Loving Others (2)

He is Worthy!

A parade of missionaries (3 min).

Let Missions Become Natural

As I was praying and reflecting about our emphasis on missions this year, I thought about “What is it that motivates us towards missions?” We know that we are all partners in the mission of evangelism. We all have seen the Great Commission. We know that if we are in Christ, we are all disciples of Christ and are commanded to be fruitful. We know these things, but few have witnessed to someone who is lost, and few participate in activities that promote missions.

So, we have missions emphasis months and mission’s banquets. These remind us of our Divine call to reach the lost. We see the need and do what we can to meet the need until we get busy with our lives, and we slide back into normalcy. We don’t mean to, it just happens.

The truth is, most Christians are busy with other things: the day-to-day of normal life—jobs, kids, budgets, sports, weather and what’s premiering on Netflix this week. None of this is bad, but the unfortunate reality is that most adults don’t seem to connect their everyday experiences with their faith. Or, at least, they aren’t talking about it if they do. -Roxanne Stone, editor in chief at Barna Group.[1]

I think a heart for missions needs to be more instinctive, more natural. It makes me think about Margaret and the lesson she learned from her cat…

Every day, at exactly the same time, Margaret would go to the bathroom cabinet, open it, and take out a huge bottle of castor oil. Then she would head to the kitchen to get a tablespoon. At the sound of the drawer opening and the silverware rattling, Patches, her Yorkshire terrier, would run and hide—sometimes under the bed, at other times in the bathtub or behind Margaret’s recliner.

Someone had convinced Margaret that Patches would have strong teeth, a beautiful coat, and a long life if she gave him a spoonful of castor oil every day. So, as an act of love every twenty-four hours, she cornered Patches, pinned him down, pried open his mouth, and poured a tablespoon of castor oil down his little doggie throat. Neither Patches nor Margaret enjoyed their daily wrestling match.

Then one day, in the middle of their battle royal, with one sideways kick, Patches sent the dreaded bottle of castor oil flying across the kitchen floor. It was a momentary victory for the canine, as Margaret let him go so she could run to the pantry and grab a towel to clean up the mess. When Margaret got back, she was utterly shocked. There was Patches licking up the spilled castor oil with a look of satisfaction only a dog can make. Margaret began to laugh uncontrollably. In one moment, it all made sense. Patches liked castor oil. He just hated being pinned down and having it poured down his throat.

Welcome to the world of evangelism! —Kevin G. Harney, Seismic Shifts (Zondervan, 2005)[2]

The truth is, I think we like missions. We want to be involved in missions. It’s just that we don’t want to be cornered about it which is why Jesus emphasized love as the ultimate motivation. But we need to understand LOVE.

Loving Others

In the Gospel of John, chapters 13-17 are intense moments when Jesus knows that He needs to give some important instructions to the disciples. There is no way this morning to cover everything He covers but there is an element of instruction that I think is powerfully instructive to the person who isn’t just interested in calendar celebrations of missions but really wants to be missional.

The first thing I want to point out is in the 14th chapter, verses 30-31.

John 14:30–31 NIV

I will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave.

Jesus had just promised the Holy Spirit to the disciples. He warns them about the prince of this world (the devil). And then He says, “Come now, let us leave.” Here is the interesting thing about that phrase.

in normal Greek usage this phrase implied, ‘Let us go to meet the advancing enemy,’ a meaning exactly right for this setting. Jesus has just asserted that ‘the prince of this world is coming’. They now go to engage him. It is a call to arms. ‘The gracious indwelling of God with his people is not an invitation to settle down and forget the rest of the world: it is a summons to mission, for the Lord who dwells with his people is the one who goes before them in the pillar of fire and cloud.’[3]

I didn’t know that. I think it highlights everything that Jesus is saying which makes the next thought that I want to point out that much more powerful. We’ll find it in chapter 15, verse 12.

John 15:9–17 NIV

“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.

I read that and thought about the impartation that Jesus was placing into the lives of the disciples. He knew that what He was asking was nothing small! It was a big ASK, but it would make a tremendous difference.

The Radical Love of Christ is NOT an Emotion, but a Decision

I’m not saying that there isn’t something passionate about loving others. I am just saying that if you are relying on passion to love others, you’re missing your opportunities to love.

Bible college professor Yohanna Katanacho, who pastors a small church in Jerusalem, is subjected to much persecution. Israeli soldiers who patrol the city looking for potential terrorists impose spontaneous curfews on Palestinians and have the legal right to shoot at a Palestinian who does not respond quickly enough to their summons.

Yohanna tried and failed in his attempts to love his enemies. The Israeli soldiers’ random daily checks for Palestinian identification cards—sometimes stopping them for hours—fed Yohanna’s fear and anger. As he confessed his inability to God, Yohanna realized something significant. The radical love of Christ is not an emotion, but a decision. He decided to show love, however reluctantly, by sharing the gospel message with the soldiers on the street. With new resolution, Yohanna began to carry copies of a flyer with him, written in Hebrew and English, with a quotation from Isaiah 53 and the words “Real Love” printed across the top. Every time a soldier stopped him, he handed him his ID card and the flyer. Because the quote came from the Hebrew Scriptures, the soldier usually asked him about it before letting him go.

