INTRODUCTION
WHAT IS IT IN JESUS THAT SO DRAWS MEN, THAT WINS THEIR ALLEGIANCE AWAY FROM EVERY OTHER MASTER, MAKES THEM READY TO LEAVE ALL FOR HIS SAKE, AND TO FOLLOW HIM THROUGH PERIL AND SACRIFICE EVEN TO DEATH?
IS IT HIS WONDERFUL TEACHING? "NO MAN EVER SPOKE LIKE THIS MAN!" (John 7:46)
IS IT HIS POWER THAT IS SEEN IN HIS MIRACLES?
IS IT HIS SINLESSNESS? THE MOST MALIGNANT SCRUTINY COULD FIND NO FAULT IN HIM.
IS IT THE PERFECT BEAUTY OF HIS CHARACTER? NONE OF THESE WILL ACCOUNT FOR THE WONDERFUL ATTRACTION OF JESUS. LOVE IS THE SECRET. HE CAME INTO THE WORLD TO REVEAL THE LOVE OF GOD -- HE WAS THE LOVE OF GOD IN HUMAN FLESH. HIS LIFE WAS ALL LOVE. HE REVEALED LOVE IN WONDERFUL WAYS DURING HIS LIFE.
MEN SAW IT IN HIS FACE, FELT IT IN HIS TOUCH, AND HEARD IT IN HIS VOICE. HIS FRIENDSHIP WAS UNLIKE ANY FRIENDSHIP THEY HAD EVER SEEN BEFORE OR EVEN DREAMED OF. IT WAS THIS THAT DREW THEM TO HIM AND MADE THEM LOVE HIM SO DEEPLY, SO TENDERLY.
NOTHING BUT LOVE WILL KINDLE LOVE. POWER WILL NOT DO IT -- MEN WILL TAKE GIFTS AND THEN REPAY WITH HATRED. BUT LOVE BEGETS LOVE; HEART RESPONDS TO HEART. THE POWER OF JESUS' ATTRACTIVENESS WAS THE POWER OF LOVE. AND IT IS THIS SAME LOVE IN US THAT WILL DRAW AND ATTRACT MEN TO THE SAVIOR TODAY. (#68)
LAST sermon WE HEARD JESUS ISSUE HIS (i) NEW COMMANDMENT -- IT'S IN JOHN 13:34: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."
IT WAS NEW BECAUSE IT HAD A NEW (ii) CRITERION.
WE ARE TO LOVE OTHERS EVEN AS HE LOVES US . THERE ARE FIVE SPECIAL CHARACTERISTICS ABOUT HIS LOVE. WE SAW THAT IT IS (A.) UNCONDITIONAL. JESUS LOVES US REGARDLESS OF WHO OR WHAT WE ARE, WHETHER WE DESERVE IT OR NOT -- HE LOVES US WITH NO STRINGS ATTACHED.
HIS LOVE IS ALSO (B.) UNSELFISH -- CONCERNED ONLY WITH HELPING AND SERVING US. THIRDLY, WE SAW THAT HIS LOVE IS (C.) UNDENIABLE -- EXPRESSED NOT MERELY IN WORDS, BUT IN CONCRETE AND PRACTICAL DEEDS.
THE LOVE THAT CHRIST COMMANDS IS NOT AN EMOTION OR A FEELING -- IT IS AN ACTION, A DELIBERATE CHOICE, A DECISION TO TREAT OTHERS AS WE WOULD LIKE TO BE TEATED; A COMMITMENT MADE TO ACT WITH BENEVOLENT GOODWILL TOWARD OTHERS.
d. fourth, jesus' love was unrestrained.
He held nothing back.
true love is extremely
1. vulnerable. love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. christ's love got him hung on a cross. Love makes us open up, it makes us expose ourselves, it makes us vulnerable -- and, because of this, many people are afraid to love.
we grow up hiding behind masks and false fronts because there exists that deep fear that -- if we should open up, someone will take advantage of us.
