MPC
22nd September 2019.September 22 - Luke 10:25-37 - "Love in Action"
MPC
22nd September 2019.
Dan Wilton
What is love? How do you define love? It should be a simple enough question to answer. We're constantly offered a feast of love through movies. and Netflix.
Love Actually.
Eat Pray Love.
P.S. I Love You
Shakespeare in Love
Crazy Stupid Love
Love Story
The Love Guru
I wonder how many of those you've seen?
And what about songs? Apparently 70% of all songs are about love.
All You Need is Love
Need Somebody to Love
California Love
Love Yourself
Love Shack
You Give Love a Bad Name
We Found Love
Lost Love
Addicted to Love
So many songs. But what is love?
The dictionary define love as an "intense feeling of deep affection". Is that it? Is love just a feeling?
What's love?
And what does it look like to love as the church?
Early this year we announced the four categories that we wanted to shape our church priorities. With our four big words.
We want to be a church that will invite other to follow Jesus with us. We want to grow as followers of Jesus. We want to be church that sends people out who are passionate about sharing Jesus.
And lastly we want to be a church that is known for the way we love. With servant hearts.
So over the next four weeks we're going to think more deeply about what that looks like in practice to love in action.
A love for God. And a love for one another. That flows out of our understanding of God's love for us. Which is what this passage in Luke's all about. Let's get into it.
Verse 25. We're introduced to a lawyer.
Now, this isn't any lawyer. This is an expert in the law of the Old Testament. A religious guru.
And this lawyer comes to Jesus with a question - verse 25: "Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
It's a great question! If there's such a thing as eternal life. A life that's unstained by death and suffering. Then that's worth knowing about. Worth asking about.
What must I do to inherit eternal life?
Well, Jesus is a great Teacher. He knows how to teach.
I know there's a few people here who are teachers. And you know what happens when someone asks you a question. What do you do? You don't answer it!
We've all been there. Whether you're a teacher, or been on the receiving end.
Teachers don't give a straight out answer - they respond with another question - "Well, what do you think?!"
And Jesus does exactly the same... He fires a question right back.
Jesus says to him - verse 26 - you're the expert in the Old Testament law. You've got the PhD in all the rules God gave to the nation of Israel. So what do you reckon? How do you read it?
Now if you've ever read any of the Old Testament, that's a big question, isn't it? Because it's a big book.Withlots of laws. But this guy's not called an expert for nothing. And so he comes right back with an answer... He knows this one. He says it's all about love.
Have a look, verse 27 - he answered, "Love the Lord you God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind. And Love your neighbour as yourself."
He summarises all the laws of the Old Testament, into two commands. And they're both about love.
Love the Lord your God with everything you've got. And love your neighbour as yourself.
And Jesus replies to the guy: "You're right. You've answered correctly. Do this... and you'll live."
But it's a big call isn't it! I mean just take the first one for example - love God.
If you want to be one of God's people. You need to love God. Not just a little bit. Not only when it's convenient. But with every fibre of your being! But what does that exactly look like?
Well, Jesus will later go onto to say: "if you love me, then you will obey my commands"! And the commands that echo through the whole Bible. It's that repeated command that you see all the way back in the Old Testament when the Law saw first given: "To be holy, as I am holy!"
To be holy is to be set apart. To be different. Strangers in the world. Set apart for God. Not of this world - in saying we're in this world. But not belonging to it. Having allegiance only to God.
This is what a loving person will look like. To truly love is to love him who most deserves our love.
And he calls us to be holy and different. To take on board his vision. His passions. His values. His purposes. And from that our love for others will be defined by God. If we love God, the good for others will be shaped by what he says is good for others! But that only flows out of a genuine love for God. And so if we're to be a community that loves, we need to first love God with all our soul and strength and mind! And from that the second love will flow.
Love for our neighbour! Which is a whole lot of love, right!? That's pretty all-inclusive! Love for God. And love for our neighbour.
Well by this stage it's bit too much for the lawyer. He's feeling out of his depth. And so he asks a follow up question. Verse 29. He says: "Well hold on Jesus, define neighbour!" Who's my neighbour?
Now, on the surface that seems like a fair question. Jesus has just confirmed that this man needs to love his neighbour to inherit eternal life, and so he wants to know who his neighbour is - innocent enough question. Right? I don't think so! Let me explain.
