|
|
Back to Sermons Index Back to Home Page 30th July 2006 PMWHAT THE WORLD NEEDS NOW ! Pastor Colin MeadowsReadings: John 3:16, 1 Corinthians 13:1-8, 13, 1 John 3:16 · What the world needs now! I remember the song of the 60’s by Burt Bacharach “What the world needs now is love, sweet love”. The first verse is very significant: “What the world needs now is love, sweet love, It’s the only thing that there’s just too little of What the world needs now is love, sweet love, No, not just for some, but for everyone.” The world still needs it today! As we look around our world, we see people in conflict, nations fighting, and extremist groups on the move. Yes, our world desperately needs people who love. We as a church are going on a journey of growth in Christ, seeking to reproduce the character of Christ is our lives through the power and presence of God’s Holy Spirit. Our desire is, in God’s strength, to be fruitful. We will use a tree as our symbol of growth and have one here in the corner to remind us each week of our journey. We will discover that God intends us to keep growing each day of our lives, growing to produce fruit. Today we look at the first aspect of that fruit, the fruit of love. Note at this point that we are to produce fruit, not fruits! We cannot separate off various aspects of Christian character and say that we will focus in that area. No, each area of character is vitally important as it forms part of the whole. We are to produce the many faceted fruit of the Holy Spirit, Christ-like character that reflects God to others. The first such character trait however and the one that encapsulates everything else is love. Jesus told his disciples that it was to be the hallmark of their lives. 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 all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.“ The Apostle Paul wished to emphasize this when he wrote to the church at Corinth and thus gave a strong focus on love in 1 Corinthians 13. Let’s examine that now. · What is Biblical love? Just what is this love? Biblical Love is the tough skin that holds every other aspect of Christian character together. The other eight fruit can be put in the word love. It is a deep compassionate concern for others, no matter what the cost. Such love reaches out irrespective of skin colour, religious background and social standing. Biblical love gives of itself, often at great personal cost. Paul could have used at least three Greek words in this passage that we translate in English with the word love. He could firstly have used phileo, which is mutual companionship or friendship love. It is a love of tender affection where you enjoy being with another person. Such love can overcome many obstacles but it does come up short at times. He could have used the word eros, from which we get our English word erotic. This speaks of the sexual aspects of love, about which the Bible has a lot to say. Human sexuality is very important to God and something he intended for us to enjoy in the context of a marriage relationship. Such love can be very intense but it can also become self-centred and selfish. There are thus times when this love comes up short too. The word Paul chose to use however in this passage is agape. This word speaks of a deep compassionate concern for the needs of others. When present, it reveals itself from the actions it prompts. In other words, it cannot remain hidden. To have this type of love means getting involved! This type of love does not rely on a positive response for the one being loved, as is often the case with phileo and eros type love. To me, agape love wraps up these other love words and takes them to a higher level. We see this in the OT where just one root word for love is used. It is applied to all love relationships, whether it be involving God or His people. We are commanded to love God, family, friends, strangers and one’s neighbour. We are also encouraged to love truth, wisdom, righteousness and God’s law. Biblical love is thus a deep compassionate concern for the ultimate well-being of the one being loved that leads to action. What can we learn about this incredible love from 1 Corinthians 13? · Action without love is meaningless One could perhaps say that as long as I do good things for others, then all is OK. God will accept this. Such is not the case. To act without having a compassionate concern for others is meaningless. That is what Paul seeks to explain in the first few verses of 1 Corinthians 13. We could have incredible abilities in languages but it will be just noise. We could have marvelous awareness and knowledge of hidden truths along with great faith but unless there is love it is nothing. We could be the most generous person in the world and even offer up our own body as a sacrifice but to do so without love is pointless. Do you see just how important love is? In our world today there is much action without love. It comes out as being cold and clinical, just doing things out of a sense of duty. All that we do must be bathed in love, encased in the tough skin of compassionate concern. Yes, action without love is meaningless. We see this demonstrated in the Godhead so clearly. When God acted in Christ to bring us back into fellowship, he did so in the context of love. John 3:16 “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. “ Reach out to others in the context of love. That is what God the Father did for us, through his son. Let us be disciples of Jesus who act in