This morning I’m going to be speaking on a subject
that we all heard a lot about last week, Love. One of the dear ladies of the
Church came to me after I taught and she was so moved that it really impressed
me to speak on the same subject again, to essentially teach my lesson again,
but preach it. And I thought about it and I decided that that might be
something to do. Don’t think that I was lazy though, I did do some further
study in and worked a little harder on it.[1]
Just a minute after I get in the door that I click the
lock and I hear frequently, “Daddy!” and all the kids come running. But it just
takes a minute later for my daughter. I just give her my first command you know
do this you shouldn’t have done that and I get this, “I don’t love you anymore.”
She likes to use that phrase as a weapon when she doesn’t get her way. At first
my son Benjamin tried this tactic and it kind of shocked me because I didn’t
expect that coming from my own child. But I didn’t really change my battle plan
with him and nor do I with Christy. So I expect it will soon become a thing of the
past. At least I hope so.
Some people really never get past that juvenile use of
words. Even taking actions that children might never dream of to back it up. Their
love never matures to the point where such a statement might be considered
wrong or even out of place, in an adult society. They might not couch it in the
same words, but all the same the meaning hasn’t changed. As Christians we need
to show them a mature use of our language and our love to the watching world. How
do we do that? What might we show to the world to show them we truly love them
and love one another?
Theme: How
do we show love to our neighbors (and continue to do so), which requires trust,
in the day & age (post 9/11) which we live?
How do we show love to our neighbors and continue to
do so in this post 9-11 environment of fear and concern and federal warnings
that things are dangerous? Maybe we shouldn’t go to work today? Maybe we
shouldn’t do anything! Some people can be really frightened. But we need to
show mature love and that’s what we’re here to talk about today. God provides
us many examples of mature love and His Word, both in the old and new Testament.
I’m gonna read from Ruth right now:
13 So Boaz took Ruth, and she became
his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord
enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. 14 Then the women said to Naomi, “Blessed is the Lord who has not left you without a
redeemer today, and may his name become famous in Israel. 15 May he also be to you a restorer of life and a
sustainer of your old age; for your daughter-in-law, who loves you and is
better to you than seven sons, has given birth to him.” 16 Then Naomi took the child and laid him in her lap,
and became his nurse. 17 The
neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi!” So they
named him Obed. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David (Ruth 4:13-22).[2]
What you don’t know or some of you don’t know is that
Naomi and Ruth were not Israelites. They kind of were grafted in so to speak,
to the family of Israel because of their faithfulness to the Lord. The Lord
showed them love and honor. Such that now Ruth, who is not an Israelite, is a
part of the line of Jesus Christ. This came about because of a rule that God established
in the Old Testament. In Leviticus we read now:
22 ’When you reap the harvest of your
land, moreover, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field nor gather
the gleaning of your harvest; you are to leave them for the needy and the
alien. I am the Lord your God.’ ”(Lev.
23:22)[3]
We’re not really an agrarian society here in Chicago
or in the United States. But for those who wouldn’t understand, gleaning would
just be leaving the leaving a few stalks of grain behind, a couple of years of
corn. So that somebody who comes through, who needs something to eat would have
that.
I looked up the word of the word stranger, it says ‘you
shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger’, I looked at that word up
it comes up with a definition of a sojourner,
“A temporary inhabitant, a newcomer lacking inherited rights; or foreigners in
Israel, though with conceded rights.”[4] So these people were just
this this was set up to provide for people who had no means and this was set up
by God in his law and that’s how Ruth became part of the line of David and the
Lord Jesus. Contrary to the popular belief of some people, the god of the Old
Testament is not a God of anger while the God of the New Testament is a God of
love. The Scriptures say plainly of the Lord Jesus who is God in the flesh,
that “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). So I
would take issue with anybody that says anything of God being different in the
Old Testament or having a different nature. God doesn’t change, and when we
think of the Lord Jesus and we think of his love and that he died on the cross
we have to remember that same love applies to God the Father before Jesus was
known. We have to look at our old testament in that view so we see this this
passage in Leviticus can help flesh that out. He was providing for people.
