Outrageous Love
Romans 5: 1-8
We are living in a society that rewards success and punishes failure. From a very early age we are taught and conditioned to make good grades, to do well, to succeed, and to achieve. ---Those who do well are often the recipients of rewards, opportunities and privileges.--While often those who do not, find themselves spiraling in patterns of despair and despondency for not cutting the mustard.--The reality is that there are winners and there are losers in our world.--So much so that it is equally important for us to teach our children how to lose with dignity as it is to win with humility.
Because the truth of the matter is that none of us wins all of the time. And so we find that in a world that celebrates success, that there are many people who are starved for the acclamation and attention they have not received. These sadly end up looking for love in all the wrong places. Perhaps you are here today, and you can testify that the church was not your first stop. --Maybe you have been to a whole lot of places in search of what only God can provide. Before you made it to the Lord’s house some of us can testify today, I was looking for love in a liquor bottle or a crack pipe. --Before you made it to the Lord’s house today some of us can probably testify I was looking for love on Baltimore Street. --- Uh oh, the pastor is not supposed to know about Baltimore Street.
Some of us can testify I was looking for love in a drug needle. I was looking for love in the streets, or I was looking for love in the sheets. I was looking for love in the club, down in New Orleans we used to say the smaller the club, the bigger the party. --Somebody over there said you know what Pastor I was looking for love with my so called friends.
They used to have a song that had a verse which said everybody loves a winner but when you lose you lose alone. I mean it is easy isn’t to love a Tiger Woods, a Michael Jordan, or the team that always seems to win?
This is why this passage in the 5th Chapter of Paul’s letter to the Christians in Rome is so OUTRAGEOUS. While we were yet sinners ---Christ died for us. --Which says that while it may be true that everybody loves a winner, it is equally true that only Jesus loves a sinner. And that is Good News this morning for somebody. Because the holidays are here and while some of us are going through the stress and strain of how will I get these things for these children to make them happy? I wish I had some real people in this place who could testify that some of us are going through a different kind of stress and a different kind of strain. --- Because pastor, the holidays mean that I have to deal with my family. Where are the real people at? And the truth about dealing with the family for some of us at holiday time means that Pastor, sometimes there is nobody who can be meaner to me than the folks in my own family. ---There is nobody who can act uglier with me than some of the folks in my own family.
---- There is nobody who can be harder on me, and remind me of all that I was supposed to be according to them than the folks in my own family. --------You know sometimes we can hold our own family to unfair and unrealistic expectations. But I want to tell somebody who is here today --- feeling like you didn’t live up to some one else’s expectations. You don’t have to be a 10 ---you don’t have to a knock out ----- you don’t have to be America’s next top model --- you don’t have to be perfect ----you don’t have to be the sharpest knife in the drawer ----for God to love you. God loves you today. Do you know that God loves so much that before you made it here, before you decided to start coming to church, before you decided it was time to get yourself together, before you got tired of playing the games and keeping up with the joneses, Jesus died for you.
While you were still in the streets Jesus died for you. While you were still doing stuff you had NO business doing Jesus died for you. --- I wish I had some real folks in this place who didn’t mind shouting right now because you can say I am not supposed to be here today.
If that crazy FAMILY I grew up in didn’t destroy me the streets should have killed me. ------ If the streets didn’t kill me the police should have got me. If the police didn’t get me then all of those nights when I had one too many Absolute and cranberry’s and went somewhere with somebody that I didn’t even like and I didn’t even know should have caught up with me. --- And if that didn’t get me then somebody’s husband or somebody’s wife who I had no business with should have knocked on my door. And if that didn’t get me then the Lord should have got me for the ugly way that I talked to my mamma when I thought I knew everything but I didn’t know anything.
I wish I had somebody in this place who can testify when I look back over my life and I think things over I can truly say that I’ve been blessed I’ve got a testimony. ---You know what? We don’t get fixed up to come to Jesus – we come to Jesus to get fixed up. ----We can’t buy God’s love, we can’t earn God’s love, and we can’t be prepared for God’s love we can’t even get ready for God’s love. Do you know why? It is because God’s love is outrageous. --- God loves prostitutes and drug users, it’s outrageous. God loves alcoholics and liars, it’s outrageous. ---- God loves thieves and gossipers, it’s outrageous. --- God loves hoochie mamma’s and no good baby’s daddy’s, it’s outrageous. --- God loves mean people and hurtful people, it’s outrageous. The Bible says while we were yet sinners Christ died for us. While we were still in sin, before we became Bro. and Sis. so and so. While we were still in sin, before we got holy, paid tithes, and shouted praise to his name. --- While we were still in sin, before you figured it out, worked it out, and got it all together. While we were still in sin Jesus died for us. ---That’s what prompted our fathers and mothers of yesteryear to shout when they would sing those old hymns of the church that said I was sinking deep in sin far from the peaceful shore --------very deeply stained within-------- sinking to rise no more -------------But the master of the sea heard my despairing cry --------------from the water lifted me ------------------now safe am I ----love lifted me ---- love lifted me --- when nothing else could help love lifted me. ------------
I just came by church this morning to tell somebody that God loves you with an outrageous love. It is a love that looks past your faults. It is a love that looks past your failures, and a love that looks past your shortcomings. I believe I’ve got some real people here who can testify with me after all the dirt I have done by thought, word, and deed for God to love me like God loves is OUTRAGEOUS.-------
It is outrageous because it means that God does not assign value to us the way we assign value to ourselves and to each other. If it were left up to us we would not find any of us worthy of God’s love.
