July 30, 2006
The Second Great End: Love
As Sally and I are packing and preparing for our move in August, I have been – as I told you last week — praying and thinking a lot about what messages God would have me bring to you these last few weeks we have together – and I have been struck – as I told you last week — with the feeling that God would have us to look at what it means to be a Church – what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing.
Last week we began doing this by looking at the first of one of the first statements in our denomination’s Book Of Order – which has become known as “The Six Great Ends Of The Church”.
Listen to what the Book Of Order says:
The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (G-1.0200)
These are great words! They also give us a vision for what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing.
You see – the Church is not about the building – it’d not about the Minister – it’s about God – it’s about Christ – it’s about people who are trying to fulfill these “Great Ends” the Book Of Order lay out for us. If Wentworth Presbyterian Church is going to be the Church God wills for it to be, then it will have to be a Church that is committed to living out these “Great Ends”.
Listen to them again:
The great ends of the church are the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind; the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God; the maintenance of divine worship; the preservation of the truth; the promotion of social righteousness; and the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world. (G-1.0200)
6 “Great Ends”.
6 things that help define for us what it means to be the Church — what the Church is to be about – what the Church is to be doing.
1. the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind
2. the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
3. the maintenance of divine worship
4. the preservation of the truth
5. the promotion of social righteousness
6. the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world
Last week we looked at the first of these Great Ends — the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – and saw that – if Wentworth Presbyterian is going to be the Church God is calling it to be – then you are going to have to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – or evangelism. Whether or not Wentworth Presbyterian is the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be depends – first on foremost – on your commitment to this first Great End of the Church — the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind.
But there is more. The second Great End of the Church – the second thing necessary for Wentworth Presbyterian to be the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be – is
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
I believe that this is summed up in one 4 letter word –
LOVE
The love God has for each of us
The love God calls upon us to share with each other
The love God calls us to share with the community and the world
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
LOVE
Listen to how John described this love in 1 John 4:7-21
(READ SCRIPTURE)
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
LOVE
The love God has for each of us
The love God calls upon us to share with each other
The love God calls us to share with the community and the world
That’s what this second Great End of the Church:
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
is all about.
It’s about love.
What do you think is the primary difference between Christianity and other religions?
The primary difference between Christianity and other religions can be described in – I believe — one word: LOVE.
Think about it—what other world religion places the same emphasis on loving others as Christianity?
Jesus — the founder of Christianity – said:
“By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35
Everything we do in the Christian life is to be motivated by love—love for God, love for others, even love for ourselves. Jesus was asked once what is the greatest commandment in the Law, and he answered:
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)
The uniqueness of Christianity is seen especially in the teachings of Jesus toward loving our enemies. In his most famous sermon, Jesus said:
“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:43-45)
Love.
The love God shares with us.
The love God calls upon us to share with each other
The love God calls us to share with the community and the world
That’s what this second Great End of the Church:
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
is all about.
It’s about love.
If Wentworth Presbyterian is going to be the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be, it is going to have to be a Church committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God – a Church committed to love.
Love is what makes Christianity unique—and it’s the one thing that everyone knows we are supposed to do. Take any non-Christian off the street—a person who has never been to church in his entire life—and the one thing he could probably tell you about Christianity is that Christians are supposed to love others.
The world knows we’re supposed to do it, and we know it we’re supposed to do it, but it’s not always easy to do, is it?
In fact – being really committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God – being really committed to love – is very difficult for us.
I think the fact that it is difficult to love is the reason why we allow ourselves to become side-tracked with secondary issues within the Christian sub-culture. We argue about modes of baptism or the authorship of Isaiah, we nit-pick about styles of worship. I think many times we do this because it is a lot easier to debate than it is to love.
And yet the second Great End of the Church remains
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
It remains love.
I read of a young pastor who asked a more experienced pastor:
“What are the requirements to be a successful pastor?”
The response was: “You have to be an entrepreneur. You have to be organized and efficient, able to manage your time well, and able to see projects through to completion.” The young pastor did not realize this more experienced pastor was on an ego – trip and was basically describing himself.
A few days later this same young pastor asked another pastor—one who was approaching retirement—the same question.
Without hesitation, the older, wiser pastor answered, “You have to love your people.”
The young pastor said, “What about being organized and efficient? What about being a self-starter?”
The older, wiser pastor said, “A person with good organizational skills will have a large congregation—and you should develop those skills as much as you can. But a pastor who loves people will make a difference in their lives for all eternity.”