IF YOU REACH OUT IN LOVE TO ANOTHER PERSON, YOU TAKE A RISK. THAT PERSON MAY REJECT YOUR LOVE OR DISAPPOINT YOU OR LET YOU DOWN. I WOULD GUESS THAT SOME OF YOU HERE THIS MORNING HAVE BEEN "BURNED." YOU TOOK THE RISK AND CARED DEEPLY ABOUT ANOTHER PERSON.
THAT PERSON REJECTED YOU AND YOU NOW CARRY AN EMOTIONAL SCAR. SOMETIMES THE HURT IS SO DEEP, IT IS HARD TO TAKE THE RISK OF LOVING AGAIN. (1194)
when we love, we are bound to get hurt -- there's no getting around it. love is giving and not expecting anything in return.
IN HIS BOOK, "THE YOKE OF CHRIST," ELTON TRUEBLOOD QUOTES A LETTER FROM A SCHOOLGIRL WHO PROBES THE DEPTH OF HER SOUL. SHE WRITES, "I'VE BEEN THINKING MUCH THIS YEAR ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE OF CARING, OF THE PASSION OF LIFE. I'VE OFTEN REALIZED THAT IT TAKES COURAGE TO CARE.
"CARING IS DANGEROUS. IT LEAVES YOU OPEN TO HURT AND TO LOOKING LIKE A FOOL. AND PERHAPS IT'S BECAUSE THEY HAVE BEEN HURT SO OFTEN THAT PEOPLE ARE AFRAID TO CARE. YOU CAN'T DIE IF YOU'RE NOT ALIVE. AND THEN WHO WOULD RATHER BE A STONE?
"I HAVE FOUND MANY PLACES IN MY OWN LIFE WHERE I KEEP A SECRET STORE OF INDIFFERENCE AS A SORT OF SELF-PROTECTION."
THAT'S A PENETRATING INSIGHT: A SECRET STORE OF INDIFFERENCE. WE'RE TO CARE, BECAUSE CHRIST CARED -- EVEN THOUGH IT MEANT A CROSS. (#173)
IN THE FACE OF FRIENDSHIP'S FAILURE
AM I TO BACK AWAY,
RETREAT TO MY TURTLE'S FORTRESS
AND SAY, "ENOUGH! NO MORE!
I'LL NOT BE HURT AGAIN."
OR DO I, PARENT-LIKE, GOD-LIKE,
RUN OUT INTO THE ROADWAY
TO WELCOME THE WANDERER HOME
WITH RING AND ROBE AND WARM EMBRACE!
ALL THAT IT TAKES TO KNOW THE ANSWER
IS A BIT OF PATIENCE,
A TOUCH OF IMAGINATION,
AND ENOUGH LOVE TO TAKE THE RISK. (PSF 12-89-5)
in jesus' day there was a philosophical school known as the stoics.
the basis of their teaching was - "don't show any emotion.' well, how could they do that?
simply by not becoming attached to anything, by not caring.
today's society is one of semi-stoicism. No one wants to get involved. we're afraid to love , because we don't want to become vulnerable. edgar guest has written:
unless we feel another's pain, and blend with his our tears,
then he has sought our hearts in vain, thruout the happier years/
unless his grief becomes our own in every bitter sense,
then he our love has never known, despite our long pretense.
if we are strangers to his care, and to his anguished love,
though we have brushed his joys to share, love to us has not come.
for love another's hurt must bear, and feel another's pain,
and cannoT, in his hour of care, indifferent remain.
because of our fear of being hurt or being taken advantage of, we hesitate to build relationships deep enough to really know one another.
and if we don't know others, we can't love them -- not in specific, concrete ways --- because we'll never know their real needs.
god can love us perfectly because he knows us perfectly -- thus he can meet all our needs. the poet expresses our problem with building relationships deep enough to sustain real love: today i met a man -- but not really.
rather, our paths crossed.
the private paths of our own separate worlds made a juncture, and we were there.
we told our impersonal names and shook each other's hand
warmly and friendly -- to convey our interest,
which wasn't there.
we shared our views: on the weather, politics, the latest news and other foreign things which were not there. and, when the conversation lagged, we said: "well, glad to have met you." "Same Here."
we lied, smiled, extended our hands again, and parted --
glad to be on our separate ways from our little meeting.
today i met a man, but not really. (anonymous)
NO ONE EVER SAID IT BETTER THAN C.S. LEWIS: "TO LOVE AT ALL IS TO BE VULNERABLE. LOVE ANYTHING, AND YOUR HEART WILL CERTAINLY BE WRUNG AND POSSIBLY BE BROKEN. IF YOU WANT TO MAKE SURE OF KEEPING IT INTACT, YOU MUST GIVE YOUR HEART TO NO ONE.
