Alba 8-11-2024
LOVE IS A VERB
I John 3:11-18
We are subjected to so much rhetoric these days, especially with the elections coming. But much of it is just empty words. There are politicians who just ramble on and on without seemingly saying a thing. Unfortunately that problem can happen within the church. We need to be careful not to just repeat words without thinking.
Otherwise a situation could happen like the Lutheran minister who always started each service with "The Lord be with you." The people would respond, "And also with you.” But, one Sunday, the PA system wasn’t working, so the first thing he said was, "There’s something wrong with this microphone." The people responded, "And also with you."
They say “words have meaning” so perhaps there was more to that response than one might think. But maybe they just weren't thinking. Still, if someone would want to express care and concern for another, they should choose their words wisely. But sometimes even words are not enough, because...
1. Love Is More Than Words
A teenage boy and girl were sitting in a swing on her parents front porch in the mountains of North Carolina. They spent a lot of time there away from everyone, just the two of them. They would talk about all kinds of things. Things about their future, and what they might like to do if they were married.
Every Friday evening it was the same. He really liked coming to see her, but her mother's cooking was another good thing about the visit. When he got ready to go he would hold her hand and tell her he would see her next Friday and hug her. But this night he was feeling especially tender towards her. So he hugged her and said at the bottom of the porch stairs: “You know I love you so much I would fight the biggest man, swim the deepest ocean, climb the highest mountain because I love you so much.” He kissed her for the first time and turned to leave. Looking back at her as he opened the gate to leave he said, “I’ll see you next Friday, if it don't rain.” Does that sound like love?
Of all the apostles, John is known as the Apostle of Love. However, that is not how he started out. He had been rugged, unbending, reckless, impetuous and brash. Just as you would expect one of the “Sons of Thunder” to be. Love is a quality and characteristic he learned from the Savior. It took all of Jesus' three-year ministry on earth for John to learn it. But learn it he did. And he wants all of us to learn it too.
That is why there is so much about love in his gospel and his letters. And he wants us to know that real love is more than just words. This is what he writes in I John 3:11-18.
“For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
“Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death. Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
“By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”
A person can use words of love continually but love is more than words. Even if the words sound right, they can ring hollow if not backed up with action, because...
2. Love Is Shown by Actions
Janine's brother-in-law, Russell McCracken, told me that when he counseled a couple before their wedding, he would always tell them that love is a verb. That they needed to put their love in action, not just words.
That is true of husbands and wives in marriage. But it is also true of Christians in this world. That is John's point. And he makes that point using the example of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He says this is how we know what love is!
Jesus laid down His life for us. That is the ultimate example of love, that Jesus died on the cross for us. Not because we are so good that He was compelled to do so. No, it was while we were still sinners, basically enemies of our Lord, that He willingly went to the cross to take the punishment for our sins. No one made Him do it.
He said in John 10:17-18, “Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again. This command I have received from My Father.” As the song says, “He could have called ten thousand angels” but He died for you and for me.
It is in this context that John tells us to love one another, and to be willing to lay down our lives for each other. Most of us have not had to face real persecution or martyrdom for the sake of Christ. But we can face some difficult situations.
American Rehabilitation Ministries Prison Outreach is a ministry we support through our mission giving. In their most recent newsletter, Troy Nelson, current CEO of the ministry, told this story about how love in action made a big difference. He said, “It's a story of courage, change and the undeniable presence of God's hand in prisons.” Here's the story: With a name like “Slimeball,” it doesn't take much imagination to know what kind of person the man was.
As “fresh fish” enter the prison yard, predators like Slimeball look for the skinniest, most timid, and helpless inmates to bully and demand payment of “protection money.” Even new prison residents know that without the protection of others, you stand little chance of surviving life in prison. Scared to death, the weak and helpless give away their limited possessions to avoid physical and emotional harm.
Seeing Slimeball bully the young man, K.W. stood up to the notorious inmate and, with divine conviction, said, “Slimeball, he doesn't owe you anything! In Christ I am to care for this man.” K.W. came to Jesus while incarcerated and committed himself to defend the weak and helpless in prison as Christ would.
No one had ever talked to Slimeball that way. Stunned, he backed down, agreeing that no more deals would be transacted with the scared inmate. Shortly after this encounter, Slimeball was sent to solitary confinement for dealing drugs. When he returned, he was a different man. Refusing to be called Slimeball any longer, he insisted on being addressed as Brother Hammond. His curiosity about the Lord grew, and he frequently sought the guidance of K.W. in following the Lord. With each encounter, K.W. braced himself as he assumed Slimeball was trying to manipulate him, but Brother Hammon's sincerity and eagerness to learn about Jesus was consistently evident.
In moments that could have easily led him back to his old ways, Brother Hammond sought counsel and strength from the faith in Jesus he shared with K.W. The day before Brother Hammond was transferred to another facility, he slipped a note into K.W.'s pocket: “K.W., you repeatedly proved to me that you are my brother in Christ and I appreciate and thank you. God gave you your job to be a man of peace, and you are serving Him well. God bless you.”