The Second Great End of the Church is the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
It is love.
If Wentworth Presbyterian is going to be the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be, it is going to have to be a Church committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God – a Church committed to love.
The advice the older, wiser pastor to love his congregation does not just apply to pastors. It applies to all Christians everywhere.
Do you want to make a difference in the world? You do it by loving others.
Do you want the Wentworth Presbyterian Church to make a difference in the world? You have to do it by loving others.
Now — some of you may be thinking –
There’s only one problem. I’m not a loving person. I don’t even like most people…how can I love them?
That’s a good question.
How do you become a more loving person?
First of all – you need to remember that love is primarily an action, not a feeling. It’s something you do. The emphasis in our society is on how love makes you feel—when you’re in love you feel good. There’s no question that there is some truth to that. It does feel good to be in a loving relationship with your friends, your family, your spouse, and so on. But there’s more to it than that. Our goal is not just to feel love; our goal is to show love to the people in our lives—our friends, our neighbors, our family members, our spouse, and even our enemies.
If this Church is going to be committed to being the Church God would have it to be – you are going to have to be committed to the Second Great End of the Church:
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
You are going to have to be committed to love.
There are three things for us to focus on as we strive to be more loving people – a Church committed to love.
First of all, in order to love others, we must know what love is.
You’ve got to understand God’s love. In 1 John 4 John talks about what it means to love. He makes it plain that the real proof of love is not in what we do for God, or what we do for others, the real proof of love is in what God has done for us.
These verses help us to understand what love really is.
First, we see that love will sacrifice to make things right.
Look at verse 10…
(v. 10) This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
First and foremost, love involves sacrifice.
This is the heart of the gospel: We were separated from God by our sins, and we were completely unable to save ourselves. So God sent his son into the world to atone for our sins—to DIE for our sins—so that we can be forgiven…so that we can be right with God. That’s how great His love is for us—He was willing to make such a sacrifice in order to restore our relationship with Him.
This is what we must do for others.
If you want this Church to be the Church God intends for it to be, each of you must be committed to love — and that means being willing to sacrifice in order to make things right.
Sometimes husbands must sacrifice in order to make things right in their marriage;
Sometimes wives must do that –
Sometimes fathers must sacrifice in order to make things right with their family
Sometimes mothers must –
Sometimes friends must sacrifice in order to make things right in the friendship.
Now – I feel I need to explain the “to make things right” clause. Love involves sacrifice, but it’s not sacrifice merely for the sake of sacrifice. It’s not sacrifice because the other person is everything and you’re nothing and what they want matters and what you want doesn’t. It’s not about playing the martyr. Love involves sacrifice, but it’s sacrifice for the good of the relationship; it’s sacrifice in order to make things right. Love involves sacrifice.
If you want the Wentworth Presbyterian to be the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be, you have to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God. You are going to have to be committed to love.
To be committed to love, you have to be prepared to sacrifice for the benefit of others.
The second thing to know about love is — Love empowers others to do what’s right.
Look at verse 9…
(v. 9) This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
That we might live through Him.
Did you catch that?
That we might live through Him.
God’s love is demonstrated to us in the fact that He sent his son so that we might have life. His love is for our benefit. It strengthens us. It empowers us.
To the extent that we are able, this is what our love should do for others. We should love people in a way that builds them up, in a way that empowers them, in a way that gives them life. Just like God’s love for us gives us the strength to live, our love for others can — in a different way, of course — inspire and empower others to live holy lives.
So — if you want the Wentworth Presbyterian to be the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be, you have to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God. You are going to have to be committed to love.
As we have seen – this involves sacrifice.
It also empowers others to do what’s right.
Thirdly — love replaces fear with security.
Listen to what John wrote…
(v. 17-18) In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
John is saying that our relationship with God is a relationship of love, not a relationship of fear.
Now, you are probably familiar with the verse that says,
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…(Proverbs 1:7)
In several other places the Bible says that we are to fear God.
Why, then, does John say that our relationship with him is not about fear?
It’s really 2 very different types of fear.
One type of fear is holy respect. That’s what the author of Proverbs was referring to. This is the way in which we should fear God.
The other type of fear is more like terror. The “holy respect” kind of fear is based on an understanding of God’s goodness. The “terror” type of fear is based on a misunderstanding of God’s nature completely.
Someone once shared with me that they once had a boss once who had an explosive temper. You never knew what would set him off—but when something made him mad he would launch into a tirade that seemed to last forever. He might fire you, he might cut your salary, he might demote you—you never knew. As a result, all of his employees were insecure about their jobs — and they were always looking for something better.
Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that God is like that—that he is a “fly-off-the-handle” kind of God. God is loving, He is merciful, He is tender and compassionate. Our relationship to Him is not based on fear, it’s based on love. Because of that, we have security in Him. Our security is not based on our own goodness, but on His goodness.
This is the kind of love we need to show to others—the kind of love that says, “My love isn’t conditional; it’s not temporary; it’s not here today and gone tomorrow. You can count on me.”
If you want the Wentworth Presbyterian to be the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be, you have to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God. You are going to have to be committed to love.
In order to be filled with God’s love we have to know what love is—what it looks like. The love that God has given to us—and the love that we are to show the world—is a love that is willing to sacrifice, a love that empowers people to do right, and a love that offers the security of permanence.
In order to be filled with God’s love we must experience God’s love firsthand.
To give God’s love you must first receive God’s love. Listen to what John said…
(v. 7) Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
Notice the phrase “has been”…
(v. 7) Everyone who loves has been born of God…
It’s a simple fact, if you’ve experienced God’s love first hand, you can share God’s love with others. If you’ve never received God’s love, you simply don’t have it in you to love others. Listen again to what John wrote…
(v. 19) We love because He first loved us.
That’s where our ability to love comes from—His love for us. The only way that we can live in His love is to experience His love firsthand. And there’s only one way to experience His love—through the free gift of His grace. God’s love is something you will never, ever, ever, ever, ever earn or deserve. It is available in one format: as a free gift—never as a payback for your goodness, never as a reward for your hard work, but only as a gift. As Paul said…
For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. (Ephesians 2:8-9)
So you need to understand: God loves you so much that he sacrificed His son in order to make things right, in order to offer you forgiveness of sins. God loves you so much that he sent His son into the world so that you might have the power to live through him. God loves you so much that He has removed all fear of judgment and condemnation, and He has given you the kind of love that casts out all fear.
As Paul said…
Therefore there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus…(Romans 8:1)
So — If you want the Wentworth Presbyterian to be the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be, you have to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God. You are going to have to be committed to love.
And — in order to be filled with God’s love, you need to understand it, you need to receive it, and thirdly you must show God’s love to others.
Look at verse 12…
(v. 12) No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
His love is made complete in us when we show His love to others. The more we show His love, the more we grow in His love.
So how do we show His love? We show it the same he showed it to us:
• We sacrifice in order to make things right with others.
• We do what we can to empower others to live right.
• We build relationships with others not based on fear but based on security.
I know a father who told his family—not his wife, but his entire family—that the marriage was on the verge of divorce and he was considering leaving home. He gave them a list of demands and told them if they didn’t shape up, he would ship out. It’s bad enough to say such a thing to your wife; can you imagine saying it to your children? Can you imagine the kind of insecurity they experienced? And yet, this man said to me, “I love my children, but I have to teach them responsibility.” Can you imagine where we would be if this was how God showed God showed his love to us?
God sacrificed His son so that we could be reconciled to Him. In the same way, there will be times when you must sacrifice in order to be reconciled to others.
When God saw that we were lost and alone and dying without him, He sent his Son into the world so that we would have the power to live through Him. In the same way, we need to love others in such a way that we empower them to live—we need to be their source of strength, their source of encouragement, their source of hope.
And God loved us so much that He wiped away our sins, wiped away our fear of judgment, wiped away our fear of abandonment, and he made a promise…
Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you. (Hebrews 13:5)
God has taken away the insecurity of fear and has filled it with the security of His love. And that’s the kind of love we need to show others, a love that says: “My love for you isn’t based on a whim. It’s rock-solid and you can count on it forever.”
Do you want the Wentworth Presbyterian Church to be the Church God intends for the Wentworth Presbyterian Church to be?
Well – you are going to have to be committed to the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind – and the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God.
You are going to have to be committed to evangelism – and love.
Do you want to be committed to the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God?
Do you want to be filled with God’s love?
You’ve got to know God’s love, you’ve got to experience God’s love, and you’ve got to show God’s love.
As John writes:
(v. 16) Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us.
The second Great End of the Church – the second thing necessary for Wentworth Presbyterian to be the Church God intends for Wentworth Presbyterian to be – is
the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
I believe that this is summed up in one 4 letter word –
LOVE
The love God has for each of us
The love God calls upon us to share with each other
The love God calls us to share with the community and the world
That is the second Great End.
Amen