"WRAP IT AROUND CAREFULLY WITH HOBBIES AND LITTLE LUXURIES; AVOID ALL ENTANGLEMENTS; LOCK IT UP SAFE IN THE CASKET OF YOUR SELFISHNESS. BUT IN THAT CASKET -- SAFE, DARK, MOTIONLESS, AIRLESS -- IT WILL CHANGE. IT WILL NOT BE BROKEN; IT WILL BECOME UNBREAKABLE, IMPENETRABLE, IRREDEEMABLE ....
THE ONLY PLACE OUTSIDE HEAVEN WHERE YOU CAN BE PERFECTLY SAFE FROM ALL THE DANGERS OF LOVE IS .... HELL."
if we're truly going to love as jesus did, our love must know no restraints. i want to challenge you to open up, to build deep relationships, to really get to know others so that you can minister to their needs.
2. unrestrained love is also sacrificial.
there was no limit to what jesus' love would give, and to where his love would go. no demand that could be made upon it was too much. do you think christ wanted to die? was he some kind of masochist who couldn't wait to suffer? no. he sweat great drops as if blood. he cried out for deliverance to god. but he wasn't about to let his own desires stand in the way of his love for us.
IF love meant the cross, jesus was prepared to go to that cross. the only way to redeem and save man was by the cross, and he was willing to sacrifice even his own life because of his love for us.
he wanted for us the very best and was willing to do whatever it took and to give up whatever was dear unto himself that we might be helped. sometimes we make a mistake in thinking that love is meant to give us happiness.
in the end it does, but it may well be that love brings much pain first, that it even demands a cross, the sacrifice of what is dear to us, the giving up of certain things, for the sake of those we love.
we're all aware of jesus' words in john 15:
"Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends." (John 15:13 ) this kind of sacrificial love is what will arouse the world. there is A beautiful symbol of voluntary acceptance of suffering on another's behalf -- supposedly a true story from the time of oliver cromwell in england. a young soldier had been tried in military court and sentenced to death. he was to be shot at the "ringing of the curfew bell."
his fiance climbed up into the bell tower several hours before curfew time and tied herself to the bell's huge clapper. at curfew time, when only muted sounds came out of the bell tower, cromwell demanded to know why the bell was not tolling.
his soldiers went to investigate and found the young woman cut and bleeding from being knocked back and forth against the great bell.
they brought her down - and, the story goes, cromwell was so impressed with her willingness to suffer in this way on behalf of someone she loved that he dismissed the soldier saying, "curfew shall not ring tonight." (SS 846)
we will seldom, if ever, be called on to make such a sacrifice that demands the giving up of our life. but we are called upon to make those daily sacrifices of our time, our energy, giving up our money or our personal pleasures and desires -- in order to go out of our way to minister to others. and that's the kind of love the world will notice, especially in a culture that is so self-centered and self-serving as ours.
is our love unrestrained: open and vulnerable; sacrificial and not counting the cost?? or do we hold back out of fear??
e. the fifth mark of jesus' love is that it was and is unending. this is how john describes that love when he introduced this chapter in verse one: "having loved his own, he loved them unto the end." Jesus never gave up on his disciples. he loved them in spite of all their weaknesses, problems, and imperfections. there was no failure or misunderstanding that he couldn't forgive. his love never, ever quit or gave up on them -- it was unconditional, unselfish, undeniable, unrestrained , and unending.
a father overheard one of his children say to another, "if you do that, dad won't love you any more." then the father called all of his children together and said to them: "i shall always love you. when you do what is right, i love you with a glad heart.
and when you do what is wrong, i still love you - but with a heart full of sorrow. (SS 585)
IN THESE DAYS OF SPECIALIZATION, IT IS RARE TO SEE A PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL PITCHER LAST THROUGH NINE INNINGS OF A GAME. IF HE DOES, IT IS CALLED "GOING THE DISTANCE." MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, A PITCHER WILL GROW TIRED. HIS FASTBALLS START TO LOSE A LITTLE OF THEIR ZIP, AND THE CURVEBALLS ARE NOT AS SHARP AS THEY WERE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE GAME.
