Live a Life of Love
Pastor Jim Luthy
Ephesians 4:25-5:2
In the film "Grand Canyon" an immigration attorney breaks out of a traffic jam and attempts to bypass it. His route takes him along streets that seem progressively darker and more deserted. Then the predictable nightmare: the man’s fancy sports car stalls on one of those alarming streets whose teenage guardians wear expensive guns and sneakers. He does manage to phone for a tow truck, but before it arrives five young toughs surround the attorney’s disabled car and threaten him with considerable bodily harm. Just in time, the tow truck shows up and its driver, an earnest, genial man, begins to hook up the sports car. The toughs protest; the driver is interrupting their meal. So the driver takes the group leader aside and attempts a 5-sentence introduction to metaphysics; "Man," he says, "the world ain’t supposed to work like this. Maybe you don’t know that, but this ain’t the way its supposed to be. I’m supposed to be able to do my job without asking you if I can. And the dude is supposed to be able to wait with his car without you rippin’ him off. Everything’s supposed to be different than what it is here."*
(* quoted from commentary by Marty Martin in Context magazine.)
I agree with the tow truck driver that everything’s supposed to be different than what it is in the movie. Everything’s supposed to be different than what it is here too. I’m supposed to be able to slow down to make a right turn without someone honking at me or making an obscene gesture. You’re supposed to be able to let your daughters walk to the school bus without the fear of them never coming home. Your neighbors are supposed to be able to ask for help with the yard or the car or the kids. But it’s getting to be less and less like the way everything’s supposed to be. Like the old song says, "What the world needs now is love, sweet love." But all we’re seeing is more isolation, suspicion, and corruption.
If the world needs love sweet love, it’s going to find it in people of faith who are living on another level. When we last looked at Ephesians 4:17-24, we read that Paul was calling the church (and is calling us) to live on that other level. We shouldn’t live by the old pattern. We’ve lived by the old pattern and can earnestly say "everything’s supposed to be different." You must no longer live as the unbelievers do. You did not come to know Christ by giving yourself over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity, with a continual lust for more. You were taught to put off your old self, to be made new in the attitude of your minds, and to put on the new self. Therefore, Paul says, and I tell you too, live on another level, and it begins by living a life of love.
Isn’t it obvious that the world could use more people who live a life of love. When your car breaks down in the middle of an intersection, isn’t it nice when out from among the throng who curse at you for blocking traffic comes an able body willing to help push you out of the road?
When your teenage son begins to rebel, isn’t it nice when a willing listener comes alongside to lend an ear while everyone else lends their advice?
When the money is tight and you don’t know where the groceries will come from, isn’t it nice when a friend passes up the ice cream, pop, candy, and beer on their shopping list to make spending room for some rice, potatoes, or ground beef for you?
Let me assure you, there are a lot of people living in our own community who are just dying to meet a neighbor or a new friend who is living a life of love. The vision I’ve maintained for Triumphant Life Church has been that we will see the Living Christ in a thriving church of giving people. Of giving people. Giving people are people who are living a life of love. They’re a rare breed in this day, and a welcome relief from "things aren’t supposed to be this way."
Living a life of love is a choice. It’s not something we do naturally. You might think you’re living a life of love, but most of us with any sense of reality know that we live to meet our own needs and desires first. Living a life of love requires that we continually put off the old and put on the new. That’s what Paul is getting at as he begins to paint a picture of what life on another level looks like. If you’re going to live a life of love, there are several ways in which you’ll have to put off our old way and put on a new way.
First of all, put off falsehood. Loving people don’t tell lies. More than that, though, loving people don’t live false lives. Loving people live authentically. "Speak truthfully to your neighbor," Paul tells us.
Paul is not telling us something we don’t already know. You know, and I know, that we ought to be truthful with one another. But you and I also both know that we don’t always operate that way. You may not be a chronic liar, but you might still be living fraudulently with your neighbors, perhaps even in very subtle ways. You might exaggerate your importance at work. You might live beyond your means in an attempt to impress people. You might cover up your sin with lame excuses. Most of the time, I’ve seen, people will do these things in an attempt to impress upon others that they’re someone they’re not. And the church is not exempt. We might put on a religious air or try to impress upon people just how spiritual we are. Have you ever quoted a verse you just learned in the morning as though you’ve known it all your life?
People won’t love you until they trust you. And people won’t trust you if they suspect you are lying about who you are or what you do. If what the world needs now is love, sweet love, then we need to begin by putting off all falsehood and living authentically with one another and in interaction with our world.
We also must be careful to put off sin when we are angry. Quoting Psalm 4:4, Paul writes, "In your anger do not sin." Notice he didn’t say, "Don’t get angry". He simply wants us to be careful not to sin in our anger. There is such a thing as righteous indignation. But it has a limited place, especially for those of us so prone to sin. Living a life of love requires that our anger does not consume us and drive us to a place where we do something or say something out of our flesh that is hurtful, hateful or harmful to one of his creatures.
