BEYOND THE WALLS: WE CARE
1 JOHN 3:16-18
SITUATION 1
Stan is a man out of work. He is a cabinet maker, but his company mishandled funds and now he is out of a job. Jobs are hard to come by. He and his wife had two months of savings, but now that is gone. It was not spent frivolously, but on the necessities of life. He and his wife just cooked up the last of the noodles and sauce last night for their dinner. There really is nothing else to eat. Their car is about out of gas, so they walk wherever they go. The unemployment check covers the rent and such, but certainly not the food or clothing. What are they going to do?
SITUATION 2
Jenny is poor. But you wouldn’t exactly know it by looking at her or her material things. Like most “poor people” in America (http://www.heritage.org/Research/Welfare/bg1713.cfm), she drives a car, has an apartment, talks on a cell phone, owns two TVs, and has all the basic things of life. Her clothes come from the Salvation Army. When you look at her, you do not think homeless. Yet, she has needs. She needs to keep her cell phone bill up-to-date. She needs to keep the cable on. She needs to keep gas in her car. She needs to pay rent. And after she meets all of these needs, she doesn’t have any money for food. What will she do?
SITUATION 3
Bob has just walked into our church for the first time. He and his family just moved into South Tampa. He’s in the Air Force and stationed at MacDill AFB. He has a wife, 2.5 kids, and a dog. Bob and his family are looking for a church that they can connect to and feel quite alone. They want their kids’ souls well taken care of as well as their own. They are alone and desperately want to connect with fellow Christians. They walk into our church… how will they meet people… how will they get to know if this is the church family for them? What do they do?
SITUATION 4
Ida is a widow. Her husband passed away three years ago. They had been married forty-five years. She now lives alone in the house they made their home for those forty-five years. But now, different things in and out the house need work. A tree outside needs trimmed. The shed needs to be painted. Her neighbors complained about her bushes. The city sent her a notice to fix her fence. Ida can’t do any of that! She can’t fix fences or trim trees and she certainly can’t afford to pay someone to do all that work. What will she do?
Many people like Stan, Jenny, Bob, and Ida exist all over our city... with similar situations, struggles, and needs. They exist outside the walls of this church and they exist inside the walls of this church. The question I asked after describing each situation was: “What are they going to do?” But you know, I think that is the wrong question to ask. I think the correct question is: “What are you and I going to do?” I hope that you have a desire to be part of a church that cares for people. I hope that you have a desire to be a caring person and someone that lives out the same kind of love that Jesus Christ modeled for us. Our perspective about needs and fulfilling needs should be the same as described in Scripture. Today, we are going to look at 1 John and gain a correct view of caring for others.
READ 1 John 3:16-18
“This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.”
When looking at these verses from 1 John, there are several things we need to understand and several steps we need to take together before we understand what caring for others is all about.
I. Step 1: DEFINITION OF ‘LOVE’ (verse 16)
Verse 16 in 1 John 3 gives for us the first step and the definition for love that we need when caring for others. The Apostle John begins verse 16 by telling us exactly what we need to know to care about others. He tells us that he will define for us what ‘love’ is and knowledge of love is the first step in caring for other people.
Love, for the Christian is a love that centers on Jesus Christ. He is our model. He is our standard. He is human perfection. He is God on Earth. Therefore, we must look at what Jesus did when it comes to love for us to understand love. The Apostle John says that Jesus “laid down His life for us.” That is love. Love = (equals) Jesus dying on the cross for you and for me. God saw that we were in such a state of chaos because of sin; therefore He emptied Himself and became a human being so that He could save us (Philippians 2:6-7).
Jesus laid aside Heaven and the comfort of Glory.
Jesus laid aside all that He was and became human.
Jesus laid aside His own will and followed God’s will to the cross.
Jesus laid aside that human life on purpose.
All for us. All for you. All for me.
It is that continual “laying aside” that John calls love. Love is “laying aside” your comfort for the benefit of someone else. Love is “laying aside” what you want and following God’s will and desires for your life. Love is “laying aside” yourself on purpose and putting someone else first.
ILLUSTRATION… Doc, when do I die? (http://www.ozsermonillustrations.com/frames/love_frameset.htm)
In his book Written In Blood, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needed a blood transfusion. She had a rare blood type which she shared with her little brother. The fact that he had recovered from the same disease two years earlier made the chances of success even greater. The doctor carefully explained all this to the little boy, pointing out that without the transfusion his sister would die.