THE MANAGER WILL GO TO THE MOUND AND SIGNAL TO THE BULLPEN FOR A RELIEF PITCHER. ESPECIALLY IN RECENT YEARS THE STRENGTH OF A PROFESSIONAL BASEBALL TEAM HAS MANY TIMES BEEN JUDGED BY THE STRENGTH AND PERFORMANCE OF THOSE RELIEF PITCHERS WHO COME IN AND COMPLETE THE GAME. IN THESE DAYS OF SELFISHNESS AND PUTTING OURSELVES FIRST, IT IS RARE TO SEE A LOVE THAT LASTS AND LASTS, THAT "GOES THE DISTANCE." MORE OFTEN THAN NOT, THOSE OF US WHO SHOULD BE DEMONSTRATING THIS KIND OF LOVE GROW TIRED AND WEARY AS THE "GAME" WEARS ON.
OUR DEMONSTRATIONS OF LOVE ARE NOT AS CARING, AND THE COMPASSION GROWS A LITTLE LESS CHRISTLIKE. IS IT NOT TIME THAT WE BEGIN TO LOVE OTHERS WITH A LOVE THAT HEALS, A LOVE THAT GOES THE DISTANCE ANd FINISHES ITS WORK? (#516)
That is the way god loves us. paul says that nothing can separate us from the love of god (Rom 8.29ff) and that's exactly the way god expects us to love others -- we may not agree with them, or like what they do, but we must always be open to them and serve them in jesus' name. according to the apostle paul, "his love has been shed abroad in our hearts by his spirit who lives within us." he will enable us, if we are willing, to manifest that same kind and quality of love to those around us. (rom 5.5)
jesus himself is the criterion for our love. his love becomes the standard by which we measure and define love.
iii. thirdly, christ's love is also the catalyst for our love. a literal translation of verse 34 reads like this: "i have loved you in order that you also love one another." we DON'T HAVE TO CHANGE, GROW AND BE GOOD TO BE LOVED BY GOD. WE ARE LOVED SO THAT WE CAN CHANGE, GROW, AND BE GOOD. (#401)
his love for us stimulates and enables us to love others, compelling us to treat them even as christ has treated us.
ACCORDING TO A TRADITIONAL HEBREW STORY, ABRAHAM WAS SITTING OUTSIDE HIS TENT ONE EVENING WHEN HE SAW AN OLD MAN, WEARY FROM AGE AND JOURNEY, COMING TOWARD HIM. ABRAHAM RUSHED OUT, GREETED HIM, AND THEN INVITED HIM INTO HIS TENT. THERE, HE WASHED THE OLD MAN'S FEET AND GAVE HIM FOOD AND DRINK.
THE OLD MAN IMMEDIATELY BEGAN EATING WITHOUT SAYING ANY PRAYER OR BLESSING. SO ABRAHAM ASKED HIM, "DON'T YOU WORSHIP GOD?' THE OLD TRAVELER REPLIED, "I WORSHIP THE FIRE GOD."
WHEN HE HEARD THIS, ABRAHAM BECAME INCENSED, GRABBED THE OLD MAN BY THE SHOULDERS, AND THREW HIM OUT OF HIS TENT INTO THE COLD, DAMP NIGHT.
WHEN THE OLD MAN HAD LEFT, GOD CALLED TO HIS FRIEND ABRAHAM AND ASKED WHERE THE STRANGER WAS. ABRAHAM REPLIED, "I FORCED HIM OUT BECAUSE HE DID NOT WORSHIP YOU."
