Chuck Colson in his book; THE BODY, tells of an interesting incident at the Emmanuel Baptist Church outside of Boston Ma. The headline read: It was the Right Hook that Got Him. In what could be called a power struggle between the minister and the deacon board turned out to be a disaster from which the church could not recover.
For weeks the deacons had been in conflict with the minister, and it was very evident by the seating in the small congregation. Those who sided with the minister sat on the right side of the church while those who sided with the deacons sat on the left. Realizing this division could not continue, Head Deacon, Frank Fowler went to the pulpit to make an announcement. He smoothed out his paper and began to read; This is to announce a special congregational assembly to discuss pastor Don Waite…
Suddenly, he could not be heard. Florence Waite, the pastor’s wife began playing the piano very loudly, the organist chimed in and Pastor Waite began singing at the top of his voice as some of the congregation joined him.
Before they could begin the second verse, Frank unplugged power cord from the organ and another deacon Brain Maguire closed the lid on the piano. Witnesses said there was an eerie silence that seemed to last for minutes. Then deacon Ray Bryson moved toward the Pastor, both men starred at each other in awkward silence, finally Ray returned to his seat, and that is when the trouble really began.
His foot became tangled in a Mic cord and he tripped, falling to the ground someone yelled Pastor pushed him down. Ray also believed he had been pushed and so he got up and hit the pastor in the nose, the pastor’s lapel Mic recorded the impact with a loud SMACK!
Flora Waite, the pastor’s wife let out a loud scream and several of the members rushed the stage to restrain bother Ray and Pastor Waite. But tempers flared and soon there was much pushing and shoving by several people.
The fight ended when the police arrived to restore order, they took down names for their report and suggested some of the men seek medical attention, in particular Ray Bryson who had a broken hand and Pastor Waite, who lost two front teeth.
The following Wednesday the deacons, Pastor Waite and witnesses were summoned to court, both sides shared the gory details. Neither party would except blame or responsibility.
Finally the judge issued his ruling. No charges will be pressed at this point, but I urge you to work this out within your own church. Your Jesus Christ may allow this sort of thing in his follower’s church, but the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will not permit fist fights as a regular order of a church service.
The leadership of Emmanuel Baptist Church filed quietly out to their cars and drove off in different directions. On the back of each car was a bumper stick declaring, “God is with us at Emmanuel Baptist Church”
In the months to come the church would experience a split, the minister would resign and eventually because the of the publicity, the church closed it’s doors permanently.
This bizarre incident though real, thankfully is not typical in our churches. We often do not take swings at one another physically. However stories like what happened at Emmanuel Baptist Church and other churches where infighting takes place lead people to make two conclusions regarding why people avoid attending church;
All Christians are hypocrites
Christians are always fighting against one another
Is it possible we have forgotten the words of our Savior?
34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35
While I am grateful to serve a church that is harmonious as we seek the same purpose of reaching people for Christ and bringing them to maturity. I know that if we are not careful, Satan will get his foot in the door and bring disunity and destruction to our fellowship.
Today I want to challenge you to look at one of the most common commands of the Bible “Love one Another” Yes, it is common, but at times it seems to difficult to follow. While we are often nice to our guests and we enjoy being with those who are close to us economically or socially, too often we find ourselves at odds with someone in the church who we disagree with.
Jesus knew there would be disagreements among those in the church. He gave a detailed teaching regarding disagreements in Matthew 18. The method was simple;
God to the one who offended you privately
Take someone with you
If this does not work, take it to the assembly – With the goal of healing a broken relationship
A simply strategy, unfortunately it is seldom followed. Rather when we have a disagreement with one another we take to others who can not fix the problem but hopefully they will side with us to fill our pain.
Not only did Jesus give a strategy of how to handle disagreements, he often spoke of turning the other cheek, going the second mile and continual forgiveness.
On the night before his death Jesus reminds his disciples the importance of loving one another by giving the disciples a new command. We have read these verses once today but let’s look at them again.
John 13:34-35
34 "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
1. A New Command
The Lords’ charge to the disciples in a sense was not new. The OT commanded the people to love people and Jesus himself said the second greatest command was to love your neighbor as yourself.
However it was a new commandment because it presented a new higher standard of love. Love one another. As I have loved you
Of courses it is impossible to love like that unless you have been transformed by the new covenant.
My Parents had a habit when I growing up – after my brothers and I had had a fight or argument - Tell your brothers you love them. Did I mean it; NO!
I was forced to say I love you because of my parent’s decree. Jesus tells his disciples they must love one another but it is seen in light of the new covenant. The apostle John reminded us this when he wrote; We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers. Anyone who does not love remains in death. 1 John 3:14
Loving one another is a sign we have experienced the new life in Christ. Failure to love one another is a sign that we have not experienced the new life. John says how you relate to others is a mark of one’s salvation. 1 John 4:7, 8
7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
New Slide
D.A. Carson writes “The new command is simple enough for a toddler to memorize and profound enough that the most mature believers are repeatedly embarrassed at how poorly they comprehend it and put it into practice.”