Let’s look at our Lord Jesus his own directive. This is the Good Samaritan story that many of us know:
Let’s look at our Lord Jesus his own directive. This is the Good Samaritan story that many of us know:
25 And a lawyer stood up and put Him
to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 And He said to him, “What
is written in the Law? How does it read to you?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And He said to him, “You
have answered correctly; do this and you
will live.” 29 But
wishing to justify himself, he said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus
replied and said, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell
among robbers, and they stripped him and beat him, and went away leaving him
half dead. 31 And by
chance a priest was going down on that road, and when he saw him, he passed by
on the other side. 32 Likewise
a Levite also, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other
side. (Luke 10:25-32)[5]
I’m going to pause in the
story to make a comment. The laws of the Old Testament were there for the
benefit of people because of God’s love. Once again we remember that. What did
the leadership of the Jews, the Levites and the priests, do but they changed
those laws into a rigid unloving system A.T. Robertson calls this “A vivid and
powerful picture of the vice of Jewish
ceremonial cleanliness at the cost of moral principle and duty.”[6] Going on in the story:
But a
Samaritan, who was on a journey, came upon him; and when he saw him, he felt
compassion, 34 and
came to him and bandaged up his wounds, pouring oil and wine on them; and he put him on his own beast,
and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 On the next day he took out two denarii and gave
them to the innkeeper and said, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend,
when I return I will repay you.’ 36 Which
of these three do you think proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell into
the robbers’ hands?” 37 And he said, “The
one who showed mercy toward him.” Then Jesus said to him, “Go and do the same.”
(Luke 10:33-37)[7]
Did you ever stop and think about why the Samaritan might not have stopped. I can think of two reasons
He
was not a Jew. How did the Jews feel about the
Samaritans I don’t think they were very close. Let me read some Scriptures to
you that that give you a little history of the Samaritans and the and the animosity
that the Samaritans and the Jews had towards each other. In Ezra 4,
But
Zerubbabel and Jeshua and the rest of the heads of fathers’ households of Israel said to them, “You
have nothing in common with us in building a house to our God; but we ourselves
will together build to the Lord
God of Israel, as King Cyrus, the king of Persia has commanded us.” 4 Then the people of
the land discouraged the people of Judah, and frightened them from building, 5 and hired counselors
against them to frustrate their counsel all the days of Cyrus king of Persia,
even until the reign of Darius king of Persia. (Ezra 4:3-5)[8]
This
this occurred right after the 70 years of captivity. There were groups of people
who would be been begun returning to the land of Israel. Some had begun building
their own homes but Ezra the scribe desired to build the house of God once
again which had been destroyed. When he did so, some of the Jews who had
remained in the land for the 70 years didn’t like it. These were Jews who had
decided to give up their Jewishness in a sense by marrying with some of the
other peoples in the area. These are the people who came against Ezra and this
is where the beginning of the clashes start. This was several hundred years
before the Lord Jesus comes on the scene. Look in John. We have the Jews
accusing Jesus here, in the book of John:
48 The Jews answered and said to Him,
“Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” (John 8:48)[9]
See, they felt that it was such an insult to call a person a Samaritan. It would be equal to calling him, you know, being filled with a demon. It was it was the same nature. That’s how strong the hatred was. There’s one more passage I want to read in the book of Acts which kind of wraps things up a little for us. Peter has been summoned to speak to Cornelius:
28 And he said to them, “You
yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew to associate with a
foreigner or to visit him; and yet
God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean. (Acts 10:28)[10]
Peter is speaking to Cornelius and if I recall Cornelius
was a man who like a taxidermist in a sense. He was definitely a man who would
be considered unclean according to the Jewish laws, besides being a foreigner. You
see Peter refers to the laws of you shouldn’t be coming into a foreigner’s house
because of uncleanness again. Fortunately, Peter says that God has shown me
that I should not call any man unholy and unclean. That’s our example today. See
he’s going back to what really should have been the way things were. So, the
man was it was a Jew and the Samaritan had every right in the world in some in
some twisted way, of saying. ‘I shouldn’t stop’ but he stops.
Another reason he might not have stopped was he was traveling. Have you ever been on a road trip for business or pleasure
maybe you were traveling to Milwaukee Rockford on business or maybe you were on
a family vacation you’re just humming along down the road listening to some music
on the CD or the tape. Wait a minute, what set up the road? Oh no! There’s a
car with a hood up. gosh I ever just drive on by him? just leave him there on
the side of the road? Now you think, “I’m sure he’s got Triple A. Yeah, maybe
there’s nobody in the car… oh, shoot. Someone was in there. Now there’s really a
moral dilemma. Well if I stop, I’ll be a good Samaritan but I’ll be late for my
meeting or whatever else I was planning for…” You might rationalize it away, “Maybe
this guy is got some scheme – you know, he wants you to stop and he’s gonna
pull a gun on you and rob you…” We worry about things like that sometimes. You
know, irrational fears maybe they’re not so irrational after 9/11? We see some crazy things, we never would have
thought could have been an attempted… Meanwhile we’re thinking about this and
the guy is turned into a speck in the rearview mirror. Glad that’s over, back
to my music.
