SERMON: PURSUING HOLINESS: LOVE

8 July 2012
[Modified from 7 June 2009 Sermon]

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to Galatians 5

Galatians 5:22-23 (NIV)
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

-- I once heard a story about a guy who was far away from home in a very small town -- the only thing he had with him was a $1,000 bill -- he had nothing else -- no small change -- no identification -- nothing
-- he was very hungry, but was unable to buy any food because no one in that town would take his $1,000 bill -- they just couldn't provide change for it -- it was not until he found a way to break that large bill down into smaller bills that he could spend any of it

-- this guy's need to break his $1,000 bill into small bills is very much like the concept of holiness -- over the last couple of weeks, we've established the fact that God is calling us to be holy as He is holy
-- and this means more than just following a list of do's and don'ts -- that would be easy -- easy to gauge -- easy to understand
-- but the holiness that God is calling us to is more than just outward obedience -- God wants us to be holy inside and out -- that means not only our actions and behaviors, but also our very thoughts and attitudes
-- we see that in passages such as this one in Galatians and in Jesus' words from the Sermon on the Mount, which we're going to look at in just a moment
-- righteous outward behavior -- conformance to a written list of standards is not the goal -- that is the way of the Pharisee -- the Pharisees perfected following lists to be holy in their own eyes and in the eyes of those watching them, but they were far from holy in their hearts and in God's eyes
-- God wants us to do more than just be holy on the outside -- He wants us to be holy and righteous inside and out -- to be holy in all that we do and all that we are
-- this concept of complete holiness that God calls us to is just too large for us to wrap our minds around -- it's too daunting -- it's like that $1,000 bill -- so what do we do about it? -- how can we take something so large and so complex and make it possible for us to do? -- we do what the experts tell us to do when we are confronted with any major task in our lives -- we break it down into smaller, more manageable parts, so that we can understand it and apply it in our lives

-- fortunately, God does just that for us -- here in this passage in Galatians, Paul introduces us to the fruit of the Spirit -- the individual parts of God's holy character and nature that are transmitted to us and through us by the Holy Spirit -- what this means for us is that instead of worrying about the big picture of "becoming holy," we can instead focus on putting on the different parts of God's character and nature until it all comes together at the end
-- it's kind of like a jig-saw puzzle -- when you start on a jig-saw puzzle, you don't expect to be able to just pour out all the pieces on the table and have them immediately look like the picture on the box -- no, you have to put it together first -- you have to start work on the individual pieces -- maybe you start with the edges -- then you work on another part that you can recognize easily -- until, over time, the puzzle is complete and you see a finished product that looks just like the picture on the box
-- it's the same way with pursuing holiness -- with His command to be holy as He is holy, God sent us His Son and said, "This is what you're supposed to look like" -- but, when we become Christians and get baptized, we don't find ourselves immediately looking like Jesus and living lives of perfect holiness
-- instead, we find in the Bible the individual pieces that we have to put on as we start down this path of holiness -- and, to make it more difficult, as we work on putting together our lives of holiness, we find that some pieces of holiness just don't fit because there's something else in the way -- a piece of our old sin nature has forced itself into that place and we first have to remove it -- we have to put off the old sin habit in order to put on the piece that God created to fit into that spot
-- so the process of becoming holy as God is holy is one of constantly putting off the old habits of sin and putting on the new habits of holiness through the power of the Holy Spirit
-- we know what the old habits of sin are -- we live with them on a daily basis, and we find them listed for us here in Galatians 5 and in other places in the Bible -- we know what needs to come off, but what are the pieces of holiness that we are to put on?
-- Paul tells us right here -- the individual parts that we are going to work on and put together in our lives are the nine attributes of God that we call "the fruits of the Spirit" -- love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control
-- in the end -- as we put off our old self and our old habits of sin and put on these fruits of the Spirit in our lives, it will all come together to make us holy as God is holy -- to make our lives look like the picture of Jesus that we see in the Bible
-- our pursuit of holiness begins here in Galatians 5 -- over the next several weeks, we're going to go over each of the fruits of the Spirit in greater detail as we seek to acquire these attributes of God in our own lives
-- so let's start this morning by looking at the first of these mentioned here -- love

II. Love
-- if you would, go ahead and turn over to Matthew Chapter 5:43-48

Matthew 5:43-48 (NIV)
43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.
46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