love. Let our whole being be motivated by love – love first for God that leads to obedience to his will, then love for others, that leads to sacrificial living. Let our actions be empowered by love through the power and presence of God’s Holy Spirit. · Love without action is not real love! Others may suggest that all we need is love. Just think loving thoughts about others, Biblical love by definition involves action. The Apostle Paul goes on to explain some of its actions in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. In The Message translation we read “Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have. Love doesn’t strut, Doesn’t have a swelled head, Doesn’t force itself on others, Isn’t always ‘me first’, Doesn’t fly off the handle, Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others, Doesn’t revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with everything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, but keeps going to the end. Love never dies.” In other words, love is a tough doing word. It is not easily put off as it seeks to meet the needs of others. We see this demonstrated most clearly through God’s actions towards humanity. Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrated his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” God reached out to us while we were still in rebellion towards him and sacrificed his Son. Biblical love thus puts its shoes on and goes into action. Biblical love is compassionate concern for the unlovely that leads to action. Whenever God acts, he does so in the context of love. We should do the same. Let us follow the example of Jesus. 1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” In the days before the reunification of Germany, a Lutheran pastor called Uwe Holmer tried repeatedly to enroll his children at the local university in East Berlin. His applications were rejected eight times, with no explanation given. The Minister for Education at that time was Margot Honecker, wife of the Premier Erich Honeker. Year after year the applications for the pastor’s children to attend university were rejected. Then the wall fell and Germany was reunited. The Honeckers were removed from power and literally ended up on the streets. No one wanted to take them in until Pastor Holmer and his wife stepped in. They took the Honeckers in and let them live with them during in the family home. Pastor Holmer said the words of Jesus to turn the other cheek to those who oppress you prompted him to act in this way. This is true agape love in action!! Yes, let us be willing to act sacrificially for the benefit of others. Live a life of loving service for others. As we seek in the strength of God’s Holy Spirit to produce the fruit of love in our lives, remember that such fruit produces action. · Love is a fruit, not a work! Step out in faith with God, trusting that He will strengthen you to be and to do what He desires. In Galatians 5 Paul warned about the works of the flesh. These are things that we do or give in to that do not please God. We ourselves need to find the energy to be involved in such things. Living a life of love on the other hand is a fruit. Fruit does not come through effort – it is the result of receiving from God, yielding to his leading and accepting the power from the Holy Spirit to live a life of love. There is a huge difference! We do not try to be a loving person. We acknowledge before God that we are weak and helpless and totally unable to live that way. We then reflecf on the incredible love that God has for us. Romans 5:5 “God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit whom He has given us.” Out of the overflow of
love that God shows us, let us seek to pass on the excess to others! You and I
are incredibly loved by For this to happen, we must submit to God with all our hearts, placing our lives under his control. Each day, we need to live a life of dependence on him, asking the Holy Spirit to control in all areas of our lives. That is what Jesus called his disciples to do. Luke 9:23 “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” The Apostle Paul reinforced this teaching. Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Are you living like that? Have you handed over your life into God’s control and allowing the Holy Spirit to direct the decisions that you make? It is only as we do this daily that we will be able to produce the fruit of love in our lives. · Donation or Total Commitment? In order for us to see God produce the fruit of love in our lives we must hand over our lives fully to him. Partial obedience is not obedience at all. A pig and a chicken heard that their friend duck had fallen upon difficult time and was in need of help. They thus met to discuss how best they could help. The chicken thought for a while and then said “I know how I can help. I will give the duck an egg I have laid.” The pig didn’t know how he could help and asked the chicken for a suggestion. ‘Why don’t you give the duck a leg of ham.” “Just a minute,” replied the pig. “You are going to make a donation, but you are asking me to make a total commitment.” Stop making just a donation of your life to God. Offer yourself totally to him and then see what He will do! You will be absolutely amazed! Then you will see the Holy Spirit empowering you to produce fruit, beginning with the fruit of love. What the world needs now is love, sweet love, demonstrated through the lives of obedient disciples of Jesus. Let’s be one of them.
|