The Outward Expression: Love
Matthew 22:34-40
Today we conclude our series on the basics of Authentic Christianity.
We have been looking at the Great Commandment and have discovered that Authentic Christianity means that we love God with all that we are¡K
„« All our heart ¡V meaning that we have a passion for God¡K that above all else we want Him¡K that we are thirsty for God alive.
„« All our soul and all our strength ¡V meaning that we are authentic¡K our attitudes and motivations are seen through our actions
„« All our mind ¡V not merely a knowledge of God but a pursuit of understanding God¡K who He is¡K how He works¡K what His desire is for our lives.
Today we look at the Outward Expression of Authentic Christianity: Love.
Let¡¦s look again at Matthew 22:35-40:
One of them, an expert in the law, tested him with this question: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: "`Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: `Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."
(Matthew 22:35-40 NIV)
Notice that Jesus makes a distinction between these two commandments¡K
„« The first is to love God with all you are
„« The second is to love your neighbor as yourself
„« Loving God comes first¡K then love for your neighbor will follow.
What is love?
„« Our culture often mistake love for a feeling that varies in its intensity and comes and goes.
„« We think we fall in love and that we fall out of love¡K. Love has become more a self-serving notion
„« I love you has become more an expression of ¡§I like what you do for me¡¨ rather than ¡§I am devoted to you¡¨
„« Love is expressed as devotion ¡K In our day it¡¦s merely devotion to self. We¡¦ll love someone as long as they give us what we want¡K as long as they make us feel good¡K but as soon as they stop¡K our love does too.
„« Sure love involves emotions and feelings¡K but those are rewards and reflections of love¡K not love itself.
So what does it mean to love your neighbor as yourself? ¡K Jesus isn¡¦t talking about having feelings and emotions for others.
Authentic Christianity is expressed in its devotion. ¡K Keep this in mind as we finish our series on the Basics of Authentic Christianity today.
What does it mean for us to love our neighbor as ourselves?
First, let¡¦s look at what Jesus is not saying:
Jesus is NOT telling us to love ourselves.
„« The primary focus of this command is to love our neighbor¡K Jesus assumes we already care for ourselves
„« Ephesians 5:29 ¡V No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. (MSG)
„« To say this verse means that we ought to love ourselves is to totally miss the emphasis on ¡§love your neighbor¡¨ ¡K
„« This love¡K love your neighbor as yourself¡K is a love of action¡K outward focused¡K not a love of reflection back upon us.
Jesus is NOT saying that loving your neighbor will get you into heaven
„« You don¡¦t get to heaven by being a good person who is nice to others
„« All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all shrivel up like a leaf, and like the wind our sins sweep us away. (Isaiah 64:6 NIV)
„« In fact, we can only love because God loved us first.
„« 1 John 4:19 ¡V ¡§We love because he first loved us.¡¨
Until we realize that we can¡¦t possibly be good enough to get into heaven¡K the message of the cross is misunderstood as something that makes us better¡K and not something that changes us completely.
Actually, loving our neighbor is a direct result of loving God¡K you can¡¦t love God and not love others.
1 John 4:20-21 ¡V If anyone boasts, ¡§I love God,¡¨ and then goes right on hating his brother or sister, thinking nothing of it, he is a liar. ¡K The command we have from Christ is blunt: Loving God includes loving people. You¡¦ve got to love both. (MSG)
And¡K loving our neighbor reflects our love for God
This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples¡Xwhen they see the love you have for each other. (John 13:35 MSG)
The second command isn¡¦t about the need for us to love ourselves¡K and it isn¡¦t about earning our way into heaven¡K. It¡¦s about pouring out the love of God through us. ¡K sharing the love of God with another person.
Some of us may feel like we need to ask ¡§Who¡¦s my neighbor?¡¨ ¡K A young lawyer asked Jesus the same question in Luke 10:30-37 ¡K
„« Jesus answers with the story of the Good Samaritan. Basically¡K he says,
„« There was a man was going from Jerusalem to Jericho.
„« On the way he is attacked by robbers who beat him, take his clothes and money, and leave him on the road¡K half dead.
„« A priest was on his way down the very same road, but when he saw the man¡K he crossed over to the other side.
„« A little later¡K a Levite religious man was on his way down the road as well¡K and when he saw the man, he too, went by him on the other side of the road.
„« After this man came a Samaritan¡K when he saw the man¡K his heart went out to him
„« He gave the man first aid, disinfected and bandaged his wounds.
