Were going to be talking about relationships today. Are you starting to feel the Christmas season just a little bit with the snow? You come into the sanctuary, and I appreciate our church ascetics team for what they did here. They sang the Christmas carols, and they brought our presents in for the angel tree children. I dont know about you, but Im starting to feel a little bit more like its the Christmas season. Were talking about love and what it is, What Does Love Look Like? That is our theme in these days and weeks ahead leading up to Christmas. Were going to review a little bit. We talked last week about some different Greek words for love in the Bible. Do you recall that? We said there is the affectionate, brotherly love, kindness; its an emotional kind of love. Its a love you feel for your friends, the people who like you and you like them. Do you remember what that affection kind of love was called? Phileo. I think I heard somebody say it. Then there was a second love, and that was a love that imitates God. That was a love that seeks the highest and best for another. That was a love that loves not only people that like me, and I like them; but it loves people who might be strangers. It loves people who might even be my enemies. It seeks the highest and best regardless of how they respond to that love or whether or not they respond to that love. It requires commitment on my part. Its a decision rather than an emotion. What was that kind of love called? Agape. We said thats the kind of love we are focusing hard on, that we could be a people of agape who love as God loves because God is agape, the Word says. Were going to be looking at a Verse this morning found in the Book of 1 Peter 1. Were just going to spend our entire time on this one Verse. Were not going to be going to any other chapters or any other Passages within this Book. Well just stay in one Verse because this verse is a microcosm of what agape is. Really there is enough here for us to spend our entire time together on, so lets read it. Hes writing to scattered Christians. They used to be in Palestine, but now theyre throughout Asia Minor. Theyre challenged because persecution is starting to arise. Peter is writing to them, and this letter is going to be circulated to these churches, to these Christians scattered abroad. Hes going to encourage them to keep the faith, and hes going to challenge them to take their love to the next level. Ill let you in on a little secret here before we read this verse. Just like last week in the Passage that we looked at in John where Jesus said to Peter, Peter do you agape Me? Peter answered back, Lord, You know I phileo You. He said, I love you with a brotherly love and affection, but he couldnt bring himself to say, I agape You. Then Jesus challenged him a third time, Do you love Me? Only this time he came down to Peters level and said, Peter, do you phileo Me? He changed His question, so there was that interplay with the Greek that we couldnt see in our English Bibles, but it was very much in the Greek translation of the New Testament. The same play is going on here. Were going to see the word love twice in this Passage. The first time its used, its used to say phileo-brotherly love, kindness and affection. The second time the word love is used, though it appears like its the same word, its not. In the Greek its the word agape, so Peter is challenging them to take their love to another level. With that in mind, lets go ahead and read that (1 Peter 1:22, page 1200 of pew Bibles). Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the Truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. Were going to read it again. Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the Truth… And, by the way, its not, I purify myself. Now I can obey the Truth. Its not that. Its because I have become obedient to the Truth or submissive to the Truth, the Truth has done the purifying. When we receive Gods Truth, the Holy Spirit comes into our lives; and He begins a work in us. He begins a cleansing, regeneration, renewal work in us; so its the Spirit of God that does the cleansing-just so we understand that. The Truth does the cleansing. …obey the Truth so that you have sincere phileo for your brothers, agape one another deeply, from the heart. Take it to another level. Hes going to give us some clues here, some descriptions of what agape love looks like. The first thing hes going to tell us is that agape love is real. He says, Love one another sincerely, from the heart. Its real. When you see agape love, its authentic. Its not phony. Its the real thing. Its not an I love you because. Its not I love you because of what you can do for me. It was like the lady who wrote her ex-boyfriend a letter. She said, Honey, I just want you to know Im so sorry that we broke up, and Id love to get back together with you. Ive learned during our separation that you are my one true love. Im so sorry about the things Ive done wrong. I love you. I love you. I love you. Lets get back together again. P.S. Congratulations for winning the state lottery. How sincere is that love, right? Or its like the little boy who raised the lamb for the fair. It was this plump, juicy, tender lamb that was going to be auctioned off to the highest bidder because thats what you do after you raise the lamb-you sell it. People were bidding on this lamb. He had done such a great job caring for the lamb. As soon as the bidding came in to sell the lamb, he started to cry. There was a man there who was really touched by that, so he kept bidding. The higher the bidding got, the more the little boy cried. He just held on to the lamb. As they were bidding, finally