"Would you be brave and give your blood to your sister?" the doctor asked. Johnny hesitated. His lower lip began to tremble. Then he smiled and said, "Sure, for my sister." The two children were wheeled into the hospital room - Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy. He smiled at his sister, the watched as the blood traveled out of his body, down the clear plastic tube. Johnny’s smile faded, and as he lay there feeling weak he looked up at the doctor and said, "Doctor, when do I die?’
Johnny thought that giving his blood to his sister meant giving up his life. Yet because of his great love for her he was prepared to pay the price and lay aside his life for hers.
That is true God-given love. How do we know it is love? How do we know this is the kind of love that John is defining? We know because little Johnny set aside himself and offered all that he had. This is of course just a story to tug at your heart, but the truth remains… love as Christ showed it sets aside ourselves and puts another first. That is love. Our first step towards caring for others must be that we have the same kind of love that Christ showed… which lays aside ourselves and puts another first.
II. Step 2: DEFINITION OF ‘PITY’ (verse 17)
The first step John explains when caring for others is that we must love as Christ loved. The second step that John describes for us is one that involves the definition of ‘pity.’ He says in verse 17, “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?” I love the way the King James Version puts this verse, “But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?” The Amplified Bible puts it this way, “But if anyone has this world’s goods (resources for sustaining life) and sees his brother and fellow believer in need, yet closes his heart of compassion against him, how can the love of God live and remain in him?”
So what is pity? I think we see exactly what pity is if we look closely at the verse. Pity is that turn in your stomach when you see a homeless boy. Pity is the hurt in your heart when you see a family whose house has burned down. Pity is that sick feeling you ignore as you walk out of McDonalds and there is someone there who needs a hamburger. Pity is feeling deeply for someone in the bowels of who you are… to your core. The Apostle John asks the correct question that if you shut down your heart towards others… “how can the love of God be in you?” To be like Christ, you have to feel love and concern and compassion about others to the very core of your being.
ILLUSTRATION… Our Daily Bread, Monday, Nov 8, (http://www.crosswalk.com/pastors/illustrations/)
When William McKinley was President of the United States, he had to make a decision about the appointment of an ambassador to a foreign country. The two candidates were equally qualified. So McKinley remembered back to a time when he was still a Congressman, when he had observed an inconsiderate action by one of the men. He recalled boarding a streetcar at the rush hour and getting the last vacant seat. Soon an elderly woman got on, carrying a heavy clothesbasket. No one got up to offer her a seat, so she walked the length of the car and stood in the aisle, hardly able to keep her balance as the vehicle swayed from side to side. One of the men McKinley was later to consider for ambassador, was sitting next to where the woman was standing. Instead of getting up and helping her, he deliberately shifted his newspaper so it would look like he hadn’t seen her. When McKinley noticed this, he walked down the aisle, graciously took her basket, and offered her his seat. The man was unaware that anyone was watching, but that one little act of selfishness would later deprive him of perhaps the crowning honor of his lifetime. McKinley chose the other man.
The man on the train had no ‘pity.’ He had no feeling towards this woman in obvious need of a seat. He had no compassion. We can make up all sorts of excuses and reasons, but in the end, the man had closed his heart to compassion. He had “shut up his bowels of compassion” (KJV). His heart was closed. God wants our heart open.
ILLUSTRATION… Are You God’s Wife? (http://www.ozsermonillustrations.com/frames/love_frameset.htm)
One cold winter’s day a 10-year-old boy was standing barefoot in front of a shoe store, peering through the window, and shivering with cold. A lady approached the boy and asked him what he was doing.
"I was asking God to give me a pair of shoes," the boy replied.
The lady took him by the hand and went into the store, and asked the clerk to get a half dozen pairs of socks for the boy. She then asked if he could give her a basin of water and a towel. He quickly brought them to her. She took the boy to the back part of the store, knelt down, washed his little feet, and dried them with a towel.
By this time the clerk had returned with the socks. Placing a pair upon the boy’s feet, she then purchased him a pair of shoes, and tying up the remaining pairs of socks, gave them to him. She patted him on the head and said, "No doubt, my little fellow, you feel more comfortable now?" As she turned to go, the astonished lad caught her by the hand, and looking up in her face, with tears in his eyes, answered the question with these words: "Are you God’s wife?"