„« He put him on his donkey and took the injured man to an inn where he gave the innkeeper money to take care of him.
„« Jesus then asks the young lawyer who the neighbor was in the story¡K obviously the one who cared for him
„« Jesus then tells the man to go and do likewise.
I think this story is great not because of the story itself but the way in which Jesus answers the man¡¦s question.
„« The man asks¡K ¡§Who is my neighbor?¡¨¡K In other words, who is it that I have to love? ¡K He wants something to do¡K a rule to obey.
„« Jesus answers by saying, ¡§Be a neighbor.¡¨ ¡K Jesus tells the man an attitude to embody¡K that of a loving person.
„« Loving your neighbor isn¡¦t a rule to obey¡K it¡¦s an attitude to embody.
Jesus is telling us to love others as we love ourselves¡K the same standard we desire for ourselves ought to be the standard by which we love others.
How many of you have heard of the Golden Rule? ¡K Is it¡K
A. Do unto others before they do unto you.
B. Don¡¦t do to others what you wouldn¡¦t want done to you.
C. Do unto others as you would want them to do to you.
Here¡¦s a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them.
(Matthew 7:12 MSG)
Really the Golden Rule is a combination of A and C, but we often look at is as B.
„« We think of it as ¡§Don¡¦t do it unless I¡¦d want it done to me.¡¨
„« We teach our children not to make fun of other people unless we want them to make fun of us. ¡K And not to hit our sister unless we want to get hit as well.
„« That is a complete reversal of the Golden Rule¡K that¡¦s an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.
„« The Golden Rule is a positive command¡K a command to do¡K not a command not to do.
„« It¡¦s meant to guide us in how to bless others¡K
„« Here¡¦s a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. (Matthew 7:12 MSG)
Authentic Christianity is expressed by a love for others¡K consider this.
Let me tell you why you are here. You¡¦re here to be salt-seasoning that brings out the God-flavors of this earth. ¡K You¡¦re here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. ¡K Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you¡¦ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:13-14, 16 MSG)
The Great Commandment pushes us out and helps us to truly grasp what it means to be an authentic Christian. ¡K It is our roadmap and checklist so to say.
And since this is the last message in this series¡K I¡¦d like to wrap it up into a neat package for you.
First of all we have been talking about the Great Commandment ¡K You can¡¦t take it lightly¡K Jesus reveals to us the absolute necessities of the Christian faith ¡K without these elements we are not living authentic Christianity.
Let¡¦s look at each of these elements one last time¡K And remember, you can¡¦t pick and choose¡K each of these should characterize our lives and they should each grow as we grow up in Jesus Christ.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart¡K
„« The Internal Motivation for authentic Christianity is Passion¡K a passion for God.
„« Having a passion for God means that we have a strong, extravangant fondness, enthusiasm, and desire for God
„« As the psalmist declared¡K We are thirsty for God alive!
„« C.S. Lewis said, ¡§Our Lord finds our desires not too strong but, too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.¡¨
„« An authentic Christian is one that is passionate about God¡K someone who seeks his or her pleasure in God.
Love the Lord your God with all your soul and all your strength¡K
„« The External Evidence of authentic Christianity is Authenticity
„« Authenticity is a blending of sincerity of heart and integrity in action¡K when our talk matches our walk and our walk matches our talk
„« Jesus called the Pharisees of his day, whitewashed tombs¡K they acted righteous and did all the religious actions but they weren¡¦t being changed from the inside out.
Love the Lord your God with all your mind¡K
„« The Upward Pursuit of Authentic Christianity is Understanding
„« Loving God with all our mind means that we have an earnest desire to understand more and more about God.
„« It¡¦s not just knowledge of some random facts¡K but knowledge in action¡K knowledge applied to life¡K thus understanding
„« We talked about the necessity of reading the Bible in order to gain an understanding of who God is and how He works.
„« We also talked about God¡¦s promise that if we will seek Him we will find Him when we search for Him with all our heart.
And finally today we talked about loving our neighbor as ourselves¡K
„« The Outward Expression of authentic Christianity is Love
„« Love should characterize who we are as Christians
„« Loving your neighbor basically means Asking yourself what you want people to do for you, then grabbing the initiative and doing it for them.
We are you this morning? ¡K How authentic is your Christianity?
„« On your notes page which of these four elements is your strongest?
„« Which is your weakest?
„« What can you do to be more authentic?