-- Matthew Chapter 5 marks the beginning of a section of Scripture we call "The Sermon on the Mount" -- if you remember, last summer we spent several weeks looking at the opening of this sermon as we did our study on the Beatitudes in a series we called, "The Measure of a Christian"
-- as we discussed then, in this sermon Jesus raised the bar of righteousness for the Israelites and for us -- the Israelites had been given the law of Moses to show them what true holiness was and to point them to the Savior -- to help them understand that it was impossible for man to fulfill this law apart from God
-- but, over time, the Israelites, especially the Pharisees, had taken the law and turned it into a list of do's and don'ts focused on external behavior only -- so in this sermon, Jesus went back to the law and expressed it again by taking it back to the place God had originally intended -- not just holiness through outward obedience, but holiness inside and out
-- time and time again in this passage we see Jesus taking the law to a whole 'nother level

-- for instance, in Matthew 5:21-22 the law tells us that murder is a sin -- but Jesus raised the bar by telling His listeners that it is not just the act of murder that is a sin, but thoughts of hatred and anger towards someone make you in danger of the fires of hell
-- likewise, the law says that it is a sin to have sex with a person outside of marriage -- but here in Matthew 5:27-28, Jesus carries this to a whole 'nother level by saying that if you even look at another person with lust -- even if you never act on your desires -- you have sinned because you have committed adultery in your heart
-- so, in this sermon we see Jesus building on the foundation of the law and trying to get us to move past being just concerned with external obedience -- with our actions and behaviors -- in this sermon, Jesus is trying to get us to see that holiness involves more than just what we do -- it involves our thoughts and our attitudes, as well

-- in this passage that we just read in verses 43 through 48, Jesus builds on the foundation of the law of love -- He carries the concept of love to a whole 'nother level of holiness -- this is what I want us to look at this morning as we seek to pursue holiness by putting on true love in our lives

-- first, though, let's start with a definition of love in regards to holiness -- as you know, in the Greek -- the original language that the New Testament was written in -- there are several words they use to describe different types of love that we simply translate as "love"
-- there is the love of a person for their spouse -- passionate love -- erotic love -- the Greek word for this is "eros"
-- there is the love of a person as a brother -- the love that you feel for your friends -- brotherly love -- the Greek word for this is "phileo"
-- there is the love among families -- the love that binds you together as a family unit with your parents and your siblings and your children -- the Greek word for this is "storgia"
-- and finally, there is the love of God -- the unconditional, sacrificial love that God has for us -- the love that knows no boundary but that loves in spite of what the other person is or does -- the Greek word for this is "agape"

-- so, when you read the word "love" in the Bible, it's important to know what type of love the passage is referring to -- whether it's romantic love or brotherly love or family love or unconditional love -- if your Bible doesn't tell you, then I want to suggest that you get a Strong's dictionary or a commentary or some other resource that will let you know what type of love is being referred to -- it's important to know what type of love is being referenced
-- for instance, in the list of the fruits of the Spirit from Galatians 5, Paul tells us that one of the fruits is "love" -- is that romantic love? -- is that brotherly love? -- what type of love is it we need to be trying to obtain if we want to become holy?
-- as you probably guessed, the Greek word that Paul uses in Galatians 5 is "agape" -- the unconditional, sacrificial love of God -- the type of love that allowed Jesus to sacrifice Himself on the cross in our place, even though we had sinned against Him and rejected Him and cursed Him with our lives -- in spite of what we did, Jesus showed us His agape love by dying in our place
-- this is the type of love that we are seeking to show to others in our pursuit of holiness

-- let me give you an illustration that shows you what this looks like in practice
-- Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross is a psychiatrist in San Francisco -- and over the last couple of decades, she has tried to help comfort homosexual men who were dying of AIDS -- as you can imagine, most of these men had been rejected by society and by their families -- they were angry at people -- angry at life -- angry at God for what they were going through -- so Dr. Kubler-Ross tried to work with them to help them through these emotions as they went through the dying process
-- she writes that one time she went to see a new patient, and instead of finding him angry and bitter as all the others, she said he was radiant -- he was in very good spirits and was not angry or bitter at all -- so, she asked him why he was different from the rest
-- he told her that he had grown up in a small, conservative mid-western town -- and when he decided that he was a homosexual, he broke all relations with his family and friends in that place and left home -- he expected that they would reject him and hate him for who he was, so he just left without saying a word to anyone
-- he told Dr. Kubler-Ross that after he got sick and found out he was dying, he felt like he needed to see his family, but he didn't know how they would react -- so the week before, he called home and told his mother, "I'm a sick man -- I would like to come home" -- she told him, "We'd love to see you" -- and he went home
-- he said when he came up to the door and his mother opened it, she must have been shocked at the condition of his body because of the AIDS -- but she didn't show it -- she just threw her arms around him and told him how much she loved him
-- the man told Dr. Kubler-Ross, "You know, everyone should have a moment of unconditional love -- I had that moment [last week at home], and now I'm ready to die. That's why I'm radiant."

