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
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