the guy said, Listen, Im going to buy that lamb, and Im going to give it back to that boy. He bid this astronomical amount. The boy started bawling, holding on to the lamb for dear life. He bought the lamb and said, Little boy, I see you love this lamb. Im going to give this lamb back to you. The boy couldnt believe it. He grinned from ear to ear. A couple weeks later, somebody at the fair caught up with him and said, I was there, and I saw that man. Wasnt that special when that man bought that lamb for you? How is the lamb doing? Oh, the lamb was delicious. My dad barbequed the lamb, and we ate it. It was wonderful! Well, I saw you crying. When they were bidding for the lamb, I saw you with your arms around the lamb just crying. He said, I was just so happy it was bringing so much money in, I couldnt contain myself. I was just overjoyed with all the money that was coming in. I couldnt believe it! Thats not sincere love. Thats a love of what is this doing for me? This is making me money. Sometimes we think we love people, or we think we love whatever it is, but its because of what it does for us, how it makes us feel, etc. Its not agape love. Its not a sincere love from the heart. Its very much a conditional love. It says, I love you because… youre giving this to me, youre doing this for me, or youre making me feel this way. Thats not agape love. Agape love is sincere. Agape love loves regardless of what is received back, and oftentimes nothing can be received back. Agape love is a completely selfless love. He says, Thats the kind of love thats real. Its sincere. Its from the heart. Its not about whats in it for me. The second thing he says is that agape love is relational. Notice some of the key words in this verse for that. He says, You are to love your brothers and then love one another. He uses the word brothers. Its a family word. He uses the words one another. Its community. He says, The church is to be a family. I was riding in the car with somebody thats close to me. They dont live in our state, but theyve very close to me. Its the kind of person who sometimes I have to be careful what I say because they can get upset. You might have people like that in your life that you have to walk on eggshells around because you never know if youre going to say the wrong word, and it could really set them off. We used to go to the same church, so I said, Are you still going to the Faith Center? No, Im not really going to church anymore. I watch church on TV. Thats my church. I watch this speaker and that speaker. Oh, its great. Oh, its wonderful. Im thinking, Boy, theres a lot I want to say right now, but… I said, You know, that's all good, but theres more to church than that. Its building friendships and relationships and doing life together and doing ministry. Youre finding your spiritual gift and using it for the Lord. They interrupted me and said, Oh, no, no, no. Thats not my thing. I went to that church for many, many years and really dont know anybody. I really dont get involved. I dont serve. I dont get involved. Thats just how I roll. The logic is because Ive never done this, that means thats the right thing to do and this is how I should continue living my life. Because Ive never served, therefore I should never serve. Because Ive never gotten to know anybody, therefore I should never get to know anybody. I wanted to scream out and say, The Bible doesnt know anything about a church like that. Thats not the church! That's not church! Thats the frosting on the cake, but its about doing right. These were all the things I wanted to say, but I know from the past that if I say those kinds of things, theyre just going to get upset. I was like, Well, you know you have a lot to offer. Itd be nice if you could find a church, go to it, and give back. I just kinda left it at that. It was like talking to a wall. Youre thinking, How can somebody go to a church for decades and just not get it? Some of you who Im talking to this morning maybe dont get it. I understand some of us are dealing with physical illness right now. Its severe, and its consuming everything you have. Maybe somebody you love is very sick, and thats consuming. I understand that. Other times, life is just going at breakneck speed. Youre in a season of life, for whatever reason, and there are extenuating circumstances. Things are just not normal. I understand that. Youre going through that period of time. Right now thats not normal, but right now thats what your life is like. Its taking everything you have just to keep the plate spinning. This person is retired. This person watches TV all day, every day. They simply were choosing not to follow what God had called them to. They simply chose not to be a part because theyve never been a part. What I want to do is challenge you a little bit, challenge you who could become involved, who could build relationships-but for whatever reason youre not. The Bible doesnt know anything about singing three songs, listening to a sermon, and then going home; then thats it. The Bible knows community. Its face-to-face; its relationship. Think about that. God could have communicated to mankind any way He wanted to. He could have come at any time He chose to, and it would make more sense to come now with internet, technology, and television. It seems like our relationships are getting more and more electronic all the time; but when God chose to communicate to us, He chose incarnation. He chose face-to-face; He chose relationships. Those three years of relationship and face-to-face contact of God with man has changed the world more than any technology ever has. It did a better job communicating the love of God to