SERMON: LIVING LOVE

 

Naylor Community Christian Church

Naylor, Georgia

 

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to Hebrews 13:1-5

 

Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. 3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

 

4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral. 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

 

“Never will I leave you;

    never will I forsake you.”

 

            -- Friday afternoon, I got called into a meeting with my commander about an email that he had received – the email was sent to his boss and his boss’ boss – and he wasn’t happy

            -- the email contained a list of Air Force bases that had not completed a task on time and who had failed to turn it in before the deadline – and right there, in the slides attached to that email, it said that Moody AFB was one of only six bases in the entire Air Force that had failed to meet this requirement

            -- and guess whose office was responsible for completing this task? – yep.

            -- so, I went to the guy who works for me who is the head of the department responsible for this task – I asked him, “Were you aware that we had this task?” – “yes” – “Were you aware that we had to submit our data to the Air Force in August?” – “yes” – “Did you complete the data collection?” – “yes” – “then why are we listed on this email as failing to complete the task?” – “I didn’t send it in”

            -- “So, you knew about the task – you knew it had to be completed and submitted to the Air Force in August – and you didn’t do it?” – “I knew about it – I worked on it – I just didn’t complete it”

 

            -- after having banged my head on the wall repeatedly for several moments, I reflected on what my employee said – and it occurred to me, that his actions – or inactions, as the case may be – were a perfect representation of what a lot of our spiritual lives look like – and I’m saying “our” in here, because I am there with you

            -- I feel confident that everyone in here is a Christian – at least, you have expressed to me that you have put your faith and trust in the Lord Jesus for your salvation and the forgiveness of sins – you are faithful in coming to church and Bible study – and I see the fruit of the Spirit in your lives

            -- I believe all of you are born again, saved Christians – and I can tell that you know the Bible – you know the foundations of our belief – you know the commands of Jesus – but like me, sometimes you fail to put into practice what it is that we know we ought to be doing – sometimes, like my employee, we are well aware of what Christ demands from us – we can recite it – we can point to it – we can sing about it and talk about it and teach it to others – but we don’t take that next step and actually do it

 

            -- that was a warning that Jesus gave to His disciples about the Pharisees – in Matthew 23:2-3, Jesus said, “The teachers of the law and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat – so you must be careful to do everything they tell you – but do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach”

            -- Jesus’ warning to His disciples is a valid criticism of the church in our world today – we know the law – we know the commands – we know what Christ demands – but a lot of the time, we do not practice what we preach – we don’t complete the task and we miss the mark set before us

            -- and I see this most when it comes to the commandment that Jesus spelled out for us on the night He was betrayed – the day we know as Maundy Thursday – derived from the Latin term, “Dias Mandatum” -- the Day of the Command – and what was that command? – we talked about it last week – John 13:34-35, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples”

            -- we know this command to love – out of all the commands in the Bible, everyone knows this one – love one another – love your neighbor as yourself – and love your enemies – love, love, love

            -- we are all familiar with the great love chapter in the Bible – 1 Corinthians 13 – where we read the Apostle Paul’s treatise on what love looks like – Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud -- It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. -- Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. -- It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. -- Love never fails

            -- we know this – we are aware of the task – we are aware of the command – but a lot of the time, we just don’t do it

            -- and that’s why we find in the Bible passages such as this one here in Hebrews 13, where the author of Hebrews – after having laid down a theological foundation of justification and salvation – goes on to say that because of this – because of what Christ has done for us – this is what we should do in obedience to Him

            -- and He lays out practical examples of what love looks like in practice – of how we can take Jesus’ command from John 13 and the description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 and put it into practice in our lives today

            -- so, in an effort to keep us from doing what my employee did and failing to complete what he knew he was supposed to do, I want us to look at this passage this morning and see what we can learn about actually living love out in our lives on a day-to-day basis

 

II.  Scripture Lesson (Hebrews 13:1-5)

            -- as we turn to this passage, I want you to notice something as we work our way through these verses – in Acts 1:8, Jesus told His disciples that they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, and finally to the ends of the earth – they were to start being His witnesses by sharing the gospel first at home, then in the surrounding area of Judea – and then, going on from Judea to Samaria – and finally, to take the gospel to the ends of the earth