You know, time and money folks. That’s what it takes
to stop. This man took his time and his money to help a fellow in distress. He
showed him mature love. Paul shows us numerous times what it takes in the book
of Acts. He was in a city called Lystra when he heals a man:
This man
was listening to Paul as he spoke, who, when he had fixed his gaze on him and
had seen that he had faith to be made well, 10 said with a loud voice, “Stand upright on your
feet.” And he leaped up and began to
walk. 11 When the
crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian
language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” 12 And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul,
Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. 13 The
priest of Zeus, whose temple was just
outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer
sacrifice with the crowds. (Acts 14:9-13)[11]
Jumping ahead now, Paul and Barnabas try to convince
them not to sacrifice.
Even saying these things, with
difficulty they restrained the crowds from offering sacrifice to them. 19 But Jews came from
Antioch and Iconium, and having won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and
dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. 20 But while the disciples stood around him, he got
up and entered the city. The next day he went away with Barnabas to Derbe. 21 After they had
preached the gospel to that city and had made many disciples, they returned to
Lystra and to Iconium and to Antioch, 22 strengthening
the souls of the disciples, encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying, “Through many tribulations we
must enter the kingdom of God.” 23 When
they had appointed elders for them in every church, having prayed with fasting,
they commended them to the Lord in whom they had believed. (Acts 14:18-23)[12]
How
could people who were going to sacrifice to Paul and Barnabas, turn so quickly
into stoning them? It’s a conundrum in our mind when we
first think about it. But we’ve all seen various riots where you’ve got a group
of people who really don’t have any direction. They’re just kind of wild, revelry
going on and all of a sudden it takes one person one person to throw some of
some rock at a window or to light a fire someplace and everyone starts going
wild.
This is something similar. They weren’t really
interested in Paul and Barnabas for the miracle that had happened. They were
just interested in the excitement. “Wow! someone was healed. This is great! Let’s
go crazy.” They were playing follow the leader.
Why
did Paul return to Lystra after he was stoned? He
got up, went back into the city that same day. Then the next day he left. He
preached in Derbe, saw many people come to know the Lord, and then he continues
his circuit coming back to Lystra and to Iconium and Antioch! Encouraging the Brethren there, that’s why.
Encouraging the Brethren. He thought more of the people of God, than he did of his
own life. Iconium and Antioch were where the Jews who were the rabble rousers
who came in to upset the crowd – that’s where they were from. And he went there
too. There were disciples in them towns. People that needed to be encouraged,
people that needed leadership.
Sometimes we think to ourselves, Why should something like this had happened? You know he was stoned, he
could have died. Well God didn’t allow that, but God did allow the stoning
and I think for a very good purpose. Because immediately after that happened,
he appointed elders for them in every Church. For the first time in church
history, this is when that occurred. There was actual leadership outside of the
disciples in the individual churches. Because Paul realized he’s a mortal, and
he wouldn’t be there forever. Paul gives his own testimony on that same activity
in 2 Corinthians and he’s speaking out here, he says,
23 Are they servants of Christ?—I
speak as if insane—I more so; in far more labors, in far more imprisonments,
beaten times without number, often in danger of death. 24 Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was
stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the
deep. 26 I have been on frequent journeys, in
dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city,
dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; 27 I have been in labor and hardship,
through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in
cold and exposure. 28 Apart
from such external things, there is
the daily pressure on me of concern
for all the churches. 29 Who
is weak without my being weak? Who is led into sin without my intense concern?
(2 Cor. 11:23-29)[13]
This is Paul. His heart was a heart of love for these people. For not just the people of God, but for all people. Because he was out there preaching to bring people to know the Lord Jesus, to know the Messiah had come. You can be free from the burdens that you carry. Paul also says in Galatians, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal. 5:14)[14]
Do you know there are 613 individual laws in the Old Testament Pentateuch? And it all hangs on this – Love your neighbor as yourself. You know, we think of eye for an eye and tooth for tooth and some of the very monotonous legalese that we read when we poke around in Leviticus and Exodus and Deuteronomy and what not. But what it all boils down to is God is trying to communicate to us, love. Love from himself and love for one another. He’s taking this group of Israelites, this 2.7 million people who came across the Red Sea and he’s saying, ‘This is what you must do to show love for one another, honor for one another’. But it all boils down to one thing – love your neighbor as yourself.