That is an example of someone showing the love of Jesus to someone else even in a very difficult situation. It gives us pause to think, in what areas of life do we have an opportunity to show the love of our Lord to others?
In James 2:14-17, James also speaks to this issue asking, “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead. It profits nothing.
John says in verse 17 of our text that if we have what we need in this world and see a fellow Christian in need, we are reach out and help. Hebrews 6:10 commends the brethren saying, “God is not unjust; he will not forget your work and the love you have shown him.” And how had they shown their love? It says they did so, “as you have helped his people and continue to help them.” (NIV)
Verse fourteen of our text adds one more thing to how we can know we are God's children. It is if we have love for the brethren. That's how we know that we have passed from death to life. That's when we are following in the footsteps of Jesus. That's when the world will know that we are Christians: by our love and concern for each other.
There is so much hate in this world, that people are longing to see love in action. It didn't take long for hate to take action. When Cain became jealous of his brother Abel, it led to murder. And it didn't require an assault style semiautomatic rifle to do the job. When there is hate in the heart, anything will do as a weapon.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:21-22 “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.’ But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.” Jesus is warning us to be careful about anger. It can lead to murder, as it did in the case of Cain and Abel. And even if it doesn't actually go that far, the heart is as guilty as if it had been done. Oh, how we need Jesus! Thank you Lord that You can forgive our sins!
To hear words of love can be very encouraging. But without actions to back up the words, it is as James said about faith, the words lose their meaning. There is no life in them. That's why we are told to love in deed and in truth.
Love is more than words. Love is shown in action, but also...
3. Love Is To Be Shown In Truth
That means when love is expressed in words and action it should be done with a sincere heart, in truth. We should act lovingly toward each other of course. But if we want to be pleasing to the Lord, it needs to be more than just an act. Sometimes that requires time alone with the Lord, confessing our own sins and praying for Him to give us love toward people – people who honestly get on our nerves at times.
If that is done we won't be like the little guy who started to say the right thing, but then his real feelings came out. Trying to think of ways to express love he said, “Your eyes are like pools; cesspools. Your hair is like silk; corn silk. Your nose is like a little river; it runs all the time. Your lips are like pedals; bicycle pedals. Your ears are like flowers; cauliflower.” That does not sound like a sincere expression of love. He needed a refresher course. And often we do too.
Here's a question for you. How does a worm get inside an apple? You may think the worm burrows in from the outside. But scientists have discovered that the worm comes from inside. How does it get in there? Simple! An insect lays an egg in the apple blossom. Sometime later, the worm hatches in the heart of the apple, then eats its way out. Hate, like the worm, begins in the heart and works out through a person’s thoughts, words, and actions.
But here's the thing, if love is in the heart, it also works out through a person's thoughts, words and actions. Where does this love come from? It comes from God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Love is the first fruit of the Spirit mentioned in Galatians chapter five.
When we come to know the love of Jesus and all that He has done for us, and yield to Him in faith, repentance and baptism, we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit to guide and direct our lives. Then the Spirit is able to begin the process of building us into a people who sincerely love others, as God loves us.
Love is a verb. Love is an active word, and where there is love there will always be a response to the needs of other people. The most common understanding of the word love is “a feeling of great affection.” It is not surprising, therefore, that this is the meaning applied whenever the word love is seen in the Scriptures.
However, the word used here is “agape” and it denotes “seeking and doing good for others, irrespective of feelings, and regardless of whether the person is friend or foe, likable or unlikable, deserving or undeserving.” That's how God loves us. God didn't just say He loves us. Words were not enough. He demonstrated His love when He sent Jesus into this world, giving us His only begotten Son to die on the cross for us so that through obedient faith in Jesus, we can be saved and have eternal life. That is real love in deed and truth. And it is the kind of love that the Lord wants to see in each of us.
CLOSE:
In one of “Peanuts" comic strips Lucy says to Shroeder (the boy with whom she’s hopelessly in love), "Guess what...If you don’t tell me that you love me, you know what I’m going to do? I’m going to hold my breath until I pass out!"
Looking up from his piano, Shroeder says, "Breath-holding in children is an interesting phenomenon. It could indicate a metabolic disorder. A forty-milligram dose of Vitamin B6 twice a day might be helpful. I think that’s probably it... You need Vitamin B6. You might also consider eating more bananas, avocados, and beef liver..."
As he goes back to his piano, Lucy sighs, "I ask for love, and all I get is beef liver!"
We live in a world that is asking for love. What are we giving it? We need to be sure by the way we live our lives that the people with whom we come into contact know at least three things:
That we love God.
And that God loves them.
And that because of that, we love them too.
We have been made ambassadors for Christ to call people to Jesus so all can experience His love and mercy.
