Coca-Cola Super Bowl Commercial. One of the most memorable commercials that aired during the Super Bowl (don’t roll the dice on what you are not sure of when you have a sure fire thing in your life) was a Coca-Cola commercial that challenged our culture to let go of all the expressions of hatred, anger and bullying that have seemed to overtake us and be intentional in acts of kindness, compassion and love towards one another. As the commercial began to fade to black the lyrics of the song playing in the background were “Show Me Love!” The message was loud, clear and impactful. In the minutes/hours following the initially airing of this commercial social media lit up with the hashtag #MakeItHappy. The fact that #MakeItHappy and #ShowMeLove, the social media products of the Coca Cola Super Bowl commercial, are still trending in social media reveals to us that there is a real and genuine desire for a change in our culture. We are seeing a generation arise that is tired of things the way they are and have been for a long time. They are tired of the hypocrisy of religious people, the lying of politicians, and the anger and hatred in their schools, in their communities and in their world! Our culture is crying out because they long to see the manifestation of genuine love in their lives and in the lives of others around them. This shift is a good thing because it provides the Church with the unique opportunity to show off Jesus in our lives because the love that the world is looking for is the love that Jesus has saved us with and saved us to as we live out genuine life changing faith in Him. Now is the time to get it right!
ANOTHER SERMON ON LOVING ONE ANOTHER????? Some of you may be here today thinking to yourselves, “Really??? Another sermon on love?” YES! 1 JOHN 3:11 says, “For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.” The idea here is that one of the first and most oft repeated messages of the early church was the command to “love one another” just as Jesus said. IT IS NO WONDER! THINK ABOUT IT. Jesus said, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (JOHN 13:35-36) It is no surprise to know that every letter in the New Testament written to the various churches deal with the concept of love. It was then, and is now Jesus’ purpose that HIS CHURCH GETS THIS LOVE ONE ANOTHER THING RIGHT! With that being said, let us turn our attention to ROMANS 12:9-21 hear what the Lord would have to say to us through this message entitled “Love One Another.”
GENUINE LOVE 12:9A
LOVE, LIKE FAITH, IS NOT SOME MYSTERIOUS THEORETICAL CONCEPT BUT PRACTICAL IN NATURE. The Scriptures are addressing the temptation to hypocrisy in this area. Life was as busy 2000 years ago as it is today even though the world looked different and the temptation was to be so busy with one’s personal life that love for one another as believers was a performance put on when gatherings were held but not real. Love is as much a verb as it is a noun and this passage is very, very practical. Paul sets up this entire section with four words of introduction when he says “LET LOVE BE GENUINE.” In a culture that knew all too well fake and hypocritical love, Paul says let this love, agape love, be genuine among you.
• PHILEO, EROS, AGAPE. This is the kind of love that Jesus has for us and puts in us by His Holy Spirit to have for others. The word agape is used here to indicate the kind of love Christians are to show to others—a Godlike love that loves regardless of the circumstances, a deliberate love that decides it will keep loving even if it is rebuffed. We are challenged to live out the highest love and to do so with the highest sincerity. Our love is to be genuine, not counterfeit.
It is not hard to know what love is and it is not hard to know when love is genuine and when it is not. We have complicated the word but the Scriptures teach us in a very simple, yet profound way that love is not simply an emotion without expression/action but, when genuine, makes itself known through expression/action. Hear the Scriptures…
GENUINE LOVE AND SELF 12:9B
Genuine love has a moral/ethical element to it that deals with how we relate to and with ourselves. Genuine divine love will hold fast to what God loves (good) and loathe what God loathes (sin). What is not being said here is that abhorring evil is lashing out against sin “out there” (culture) but lashing out against sin “in here” (our own hearts). This is a call to examine our own lives and see if the love of Christ actually exists in us and is manifesting itself through a hating of our own sin and inclination to sinfulness. There are way too many self-professing fake Christians who, while claiming Jesus’ name and salvation over their life, prove themselves to be fakes by their love for the wickedness that is in the world. It is in this area that we are quick to start bringing up excuses that the Bible does not support in an attempt to justify ourselves but the truth is clear. The truth is here. The truth may hurt but the truth will set you free!
GENUINE LOVE AND THE CHURCH 12:10, 13
Genuine love has a corporate/familial element to it that effects how we relate to and with one another as the Body of Christ.
1. BROTHERLY LOVE. The divine love that has saved us and is now in us expresses itself in brotherly (phileo) love towards others. The love we have for one another is a familial type of love. It is a committed, constant, “stick with it through the good and the bad” type of love that lives together, works together, serves together, strives together, etc... Western culture individualism as damaged the Church in this area. We view our lives as isolated and individual in nature and that poses a huge obstacle for us in experiencing the fullness of our salvation because life with Christ is as much about JESUS AND ME as it is about JESUS AS WE. The church will never experience the power of Christ among us if we are not committed to the fact that He has made us family. There is an ever-increasing idea that it is acceptable to be committed to Christ but not be committed to His Church. This is the product of biblical ignorance.
2. OUTDO ONE ANOTHER IN SHOWING HONOR. Genuine love manifests itself in the Church as we seek to show honor to one another because of our genuine love for them. By definition, to honor another is to have high respect for another’s worth, value, etc… and to express that honor in how we treat them. It has become common, both in and outside of the church, to dishonor others and to hide behind the mask of sarcasm and/or “just kidding” when doing so as if that somehow justifies the darkness of our heart, mind and tongue. We value one another because Jesus valued all in that He saw us worthy of giving His life to redeem us therefore let us outdo one another in showing honor to one another.
