One of the things I find most challenging about preaching is the amount of time I’m given. I remember one Sunday I was set to preach on the love of God, but my time was cut to 15 minutes because of some special programs we had going on, and I remember thinking “How am I going to speak on a topic as deep as the Love of God in only 15 minutes.” The irony is that now I I try to do this every week on air with you. There is always more that can be said.The Monk, The Candle, & the Crucifix-- But some ...
One of the things I find most challenging about preaching is the amount of time I’m given. I remember one Sunday I was set to preach on the love of God, but my time was cut to 15 minutes because of some special programs we had going on, and I remember thinking “How am I going to speak on a topic as deep as the Love of God in only 15 minutes.” The irony is that now I I try to do this every week on air with you. There is always more that can be said.
The Monk, The Candle, & the Crucifix-- But some time ago I read a story of [A certain medieval monk {who} announced he would be preaching {the} next Sunday evening on "The Love of God." As the shadows fell and the light ceased to come in through the cathedral windows, the congregation gathered. In the darkness of the altar, the monk lighted a candle and carried it to the crucifix. First of all, he illumined the crown of thorns, next, the two wounded hands, then the marks of the spear wound. In the hush that fell, he blew out the candle and left the chancel. There was nothing else to say.]
Today, as we move towards our remembrance of the death of Christ during Passion Week, I would like to talk briefly about the subject of love, which is so central to the Passion narrative leading up to Easter. And I would like to talk about three different aspects of love that (if we understand them) can forever change all our relationship with God and with each other, making them full and rich.
POINT 1: LOVE PROTECTED/WITHHELD IS LOVE LOST— And the first of these is revealed in: 1 John 3:16-18 (ESV)— 16 By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 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? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Michael W. Smith: “Love isn’t love until you give it away”— One of my favorite artists (has been for many years) is Michael W. Smith. And one of his oldest yet most powerful songs is a song called “Give It Away”; because it talks about one of the most fundamental aspects of love that can so often be overlooked. Love is not truly love until you give it away. He sings:
She asked him for forever
And a promise that would last
He said, "Babe, you know I love you
But I can't commit to that"
She said, "Love isn't love
Till You give it away"
A father lived in silence
Saw his son become a man
There was a distance felt between them
'Cause he could not understand
That love isn't love
Till You give it away
You gotta give it away
We can entertain compassion
For a world in need of care
But the road of good intentions
Doesn't lead to anywhere
'Cause love isn't love
Till you give it away
You gotta give it away
There was a man who walked on water
He came to set the people free
He was the ultimate example
Of what love can truly be
'Cause His love was His life
And He gave it away
You gotta give it away
Proverbs 27:5 (ESV)— 5 Better is open rebuke than hidden love.
C.S. Lewis: Love Protected is Love Destroyed-- C.S. Lewis says in his book The Four Loves: [To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin or your selfishness. But in that casket--safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable...The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers...of love is Hell.]
The primary characteristic about God that we need to understand is that He is the God who gives Himself away; with nothing held back. In Eden He gave us His breath and He gave us His world. In Adam and Eve’s marriage He gives us the foundation for understanding His Holy, hesed love. In Abraham, He promises us His salvation. In Jesus, He gives us His very Son. Through Jesus, He gives us entrance into His family. Through Jesus He gives us His eternal life and His very Kingdom. God is a God who gives Himself away; who in every way imaginable tries to bring us back into relationship with Him so that He can bless us with Himself. That is what the incarnation and Easter is all about.
The Twisted Lip of The Master-- Medical doctor Richard Selzer once shared an amazing story. He said: [I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth, has been severed. She will be thus from now on. The surgeon had followed with religious fervor the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor in her cheek, I had to cut the little nerve. Her young husband is in the room. He stands on the opposite side of the bed and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and this wry mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily? The young woman speaks. "Will my mouth always be like this?" she asks. "Yes," I say, "it will. It is because the nerve was cut." She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. "I like it," he says, "It is kind of cute." All at once I know who he is. I understand and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works.]
The miracle of Christ's coming is that He did not conceal or reserve his love, but that He bent Himself to kiss us with His life. And so also we, if we want to truly have the love of Christ, we must be faithful to give our love away just as Christ did. Only then can it be made truly alive.
POINT 2: BEARING WITH ONE ANOTHER— A second element of love that is important for us to remember is revealed in: Ephesians 4:1-3 (ESV)--1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Works in Progress-- One of the key things to remember about love is that we have to be patient with the person we are loving. Every single one of us is a work in progress; we all have flaws; and we all fall short in many ways. But God is working in each of our lives to form us more and more into His image. But that takes time. And we need to recognize that each of us is a work in process. The Bible teaches us that we must be patient with one another and bear with one another; encouraging on another to become that person God wants them to be. And we have to be patient; though that is not always easy to do. But a vital part of our own transformation is having patience cultivated in our lives. And it is something we have to learn now; because you cannot learn patience in heaven.
A.B Simpson: If you are to practice patience, it must be now-- A.B. Simpson, a 19th-century preacher once said: [“Beloved, have you ever thought that someday you will not have anything to try you, or anyone to vex you again? There will be no opportunity in heaven to learn or to show the spirit of patience, forbearance, and longsuffering. If you are to practice these things, it must be now."]
We Must Cultivate Patience Now-- You can’t learn patience in heaven because there will no sin-filled people to try your patience. Our life here is the place we cultivate it; among our brothers and sisters in Christ; among our spouses; with our kids. We must, in every way, show our love by bearing with one another.
POINT 3: MAINTAINING UNITY WITH ONE ANOTHER— The third important element of love is revealed in: Philippians 2:1-4 (ESV) Christ's Example of Humility— 1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Satan Works By Dividing And Conquering-- Unity is an important thing. Where one is weak, many are strong. Unity in the body of Christ is the key to the power of any Church. Satan usually gains victories by first causing a break in unity. And he does this by getting individuals side-tracked on things that don’t matter; on getting them to value a thing or an idea or an opinion more than the other person.
Emptying ourselves-- This is why this passage in Philippians is so important, because it points us to the very root of our disunity; and that is selfishness. People who are all tuned in only on themselves will suffer a greater amount of disunity. Yet Paul points here to the fact that we must empty ourselves just as Christ emptied Himself. We must consider the other person’s needs more than our own. In doing that, we are tuning ourselves in to way of Christ.
A.W. Tozer: The Pianos and the Tuning Fork-- A.W. Tower once asked: [Has it ever occurred to you that one hundred pianos all tuned to the same fork are automatically tuned to each other? They are of one accord by being tuned, not to each other, but to another standard to which each one must individually bow. So one hundred worshipers [meeting] together, each one looking away to Christ, are in heart nearer to each other than they could possibly be, were they to become 'unity' conscious and turn their eyes away from God to strive for closer fellowship.]
The Key to Unity-- The key to unity in our church; in our marriages; in our relationships with our kids is to all have our eyes fixed on Jesus and on modeling that sacrificial love that He himself lived. If we tune ourselves to Him, we will automatically be tuned to each other. We will truly love each other and draw closer to each other. But it is like a triangle, Christ being at the top and each of us being the lines that flow down. The closer we draw to Jesus and to living like Him, the closer we draw (automatically) with one another.
In order to have the love of Christ in our families and in our church is we must give it away; it cannot be withheld. In love we must bear with one another in patience as Christ also bears with us, encouraging and strengthening one another. And we must all seek a unity that can be found only in patterning our individual lives after Jesus. In doing so we become like-minded and unified in His nature. Let’s commit ourselves to apply these elements of love to our lives.