While we are commanded to love one another it is only possible when we have truly submitted our life to Christ. Failure to submit your life to Christ is evident in how we love one another.
Not only is it a new command it is…
2. The Church’s Most Powerful Apologetic
Look at verse 35 again
35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
How we love one another reveals to the world that we belong to Christ.
The church may have sound teaching, excellent programs, dynamic ministries and great facilities, but that will not persuade unbelievers unless believers love each other.
In fact Jesus says this is the test the world applies to the church to see if it truly is functioning as a Christ like church. Francis Shaffer writes, The church is to be a loving church in a dying culture. In the midst of a dying world, in the midst of our present culture Jesus is giving a right to the world. Upon his authority he gives the world the right to judge whether you and I are Christians on the basis of our love toward all Christians.
Paul emphasized this same idea when he wrote in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3
1 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing.
3 If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
It is a sad commentary when I hear the church is the only army that shoots it’s wounded. Genuine believers are known for their love and the world recognizes that love and desires that kind of love.
I think the world is looking for a love that is focused on giving not getting. 300 years after Christ walked the earth a severe plague came upon Egypt. The city of Alexandria was especially devastated by the plague. Yet the Christians in the city distinguished themselves by selfless behavior of tending the sick and burying the dead so the plague would not spread. There were plenty of cases where the citizens of Alexandria abandoned their own families in the city streets, only to be picked up and cared for by the Christians. Many Christians had the ability to leave the city and avoid the plague, yet they stayed and eventually became sick from the plague as well. What makes this story so profound is that 10 years before there was a plague, there was a great persecution in Egypt against Christians. Many believers were imprisoned and lynched just because of their faith in Christ, But now the Christians were doing as Christ commanded and they were loving and caring for those who just a few years before were trying to kill them. This type of love can only occur when one has come in contact with the new life in Christ and it is the new life in Christ love that the world desperately needs.
Love one another – a new command to believers and a powerful apologetic to an unbelieving world.
However this love can not be taught, not can it be seen as an ideal that can never be achieved.
The command to love for one another must be lived out in a practical way.
In John 15 Jesus gives the supreme example of how to love for one another.
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
15 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.
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.
17 This is my command: Love each other.
Jesus says the supreme test of love. The way you know you really are living with a Christ like mindset, is found in verse 13, Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus is not saying he expects believers to die a physical death for one another; Jesus alone accomplished this at the cross. What he is saying is the love believers are to have for one another is marked by selfless devotion to one another Jesus then goes on to say, if you will do this, love with selfless devotion, you will be my friend.
The apostle John would remind his readers of this truth year later when he wrote in 1 John 3:16, 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. John continues by giving the practical application of this passage. In verses 17 & 18,
17If 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.
The friends of Jesus show their love for one anther by humbling meeting each others needs.
How are we to live out this kind of love?
How are we to be a loving church in a dying culture?
2 ways to practice this new command of loving one another
Self-examination of your love
How do you love your brothers and sisters in Christ? Is it a surface type of love, a love that is based on likes and dislikes, on what you have in common with others, a love that is based on economic and status maybe it is something that you express on Sunday morning, or is it a love that goes beyond the surface. To help me get my love beyond surface love I have found it helpful to personalize 1 Corinthians 13:4-7, 4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
4 ALAN is patient, ALAN is kind. ALAN does not envy, ALAN does not boast, ALAN is not proud. 5 ALAN is not rude, ALAN is not self- seeking, ALAN is not easily angered, ALAN keeps no record of wrongs. 6 ALAN does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 ALAN always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
When I can read those words honestly I know I am on the path of the new command of loving one another.
The second way to keep this new command is to…
2. Have the right attitude toward reconciliation
In his book the “Mark of a Christian” Francis Shaffer listed two practical ways Christians can demonstrate love for each other. They can do so first by being willing to apologize and seek forgiveness from those they have wronged. What causes the sharpest, most bitter disputes in the body of Christ are not the doctrinal differences, but the unloving way those differences are handled. We must be willing to apologize to those we have offended. This is crucial for keeping the unity of Christ in tact. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus taught that reconciliation with others is a prerequisite of worshipping God. Matthew 5:23-24, 23 "Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, 24 leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.
A second practical way to demonstrate love is to grant forgiveness. In light of the eternal forgiveness we have received from the cross, Christians should be eager to forgive the temporal offenses committed against them. Because God’s love has transformed our hearts we are able to extend that love to others in forgiveness. 1 John 4:11, Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
You might be saying you do not understand, He/she really hurt me, I can never forgive them. Listen, Jesus commanded us in Luke’s gospel
3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.
4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, ’I repent,’ forgive him." Luke 17:3-4
I will love those who are around me. I said at the beginning of this message I am glad I serve as pastor of a church that is harmonious; it will remain harmonious if we follow these two practical principles.
Always self examine our love and have the right attitude toward reconciliation.
Jesus said it so clearly, 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.
13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command.
In 2009 I want to be a friend of Jesus, I hope will be as well. And we will if we love one another.
