OT Reading - Deuteronomy 6 v.1-9
NT Reading - 1st Corinthians 13 v.1-13
SERMON: True love is practical love
The Pop charts always seem to include many love songs,
such as “All you need is love” and “Love, love me do” by the Beatles in the 1960’s;
"Love me tender, love me true", by Elvis Presley;
“Love is all around” by Wet Wet Wet,
and “How deep is your love” by Take That.
But the pop industry’s image or understanding of love
is a million miles away from the kind of love that is taught by the Bible.
Love for many today, if not most, suggests physical pleasure,
and involves getting rather than giving,
and usually without any long-term commitment,
whereas Biblical love is about God’s long-term and steadfast,
and undeserved, love,
which He gives to those who believe in Him and His Son,
and who resolve to keep His commandments.
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I was amazed to find out that there are 793 references to love and loving
in the NIV of the Bible,
144 in the Psalms alone.
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The word appears in every book in the Bible, from Genesis 20:13
where Abraham tells Sarah to show her love for him
by telling everyone they met
that he was her brother,
in case they killed him to get her,
right through to to Revelation 22:15,
which contains a vision of the new Jerusalem
and the promise that those who love evil and falsehood
will not be allowed to enter it.
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The Hebrews, or Israelites, or Jews
were reminded in Deuteronomy 6 verse 3
that God loved them and had chosen them to be His people;
and how He had brought about their escape from slavery in Egypt
and their safe journey to “a land flowing with milk and honey”.
In return they were commanded in Deuteronomy 6:5
to love God “with all their heart, with all their mind and with all their strength”,
and the Gospels tells us that Jesus commanded His disciples to do likewise,
adding words found in Leviticus 19 verse 18, “love your neighbour as yourself”.
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So, the first message today is that these words mean we are allowed,
even encouraged, to love ourselves,
for if we do not love ourselves, how can we love others?
This does mean we should become conceited,
like Narcissus who fell in love with his reflection in a pool,
and that Greek story gives us the word 'narcistic'.
But it does teach us that we should appreciate ourselves for being children of God,
saved sinners, members of the Body of Christ, the redeemed of the Lord.
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God loves us, each and every one of us,
not beause WE are wonderful, but because God is wonderful
and He considers us worthy to receive His love,
not because of any goodness or merit on OUR part
but because of the steadfast love on HIS.
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How much does God love us?
The answer is contained in John’s Gospel chapter 3 verse 16
“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son,
so that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life
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And Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians chapter 2, vv 4-5
“God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,
even when we were dead in our sins, He made us alive together with Christ”.
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Notice those words “because of His great love with which He loved us”.
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God does not “only” love us, which would be fine enough; He “greatly” loves us, which is even more wonderful.
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The Bible says we are children of God,
co-heirs with Christ, the apple of God’s eye,
so whenever we feel down and worthless,
attacked and accused by the devil, the 'father of lies'
we shouldn’t go by our feelings but go by our faith;
our faith that God loves us, and sent His only-begotten and sinless Son
to take the punishment thatvwe deserve for our sins.
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So the first message is, I repeat, that we are allowed, even encouraged,
to love ourselves, because Almighty God the Creator of the Universe, loves us,
but in case we are tempted to become vain and conceited about this love,
the second message is that we are instructed, commanded,
to love our neighbour at least as much as we love ourselves,
and as often.
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The Hebrew word used in the OT which is translated as LOVE is "Hesed"
which means steadfast love or unfailing love or loyalty,
as opposed to temporary love or conditional love, or passing infatuation.
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The Bible says God has "Hesed" for all who belong to Him
and upon whom He showers His grace,
and just as we receive it and benefit from it,
so we are required to show steadfast love and loyalty
to those we live and work with..
The Greek word used in the NT which is translated as LOVE is "Charis"
which means unmerited or undeserved favour or gift,
and again, according to Jesus
we should pass on this love,
whether through forgiveness, or acceptance, or practical help
to all we come across who need it;
NOT to earn salvation,
but to show that we have received it.
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As we have seen, the word "Charis" is used in 1st Corinthians 13
and in Ephesians 5:25 Paul said husbands are to love their wives
as much as Christ loved the Church.
How much did Christ love his Church ?
Enough to die for it.
This is the love that God has for us,
and which we should have for God and for one another.