AND GOD ANSWERED, " I HAVE FOR 80 YEARS SUFFERED TO LOVE HIM ALTHOUGH HE DISHONORS ME. COULD YOU NOT ENDURE HIM ONE NIGHT?" (#439)
the example of ChRisT'S love and our experience of his love is a catalyst that motivates and challenges us to love even as he does. henry drummond, who was an associate of D.L. moody, used a magnet and a piece of steel to illustrate jesus' command that we love one another as he has loved us.
he noted the well-known scientific fact that if you take a piece of steel and attach it to a magnet, in time the magnetic properties of the magnet will be acquired by the piece of steel -- and it, too, will be a magnet.
in the same way, if we dwell on christ's love for us -- a love beyond our deserving, a love extended to us even while we were rebellious and lost in the ugliness of our sin ----
then we will gradually acquire that kind of love. the magnetic love of jesus will become our nature, just as it is his nature -- and people will feel the magnetic attraction of our own christ-like love. (STEDMAN P. 367)
"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another." and in verse 35 jesus tells us that this love is to be iv. the characteristic mark of his followers:
"By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another."
love is the badge of christian discipleship. it is not a pithy bumper sticker or a fish symbol on your car; it is not a dove on your lapel or a cross dangling from your neck --that indicates to others that you are a christian.
it is not knowledge, nor orthodoxy, nor fleshly activities, but (chiefly and supremely) love which identifies you and me as a follower of the lord jesus. THE WORLD WILL NOT CARE WHAT WE KNOW, UNTIL THEY KNOW THAT WE CARE. (#229) AS STAN MOONEYHAM ONCE SAID: "LOVE TALKED ABOUT CAN BE EASILY TURNED ASIDE, BUT LOVE DEMONSTRATED IS IRRESISTIBLE." (382)
as the disciples of the pharisees were known by their phylacteries, as the disciples of john were known by their baptism, and every school by its particular shibboleth, so the mark of a true christian is love, and that, a genuine, active love, not in words but in deeds.
what will happen when the church really manifests this love?? "by this the world will know...."
they'll be able to see the difference. right now, of all the commandments of jesus, this one is possibly the least apparent to the world. A TEENAGER CAME HOME FROM CHOIR PRACTICE EARLY ONE EVENING. HIS DAD WAS AMAZED BECAUSE THEY NEVER GOT DONE EARLY. "WHY ARE YOU HOME SO SOON?"
TO WHICH THE TEEN ANSWERED: " WE HAD TO CALL OFF CHOIR PRACTICE EARLY. THE ORGANIST AND THE CHOIR DIRECTOR GOT IN A TERRIBLE ARGUMENT ABOUT HOW TO SING 'LOVE DIVINE,' SO WE GOT TO COME HOME." WHAT DOES THAT TELL THE WORLD? (#805) they look at the church and don't see too much more love than at their country club or bowling league.
there is a lack of deep-felt love and concern between brethren; there is pride of rank or wealth; racial prejudice is prevalent; brother takes brother to court, and there are often vehement arguments over such trivia as the color of the carpet or style of the curtains.
the true christian loves his brother wherever he be found -- whether on a throne or in a grass hut, whether prince or pauper, black or white, educated or not. christian love overlooks the distinctions of sect, class, color, or nationality.
when the church exhibits real love, things begin to happen. the world sits up and takes notice. when jesus says "the world will know you are my disciples," -- THE greek word means that they will know by observation and by experience.
the church leader, tertullian, in the second century, speaks about the influence of the church's love on the pagans of that day.
he writes: "but it is mainly the deeds of a love so noble that lead many to put a brand upon us. 'see,' they say, 'how they love one another,' for the world themselves are animated by mutual hatred; 'see,' they say, 'how they are ready even to die for one another,' for they themselves will rather put to death."
when the world begins to notice how christians care for one another, are concerned about one another, pray for each other, and supply one another's needs -- they're going to wonder: "what makes those people tick?" and they'll inquire -- opening the way for our testimony.
we need to love one another, for it's only after loving one another that we can love the world. too often we say we love the world and simply use that as an excuse for not loving our brothers and sisters in christ.