us than anything we can produce or market. It was [about] relationships. Nothing takes the place of face-to-face relationships. When Im going through a difficult time, I need more than somebody just writing a blurb on my Facebook wall. I need a person. I need a relationship. I need somebody that I can talk to, touch, and share what Im going through. Winter is coming. The snowstorm is coming. Were going to get 6 inches, so I have to stop procrastinating and bring in the firewood like Im supposed to. I have just been putting it off. I was like, Well, its going to be a lot easier to do now than to have push the wheelbarrow through 6 inches of snow; so let me find my gloves, and let me get to work. Im looking through the box of gloves. By the way, I pulled out seven individual gloves without one pair. All of them were right-handed gloves. Im thinking, How does that happen? How does a person lose seven gloves and theyre all left-handed? Then I finally find an eighth, and it doesnt match the previous seven. It is left-handed, but it didnt match. I bought a new pair of gloves this winter. Ive already lost them. I dont know what it is with me and gloves. So I put on the gloves, I get the wheelbarrow, and I start to bring in the firewood. Its a lot of work, but Im thinking about what this firewood represents to me. I dont know if youre fortunate enough or blessed enough to have a fireplace or a fire pit outside. Maybe you build a fire when you go camping-whatever it is, but I love fires. There is something about fires that are just really warm. I mean that not just literally; I mean that metaphorically. Its warm; its cozy. I thought about those logs coming in, and it made me think about the fires that weve had in the past. Wed be coming around the fireplace and playing a game, we were watching a movie, or we were eating a snack that Brendas made. We were talking or whatever. Its fun; its family. It brings back a lot of happy memories. Our friends were over or we had a staff Christmas dinner-which is coming up-wed make a fire. Its fun, but you dont live there. You dont stay there. Thats not real life. Eventually you go out and go back into life. As youre going through life, good things happen. The family rejoices over those good things. Difficult things happen. The family rallies around that person who is going through hardship, and we try to support them, love them, and strengthen them. We do life together. We dont just stay around the fire. The fires good; the fire is warm, but then we disperse, go out, do life, and then we come back. We share; we have community; and we love. Its personal because were family. That firewood reminded me of family. It made me think about the fires that are yet to come. What fires are we going to build this winter? What are we going to be doing around the fireplace? What fun are we going to have? Theres an anticipation of that. That is, in some regards, an analogy to the church. The Gospel is the fire. Its what were drawn to. We come and we hear the message of Gods love, and it warms our souls. We bask in the glow of His love as it emanates. We meditate on it, and we reflect on it. It just ministers to us. Then we go out in the real world, and we experience the bumps and bruises of life. Some of us go through difficult times. Our church family comes together, and we try to be supportive in that. Other times good things happen, and we rejoice. We serve together; we work together; and we get to know one another. We support one another because were a church family. Friends, people cant do that if they dont know you. If youre coming late, leaving early, and never getting involved, never connecting anywhere, how does anyone ever get to know you? How can you experience what Peter is saying we need to experience in church-to love one another deeply? How can you experience that if nobody knows you, and you dont know anybody else? I want to challenge you today to plug in somewhere. Discover your gift, and start using your gift in ministry. Join a small group; join a support group. We have all kinds of groups in our church. We have our community groups; we have our mens ministry; we have our womens ministry; we have our marriage support group; we have a divorce recovery class; we have a 12-step group. We have all different kinds, means, and ways of having community. We have one-on-one, real zeal discipleship ministry that takes place throughout the year. Get involved. Its relational-agape love is relational. Its one-on-one. Its interpersonal. Thats what Hes called us to. He doesnt call us to just experience a service, and then thats it for the week. We do life together. Fires are good; the fires are warm; the fires are nice, but we share. We dont just stay there, but we go out in life and come back together as a family. We interact with one another; we support one another. Its interpersonal. That's the kind of Christianity the New Testament talks about. I was trying to communicate that with this person. It was just very difficult. For whatever reason, theyve chosen not to be a part of that. Theyve chosen to live in isolation instead of community. Theyve chosen to hold on to their gifts instead of giving back to the Body. There is a third quality of agape love in this Passage. He says, Love one another deeply from the heart. This word deeply means to literally stretch out. Think of it as a runner who is stretching for the finish line after giving everything hes had in a race. Think of it as a football player who has caught a pass, and hes being tackled. Hes stretching over the goal line, and he stretches the ball out to try to cross the line to score a touchdown. Hes straining, and hes