If we do say something or do something along those lines, we are at risk of giving a foothold to the devil. You’ve heard people say this person or that person has an anger management problem. Where do you think that comes from? It’s a foothold of the devil. Anger management is nothing more than someone’s inability to be free from the devil’s grip. His trigger might be fear or condemnation or guilt, but he’ll push that button over and over and over again as long as he has mastery over you. Why? Because he hates love. And if you give him the place to control you in your anger, he’ll do it.
Paul also tells us to put off stealing. Contrary to popular opinion, stealing is not a property crime, it’s a crime against persons. Have you ever been robbed or had your home broken into? You feel violated. Your own personal space has been invaded. You feel devalued. You cannot steal from people and say that you love them. It’s not possible. So put off stealing, and do something useful with your hands. Then you’ll also be able to share with those in need. Now that’s living a life of love.
Put off unwholesome talk. The KJV translates Ephesians 4:29 as "Let no corrupt communication proceed from your mouth." The word translated "unwholesome" by the NIV and "corrupt" by the KJV literally means "rotten" or "worthless." So, putting off unwholesome talk means to let no rotten or worthless talk come out of you.
In the locker room, nearby the area where I dress, there is an older gentlemen who often has a joke for someone passing by. Because I am nearby, I will often hear the same off-color joke over and over again throughout the week. So I’ve come to associate this type of humor with this man. Children of God, it’s not proper for us to be identified with crude humor. It’s not proper for us to be identified with words and language that repel those who hear what we say. We might have the freedom to talk about anything we want, but is it really loving and life-giving to subject others to our gossip, crude humor, or tasteless banter? Do we think, even for a moment, that it is appropriate to put others down? I don’t want to even try to set up a legalistic list of "this is appropriate" and "this is not appropriate," (that alone would be inappropriate), but I believe that Christ dwelling in us would have nothing to do with the idle chatter that we often put before others. That is not love!
Here’s the truth of the matter. God has given his Holy Spirit to those who believe. The Holy Spirit is the one who comes in and makes you God’s workmanship. When you placed your trust in him, you were sealed with him until the day of your complete redemption, when Jesus will receive you into his heavenly dwelling place. You are stuck with the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit is stuck with you. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit by exercising the words you are often tempted to use. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit with language that is destructive, divisive, or down-right worthless. Instead, let us speak what is helpful for building others up. Let us love one another by encouraging one another. Let us speak the promises of God and blessing into other people’s lives. How much more valuable will that be to the one who hears? How much more will God receive glory when we are people identified with that kind of language? For that is love!
To keep from grieving the Holy Spirit, we need to put off all bitterness, rage, anger, brawling, slander, and every form of malice. These things are not proper for us. They’ll only hold us down and keep us from living on another level. We need to be, more than that we ought to be, greater than that, we have the power to be living a life of love. Put off these things, Paul tells us, and put on something new. Put on kindness. Put on compassion. Put on forgiveness. You look much better wearing these things. In fact, when you put on kindness, compassion, and love, you are dressed like you are blessed!
In the early 80’s, Michael Jackson and Paul McCartney did a duet called "The Girl is Mine." In the song, Michael Jackson says, "Paul, I think I told you, I’m a lover not a fighter." I’m lookin’ at Michael Jackson and thinking that was a pretty good choice! Friends, we need to be lovers, not fighters. As Paul summarizes, we need to be imitators of God. How much did God love us? So much that he sent his One and Only Son to die a very cruel and undeserved death in our place. Can you live such a life of love? Will you?
The only way that will ever happen is if you keep in mind the understanding you’ve pursued and the grace you’ve received and offer your life back to God as a fragrant offering and a sacrifice. As an act of worship, give up your right to get even. As an act of praise, give up a little of your time or money to help out a friend or neighbor in need. Do this, not because God will bless you for it, but because God has already blessed you in the heavenly realms and you want to bring a little of that heaven to earth.
Our vision is that we will be a church of giving people. Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear the story of several men who came together to help a new neighbor move in. Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear of one of our TLC Groups take up an offering to help the friend of a group member. Nothing gives me greater joy than to hear of someone offer to pray for a suffering neighbor or co-worker and have the heart to check back later just to see how things are going.
You are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. You were created in Christ Jesus to live a life of love. You weren’t made new to live a life of luxury or comfort. You weren’t redeemed to pursue your own pleasures, protect your own reputation, or even keep your own space. You were redeemed to reflect God’s love back to him and to send it out as a light over a dark world. You have been spared and made new to live a life of love. So let’s put off the old familiar way and put on a new way—the way of love. Let the world see that the God who dwells in us is a God of love.