c.s. lewis once said: "it is easier to be enthusiastic about humanity with a capital "H" than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, ....... exasperating, depraved, or otherwise unattractive. loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular."
a young man was on his first date with the girl of his dreams. he was madly in love with her and, as they were walking home, he wanted desperately to give her a kiss. having been raised in a strict religious family atmosphere, however, he hesitated. then, silently, looking up toward the heavens, he posed this question:
"father, father, up above -- should i kiss the girl i love??" and, from out of the heavens came a big, booming voice with the answer: "sinner, sinner, down below -- pucker up and let her go!!" (ss 196) at this very moment in your life there are persons who need you: need your help, need your support, need your love. do not be afraid to touch them, to talk with them, to listen with understanding, to open your heart to them and give them hope and encouragement.
do not be afraid to love them. god is saying to each of us: "sinner, sinner down below, pucker up and let her go!" WHO NEEDS YOUR FORGIVENESS, YOUR CARE, YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT, YOUR HELP??
an eight year old child lived in a pennsylvania orphanage where, because of her painfully unattractive features, crude manners and secretive ways, she was shunned by the other children as much a possible. one day a teacher saw the little girl at her desk writing a note and then sealing it in an envelope.
the teacher's curiosity was aroused because she knew that the girl had no relatives or friends on the outside to whom she would write.
the teacher watched from a distance as the child carried the envelope out of the building and tossed it over the fence surrounding the orphanage. later, the teacher retrieved the envelope and examined the note inside. it read: "to whoever finds this note, i love you."
there are people all around who need our love and concern. (ss 567)
christian love isn't something you fall into. if it was, you could fall out of it just as easily. christian love is a deciding, a willing. sometimes, when you are worn out, you're sick, and you can't feel you can love anyone, you still love them because you've decided to love them.
i suppose after jesus had been mocked and beaten, after he'd been publicly humiliated and was carrying his own cross up that rough cobblestone street, he didn't feel much like loving anyone. but he loved, because he had set his mind on doing exactly what his father desired. the love of christ isn't love until it's given. jesus says: "give yourself away."
"all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: you shall love your neighbor as yourself." (rom 13:8-10)
someone has translated i corinthians 13 (V. 7) like this: "love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its HOPE; it can outlast anything. it is , in fact, the one thing that still stands when all else has fallen."
are we exhibiting real love -- or are we only speaking and discussing love?
can the world look at us today and proclaim, as they did in the second century, "see - how they love one another." ?? is it any wonder the early church multiplied like they did? what do we have to offer men -- a "god bless you ... go your way," -- or the love that jesus exhibited as he walked on this earth?
in the words of john: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:7-8,11)
Let's answer the question that we began with. how can anyone command "love"?? it can be commanded since it is a choice. where do we begin to love? by deciding to love.
william shakespeare said, "assume a virtue if you have it not." in other words, don't worry if you don't feel like loving someone, love them anyway -- treat them right, be cordial and friendly and helpful, treat them as you would like to be treated were the shoe on the other foot. choose to love and soon your feelings will follow.
this is a psychological principle that was promoted by the great harvard psychologist, william james. his program for getting possession of an attribute you want to have was called the "as If" principle. "if you wish to possess a qualification or an emotion, act "as If" you already had it. let it get hold of you. if you would be courageous, act as if you were already courageous.
if you want to like someone, treat them as if you already liked them. (Par 8-88-7 & #484)
dr. david burns, in "feeling good, the new mood therapy", writes: "motivation does not come first, action does! you have to prime the pump. if you wait until you're 'in the mood,' you may wait forever (to do any particular thing)."
it's only after we have made a decision to act that we become motivated. our feelings will follow our decisions, but we should never make our decisions based upon our feelings.
only by committing ourselves to christ can we experience his love and manifest his love to others. will you decide today to follow his will for your life, to allow his spirit to shed his love abroad in your heart so that it overflows to others around you?
will you choose to obey jesus' new commandment -- to love others, even as he has loved you, that the world may see that you are his disciple??
and -- if you are not his disciple, will you open your heart to his love today? he gave his life for you, so much does he love you. he endured great pain & persecution that you and i may enjoy his peace & pardon.