3. MEET ONE ANOTHER’S NEEDS. Genuine love for another will not turn a blind eye to a need of one whom we genuinely love. When somebody brings a need up to us we should be quick to pray for them. However, many times needs are brought before us not to simply pray for and about them but to be the answer to the prayer that the one with the need has been praying. This is what John is saying in 1 JOHN 3:16-18. Love for one another will meet the needs of another—not the greed’s/wants—but needs.
4. SHOW HOSPITALITY. Hospitality, the welcoming in of another to our home whether it be those who are passing through and in need of a meal and a place to rest their heads or simply inviting others over for a get together for the purpose of getting to know one another better, was a big deal in the Jewish culture because it was prescribed in the Law of God. Hospitality was not only a way to be generous to the sojourner who is passing through but also a way to grow in relationship with one another as the people of God. I think we need to hear this today. Love is often not genuine in the Church because we fail to invest in the time, energy and resources necessary to really get to know one another.
GENUINE LOVE AND JESUS 12:11-12
As the agape love of God works itself out in our lives it will manifest itself in love for Jesus!
1. DO NOT BE SLOTHFUL IN ZEAL, BE FERVENT IN SPIRIT, SERVE THE LORD. In a complex way the Scriptures tell us not to bring laziness to the table when it comes to serving the Lord. There are a variety of ways in which we serve the Lord. We serve the Lord by serving others. We serve the Lord by giving of our time, talents and resources to and for His Kingdom. We serve the Lord in worship through song and receiving His Word. The list could go on and on. Jesus is so much more worthy of so much more than unenergetic, uninspired, distracted church service attendance. I wonder how many times the Lord does not receive our worship in song because we either do not sing unto Him or we do so with no zeal? I wonder how many times the Lord does not receive our worship in receiving His Word during a sermon because we are distracted by the world or too tired to pay attention because of a low view the importance of what we do here? I wonder how many times the Lord is robbed of worship because we lack the zeal to stand up and serve as we have been gifted in the Church?
2. LOVE JESUS AND REST IN HIM. REJOICE IN HOPE. Our love for Jesus is the result of His first loving of us and because of His love for us we have a great hope to rejoice in. If you really have received the hope of Jesus in the forgiveness of your sins, the securing of your eternal destiny and the preserving of and provision for you during the time in between then rejoice if indeed it is real for you! When the world says all hope is lost love Jesus and rejoice in the hope that He has given us!
3. LOVE JESUS AND TRUST HIM. BE PATIENT IN TRIBULATION. Jesus said that in this world we will have trials and tribulations but we are to take heart because He has overcome the world. Therefore, when life is not as we would like it to be do not be quick to lose patience in life for we know that somehow and someway Jesus is working it all for our good and His glory. When the fires of trials and tribulations begin to burn against God’s people it is tempting to “throw in the towel” on it all and simply walk away. And some do because they have been erroneously taught that Jesus is the great “genie in a bottle” who lives to grant the wishes of those who call on His name and because He supposedly exists for such life should be a “magic carpet ride” filled with nothing but prosperity and worldly happiness.
4. LOVE JESUS AND DEPEND ON HIM. BE CONSTANT IN PRAYER. As we love Jesus through serving Him, resting in Him, and trusting in Him let us manifest our total dependence upon Him by being constant in prayer. The more we experience the trials and tribulations of this life the clearer and clearer it will become that Jesus alone is the One in whom we rest, trust and depend so in love we will find ourselves in prayer more and more as we understand that He alone is trustworthy and can, and will, make right all that is wrong in the world in general an in our world specifically.
Conclusion
LET LOVE BE GENUINE. As I stated before our world is crying out for real, genuine love to be made known. The Coca-Cola commercial I spoke of earlier painted the picture that a little coke in our lives can change the world from a world of hate and anger to a world of peace and love. We know that coke does not have the power to amass such a drastic change as that. However, we know that JESUS CAN AND DOES CHANGE OUR WORLD AS HE CAN AND DOES CHANGE US.
CAPTURED BY LOVE. What has been said here is not that we as people just need to try harder. The picture of love painted by the Word of God is impossible in and of our own strength. We can barely manage to love a few people in our lives well so what makes us think that we could possible love a bunch of people in this way? The fact that we cannot do this on our own reveals our need for Jesus. We need to be captured by the love of Jesus in salvation so that He can then remake us from the inside out and begin to love through us as only He can.
CHURCH, LET’S GET THIS RIGHT! There are a lot of you in this room who are getting this right. We are not perfect and definitely have room to grow but Jesus is growing us so keep on being obedient to Him. There are others of you in this room who, because you are everywhere but nowhere at all, struggle with this message and obedience to it because you have never identified with a local church through formal membership. The Roman Christians would have had no problem knowing who the other believers were because they would have been people who publicly identified with them through baptism. There was no such thing as church hopping/shopping in the early church. Maybe it is time for you to say to this faith family, “I’m in!” through formal membership whether that be through baptism or moving your letter of membership here. MANY HAVE NO DESIRE TO FORMALLY JOIN THE LOCAL CHURCH BECAUSE THEY HAVE NO DESIRE TO TAKE ON THE RESPONSIBILITY OF BEING THE CHURCH. THEY WANT ALL THE BENEFITS OF THE CHURCH WITHOUT ANY OF THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHURCH. THEY ARE IN IT FOR WHAT THEY CAN GET OUT OF IT AND NOT WHAT THEY HAVE TO GIVE OT IT.
