Purpose Series #1
(Six Sessions on God’s Purpose for Your Life)
The GOAL
Matthew 22:34-40, John 13:34-35
SCRIPTURE READING: Matthew 22:34-40
INTRODUCTION:
For the next 6 Sundays we will study together the principles found in “Beginning Life Together.” Our Pueblo groups will be studying the same material during this time. This material corresponds with Rick Warren’s book, The Purpose Driven Life. You may have noticed the many posters around town showing that lots of churches have been doing “40 days of Purpose” campaigns. Well, I guess we actually have them beat, because our emphasis will last 42 days.
Today is an introduction to the series. We’re going to ask a basic question: why did God create us and put us on earth? What is our purpose? Maybe you’ve heard the Hokey Pokey song. You know: You put your right foot in; you put your right foot out; you put your right foot in and you shake it all about. You do the Hokey Pokey and you turn yourself around. That’s what it’s all about. Have you ever contemplated this question: What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it’s all about?
Well, we don’t have to wonder if the Hokey Pokey is what it’s all about. You don’t have to guess what it’s all about because Jesus answered the question. We heard the answer in our TEXT this morning. An expert on the Law tested Jesus with this question, “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the Law?”
Jesus replied: "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” Matthew 22:37
Let’s stop for a minute on that first word. Jesus replied: "Love…”
If we hope to get a handle on what the Bible means by using the word “Love” we need to realize that ultimately, Love is an attitude of the heart.
1. Love is Attitude Matthew 22:37-38
When I say ATTITUDE of the heart, I don’t mean a FEELING of the heart. We need to understand that a general “feeling” of love is not the point. Feelings come and go. When Jim Dobson wrote his book, Emotions, Can you trust them? The answer to the question is shouted from the pages of the book. NO! You cannot trust your emotions! Emotions will lie to you over and over again!
I remember a song from the ‘60’s called “You’ve Lost that Lovin’ Feeling” The implied message of that song is dangerous. I’ve sometimes heard a husband or wife who wants a divorce say, “Well, I just don’t love them any more.” I want to say, well, if you’ve lost that lovin’ feeling, then get out there and find it. The truth is, you don’t lose love. You can neglect it. You can reject it. You can smother it. You might even murder it. But you don’t lose love.
You see, love is a choice. Feelings often follow that choice --- not the other way around. I heard of a Marriage Counselor who gives this homework to the couples he counsels. He says: Fake it till you make it. In other words, ACT like you love each other --- and after a while, you’ll start FEELING like you love each other.
The kind of Love Jesus commands is not goose bumps or butterflies in your stomach. It’s not a sentimental, oooey-gooey feeling – it is not a fleeting emotion at all.
And notice that Jesus did not just give a general command to love anyone, anywhere, any time. Before anything else, we need to make the decision to love the Lord our God.
When Jesus gave the greatest commandment, he was quoting an Old Testament scripture that was known as the “Shema” (she maah) That is the first word of the verse, and in Hebrew it means “Hear!” “Hear oh Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deuteronomy 6:4-5
The proper object of Love makes all the difference. In fact, we cannot properly love anyone else unless we begin with love of God. And the kind of LOVE God deserves is a deeply entrenched attitude of the heart. It’s the kind of love that starts in the core of our being.
Sandra Palmer Carr wrote a devotion where she told about rocking her four-year-old son, Boyd. While she rocked him, Boyd looked up at her, staring straight into her eyes. He became very still, and then he said in an awed whisper: “Mommy, I’m in your eyes.” He had seen his own reflection in his mother’s eyes. Sandra stopped rocking and held Boyd in that same position for several long moments then said quietly. “And I’m in your eyes, too!” Sandra Palmer Carr The Upper Room
That’s the way it is with our Heavenly Father. We are always in His eyes. And He should always be in our eyes, too! That’s the kind of Love that Jesus commands. That kind of Love is what it’s all about. When we God that way we are able to put LOVE INTO ACTION here on earth.