That’s why the language we use today is really just a new way of saying the same thing. Today we call it playa hating. They use to call it the crabs in the barrel. ----Before that they called it the green eyed monster, and before that they called it the being jealous. Being jealous is nothing new because the Bible calls it being covetous. As in thou shall not covet what your neighbor has. When we know that God’s love is outrageous we don’t have to look at the next person and try to determine whether or not they deserve it. They probably don’t, but you know what neither do you. None of us deserve it, that’s what makes God’s love so Outrageous. I don’t deserve it be He loves me anyhow. -------- I didn’t earn it but He loves me anyhow.--You might hate me for it but He loves me anyhow. --- I am a sinner and I know it, but He loves me anyhow. -- Because our value to God is not based upon how good we are but on how God good is, and my sisters and my brothers ----that’s Outrageous.
Jesus death was God’s demonstration of His love. Stop looking for something more. Get over yourself. If Jesus dying for you is not enough-- nothing is enough. About a year and half ago I took the senior citizens from our church for dinner and a movie. We went and saw that movie called March of the Penguins. It was interesting what happened in the beginning of the movie Morgan Freeman said that this was story was not what it seemed like. He said it seemed like it was a story about sacrifice or about survival in the midst of the arctic winter. But he said it really was a love story. And silly me, I thought the story was going to be about two penguins who fall in love and what they go through to be together. But that wasn’t it. It was the story was about the sacrifice that the mother and father penguins go through just so that one baby penguin egg can hatch. It was a story about the love those parent penguins have for their offspring and what they will go through to preserve and protect it. And my sisters and my brothers if what you can call what penguins do love then what do you call what Jesus did for you and I? I call it Outrageous.
You need to know today that you are already pre – approved for God’s outrageous love. There are two kinds of credit card offers that we get in the mail. One says congratulations you are pre qualified. But you must read the fine print because the fine print says that you are pre - qualified pending, that’s the key word pending normal credit criteria.
See when you are pre - qualified that just means they took your name off of a list and you may or may not actually qualify for that card. When you are pre – qualified that means that they still have to investigate you and look at your credit report, and see what your fico score is to determine whether or not you actually meet the criteria and standards that are expected for that card. Please, don’t act like you never got one of those in the mail and sent it in only to get that letter back thank you for applying, but we are not able to offer credit at this time. Are there any real people in this place? But then there is another offer that you get that says you are pre- approved. And pre-approved means already approved. That means just send in your paperwork and accept what is already yours.
I remember one time I had some bad stuff on my credit report from an old hospital bill. How many people know a hospital bill is no joke. But I had paid my portion of the bill and the insurance had paid their portion but somehow it was not showing up as paid and it was showing as a derogatory on my credit report. It took me a whole lot of going through with the people to finally get it resolved but we did get it resolved. So finally when I asked the gentleman, how is this bill going to show up on my credit report? Is this going to show up as something that has been paid, paid on time, paid late, settled out what? ------ He said no Mr. Odom; this was our mistake, so when you see your credit report it is going to be as though it never even happened. ---------Can I JUST TELL SOMEBODY TODAY ------ THAT YOU ARE PRE- APPROVED FOR GOD’S OUTRAGEOUS LOVE -------------- STOP ACTING LIKE JESUS DIDN’T DIE AND GET UP TO TAKE AWAY YOUR SINS --------------STOP ACTING LIKE YOU’VE GOT BAD SPIRITUAL CREDIT -----------------WHEN JESUS DIED YOU GOT A BRAND NEW BEGINNING -------- YOU’RE PRE -APPROVED ----------- PRE -APPROVED FOR GRACE, ---------PRE-APPROVED FOR MERCY, -------- PRE - APROVED FOR PEACE IN YOUR LIFE, ---------- PRE-APPROVED FOR JOY IN YOUR SPIRIT, ----------- PRE - APPROVED FOR INCREASE --------- PRE-APPROVED FOR SUCCESS -------- PRE-APPROVED FOR HEALING -------- PRE-APPROVED FOR FORGIVENESS.---------I WISH I HAD SOMEBODY IN THIS PLACE WHO WOULD LAY HANDS ON YOURSELF AND SAY – I’M PRE – APPROVED. ALL I HAVE TO DO IS ACCEPT WHAT ALREADY BELONGS TO ME.
I MAY BE OVERWEIGHT --------- BUT I’M PRE-APPROVED ------- I MAY HAVE MADE SOME MISTAKES --------BUT I’M PRE-APPROVED ------------ I MAY HAVE DROPPED OUT OF SCHOOL BUT I’M PRE-APPROVED -------- I MAY HAVE BEEN A TEENAGE MOTHER BUT I’M PRE -APPROVED ------BECAUSE JESUS WENT TO CALVARY ------- TO SAVE A WRETCH LIKE YOU AND ME ------- THAT ‘S LOVE ------- OUTRAGEOUS LOVE ------ I MIGHT NOT BE RIGHT ALL THE TIME BUT I’M PRE - APPROVED -------- I MiGHT NOT HAVE BEEN A CHURCH BOY OR A CHURCH GIRL ALL MY LIFE BUT I’M PRE - APPROVED --- PRE - APPROVED TO PRAISE ---- PREAPPROVED TO CHANGE ---- PREAPPROVED – FOR GOD’S OUTRAGEOUS LOVE.