The lawyer's question is like when Nicky asks me to clean the bathroom. She'll say, "Dan, can you clean the toilets please?" And my response - as a loving and caring husband is: "Of course, dear."
Now all good so far, but it's the follow-up question that reveals where my heart is. My follow-up question is, "Which one do you want me to clean? The en-suite or the main bathroom?" Now that seems like a fair enough question, doesn't it? Clarification is always a good thing. But the motivation's not so innocent.
You see, what I want Nicky to say is: 'one or the other' - even though I know that she'd like me to do both.
My question is aimed not at serving my wife - my question is aimed at reducing what I have to do.
And this is precisely the tack that the expert takes in trying to justify himself. He doesn't want to know who he can love. He wants to know who it is he doesn't have to love. It's an excuse not to love. Which misses the whole point.
And so Jesus tells a very pointed story. A parable. To demonstrate the problem in the lawyer's thinking.
A man's going down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Verse 30. "When he falls into the hands of robbers." It's a mugging. They steal his iPod, they steal his phone, they strip him of his clothes and they beat him and leave him for dead. Bleeding in the gutter.
But here's help. A Jewish priest happens to be going along the same road. Just after the attack. Now this is a religious heavyweight! the embodiment of the Law. But what does he do when he gets to the man? Verse 31 - he passes by on the other side of the road.
The Priest is soon followed by a Levite. Now, the Levites were the temple assistants. The next rank down. And he does exactly the same thing - goes out of his way to avoid him.
Just notice what's happening in the story so far. Jesus has introduced us to two characters that we're supposed to like, a Priest and a Levite. The top of the pecking order in Israelite society, men who knew the Law of God. Experts in everything to do with the Law (just like the lawyer). But they have no mercy. No compassion. Their love for themselves was greater than their love for the dying man.
Which is in contrast to the next guy who comes along. Who as it happens is not an Israelite at all. He's a Samaritan.
Now, Samaria was a place that if you were an Israelite, you'd walk right around rather than go through. Samaritans and Jews didn't even talk to each other.
The Samaritan comes across the guy beaten and naked in the gutter. And what does he do?
You might expect he's just spit on the guy and lay into him for good measure. But instead he gets out the first aid kit. He bandages his wounds. He puts the guy on his own donkey and he books a room at the inn.
And then takes out two silver coins and pays the innkeeper. "Look after him til the money runs out. And if it costs any more, I'll settle the bill when I get back." The recovery... is going to be entirely at the Samaritan's expense.
While the religious leaders of Israel, with all their ceremony and their pomp and circumstance, the Priest and the Levitewalk on by. And offer nothing. And are absolutely unmoved.
So verse 36, the point of the story, the obvious question: so which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?
And the answer is obvious. Verse 37. Being a neighbour is a matter of the heart. It's not a matter of a rule or a definition. Who's the neighbour? The expert in the law replied, the one who had mercy on him!
You see, the lawyer asked the wrong question.
The questions isn't - who's my neighbour? Who do I need to show love to? The right question is, who can I show love to? Who can I have compassion on? Who can I show mercy to? Who can I reflect the character of God to? And that's meant to be the absolute distinctive of the people of God.
If you are a follower of Jesus. We're called to love. We love because we have first been loved... We don't love because we think we're good people. We don't love because we think we're racking up points with God.
Israel was meant to love because they were loved by God. And they failed. By doing as little as they could.
Now as followers of Jesus we're called to love the lord our God and love our neighbour. Because we want to. From the heart. The basic mark of the church is to love one another. Our love for the family. The mark that'll make us stand out is not what we wear. not the cross hanging around our necks. Or the Bible verse tattooed on your arm. Or the building we meet in.
What marks Christians our from the rest of the world, is how we love each other. That's what Jesus is saying over in John chapter 13. When he says:
A new command I give to you: Love one another. As I have love you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
This is what the church is called to be. If you're part of MPC we're called to be a family that's known for the way we love each other. We're called to see each other's good. As the priority in our lives.
No one should go hungry in the church. When another has plenty. No one should go homeless in the church. When another has a spare bed. No one should go without friendship. No one should go without care.
We show that we love God, by having love for each other. A love that imitates the love Jesus has already shown us! Loving with servant hearts.