-- it is exactly this type of unconditional, sacrificial agape love that God expects us to show to others in our lives -- our God -- our family -- our friends -- our neighbors -- even our enemies

-- look back at verse 43-45

43 "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
44 But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
45 that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

-- here we see Jesus taking love to a whole 'nother level -- you know, for most of us, this concept of agape love is something that we strive for in our relationships with our family and our friends -- we don't always succeed, but we try
-- even in our relationships with our spouses and our children -- with our parents and our siblings -- we don't always find ourselves loving them unconditionally -- loving them in spite of what they have done
-- a lot of times, our love for others is based on how they are treating us -- on how they are loving us or obeying us -- and we find it hard to love them with that agape love like Jesus had -- and that's with our families

-- here in this passage, Jesus shocked the Israelites by telling them that, not only were they to love their family and friends at a whole 'nother level -- at the agape standard all the time -- they were to love their enemies in the same way
-- they were to look at people who hated them -- people who had wronged them -- people whose sole desire was to hurt them -- and love them
-- let me put it a different way -- on September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda, orchestrated an unprovoked terrorist attack on our country -- he convinced other men to hijack airplanes and fly them into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon -- eventually killing over 3,000 American civilians -- men, women, and children just like you -- men, women, and children who had done nothing wrong -- who died simply because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and who died because an evil man did an evil act
-- as far as I know, no one in here lost a family member in the attacks of 9-11, but still, we recognize that Osama bin Laden was our enemy -- and even though he was killed by Navy Seals last year in a raid in Pakistan, the organization that he founded -- al-Qaeda -- is plotting how they might continue to attack and kill Americans where ever they can find them
-- and what does Jesus tell us to do about people like Osama bin Laden -- about the members of al-Qaeda? -- Jesus tells us to love them -- and not only to love them like a brother or like a neighbor or like an acquaintance -- but to agape them -- to love them with the greatest love there is -- and to pray for them and their well-being
-- Jesus wants us to love people like Osama bin Laden and all our enemies just as much as we love God and we love our families
-- we're definitely talking about loving at a whole 'nother level -- we're talking about living at a whole 'nother level -- we're talking about being holy as God is holy

-- verse 46-48

46 If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?
47 And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?
48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

-- here Jesus gives us the two choices in our lives -- we can go on like before -- loving only those who love us -- greeting only our brothers -- greeting only those who love us
-- or, we can go to a whole 'nother level -- we can love like God in all our relationships and with all the people we meet -- our family and friends -- our neighbors -- our acquaintances -- even our enemies
-- Jesus never said it would be easy -- He said the path to follow Him was narrow -- that the way was difficult and fraught with peril -- He told us that to follow Him involved picking up our cross and dying to self
-- if you want to follow Jesus -- if you want to be His disciple -- if you want to be holy as He is holy -- then you have to learn to love on a whole 'nother level -- as Henry Blackaby said, "You can't stay where you are and go with Jesus" -- if you want to go with Jesus, you're going to have to change what you think and say and do in the area of loving others

-- Jesus is calling us to perfection -- the Greek word that He uses here in verse 48 is "telios" -- it means complete -- it means mature -- it means whole
-- what He's telling us is that if you want to be complete -- if you want to be mature -- if you want to be whole and holy -- if you want to follow God, you have to love your enemies as well as your neighbors -- even if that means loving people like Osama bin Laden -- even if that means loving that person at work or school or in your club that you call your enemy

-- so, how is possible? -- how can we even hope to do this on our own? -- the truth is, we can't -- we don't have the capacity within us to even love our family and friends with agape love -- we certainly can't love our enemies or even strangers with agape love -- it's impossible for us to do this
-- but, as Jesus said, "with God, nothing is impossible" -- remember what Paul told us in Galatians 5:22-23 -- this type of agape love that we are being called to is an attribute of God -- Paul tells us that in our lives, this agape love comes forth as a fruit of the Spirit
-- in other words, we can't do it, but God can -- we have to open ourselves up to the Holy Spirit who lives within us and let Him love through us -- and let Him help us learn to love through His power and presence
-- we have to draw the agape love from God through the Holy Spirit, like drawing water from a well, in order to have it available to love others, especially to love our enemies
-- what this means is that we start relying on God to help us love others -- when we find ourselves in a situation where love is required, we need to get into the practice of being honest and praying for help
-- "God, I don't like this person -- I certainly don't love them -- please give me your love for them -- help me to see them with Your eyes -- help me to hear them with Your ears -- help me to love them with Your heart"
-- it will be hard at first -- heck, it will be hard at second and third and fourth -- but, over time, as you seek God's will -- as you seek His presence and His power in your life, you will start to feel His love flowing through you to others -- and, eventually, His love will so permeate your life that you will begin to look like Him and you will find yourself loving like Him more and more and more

