The Law of Christ
I. Introduction
Lately, the ladies of our church have had a couple of opportunities to help some folks. If you are not already aware, some of our ladies are cooking meals for Peter and Theda Kempenar on a regular basis. Also, they supplied a good bunch of sandwiches for Teri Lee Theakston’s funeral. Good job ladies. Of course, these aren’t the first acts of kindness this church has shown. Not by far. Some of these acts have been personal, even private, an individual helping out an individual. And some have been corporate and public, like paying me to help out the ROC. These make me so proud. I got to thinking one day, why? Why am I so proud? Then I realized, because good works is the culmination of what I preach. Funny that I hadn’t really realized that before.
Now I am teacher. My goal as a pastor/teacher is to facilitate people becoming mature and active Christians. My primary tool in accomplishing this goal is words. I study, I think, I listen, I pray...then I speak. But for all my talking, I ultimately want action. I want action that communicates a mature, active Christian. I want to see people praying. I want to see people praising. I want to see people changing. I want to see people growing. But, above all this, I want to see people loving. Giving, sacrificing, serving, helping, ministering. This is the heart of Christianity. This is the way we glorify God. This is the way we worship. This is the way we follow Christ.
II. The law of Christ in one line.
One of the things about Christianity that makes me crazy is that there is so much to think about all at once. There is so much to believe, so much to value, so much to do. There is so much theology, so many concepts, so many facets. I love this as a student, but as a follower, it is sometimes overwhelming. But sometimes there is a passage of scripture that says it all. These really help to take all the facets and put them in a way that we can understand.
This is why John 3:16 is so popular. It just sums up so much of the gospel all at once. Another one is the famous great commandments passage:
Mk 12:30-31 - 30Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (NIV)
It helps to know that all the commandments ever made by God could be summed up with only these two. However, the problem with summing so much up with so little is that it becomes vague. What I like to do is to make little one liners like this to sum up how to do the one just summed up. So you sum up the diamond, and then sum up each facet of the diamond. So, if you want to know, what does it mean to love your neighbour as yourself, here it is summed up:
Ga 6:2 - 2Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. (NIV)
III. What we were made for
What does Jesus want from us as followers? He wants us to help people. How important is this? Listen to this:
Eph 2:8-10 - 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast.
Verses 8 and 9 are great for summing up how we are saved. I use them often but let’s look at verse 10...
10For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (NIV)
Here is another translation...
Eph 2:10 - 10It is God himself who has made us what we are and given us new lives from Christ Jesus; and long ages ago he planned that we should spend these lives in helping others. (The Living Bible)
God has saved us and made us new in Christ so that we can help people.
This is what salvation is for. It is not just to rescue you, but to make you into something useful.
Listen to it this way...
2 Ti 2:20-21 - 20In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. 21If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work. (NIV)
God changes us so that we can help people.
Guess what the bible is for...
2 Ti 3:16-17 - 16All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. (NIV)
God teaches, rebukes, corrects, and trains us through the bible so that we can help people.
Guess what pastors are for...
Eph 4:11-12 - 11It was he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be pastors and teachers, 12to prepare God’s people for works of service...(NIV)
God gives you gifted leadership so that you can learn how to help people.
If you read on you’ll find out that it is through these works of service that we become mature. The funny thing is that we already read that we become mature so that we can better help people.
Guess what grace is for...
2 Co 9:8 - 8And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work. (NIV)
Grace is God’s presence in our lives empowering us to do what is otherwise impossible.
That power is for helping people.
Guess what money and resources are for...
2 Co 9:11 - 11You will be made rich in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion... (NIV)
God gives us stuff so that we can generously help people.
IV. Simple Theology
Why is this so important? Why the emphasis on good works? The theology is very simple:
1. What is our ultimate purpose? Glorify God
2. What is our primary means of accomplishing this purpose? Faith in Jesus
3. How is this faith expressed? Obedience
4. What is the main form of obedience to Christ? Love
5. And what one way, above all others, do we show that love? Carrying the burdens of others.
Simple math. Simple theology. Jesus skips the steps and directly connects good works to the ultimate purpose. He simply says...
Mt 5:16 – 16...let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (NIV)
Peter says it this way...
1 Pe 2:12 - 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us. (NIV)
Even those that do not believe in God will glorify God in the end because of the good works of those that DO believe.
V. Strong words from Jesus
Here’s the bottom line. Life is burdensome. The greatest burden is the burden of sin which God has carried for us and continues to carry for us. But there are other burdens that are meant for us to carry. Some burdens you must carry on your own, but most burdens are meant to be shared. Most burdens are meant to be carried together. This is love. This is what Valentine’s Day is really about. It isn’t roses and chocolate but a commitment to each other that we will never be alone. It is a commitment that we will not only work hard not to BE a burden, but that we will be strength to help carry burdens. And this love is not just marital love, it is Christian love. It is compassion and mercy. And Jesus desires it deeply for us. In fact, he demands it.
Let me make one more point. I think I would be remiss to leave this out. We all know that we are saved by grace and that grace is a gift. But Jesus is the one who decides who gets that gift and he tells a very disturbing parable in Matt. 25. It is about judgement day. And in this parable he gives us very specific distinctions between who he accepts into his home and who he rejects. The parable is called the sheep and the goats and it reads like this:
Read Mt. 25:31-46
VI. Closing
Now, I know that a lot of what I say goes in one ear and out the other. That is normal and I’m not upset about it. But let me suggest that you take this one to heart. Everything about following Jesus ends in good works. Every theological theme ends in the practice of good works. You don’t start with good works, but you certainly end there. You aren’t saved by good works, the but saved certainly do good works. We MUST make this a priority. What a shame it would be to go to church every Sunday, take Communion every Sunday, sing songs, listen to sermons, give money, etc. and still miss Jesus completely. Yes, there is goodness in coming to church, but don’t for a second think that it is a good work. Especially if you’re only coming for yourself, to get what YOU want.
If you get nothing else right about Christianity, get this...faith in Jesus leads you to help people. So, every chance you get...help people. With your money...help people. With your time...help people. With your abilities...help people. With your homes, with your hobbies, with your resources...help people. And most of all, with your church...help people. As a congregation we need to make this a priority. Yes, we are already doing this on some levels. But let’s push it up a notch. Let’s make it part of our thinking. Let’s get it in our budget, our meetings, our calendars. Let’s make it a regular matter of prayer. Let’s be brave and make it is matter of faith. Let it be said about the West Lake Church of Christ, “you can tell they love Jesus, just look at how they help people.”