Building Community. Showing practical care. As we serve one another. And we want to encourage you to be part of that in whatever ways you can. Have 'loving with a servant heart' at the front of your mind as you turn up to church.
Who can you love today? It doesn't have to be big. It can be simple things. Like... sitting next to someone and talking to them, when nobody else does. Listening. Maybe by just turning up and being here instead of choosing to press snooze on the alarm again. Maybe by doing something nobody else likes doing. It's having a servant heart. That goes out of your way to love the church family. And not just on a Sunday but during the week as well.
But that's not where the love stops.
If you follow Jesus, then He calls you to love everyone. Not just other Christians. But everyone! Have a look what Paul says in Galatians 6 on the screen:
Let us not become weary in doing good... But as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people,
Let us love all people! Not just your friends. Not just your literal neighbours. And not just those who are easy to love. We're called to seek people out. To do good to everyone! And that'll mean personally and structurally. We ought to be equally welcoming to the young couple down the road. And to refugees arriving on our shores from violent places overseas!
Loving our neighbours. Loving our neighbourhoods.
In practical ways. In small things. That show love, compassion, mercy, kindness, patience to those we come in contact with. Whenever and however we can.
The love we're committed to has no strings attached. It's going to be creative and sacrificial, and in this - it's going to be a testimony to the goodness that God has shown us in Jesus.
Maybe that'll mean you and your growth group will commit to serving a particular need in our community. It'll look different for each individual. For each group. But I would love to see groups serving together. Demonstrating a deep love in our community. Rather then being a holy huddle. Getting out and showing the sacrificial love of Jesus to the poor. The marginalised. Those in need. Real Jesus-centred love will be seen in the way we love our neighbour. Self-sacrificially.
But on that can I say one last thing. Real love doesn't only seek to meet people's physical needs. Their emotional needs. Their psychological and relational needs.
It includes those things. But it doesn't stop there.
Real love. Real love that comes from God. First and foremost is concerned and burdened with the eternal future of those we love.
See, if real love is concerned to relieve the deepest harms. And pursue the greatest good. Than real love must be concerned for the eternal future and fate of people as they stand before God. Nothing catches this more clearly than the worlds most famous memory verse - John 3:16. Where John says:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
For God did not send his son into the world for a short-term fix for our poverty. Or our suffering. Rather he sends his son into the world to bring us what?! To bring us eternal life as a gift! If we're to love, we'll tell people about Jesus. And any love that claims to be love. But doesn't tell people about Jesus, is no love at all!
If we as a church are seeking to love our neighbours. And to love those who are in desperate need. Love the poor. And needy. But only address their physical needs. Which is all really good to do. And necessary. But if that's all we're doing. If we're not taking our conversation and relationships to that next step of speaking about Jesus. Then we're not showing lasting and eternal love at all. It's just like giving a tent to the homeless when you know a tsunami's about to hit. Sure it alleviates some of the immediate problems. But it doesn't deal with their bigger need!
And friends, if we've loved only in action. And haven't loved with words. Words of Life. Words of Hope. Then we need to repent! Because real love points to real life.
So in your Growth Groups. What are you doing, to talk about together how you're going to reach your friends to a sure future? How are you praying together?
Are you feeling burdened by the standing of your family, and friends, and neighbours before the living God? So love!
You might be sitting there thinking - man there's just way too much to do! You and I aren't always going to love like that. We'll at times fail to be that person. But this is the good news of the good Samaritan.
When Jesus says, "love your neighbours sacrificially". That's how you'll find eternal life. He knows you won't be able to do it! Not completely!
He knows that you, like me, we're weak and feeble. And honestly our hearts though being slowly tenderised by the Holy Spirit are still broken!
But this is where we're reminded of Jesus. That this story is really about him. He's the good Samaritan. He's the one who comes along the long road to rescue his enemies. He picks up the broken. Binds their wounds. And releases them to new life. He's the one who finds us naked and ashamed. And gives us new clothes.
If this morning you find yourself recognising your failure to love. And you're trying to figure where you'll find the strength to love, look to Jesus. Not just to his example. But look to what he's done for you!
Look at how much you've been loved! Dwell on that. Walk in that. Cherish that. Sing about it. Memorise it. Know that you have been loved with a love that will never fail.
And slowly you'll find your heart learning to love in turn.