Do you see the difference? Do you feel the difference? You see the Apostle John is defining for us how to care for others. It begins with love like Christ, but it must be more than that because Jesus was more than that. Jesus taught about ‘pity’ in the parable of the Unforgiving Servant (Matthew 18:27), the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:33), and the parable of the Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:24). Jesus lived out ‘pity’ for others by exorcising demons (Mark 9:22) and cleansing 10 lepers (Luke 17:13) and many other miracles. Jesus saw that people were in need and He felt for them (Matthew 9:36). He let the situation of others affect His heart and He felt for them… that is pity.
So, our first step towards caring for others must be that we have the same kind of love that Christ showed… which lays aside ourselves and puts another first. Our second step towards caring for others is that you have to feel love and concern and compassion about others to the very core of your being and allow it to affect your heart. Our third step this morning, when caring for others, centers on actions.
III. Step 3: DEFINITION OF ‘ACTIONS’ (verse 18)
ILLUSTRATION… R.W.D., Our Daily Bread, June 23, (http://www.bible.org/illus.php?topic_id=978)
A man was trying to get financial help for a widow who was in dire need, but his efforts were meeting with very little success. Even so, most of the people he contacted did express their regret over the sad situation of the poverty-stricken woman. The concerned man, refusing to give up, had high hopes as he approached a wealthy acquaintance, but he too refused to offer help. In declining the request, the rich man said, “I do want you to know, however, that I really feel sorry for that poor woman.” The one who was asking for the money responded, “I’m sure you do. But I’m afraid you don’t feel it in the right place.” “Oh, yes, I do,” the man replied, “I feel it very deeply in my heart.” The other responded, “That’s the problem. You feel it in the wrong place. I just wish those feelings were also in your pocket.”
As we have talked about, caring for others begins with love that lays aside self and feeling what the other person is going through… but action must follow. The Apostle John says in verse 18, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” You can’t just talk about caring about people. You can’t just say that you love others. You can’t just talk about the homeless ministry… you need to be a part of it. You can’t just say you care about relationships, you must attend fellowship events. You can’t just talk about caring about the church and never volunteer to do anything!
SITUATION 1 RECAP
Remember, Stan is a man out of work. He is an out-of-work cabinet maker, and needs food and clothing. What are they going to do? They could come to our church on Tuesdays… if someone is here to serve them from the food pantry.
SITUATION 2 RECAP
Remember, Jenny is poor. And after she meets all of her many needs, she doesn’t have any money for food. What will she do? She could come to the homeless feeding on Saturdays and have a hot breakfast and see love in action from people who love Christ.
SITUATION 3 RECAP
Bob and his family just moved into South Tampa and want to know if this is the church family for them? What do they do? They could attend Sunday School or Logos Teams or CWF or Wednesday Nights or any of the other opportunities we have for fellowship and you need to be there to connect with them.
SITUATION 4 RECAP
Ida is a widow. She can’t fix fences or trim trees and she certainly can’t afford to pay someone to do all that work. What will she do? She could fill out a work order at the Widow’s group meeting and the men of the church will come and serve her and help with her needs.
* The thing is… for any of these people to be cared for… you have to be at these places to serve!
* God needs you to work beyond the walls of the church with Christ-like love!
* God needs you to work beyond the walls with heart-felt pity for others!
* God needs you to stop talking about what you could do… and do it!
CHALLENGE: STEP UP!
The Message, a paraphrase of Scripture, put these verses we have been talking about like this, “This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.”
STEP UP and serve at the Men’s Breakfast
STEP UP and serve on Tuesdays with the food pantry
STEP UP and cook and be a part of the homeless breakfast
STEP UP and set aside time and money for the Jamaica Missions Trip
STEP UP and get involved with Logos Teams and help people connect
STEP UP and volunteer with the Deacons to work for the church
STEP UP and talk with Justin about working with the youth
STEP UP and talk with Troy about working with children
STEP UP and talk with Catherine Jones about monthly visitation
CONCLUSION
[Congregation stands and reads the verses together]
“This is how we’ve come to understand and experience love: Christ sacrificed his life for us. This is why we ought to live sacrificially for our fellow believers, and not just be out for ourselves. If you see some brother or sister in need and have the means to do something about it but turn a cold shoulder and do nothing, what happens to God’s love? It disappears. And you made it disappear.”