2. Love is Action Matthew 22:39
Jesus said that loving the Lord our God is the first and greatest commandment Then Jesus said, And the second is like it: ’Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:39
Love may start out as an ATTITUDE, but Love must also show itself in ACTION.
Let me tell another little-kid story to illustrate this. A dad was sitting in his recliner, kicked back and reading the paper after a long, tiring day at work. His little boy inched up beside Dad and said, “Daddy, I love you.” The dad replied, “I love you, too, son,” and continued reading the paper.
The little boy went to the other side of the chair and started rubbing his daddy’s arm. “Daddy, I love you,” he said again. And with just a little impatience in his voice, Dad again said, “I love you, too, son,”
Suddenly the boy came crashing through the newspaper onto his dad’s chest. He wrapped his little arms as far around his dad as he could and exclaimed, “Daddy, I love you and I’ve just GOT to do something about it!” Thompson, Love Enough to Give it All, Sermon Central
If you love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, you’ll find you’ve just GOT to DO something about it! And Jesus tells us what to do: LOVE the people around you.
Consider what Jesus told the Apostles at the Last Supper. These men didn’t know it, but they would soon be commissioned to bring the Kingdom of God into practical existence. They would soon be starting the first Church. And here’s what Jesus told them:
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:34-35
What did Jesus see as essential for the birth of the church? The shared task of the church is to LOVE EACH OTHER so the world will know we are authentic.
Much of the New Testament is dedicated to telling people IN the church how to BE the church. The letters in the New Testament are rich with practical instructions on how to treat one another, how to care for each other, how to pray for each other, how to handle disagreements with each other.
There’s more instruction on how to love each other in the church than on how to do evangelism. That may surprise you until you consider this: IF people can love each other in the church the way they should, the world will stand up and take notice. People are desperate to find a place where they can love and be loved that way. The world will be drawn to God if they see Christians loving each other.
That’s why church squabbles and splits --- and sometimes even all-out brawls --- break the heart of God. Every time church members go around bad-mouthing each other, they give a black-eye to the cause of Christ. It’s the new Christians and the Seekers who suffer when Christians break the commandment of Christ: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.
When Jesus was asked What is the greatest commandment? He had well over 600 Old Testament Commands to choose from. Why did he bypass all of them? WHY LOVE?
Jesus explained it this way: All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments. Matthew 22:40 If you love of the Lord your God and love of others, then Love is all you need.
3. Love is All Matthew 22:37-40
If you love, you will naturally obey all the commandments that are dear to God’s heart. In fact, if you truly LOVE, you will be like God. Why? Because GOD IS LOVE.
The Bible gives many descriptions of God. We talked about some of them in the I AM series of sermons this summer. God HAS All Power. He HAS great patience and mercy and wisdom. God HAS all these attributes and more. But when the Bible goes beyond what God HAS to what God IS, look at what we find. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 1 John 4:16
So when you ask, What’s it all about? The answer is simple and profound. It’s all about LOVE. You are here --- I am here --- for one primary purpose: I can’t put it any more clearly than Jesus did:
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Love your neighbor as yourself. Matthew 22:37,39
CONCLUSION:
We’ve heard a lot of political talk lately. People refer back to the “Truman Doctrine” that came after World War II, and the “Bush Doctrine” that he has proposed after the 9-11 attack.
As ambassadors of an Eternal Kingdom, we have our marching orders. We march under the King’s banner, and His banner over us is LOVE. That is our doctrine, our foreign policy, our marching orders, and the objective of God’s Kingdom on earth. We are to liberate a lost and dying world by planting LOVE where it is most desperately needed.
We have been placed on earth to love God and love others. As part of the church Jesus commands us to love each other so that the world will know we belong to God. It’s a tall order, but God gives us the grace to rise to the challenge.
Will you choose to love God will all your heart, soul, and mind?
Will you determine to share God’s love with others?
That is your destiny.
That is your purpose in life.
That’s why God created you.
That’s what it’s all about.
