-2 come to mind

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

If we should be presenting our bodies, anything short of that is really a pretty reasonable offering, is it not?

When we examine ourselves, let us do so according to the standard of

1 John 3:18 ESV

Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Let’s not talk about loving each other; but do acts which show that we love each other…even when they cost us…or take us out of our comfort zone