            -- in a similar way, the author of Hebrews introduces to us this same concept of expanding love out until we reach everyone

-- so, first, we must learn to love in Jerusalem – in other words, we must learn to love at home – to love our family – our friends – those who are in a faith community with – our brothers and sisters in Christ

            -- and then, after we have learned to love those at home, we expand out and learn to love those in Judea – those outside our familial bonds – the strangers and people that we come into contact with every day – the people at work, in the store, in the restaurant – the people we pass in life

            -- from there, we go to Samaria – and learn to love the ones those who are looked down on by the rest of society – the outcasts and the strangers – those who are persecuted and mistreated – those in prison – those the rest of society has turned their back on

            -- and finally, we take our love to the world – and love everyone, everywhere – until we are living love constantly and fulfilling the command of Christ

            -- look for that pattern as we go through this passage together

 

            -- let’s look now at verse 1

 

Hebrews 13:1 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.

 

            -- the first practical type of love that we see in this passage is brotherly love – as you know, there were four words in the Greek that are translated in our Bibles as love

– phileo – brotherly love – which we see in this verse

-- eros – romantic love

-- storge – familial love – the love that binds families together

-- and, of course, agape – the highest type of love – unconditional love – the love of God

 

            -- while we don’t see agape used in these verses here in Hebrews 13, its presence is implied – because it is through this agape love that the other types of love become possible – and as agape love fills our hearts, the other forms of love naturally proceed from it – so, we can never really love others as we are called to until we first have God’s agape love in our lives

            -- if we are filled with agape love – if we let agape love command us and direct us and lead us – then we cannot help but love our brothers and sisters, our spouse, and everyone else – this is how we know we are of God

            -- the Apostle John pointed this out in 1 John 3:14, “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death”

 

            -- one point about phileo – brotherly love – here – the Greeks typically used this term to describe the love among family members

            -- but in the NT, we see this word used to describe the love that Christians are to have for one another – it’s use here is a reminder that although we may not have the same natural mother, we are still all family because we have been born again through the same womb – in other words, everyone who is a Christian was born through Christ – and that makes us family – brothers and sisters in the faith, bound together just as closely as we are to our natural-born brothers and sisters

            -- that’s why we read in the Bible that Greeks and Jews, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarians, Scythians, slaves and freemen, men and women are now all one in their Lord – we are one family – brothers and sisters with one another – regardless of who we were in our past physical lives, for all eternity, we are part of a new family that is greater and higher than our former

 

            --  the writer of Hebrews admonishes us here to “keep on” or let this type of love “continue” – this implies that loving our brothers and sisters is already being practiced in our communities of faith – to “let it continue” means to let it “remain -- to abide -- to last -- to endure -- to survive -- to live – to not let it perish” – to keep on keeping on in loving our brothers and sisters

            -- this is the first stage of living out love in our lives – living it out at home – among our church families

 

            -- verse 2

 

Hebrews 13:2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.

 

            -- most translations of the Bible render this verse as “do not forget to show hospitality” or “do not forget to entertain” strangers – but the American Standard Version – the ASV – has this verse as, “Forget not to show love unto strangers” – which is probably the best reading of the original Greek, for it is in showing hospitality and respect to strangers that we demonstrate our love for them

            -- so, the writer is beginning to direct us to carry our love out of our churches and into the communities around us by loving strangers – by loving those we don’t know – by showing hospitality and respect to everyone we meet

            -- God takes the concept of hospitality and respect very seriously – even a casual reading of the Bible, especially the OT, makes this clear – the condemnation of Sodom and Gomorrah was not a result of sexual immorality, as many assume, but actually a condemnation for their refusal to offer hospitality, respect, and protection to the angels who came as strangers to their city

            -- in his commentary, William Barclay writes about the ancient traditions of “guest friendships” – instead of relying on inns or paying others for accommodations while traveling, friends would rely on each other’s hospitality to take care of them if they were in the area

-- this type of “guest friendship” became especially important in the early Christian church, as Christians were forced to travel because of persecution or as part of their ministry – when they arrived at a town, they would seek out the other Christians in that place, and accommodations were made for them without question

-- you see that in the references to Paul and Peter and others in the NT staying in the homes of other Christians while they were traveling