-- let me give you some advice -- don't start with trying to love someone like Osama bin Laden -- don't start with trying to love that enemy of yours -- start with your family -- start with your spouse -- start with your parents and your brothers and sisters and your children
-- you'll find it is easier to learn to love them with agape love because you already are in a love relationship with them
-- start with them and then, as you learn to draw on the Holy Spirit's power and presence, start to love others

-- and keep a couple things in mind:

-- first, keep in mind that we are talking about progressive holiness -- this is a process -- not an instantaneous event -- it is going to take time to become holy as God is holy
-- we need to start off with baby steps as we start on this journey of love and holiness -- knowing that we might take two steps forward and then one back -- but our goal should be progress -- it should be moving forward -- it may take you years and year and years before you reach the place that Jesus is talking about here -- but as long as you are moving forward, then you are doing what God has called you to do

-- secondly, keep in mind that the word "love" is a verb -- not a noun -- love as described in the Bible is not static and it's not a feeling or an emotion -- it's an action -- it's a choice on our part -- it's a way that we choose to relate to someone else -- it's a way that we show God to another person
-- you may not "feel" love for another person in an emotional sense, but you show love through your actions to them -- just as Jesus showed His love for us by dying on the cross in our place -- and, over time, your feelings and your thoughts and attitudes will begin to match your behavior

-- finally, I know that this sounds impossible -- it is impossible! -- but God delights in making the impossible possible through His power -- this command from Jesus to love our enemies as well as our family and friends was given to spark our imaginations -- to give us a goal to strive for in our lives
-- in 1954 Roger Bannister believed the impossible -- even though he had failed to win a medal at the 1952 Olympic Games, Bannister believed that he could run a mile in less than four minutes -- something that no one had ever done before -- he began training with that goal in mind, and in 1954 he broke the four-minute mark by running a mile in 3 minutes and 59.4 seconds -- because he believed and acted on his belief, the impossible became reality [Source: Mark Bergin. "Head Starts." World Magazine, 30 June 2012]
-- impossible loving begins with faith -- Jesus is not going to ask us to do something that He is not going to make possible -- but we've got to believe -- we've got to trust Him -- we can't just shrug our shoulders and walk away and say, "It can't be done" -- we have to know that it can be done --that we can love our enemies with God's agape love if we simply put off our old natures and put on that loving feeling that comes from God

III. Closing
-- let me close by leaving you with this thought
-- in the Jewish temple, there was a lamp -- a light of sacrifice that was always kept lit -- it never went out -- day and night -- summer and winter -- the priests kept it filled with oil so that this light would fill the holy place
-- we see that light burning in the life of Jesus -- nothing could put it out -- no scorn or hostility or hatred -- no betrayal or cursing or persecution -- it was the light of His love and it shined brightly wherever Jesus went, even the cross of Calvary as He loved even those who nailed Him to that tree
-- in the same way, we have a lamp in our lives and in our churches that is fueled by the agape love of God -- as Christians, we are called to keep our lamp lit -- to keep it burning bright -- so that all around us will see the light of Christ and be drawn to His presence
-- this lamp is filled with the love that comes from the Holy Spirit -- and we must learn how to draw on His power and His presence so that our lamp will always stay full and will always burn brightly

-- as Christians, we are called to do more than we could possibly do on our own -- to be more than we could possibly be on our own -- to love more than we could possibly do on our own
-- we should not live as the world lives -- we should not love as the world loves -- we should not just love our family and friends -- instead, we should love everyone with the agape love of Christ -- our family -- our friends -- our neighbors -- our acquaintances -- our enemies
-- this is our calling -- this is our goal -- this is our first step on the path to pursuing the holiness of God in our lives

-- as I close in prayer, I want to invite you to pray with me for God's power and presence in your life -- we can't love like this on our own -- we need His help -- we need His strength -- we need His love -- in order to love like Him -- in order to be holy as He is holy
-- let's pray for that power now -- let's pray for His presence now -- and let's leave here loving as never before
-- let us pray