reaching. That is this third characteristic of agape. It is sacrificial. Agape love costs you something. Agape love costs you your time, your resources, your emotions. There is risk involved because youre giving of yourself, but agape love is sacrificial. It gives. It doesnt just receive. It gives. Its not just a consumer, but its reciprocal in its nature. Jesus loves us with agape love, and it cost Him His life. As the leader of our congregation, its my responsibility to see that the church grows in agape. Im not saying were where we need to be, but I have seen some real signs of growth in our Body in recent times as far as agape. I can honestly say-and I realize Im not unbiased-but I dont think weve ever been at a place where our church is demonstrating more agape love than we are right now-loving those who cant love us back, loving those who are strangers, reaching out to our community and to our world. If you look in the sign of central this morning, youll see the homeless shelter. Our turn is coming up here at Faith community. There are going to be people who organize, people who stay all night at the church, and others who make meals, prepare things, and get our church ready to host the traveling mens shelter that goes from church to church. Friends, thats agape love. I think of our group that goes to Wilson School every week. They tutor the children. After theyre done tutoring the children, they have a program for them. We teach our children at Wilson School, these little children who have nothing to give back. Thats agape love. Thats their time; thats their energy. I think about the group that goes into nursing homes. Every week, there are two nursing homes we visit. They go, they sing songs, they pray with, they read Scripture to, and they talk to these elderly folks who cant get out of there. They invest in their lives. Thats agape love in action. I look at our presents around the angel tree as were bringing them back. You took the time to take a tag, to shop, and to buy a gift. Those families are coming here this Saturday. Theyre going to receive a hot meal. Theyre going to listen to a program and receive a gift and a food basket. That touches my soul because you are showing agape love to these families and to these children who have a parent in prison. Youre taking of your time, your energies, and your resources; and youre investing in those children. I think about our church and Fuddruckers. I was very proud because Fuddruckers and our church raised $10,000 for the Care House, for the children who are abused. I think about the people who showed up there the night before, baking bread, and the people that were there for hours busing tables and greeting people in the line. I think about you who came and stood in the line. The line went out the door and around the building, and some of you had to wait for an hour to get a cheeseburger, but you did it because you wanted to help kids. Thats agape love. I think about our missions team. Theyre gearing up for a trip to Haiti, and theyre going to be working hard to raise funds. What are they raising funds for? Is it going to be a trip to a beach where theyll suntan all week? No. Theyre raising money to go to Haiti to work, to build, to repair, and to help missionaries in Haiti. Friends, thats agape love in action. I think about our meals team. Im not exactly sure, but they give meals every single week to families in our church. Many of you are involved in that meals ministry and are making food every week for people. We have some folks in our church who are very sick and in physical need. There are people who go to their homes and clean their homes. They decorate their homes, take them to get their medicine, help run their errands, and help fight the paperwork battles that theyre going through. They spend time with them, love on them, and pray with them. Some are very sick and very ill. We have folks there almost every day just getting involved in their lives and helping them literally to survive. Thats agape love. Friends, thats the kind of church to go to. Maybe you arent even aware of those things. Maybe you dont see them. I dont think I see everything thats going on, but I feel good. I want to be a part of a church that loves with agape love. When I see you practicing agape love, it makes me want to do the same. As those logs in the fire heat, they warm each other. They keep the fire going. You keep my fire lit, so I want to challenge us today. If youre saying, Well, youre looking at my life-this sacrificial love, is that characterized by my life today? Does my life cost me something? Am I loving only those who love me and only those who can give back? Or am I loving those who dont love me? Am I seeking the highest and best for those who cant pay me back? Am I willing to give love to strangers as Christ told me to do? If you say, Thats not characteristic of my life, I want to challenge you. Agape love is sacrificial. Agape love gives. Were going to receive communion in the near future here today. In 1 Corinthians 11, the Passage we read from every week, are you aware of whats going on in that church in Corinth? Did you know that that chapter that we use to receive communion from was actually written as a rebuke? The church in Corinth started what was called an agape feast. It was a love feast. Thats what they called it, The Love Feast. People outside the church misunderstood that. They started this agape feast, The Love Feast. The First Century non-Christians didnt understand what that was. They used to think that Christians were perverts because they had a love feast. They thought it was a love feast. Thats all Im going to say. They didnt understand