-- so, Christianity became known as the religion of the open door – and Christians became known as people who were always ready to show the love of Christ to strangers by showing them hospitality and meeting their needs, regardless of their relationship to the Christians or the church

 

            -- when we meet the needs of strangers in our communities today, we are fulfilling this call to love strangers – to show hospitality and to entertain those in need

            -- it is through this love of strangers that many people are introduced to the saving grace of Christ Jesus and the love of God expressed through Him and His people

 

            -- verse 3

 

Hebrews 13:3 Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

 

 

            -- a corollary to the love of strangers is the requirement for us to love those who are mistreated – the call to show love to those who suffer from injustice or prejudice or persecution

            -- in the days of the early church, this call to remember those who were in prison was a call to love them by meeting their needs – unlike our prisons of today, the basic needs of prisoners were not met by the government – instead, prisoners relied on family and friends to bring them food and clothing

            -- and when the early Christians were persecuted and thrown into prison because of their faith, the church reached out to them and met those needs – they brought food and clothes and water to all that were there – they took care of them when they were sick – they ministered to them physically and spiritually – and they did this for both the Christian and the unbeliever – sharing the love of God with others tangibly regardless of their relationship with Jesus – simply as an act of love

            -- and while prisoners today do not have the same needs as those in the first century, we can still fulfill this call to love those who are mistreated by advocating for justice and equality – by reaching out to the downtrodden and the communities that are being discriminated against – by speaking out against injustices and immorality, wherever we see it

            -- when Christians stand against injustice, it is a form of love – it is a demonstration of how the grace of God through Christ continues to batter against the gates of hell and how God’s love and grace permeates all society

            -- when we see persecution and injustice, we cannot remain silent – we must speak out – we must act – we must side with the widows and the orphans and the outcasts – with those in prison and those who are being mistreated – we must speak for those without a voice and show God’s love to them, just as we would our own brothers and sisters

            -- remember Christ’s command to love our neighbors as yourself? – when you see someone hurting – someone being mistreated – someone being unjustly persecuted or harassed or abused – ask yourself, “What would I think if this were happening to me?” – and do for them what you would like done unto you

– this is how  you show love to those in prison and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering

 

-- verse 4

 

Hebrews 13:4 Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral

 

-- going back to the circle of love for our families, the writer of Hebrews reminds us of our responsibilities to one another as husband and wife – we show our love for our spouse by honoring the holy bonds of matrimony – by keeping the marriage bed pure and not seeking fulfilment outside the marriage – by staying pure and holy with one another – by sustaining and supporting traditional families

-- showing God’s love by honoring marriage means standing up for the institution of marriage and standing up for the traditional family in our communities today – this means that we don’t follow the world into sexual immorality or into forms of marriage that are not prescribed by God – this means that we honor the family and support laws and policies that are in favor of traditional families

-- and this means that we demonstrate to this world a better option than the sexual immorality and promiscuity that is so often portrayed in media and experienced in our communities today

-- we point people to a better way and a better understanding of God’s original plan for marriage and for families – and we work to help people move into that understanding – whether that is through showing support to single mothers and helping them with daycare or transportation or other needs or by mentoring young couples who are living together to help them understand God’s call for couples to only live together within the state of marriage

-- this means helping people who are thinking of divorce or who have been divorced – extending God’s grace and love to couples who are hurting and who think separating in their only answer – this means reaching out to the LGBTQ community – to homosexuals – to transgender people – and sharing love and not hatred

-- I know that this a very touchy issue in society today – with different types of families and relationships and marriages being held up as the new normal – it is not for us to judge or condemn others for their lifestyle choices – but it is up to us to show them God’s plan and to help lead them out of these lifestyles and into the lifestyles that God commands in His word

-- we have to keep in mind that most of the people in these lifestyles do not know God and many have been hurt by the church or by Christians in the past – as they have experienced hatred and rejection rather than love and care – that is not who we should be as Christ’s witnesses in the world today

-- rather than berating or harassing or judging people who are living in these lifestyles, our call is to love them into the Kingdom by showing God’s love to them – just as the writer of Hebrews commands here

 

-- verse 5

 

Hebrews 13:5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,

 

“Never will I leave you;

    never will I forsake you.”

