SERMON: EVERYBODY, ALWAYS

I.  Introduction

            -- turn in Bibles to 1 John 4:7-12, 19-21

1 John 4:7-12, 19-21 New International Version (NIV)

7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

            -- as we begin this morning, I have a question for you: “What is love?”

            -- love is one of those words that we just throw around a lot -- you hear it everywhere, especially leading up to Valentine’s Day

            -- if you were in town a couple of weeks ago right before Valentine’s Day, you literally had the word Love shouted at you from the various displays of Valentine’s Day items that the stores were encouraging you to buy for your loved ones -- Kim and I were went to town the weekend before Valentine’s Day, and when we walked into the store, the very first thing we saw was a man pushing a ginormous teddy bear in his buggy that had the word, “Love,” written on its chest -- other people were snatching up heart-shaped boxes of candy with “Love” on the outside or other items to show the people they loved just how much they cared -- it was everywhere you looked

            -- but just seeing the word “love” plastered around our stores doesn’t answer my question -- what is love? -- what does the Bible mean when it tells us that God loves us and we are to love one another?

      -- a group of child psychologists wanted to know what kids thought about love -- what they understood about the idea of love before their ideas began to be shaped by culture and societal norms -- so they got together a group of kids between the ages of four and eight and asked them the question, "What is love?" -- here are some of their answers:

      -- "When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore, so my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love." Rebecca - age 8.
      -- "When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." Billy - age 4
      -- "Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is okay." Danny - age 7
      -- "Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine - age 5
      -- "Love is when Mommy sees Daddy smelly and sweaty and still says he is handsomer than Brad Pitt." Chris - age 7
      -- "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7
      -- and I really like what eight-year-old Jessica had to say -- "You really shouldn't say 'I love you' unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."

      -- people forget -- wow! -- words of wisdom from a child -- people forget -- maybe that's why God tells us so many times in His word that He loves us -- it's impossible to read the Bible and not find that message shouting out to you -- God loves us -- but do we truly comprehend it? -- do we really get what He's trying to tell us?

      -- John did -- out of all the disciples, John understood love because he lived with Love for three years -- he saw Love touch lepers and other people society refused to touch -- he saw Love heal people who had been crippled and rejected their whole lives -- he saw Love feed people just because they were hungry -- he saw Love take our place at the cross, just so we wouldn't have to -- he saw Love in action

            -- through his experience with Jesus, John came to know and understand true and perfect love in his own life

            -- the love of God defined him -- in fact, in the gospel of John, John doesn't even name himself -- he calls himself by the phrase, "the disciple Jesus loved" -- for John, it was Jesus' love that gave him life and made him who he was -- that’s why John tells us here in 1 John 4:8 the profound truth that “God is love” -- he had come to know this in a real and personal way

            -- at the time this letter of 1 John was written, John is an old man -- scholars think he could be in his 80s or 90s -- he's lived a long life serving God -- preaching and teaching and sharing with countless others the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection -- but now, at the end of his life, he can't help but give away what Jesus gave to him -- and that was perfect, unconditional love

            -- it’s practically all he can talk about -- all he can think about -- all he cares about

II.  Scripture Lesson -- 1 John 4:7-12 and 19-21

            -- look with me now at 1 John 4, starting in verse 7, and let’s see what John has to say about this love that literally changed his life forever -- and let’s see what we can learn about God’s love for us and what God intended us to do with His love

            -- verse 7

1 John 4:7 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.

            -- I had a friend who went to hear a well-known theologian speak at a United Methodist meeting one time -- this man was well-respected as a student of God's word -- a renowned professor -- a retired bishop -- someone who knew theology and who knew God's word intimately

            -- he had been asked to speak on what he felt was the most important theological message for the 21st century world to understand -- what was it the church and this world needed to know most from God's word? -- as the great theologian approached the lectern, every ear strained to hear his words -- placing both hands on the lectern and looking out over the crowd of pastors and theologians and church leaders, he said, "After a lifetime of walking with God and studying His word, I have concluded the most important theological message and biblical doctrine is found in this one concept: 'Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.'"