After several months, Yohanna realized his feelings toward the soldiers had changed. “I was surprised, you know?” he says. “It was a process, but I didn’t pay attention to that process. My older feelings were not there anymore. I would pass in the same street, see the same soldiers as before, but now find myself praying, ‘Lord, let them stop me so that I can share with them the love of Christ.’ ”—“When Love Is Impossible,” Trinity Magazine (Fall 2005)

Misunderstanding radical love is a reason why we don’t show love to others. Yohanna felt loving his enemies would come naturally. Instead, it came through intentionality. Christians need to stop expecting ‘sugar plums and fairies’; or, as Rocky put it, ‘life isn’t always sunshine and rainbows’. Loving others may be sacrificing to coach the kids’ teams, staying late to clean up, offering your home for a community group, teaching a children’s class at church, or going to a nation where you’ve never been. It is going to cost you. It is going to be uncomfortable. It is going to be demanding. That is radical love.

Love is So Much More than Passion

Paul’s summation of love never even touches on the idea of passion.

1 Corinthians 13:4–8 NIV

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

This description of love is powerful…and evangelistic. It is the missional mindset. “Our love for others should be a reflection of Christ’s self-giving, sacrificial love that was to take him to the cross at Calvary; a love that didn’t count the cost; a love that reached out to the undeserving; a love that did everything necessary to bring the greatest blessing possible to rebels.” [4]

I needed to hear from God before accepting the position as a pastor. He confirmed it and I became the pastor here. I remember asking Cindy’s uncle about how he knew that being the pastor of Glad Tidings Assembly of God on Bingle would be his life-long calling. He said to me that he didn’t. The opportunity was there, and he took it. I don’t think that either of us were wrong. I just believe that the Lord set up opportunities to love others.

Les and Leslie Parrott offer this advice about marriage…

“Too many people miss the silver lining because they’re expecting gold” – Maurice Seitter

Too many people are missing opportunities to be involved in missions because they are waiting to be struck by divine lightning that will enable them to be impassioned for the lost. Yes, we need to reach the world, but we also need to reach our neighbors, and our own families. We can do this through love.

Ways to show love to others:

1. Show God’s Love by Listening

2. Show God’s Love with Generosity

3. Show God’s Love by Praying for Others

4. Show God’s Love by Encouraging

5. Show God’s Love with Acts of Kindness

Because ‘He is Worthy’ – Love Others

At the heart of missions is the Lord’s command, “Love one another”. Without a heart to love another, the work of missions is dead. The kind of love Christ calls us to is a sacrificial, selfless, awkward, uncomfortable, authentic love. It is a love that is not only transformative in our hearts, but it is a love that changes entire people groups.[5]

How can we demonstrate love? Let me show you a few…

1. Loving God

2. Loving people

3. Being a normal human

4. Being humble & teachable

5. Pointing people to Jesus

6. Being present

7. Knowing your mission/purpose

8. Being aware of the enemy’s tactics

9. Being faithful & ethical

10. Being you, wherever you are

Pray

In an article in Live/Dead and Assemblies of God missionary writes this strong letter:

The American church has lost its focus; it’s distracted from this mandate. Many churches have become ritualistic, boring, and irrelevant, speaking comforting words to themselves, enjoying the company of those like themselves, loathing the stench of the world, and thanking God that they are not like those in the world.

Other churches have become concerned about diversity, social justice, and relevancy. They take up social causes, equating their efforts to the love and work of Jesus, purposely avoiding any mention of the judgment of the Lord. “I’m OK; you’re OK” is the norm in these churches.

Still other churches have become emotionally and sensory dependent. The words are comforting and alluring, the building is lavish, the temperature is controlled, the music is loud (earplugs are handed out in the sanctuary), the smoke is happening, the café rivals Starbucks, the jeans are tight on the women leading worship, and the youth are focused on being hip. Look at the current world’s culture and you see much of the culture exhibited in these churches.

Few churches mimic the church at Philadelphia portrayed in Revelation. The congregants abide in and worship Jesus, and the gospel is uncompromisingly and unashamedly preached. The people are built up to “go” out and transform their community and world. There is emphasis on praying, sending, giving, and going to reach the unreached peoples of the world who have little, if any, access to the gospel. Tithes and offerings are given primarily for reaching the lost as opposed to the comfort of the congregation. These churches follow the biblical directive: “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2).

[1] https://www.barna.com/research/sharing-faith-increasingly-optional-christians/ [2]Craig Brian Larson and Phyllis Ten Elshof, 1001 Illustrations That Connect (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 2008), 59–60. [3]Bruce Milne, The Message of John: Here Is Your King!: With Study Guide, The Bible Speaks Today (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), 219. [4]Andrew Paterson, Opening Up John’s Gospel, Opening Up Commentary (Leominster: Day One Publications, 2010), 132–133. [5] https://www.glocalmission.org/post/why-loving-your-neighbor-embraces-the-heartbeat-of-missions