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The Jews have various religious symbols and rituals
which go back to the time of Moses and which Jesus as a Law-keeping Jew
would have followed.
One is in Deuteronomy 6:8
where it says believers should tie the statement of God’s love to their arms
and foreheads,
and in Deuteronomy 6:9
where it says it should be tied or fixed to their doorposts and gates
to show God and those around them
just how much they loved God
and how much they were prepared to obey and serve Him.
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Jesus would have worn these things
and Joseph and Mary would have had them on btheir front door post
but in his case I don’t think they would have been necessary
because people would have been able to see his love for God
and his obedience to His word by the things that he did,
such as mixing with and healing lepers,
forgiving the woman caught in adultery
and even on the cross, when instead of crying out a complaint that He was an innocent man,
He asked God to forgive those responsible for his death
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The challenge for us is two-fold.
How can we show God that we appreciate His love,
and how can we pass on to others, the love which God has given us?
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Could we ever show love such as that Jesus showed,
either qualitatively or quantitatively,
not only for those who love us, but for those who hate us and persecute us?
The answer must be 'no'.
Even outstanding Christians such as Mother Teresa
could never come anywhere near the mark or standard set by Jesus.
As Romans 3:23 succinctly puts it 'We all fall short'.
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The Scriptures teach us that 'God is love'
and also that Jesus is the visible manifestation of the invisible God.
The Gospels record how Jesus showed His love
and Paul in 1st Corinthians 13 gives us a guide
as to how we can be like Him;
how we can grow in grace, or become 'sanctified'.
Can we spend a few minutes going through it
and carrying out a personal inventory,
not to judge other people on how loving they are to us, or to anyone else,
but honestly asking ourselves how loving we are;
how Christ-like, how 'sanctified' we are
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This is a challenge; here we go:
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Love is patient; for love read “Jesus”.
Jesus is patient; I should be like him; can I say I am patient;
do people see me as patient?
Love is kind; Jesus is kind; can I say I am kind, do people see me as kind?
Love is not envious, Jesus is not envious; can I say I am not envious,
and more importantly, do people see me as envious?
Love does not boast; Jesus did not boast; can I say I do not boast,
do people see me as a boaster?
Love is not proud; Jesus was not proud;
can I say I am not guilty of pride,
do people regard me as proud, in the negative sense of the word?
Love is not rude: Jesus was never rude: can I say I am never rude,
do people see me as rude?
Love is not self-seeking; Jesus was never self-seeking;
can I say I am not self-seeking,
and more importantly, do others see me as self-seeking, only out for myself?
Love is not easily angered; Jesus was not easily angered;
can I say I do I never lose my temper?
Love keeps no record of wrongs; Jesus kept no such record;
can I say I do not hold grudges,
and as Burns said 'May God the gift to gi us to see ourselves as others see us'
do people regard me as an unforgiving grudge bearer?
Love does not delight in evil; Jesus did not delight in evil;
can I say I do not get pleasure out of doing wrong,
and do people see me in that way?
Love rejoices with the truth; Jesus always told the truth;
and claimed to be the Truth, and the Way and the Life;
can I say I am always truthful,
and more importantly, do other people regard me as truthful?
Love always protects;
Jesus the Good Shepherd always protects his sheep;
can I say I am always protective to those I can help,
and am I viewed in this way?
Love always trusts; Jesus trusts people;
can I say I am a trusting and trustworthy person?
Love always hopes; Jesus gave hope to all he came in contact with;
can I say I am I always hopeful, an optimist,
and do people see me as such?
Love always perseveres; Jesus always perseveres;
can I say I am a sticker, and never a give-upper
and is this how I come across?
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Now, Jesus was perfect
and we know that we never will be, at least on this side of the grave,
but we should at least try to be like Him.
I think that if every one of us said when we wake up every morning,
“God loves me, He really does”
it would do wonders for our self-esteem;
and if we promised every day,
to try to pass on the love of God to someone, even just one person,
then surely we could make someone feel better in some way.
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Let me finish with some of the words that Paul wrote to Philemon:
“I always thank God as I remember you in my prayers,
because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus,
and your love for all the saints;
your love has given me great joy and encouragement”.
Wouldn’t it be nice if someone wrote those words to us?
Amen.