what it was, so they began to accuse the Christians of immorality. What they would do was they would gather together, and they would have a meal. The haves would come, and the have nots would come. The idea was that you waited for each other, and when they were all there-when they were all present-those who had very little and those who had a lot-then theyd share. Those who had a lot shared with those who had a little; those who were affluent and well off or blessed, they brought extra; those who had very little brought what little they had. Together, they were one Body, one church. Some of the poor-and there were poor present-they knew there was going to be at least one meal out of the week where they were going to get to eat, at least one meal where they would get full stomachs. Then something began happening. A consumer mindset began to sink in in the church in Corinth. The haves would come, and they would associate with other haves. They would quickly consume their meal, including their leftovers-what should be shared-till they gorged themselves, and then theyd leave. Then the have nots would come, and theyd be embarrassed because there was no food, and theyd be hungry. Paul hears about this, and he becomes angry. In that Chapter, he says, If all youre going to do is cook a meal for yourself and eat it, dont you have a home for that? Isnt that what your home is for? Why dont you stay home if that's what youre going to do? If all you are going to do is make a meal for yourself, eat it, and not share, stay home! Thats not the Lords Supper anymore. That was a consumer mindset that had set in in the New Testament church. He said, If you truly want to have the Lords Supper when you come together, wait for each other. Thats why he said that, Wait for one another. Share what you have. Dont be in a hurry. Linger. Enter into community. Build relationships. Dont just consume and go. Friends, today the church is starting to resemble a consumer mindset across America where we eat and run. Paul says, The church is a place where we linger. The church is a place where we wait. A church is a place where were concerned about the needs of the people that are around us.A church is not just a place where we come and have phileo. Phileo is easy. Its easy to love people who love you. Its easy to feel emotional love, brotherly love, kindness and friendship to people who love you. [Its easy to] hug them and say hey, shake their hand, and smile. Thats easy! But agape love is hard. Agape love requires sacrifice, time, effort, energy-it is to stretch out. Agape love is relational. Its face-to-face. Its an investment. So Peter challenged that church, Take your love to another level, and I am challenging you today. Take your love to another level. Learn to experience and give agape because you know what? Heres the powerful thing: we reap what we sow. If you sow agape, you reap agape. You will find if you will give sacrificially, if your love is sincere, if you will invest in others lives, when you need them, theyll be there for you too. Youll experience that love, and it will be given to you unconditionally. If a person is in isolation, theyre hurting, theyre in pain, and they have not taken the time to build those relationships, theyll wish they had. Theyll wish they had entered into community. Well now is your chance; now is your time. I pray the Holy Spirit will deal with us and just whisper in our ears, Here are some changes that need to be made. Here are some action steps. Here are some decisions you need to take to enter into the life of the Body of Christ. The body doesnt exist to serve the foot; the foot exists to serve the body. The body doesnt exist to serve the hand; the hand exists to serve the body. Youve been put in the Body to be a part of the Body. The Body doesnt exist to serve you; you exist to serve the Body. When one part of my body hurts, every other part of my body rallies to that one part of my body to try to minister and help it. Isolate a part of my body-isolate it from the body-and it dies. It needs to be in the body. Youve heard of out-of-body experiences. Some in the church today are going through out-of-Body experiences. Theyre not in the Body as Peter calls them to be. Thats something I wish I would have said in the last two services. Ill have to remember that for the next one. That was hot off the press (congregation laughing). Lets pray and go ahead and trigger that communion music. Father, were so grateful that we can come together as the Body of Christ, all unique and so diverse. Yet there is a common faith, a common Lord-one Lord, one face, one Spirit, one God overall, one baptism. Lord, Youve called us to be a part of the family, a spiritual family; and in a family, we experience life together-the good and the bad. Sometimes we hurt each other. We say things we shouldnt say or do things we shouldnt do, and we have to forgive. We have to reconcile. Thats part of being a family too. Part of being a family is coming around the fire. Our souls are warmed as we hear the Word of God and we experience the love of Christ. We do that so we can give the love of Christ. Its not a one-way street. Its not about consuming; its reciprocal. I pray that our church would continue to grow in agape love. We thank You that in the cross, we see the epitome, the highest example of agape love, as God seeks the highest and best for His Creation. That love was real; that love was relational. It became flesh. That love was sacrificial. Help us to love with agape love like our Lord does. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.

12-05-10
Speaker: Pastor Jeff Williams
Series: What Does Love Look Like?