It’s A Love Story
4th Sunday of Advent, 2003
Scripture Ref: Luke 19:5-10; 23:33-34a
John 15:12-14
1 John 3:15-16
Hebrews 7:23-25, 9:24
Additional References: The Bible Knowledge Commentary
New Topical Textbook
1. 4th Sunday of Advent Candle Lighting
a. Last Sunday we lit the candle of joy. We light it and the candles of hope and peace again as we remember that Christ will come again and bring us everlasting peace and joy. (Light the first 3 candles)
b. The fourth candle of Advent is the Candle of Love. It’s light is meant to remind us of the love that God has for us.
c. Jesus shows us God’s perfect love. He is God’s love in human form. The bible says "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life."
d. Love is patient; love is kind and envies no one. Love is never boastful or conceited, rude or selfish. Love is not quick to take offence, it keeps no records of wrongs, it does not gloat over other people’s troubles, but rejoices in the right, the good, and the true. There is nothing that love cannot face; there is no limit to its faith, to its hope, to its endurance. Love never ends.
e. We light this candle today to remind us of how God’s perfect love is found in Jesus. (Light the fourth candle).
f. The fifth candle of the Advent wreath is the Christ candle. We light it to celebrate the birth of the one who is the light of the world.
2. Introduction
a. Lighting the 4the Advent candle sets the theme for today’s message—Love.
b. The word love is used very loosely these days. It is used more as an adjective describing our feelings about objects than it is used as a verb demonstrating action.
c. This Christmas season, now more than ever, the closer we get to Christ’s triumphant return, we need to relearn what true love is and how we can and should use it. Much like the child in the story I am about to read, we need to rediscover the true source of true love, Jesus.
d. Read Misha and Jesus:
It was nearing the holiday season, 1994, time for our orphans to hear, for the first time, the traditional story of Christmas. We told them about Mary and Joseph arriving in Bethlehem. Finding no room in the inn, the couple went to a stable, where the baby Jesus was born and placed in a manger.
Throughout the story, the children and orphanage staff sat in amazement as they listened. Some sat on the edges of their stools, trying to grasp every word. Completing the story, we gave the children three small pieces of cardboard to make a crude manger. Each child was given a small paper square, cut from yellow napkins I had brought with me. No colored paper was available in the city.
Following instructions, the children tore the paper and carefully laid strips in the manger for straw. Small squares of flannel, cut from a worn-out nightgown an American lady was throwing away as she left Russia, were used for the baby’s blanket. A doll-like baby was cut from tan felt we had brought from the United States.
The orphans were busy assembling their manger as I walked among them to see if they needed any help. All went well until I got to one table where little Misha sat. He looked to be about 6 years old and had finished his project. As I looked at the little boy’s manger, I was startled to see not one, but two babies in the manger. Quickly, I called for the translator to ask the lad why there were two babies in the manger. Crossing his arms in front of him and looking at this completed manger scene, the child began to repeat the story very seriously.
For such a young boy, who had only heard the Christmas story once, he related the happenings accurately--until he came to the part where Mary put the baby Jesus in the manger. Then Misha started to ad-lib. He made up his own ending to the story as he said, "And when Maria laid the baby in the manger, Jesus looked at me and asked me if I had a place to stay. I told him I have no mamma and I have no papa, so I don’t have any place to stay. Then Jesus told me I could stay with him. But I told him I couldn’t, because I didn’t have a gift to give him like everybody else did. But I wanted to stay with Jesus so much, so I thought about what I had that maybe I could use for a gift. I thought maybe if I kept him warm, that would be a good gift.
So I asked Jesus, "If I keep you warm, will that be a good enough gift?"
And Jesus told me, "If you keep me warm, that will be the best gift anybody ever gave me." "So I got into the manger, and then Jesus looked at me and he told me I could stay with him—for always."
As little Misha finished his story, his eyes brimmed full of tears that splashed down his little cheeks. Putting his hand over his face, his head dropped to the table and his shoulders shook as he sobbed and sobbed. The little orphan had found someone who would never abandon nor abuse him, someone who would stay with him-FOR ALWAYS.
e. This young, orphaned child found love in a story, a story that touched his heart. He knew the truth when he heard it and he responded to that truth.
f. Do you know love when you see it…hear it…or experience it; or have you slowly, over time, succumbed to the world’s ideal of love?
g. Today we are going to examine the physiology of love.
3. What Is Love?
a. We have, on numerous occasions, heard the saying, “God is love.” The entire gospel is stated in that simple sentence. But, we must dig deeper to see how God is love and to learn how we may be more God-like.
b. When you say “what is love,” I respond “God is love.” In response you say, “show me” or “prove it” or, better yet, “give me some examples.” Here are my examples.
c. ONE—Love is reaching out to and ministering to the lost.