            -- that's what John is trying to get us to see in these verses -- in the King James Version, verse 7 doesn’t open with the words, “dear friends” -- it opens with the words, “beloved” -- do you know what that means? -- beloved means “dearly loved” -- “you who are loved”

            -- John is trying to get us to see the spiritual fact that the retired bishop finally understood -- God loves us -- He loves us so much that He sent His one and only Son into the world so that we might live through Him -- He loves us so much that He sent Jesus to take our place on the cross as our atoning sacrifice -- to take the punishment that we deserved and to die for our sins -- so that we might live with Him forever

            -- in answer to the question, “What is love?” -- John points to Jesus and says, “He is”

            -- that is the over-arching message of the Bible -- that is the good news that we proclaim every Sunday morning and that we have been called to share with the world -- God loves you and He wants to spend eternity with you -- that’s what John is saying to us in these verses -- it’s all about God’s love -- all of it

            -- the Bible tells us repeatedly that love is not a feeling -- it’s not an emotion -- it’s not a box of chocolates or a ginormous teddy bear -- love is a person -- and that person has a name -- as John tells us here, God is love

            -- and He shows us His love through Jesus -- the love that saved us on the cross of Calvary -- the love that came to us when we were unloved and unloveable -- the love that took our place so that we might live in love with the Father forever

            -- love like this demands a response -- but what can we do in the face of such unconditional and sacrificial love? -- knowing this love from God, how now should we live, especially in relation to others?

             

            -- verse 11

1 John 4:11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

            -- what are we supposed to do with this love of God that we have? -- Jesus told us in John 15:12 and John tells us again here in these verses -- love one another

            -- people are always wanting to know God’s will for their lives -- they’re always wanting to know what God’s plan is -- this is it -- love one another -- it’s that simple

            -- do you want to do what God is calling you to do today? -- do you want to be the people He’s calling you to be? -- then just go out and love one another -- that’s it

            -- Jesus said that this is how people would know that we belonged to Him -- through our love

            -- and, honestly, I think this is something that Christians are pretty good at -- loving one another -- within our churches, love abounds -- it’s something that’s more than a feeling -- it’s tangible -- it’s there in the way we care for one another -- in the way we meet the needs of one another -- in the way we relate to one another

            -- loving one another is actually pretty easy -- it’s easy to love those who love us -- I mean, even the Pharisees got that right -- but Jesus wants more from us than just to love those we like -- to love those who love us

            -- hold your place right here and turn with me to Matthew 5:43-48

Matthew 5:43 “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor[a] and hate your enemy.’ 44 But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, 45 that you may be children 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 own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? 48 Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

            -- now that changes everything -- so what Jesus meant when He said, “love one another,” wasn’t that we were just to love those who love us -- to love those we liked

            -- no, He meant that we were to love those we didn’t like -- to love those who even hated us -- to love our enemies and those people who are hard to get along with -- and that’s not easy

            -- look back at 1 John 4:19

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.

            -- so what Jesus and John are saying here is that we shouldn’t just love the people who are easy to love -- we should love everyone, always

            -- you’ve heard that before, right? -- love your enemies -- it’s something we know -- it’s something we say -- but it’s not always something we do

            -- sometimes it’s easier to agree with Jesus about something than to actually go out and do it -- but Jesus didn’t want just want our assent -- He didn’t just want us to agree with Him that this is a good idea -- He wanted us to do what He said -- He wanted us to go out and to actually love one another -- and, by that, He means even our enemies -- especially, our enemies -- for that’s where love is made real

            -- John says here that you can’t really say you love God if you hate your brother -- because God is love -- and when God’s love fills your heart, hate can’t live there

            -- your love for others -- your love for your enemies -- for difficult people -- for hateful people -- for hurtful people -- your love for them is a measure of your real love for God

            -- in his book, “Everybody, Always,” Bob Goff said something that really resonated with me -- he wrote: “It’s easy to love kind, lovely, humble people -- I mean, who wouldn’t? -- these are the ones I’ve spent much of my life loving -- [but, I have discovered that] I’ve spent my whole life avoiding the people Jesus spent His whole life engaging…the difficult people…the creepy people…[the people who are hard to love]”

            -- you’re never going to become like Jesus until you start loving the difficult people in your life

            -- and that’s not easy -- in fact, it is impossible apart from the grace and power of God -- we just don’t have that capacity within us -- but, as John writes here, when God’s agape love -- the unconditional and sacrificial love of God -- fills our hearts and touches our lives, then the Spirit will make you able to love even your enemies

            -- when I reflect on Jesus’ command to us here -- the command to love our enemies -- to love one another, meaning everyone we come into contact with -- I can’t help but think about a story that Corrie ten Boom shared in her book, “The Hiding Place” -- you may have heard this before, but it’s so relevant, that I have to share it again:

“It was at a church service in Munich that I saw him, a former S.S. man who had stood guard at the shower room door in the processing center at Ravensbruck. He was the first of our actual jailers that I had seen since that time. And suddenly it was all there – the roomful of mocking men, the heaps of clothing, [my sister] Betsie's pain-blanched face.

“He came up to me as the church was emptying, beaming and bowing. ‘How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein.’ He said. ‘To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!’ His hand was thrust out to shake mine. And I, who had preached so often to the people… the need to forgive [the need to love], kept my hand at my side.

“Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I saw the sin of them. Jesus Christ had died for this man; was I going to ask for more? Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him. I tried to smile, I struggled to raise my hand. I could not. I felt nothing, not the slightest spark of warmth or charity. And so again I breathed a silent prayer. Jesus, I prayed, I cannot forgive him. Give me Your forgiveness.

“As I took his hand the most incredible thing happened. From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me. And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness any more than on our goodness that the world's healing hinges, but on His. When He tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with the command, the love itself.”

            -- “God is our source of love, and his supply never runs low. When you have trouble loving someone, whether friend or enemy, ask God for the love you need. He will surely supply it, for it is in his very essence and will.” -- as John wrote, “God is love” -- and His love fills us and empowers us to love one another, even our enemies

IV.  Closing

            -- let's bring this to a close

            -- In his commentary on Luke's gospel, pastor and author Kent Hughes tells the following story:

            -- “Several years ago, one of my wife's friends took a missionary furlough with her husband and family after an unusually tiring stint of service. She had been looking forward to this time with great anticipation. For the first time she was going to have a place of her own, a new, large townhouse-styled apartment with a patio. She is very creative and made the patio the focus of her decoration.

            -- “After a few months some new neighbors moved in. The word to describe them would be "coarse." There was loud music day and night along with a constant flow of obscenities. They urinated in the front yard in broad daylight. They totally disrupted her peace. She could see nothing good in them.

            -- “She asked the Lord to help her be more loving, but all she got back [from her neighbors] was disgust and rejection. The crisis came when she returned home to discover that her neighbors' children had sprayed orange paint all over her beautiful patio—the walls, the floors—everything! She was distraught and furious. She tried to pray but found herself crying out, "I cannot love them; I hate them!"

            -- “Knowing she had to deal with the sin in her heart, she began to converse with the Lord in her inner being, and a Scripture came to mind: "And beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect bond of unity" (Colossians 3:14 NASB). In her heart she questioned, "Lord, how do I put on love?" The only way she could picture it was like putting on a coat. So that is what she determined to do—she chose to wrap herself in the love of God! As a result, she began to experience a deeper life of Christ within her.

            -- “She made a list of what she would do if she really loved her exasperating neighbors, then did what she had listed. She baked cookies, she offered to baby-sit for free, she invited the mother over for coffee—and the most beautiful thing happened! She began to know and understand them. She began to see that they were living under tremendous pressures. She began to love her "enemies." She did good to them. She lent to them without expecting anything back.

            -- “The day came when they moved—and she wept! An unnatural, unconventional love had captured her heart—a supernatural love—the love of Jesus.”¹

            -- “We love because He first loved us -- Whoever loves God, must also love his brother”

            -- what is love? -- this is love -- this is the love that Christ commands of us -- this is the love that is supposed to define who we are -- this is the love that is supposed to point a watching world to Jesus -- and they’re not seeing this love in His church today

            -- what does it take to love like this? -- how is this possible in our day and time?

            -- it is only possible through Jesus -- through Jesus' atoning, sacrificial death on the cross we come to know true love -- we come to experience the love that forgives -- the love that heals -- the love that empowers us to love and to perform sacrificial acts of love in our own lives -- even to our enemies -- especially, to our enemies

            -- it's not rules -- it's not about church -- it's not about doing right -- it's about love

            -- you can only love like this if you first know love -- you can only love like this if you know God through His Son Jesus Christ

            -- so, as we close, let us think about two things:

            -- first, let's think about the relationship we have with Jesus -- do we know Jesus? -- do we know God? -- are we in love with Him? -- have we asked Him to love us and to forgive us of our sins? -- if you’re unsure of your relationship with Jesus -- if you can’t remember a time in your life when you personally asked Jesus to forgive you of your sins -- then please don’t leave here today without making that plea

            -- and, second, let's think about our relationship with others -- are we loving others with the same agape, sacrificial, unconditional love that we have experienced through Christ? -- and, by this, I mean not only those who are easy to love -- those we like -- those who love us back

            -- are you loving even the difficult people -- the creepy people -- your very own enemies?

            -- if not, then we need to start moving in that direction through the power of God's love in our lives

            -- start by thinking of how you relate to those you disagree with -- of how you respond to them in your conversations and on social media -- do your messages reflect the love of Christ to them, even if you don’t agree with them? -- do you avoid certain people because you don’t like them and don’t want to be around them?

            -- the people you avoid -- the people you don’t like -- these are the very ones you should love the most

            -- as we close, I invite you to respond to God's word as you feel led -- breathe in His love -- receive His agape love -- and then breathe that love out into this world -- love as Jesus loved -- share His love with one another

            -- what is love? -- God is love

            -- and, who are we to love? -- everybody, always

            -- let us pray

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1 Kent Hughes, Luke, Volume One (Crossway, 1998), p. 229; submitted by Lee Eclov, Vernon Hills, Illinois