Some of us have heard about the stories of Paul and
Shelley. How they were in Pakistan right during the beginning of the war
against Afghanistan and how they had such a trouble to come home. It took them
several weeks longer than should have. And I know in my own heart I was aching
for them, worried that they would not be able to come home with their child, or
wouldn’t be able to come home at all; would choose to stay there rather than
abandon their son. And then we all prayed for them and they finally got home. I
was sharing this information on a regular basis with various people I work with.
Many were non-Christians, I was sharing it because they knew Paul, from days of
long ago when Paul used to work there, and my boss was one of them. And when he
heard that Paul was back he was very glad. He had a big smile I said well that’s
good, and I am glad that worked out.
So later I bumped into Paul and I had my opinion of
what his answer is we going to be. I had a question for him. my student said
Paul “So what are you going to do now?” My thought was he was going to minister
somewhere in one of the bigger cities maybe Detroit or Chicago, with any hope,
and that we would see him more regularly. Because he would be able to minister
to the Pakistani Muslims here with a with a huge advantage over many other
people who might do so, since he had lived there for several years. I figured for
sure that would be the answer. He said, “Well we’re going back in September,
Dave.”
My jaw just about dropped. Then I thought, ‘You know
what, that’s right.’ That’s right, we can’t abandon these people just because
of fear. Maybe that’s not for every one of us, but someone has to be out there.
This weekend actually, I believe two days ago, Paul and possibly Shelly and the
baby went to Seattle, and they’re visiting Gary and Joan. Gary and Joan
were in Pakistan with Paul and Shelley in the past. They’re returning this
coming week to Pakistan. They’re the first missionaries to return from the
mission group that Paul is a part of, and Paul and Shelley wanted to go out
there to wish them well. And to say, “We’ll see you in September.” They also
bumped into a few other people while they’re in Seattle they planning to visit.
Think of this, Paul and Shelley are planning to return; Gary and Joan are
planning to return, are returning. That shows mature love, that says, ‘You know
what, my life is not my own. My life was given to me by God and could be taken
away at any time and I shouldn’t be concerned about that.’
What
is the motivating factor behind these two couples?
I didn’t even mention my other friends the Garcia’s. They’re in México and they’ve
been battling an issue with skin cancer and one might think that they should
come home with a better medical help. But they aren’t coming home until it’s
time. For the same reason: For love of God and love of neighbor. Let me read
something from Matthew, it pertains to the end times but it may pertain to today.
I’m not saying that the end times are upon us though:
Then they
will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by
all nations because of My name. 10 At
that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
11 Many false
prophets will arise and will mislead many. 12 Because
lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.(Matt. 24:9-12)[15]
Most people’s love will grow cold, because lawlessness is increased. 9/11 changed the world. We saw people do things that shocked us and changed us. But don’t let that give you a cold heart. Don’t let your love grow cold over that. Christ’s words are a call to moral vigilance. We need to have warm hearts, we need to go back to Pakistan. We need to reach out to our neighbors.
Let’s close in a word
of prayer: Father every one of us is wrestling
with things right now in our hearts. Some of us are saying, ‘But we shouldn’t
just put our neck out there on the line all the time. We shouldn’t challenge
God.’ Lord, we know that’s not what you’re saying, and yet sometimes our hearts
would like to just scramble our thoughts. Help us Lord, to be prepared to hear
whatever You have for us; that we would quickly do what you ask without
question. Help us to have an open and willing heart to help someone, even if it
takes a little time or a little money. Help us to show you honor, by loving one
another. I pray these things in Jesus name, amen.
[1] Preached at Forest
Glen Community Church, Sunday Feb. 17, 2002
[2] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La
Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ru 4:13–22.
[3] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), Le 23:22.
[5] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), Lk 10:25–32.
[7] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra,
CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Lk 10:33–37.
[8] New American
Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The Lockman
Foundation, 1995), Ezr 4:3–5.
[9] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), Jn 8:48.
[10] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ac 10:28.
[11] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ac 14:9–13.
[12] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ac 14:18–23.
[13] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), 2 Co 11:23–29.
[14] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ga 5:14.
[15] New
American Standard Bible, 1995 Edition: Paragraph Version (La Habra, CA: The
Lockman Foundation, 1995), Mt 24:9–12.