(1) Requires internal evaluation. How do you interact with: the individual you know is not saved; the individual you know who claims to be saved, but their life does not reflect it; the individual you know is saved, but has fallen from grace?
(2) Read Luke 19:5-10 1
(a) Jesus knew of Zacchaeus’ reputation, yet he purposely chose to visit his house.
(b) The people began to complain that Jesus was going to the house of a sinner.
(c) Just as Jesus frequently did, we must meet the individual where they are. While prayer is both effective and necessary in this endeavor, merely praying for their salvation or restoration to the fellowship is not enough. We can no more reach them by simply gathering here in this sanctuary than we can get a spring garden planted by thinking about it from the comfort of our sofa. It requires action.
d. TWO—Love is Praying for Your Enemies
(1) There you are, about to explode with anger and malice. You discover that someone you counted as a close personal friend has been gossiping about you behind your back and none of what they said is true. Or, you discover a co-worker has taken credit for a project you originated and put a lot of time and energy into.
(2) What do you do? The easy way out would be to fuel your anger and malice and respond in kind. Easy, however, is not always the best way. The harder way is to forgive and pray for those individuals. Let me give you an example.
(3) Read Luke 23:33-34a—When they came to the place called the Skull, there they crucified him, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”
(a) Christ was forgiving even as He died on trumped up charges.
(b) He forgave the thief being crucified along him. More importantly, He prayed for and forgave not only those carrying out the crucifixion, but also those responsible for it.
(c) In light of such a great example, how can we not be forgiving and pray for our enemies, both perceived and real?
e. THREE—Love is self-sacrificing.
(1) There are many schools of thought today on what it means to sacrifice. For example, one radio station I listen to asks that you give up one cup of coffee or latte a day for a month and send the resulting savings to them monthly as a form of support. To some, that may be a sacrifice.
(2) Let me give you an example of a more severe form of sacrifice. Read:
Boarding the SS Dorchester on a dreary winter day in 1943 were 903 troops and four chaplains, including Moody alumnus Lt. George Fox. World War II was in full swing, and the ship was headed across the icy North Atlantic where German U-boats lurked. At 12:00 on the morning of February 3, a German torpedo ripped into the ship. "She’s going down!" the men cried, scrambling for lifeboats.
A young GI crept up to one of the chaplains. "I’ve lost my life jacket," he said. "Take this," the chaplain said, handing the soldier his jacket. Before the ship sank, each chaplain gave his life jacket to another man. The heroic chaplains then linked arms and lifted their voices in prayer as the Dorchester went down. Lt. Fox and his fellow pastors were awarded posthumously the Distinguished Service Cross. (Today in the Word, April 1, 1992)
(3) These pastors demonstrated the very self-sacrificing love that Christ taught us.
(4) Read John 15:12-14—My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
Read 1 John 3:15-16—Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life in him. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
(a) One primary command, not request, Christ gives us is to love one another. We grow by caring for and nurturing one another.
(b) The most we can do for an individual is to “lay down” our life for them. This can be taken literally, as the chaplains in our example did, or it can be taken as doing something that is not convenient for or pleasant to us—sacrificing ourselves.
(c) Taking it a step further, hatred of a person is the spiritual equivalent of murder, much as a lustful eye is the spiritual equivalent of adultery.
(d) John does not say that someone who hates his brother does not possess eternal life, but rather that he does not have it abiding in him. The NIV does not translate a crucial Greek word, which translates “abiding.”
(e) Hatred on the part of a Christian toward another person is thus an experience of moral murder. A Christian who fails to love his brother “remains in death.” Consequently, he is experientially living in the same sphere in which the world lives.
f. FOUR—Love is intercessory.
(1) The three qualities of love we have just discussed all have in common, among other things, they are intercessory in nature.
(2) They are intercessory because they result in you interceding or intervening on another person’s behalf. You may be attempting to resolve a rift between friends, to restore a fallen brother or sister to the church, or drawing an unsaved person to the love of Christ. What ever the motive, you are interceding.
(3) Christ becomes the perfect example of intercessor.
(4) Read Hebrews 7:23-25—Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.
Read Hebrews 9:24—For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; he entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence.
(5) With all the horrid things we think, do, and say through the course of our life, Christ continues to intercede with God on our behalf.
(6) How, then, can we not follow His example and intercede on behalf of our fellow man.
4. Summary
a. Christ’s life as both a man and as the Son of God is truly a love story. He loved us while he physically walked among us; and He loves us still as he intercedes with God on our behalf.
b. We have the ability to make our life a love story—love for our fellow man, not just ourselves.
c. We must, however, make a concerted effort to make it this way. We must:
(1) We must reach out and minister to the lost.
(2) We must pray for our enemies.
(3) We must sacrifice ourselves for our fellow man, both friend and enemy.
(4) We must intercede on behalf of our friends and enemies.
5. Invitation