 

-- this last verse is an example of how we are to reject the ways of the world and instead live in the Kingdom of God by following His principles and precepts

-- this world is governed by two things – the love of money and the love of sex – the writer of Hebrews addressed the love of sex and sexual immorality in verse 4 – and now he turns his attention to the love of money, commanding us to keep our lives free from that worldly love

-- in 1 Timothy 6:10, the Apostle Paul wrote that the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil and that some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.

-- the siren call of money has derailed many a Christian from following God in the world today – loving money causes us to choose the world over Christ – and to put our faith in money above all

-- we see that right now – I hear that every day – I have had countless people telling me that they are voting for this candidate or that candidate in this upcoming election – not because they are godly people – not because they have impeccable characters and high moral standards – not because their policies and platforms line up with God’s word – no, I get told that people are supporting these candidates because of the economy – because of money

-- it doesn’t matter if they are immoral or morally bankrupt – if it looks like they will improve the economy and help this person’s financial bottomline, they are voting for them

-- this is exactly what the writer of Hebrews is saying “Don’t do,” in this passage – for putting your pocketbook and your wallet above Godly principles is never a good idea

 

-- instead, the writer says to reject the love of money and lean into the love of Christ by trusting Him to supply all your needs – by being content with what you have – by trusting the promise of Christ that He will never leave us or forsake us, but will stand by us, regardless of what may come

-- the love of money is a form of idolatry and people who show they love money more than anything else in their life are making a god of money and putting their faith and trust in it rather than in the God who saved them from eternal condemnation

 

            -- the writer counsels us here to be “free” from the love of money – to not be entangled with it – to not let the love of money drive us or direct our paths and decisions in life

            -- I see way too many people concerned more about money than anything else – and not just with politics – I see it in churches and in Christians, too

            -- so, the lesson here is to use money but love Christ – use money but don’t put your faith in money – instead, put your faith in Jesus, who will never leave you or forsake you

 

III.  Closing

            -- several years ago, there was a satirical video that was being passed around by email called “Husband Daycare” – the video was supposedly by this company that offered daycare services for husbands so wives could drop them off and go about their busy days without worrying about what their husbands were doing

            -- it’s been a long time since I watched that video, but I remember one little scene in there vividly – the video shows the daycare workers escorting a man to the door of a workshop that is filled with other men working on a variety of crafts and projects – and the announcer says, “Here at Husband Daycare, we even have multiple projects for your husband to begin and never finish”

            -- and I don’t care if you’re a man or a woman, you understand what was being said there

 

            -- just yesterday, Kim was telling me that her chickens are continually getting out of their pen – they’ve learned to fly and now they’re just going out the top – and, while I’m sure she didn’t mean it like this, I couldn’t help but feel responsible because I started a project this summer to put a top on the pen – I started making PVC-framed nets that go across the top to both keep predators out and to keep the chickens in

            -- but just like the men in the Husband Daycare video, it’s a project I started, but never finished – I’ve got two panels up and about four more to go – but I haven’t done anything on it now in probably two months – it’s my unfinished project

 

            -- but, like I said at the beginning of this message, I am not the only one with unfinished projects in my life – the majority of us have left the Christian life unfinished – we know the words to say – we have the knowledge of how to live it – but we’re just not finishing what we started – we’re not living love in our lives – we’re not loving as Christ commanded

            -- the writer of Hebrews was aware of this, so he gave us here in these verses five practical steps of love to help us finish living life as Christ intended

            -- so, as we close, let me just sum these up for you again

            -- first, we must continue to love one another as brothers and sisters

            -- second, we must love strangers as ourselves

            -- third, we must love those who are mistreated or who are treated unjustly

            -- fourth, we must love our spouses and our families

            -- and, finally, we must not love money, but show our faith and trust in Christ by loving Him and being content in what He has provided

 

            -- it’s not enough to know what to do – we have to finish the task that was given to us – so, as we close, let me encourage you to take a moment and ask God to reveal to you how He would like you to expand your love today – to reveal to you what He would like you to do to show and share His love with others

            -- let us finish the task that Christ has set before us – and let us learn to live love out in our lives as never before

            -- let us pray