The great philosophers of 60s & 70s once said, “All you need is love”. They also once sang to their significant others these lofty words, “8 days a week, I lo-o-o-o-o-ove you”. Imagine having so much love for someone that 7 days in a week wouldn’t be enough to express your love?
Bruce Cockburn and the Bare Naked Ladies tell us that ‘we are lovers of a dangerous time’. Ain’t that the truth. Our banjo strumming, foot stomping sons of mumford sing these words with their scratchy voices, ‘where you invest your love, you invest your life’.
And Bill Murray’s fake twitter account posted, ‘they say that love is more important than money, but have you ever tried paying your bills with a hug?’
Where are we going with all this?
In our last few posts we’ve been trying unpack who WE ARE…as a church community, as followers of Jesus, as people who are discovering what it means to Love God & Others.
We’ve said that we want/need to be a learning community and a living community. In this third edition we remind ourselves that we are called to be a loving community.
In Colossians, Paul includes a beautiful metaphor around the theme of clothing – what people of God are wearing. We’re challenged to put on kindness, compassion, humility, patience, and so on. These are very closely tied to the fruit of the Spirit we talked about in our last post. Out of all these clothes, Paul says that Love is the overcoat. This overcoat both keeps our wardrobe together and helps the other pieces of clothing shine. Love is the part of the equation we just can’t leave out. NT Wright puts it like this, “It is interesting how all roads lead back to love…the greatest of the virtues, the first fruit of the Spirit – even the pagan moralists note it as the primary thing which sets Christianity apart.”
If there’s one thing that defines the Christian Faith, it’s love. One thing sets apart the follower of Jesus, that’s love. Here’s why…
GOD is LOVE
Often times we look for some kind of love or higher energy in all the wrong places. We think only teenagers have this issue, but adults are human beings who long for something bigger and better in their lives. If we just look for love, we may or may not find God, but if we look to God, we will definitely find Love.
In 1 John 4 we read words like, “love comes from God…God showed his love among us…love is God sending his son to us…we know and rely on the love God has for us…GOD IS LOVE.”
Notice the writer doesn’t say this the other way around, that love is God. Instead he insists that God is Love!
We don’t want to get stuck on a flicker of love, when we can have it all in God, through Jesus.
we LOVE one another
As we’ve been reading through John 15 and 1 John 4, I hope we can see that the purpose for this love is two-fold: that we know God’s love and that we can in turn love one another.
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…anyone who loves God must love their sister or brother.” (1 John 4)
“I’m giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” (John 15)
Love is the ultimate evidence that you are a follower of Jesus. And this love starts where you are – with the people closest to you. The NT expresses how much the early followers of Jesus loved one another. Before we get skeptical and wonder why the love is being focused inward (more to come), let’s appreciate that if we can’t love those who are closest to us (i.e. our family, our church community) then we’ll have a much harder time loving those outside our intimate circles.
That said, we know that Jesus doesn’t stop there. God’s love is too big to put a lid on it.
we LOVE the unlovable
What distinguishes us as followers of Jesus is…
– Not (just) that we love our family or those in our church community
– Not (just) that we love those who treat us well
– Not (just) that we love those who bless us
– Not (just) that we love those who look good, smell good and love us back
It’s our love for the unlovable that will set us apart.
Jesus says (Matthew 5), “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven…if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even tax collectors doing that?”
What really defines us is our love for the unlovable, the outcast, the poor, the hurting, the ones who are ‘different’. That’s what makes the difference.
We’ve been asking this question a lot lately, ‘What do we want to be known for?’ I hope in the end it’s for this one thing – How we love, who we love, and under what circumstances we love.
Jesus said, “by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35)
“Where you invest your love, you invest your life” (Mumford and Sons)
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(small group questions)
We know that love is beautiful. But it is often described as dangerous, risky and unpredictable. Why?
What comes to mind after reading this quote, ““It is interesting how all roads lead back to love…the greatest of the virtues, the first fruit of the Spirit – it is noted as the primary thing which sets Christianity apart.”
(helpful text: Colossians 3:14)
In 1 John 4 we read words like, “love comes from God…God showed his love among us…love is God sending his son to us…we know and rely on the love God has for us…GOD IS LOVE.”
– Why is it important to affirm that God is love, and not (simply) that love is God? Is there a difference?
Jesus leaves us a few ‘nonnegotiables’. Loving one another is one of them. According to this…
“Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…anyone who loves God must love their sister or brother.” (1 John 4)
…what is our love based out of…what inspires and compels it?
For some it’s easier to love the people we don’t know – the ones who we go out of our way to serve – why? Who should get our first fruits of love?
Loving the unlovable is what defines a follower of Jesus. How do Jesus words in Matthew 5 make you feel? “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in Heaven…if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even tax collectors doing that?”
How are Jesus’ and M&S’s words the same?
“by this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13)
“Where you invest your love, you invest your life” (Mumford & Sons)