Love Like You Mean It

Sermon Script

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in your sight, oh Lord, my strength and redeemer. Amen.

Once again, let us proclaim… Alleluia, He is Risen (He is risen indeed Alleluia!)

Easter Celebration

He is risen indeed! As we continue this Easter celebration, we rejoice in the promise of that empty cross… Jesus’ love for us through His suffering, death, and resurrection… conquered sin, and death… for you and for me. The very core of our faith, alleluia. Now, during these post Easter weeks of celebration, we are asked to review certain things that we must not lose sight of.

But first bear with me for a moment…

A few years ago, my wife Janice and I had the opportunity to go on a cruise hosted by Family Life. The primary focus on this cruise was to build a stronger relationship with God and your loved one. The breakout sessions, music, and entertainment were all focused on unpacking what real love looks like through the lens of the genuine attributes in 1 Corinthians 13. I’m sure you might recall or have heard this scripture at a wedding before… Love is patient, love is kind, love does not envy or does not boast…and Paul in this letter to the Corinthians goes on to emphasize what all must be woven together to really discover that love is not just a spontaneous emotion. It also revolves around what we do through our actions and the decisions we make on a daily basis.

What a wonderful eye-opening experience and I would highly recommend checking this out. By the way, this cruise was appropriately named, “Love like you mean it.”

Love Like You Mean It

Some of you might be thinking… How does this tie in with the Easter celebration? Well, the readings we heard this morning remind us of one of those things we should not lose sight of, how to “love like you mean it.”

First let’s look at the reading in Acts 10 that was read a few minutes ago, where Peter received this lesson. The setting was in the household of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion. Peter was called to go there through a vision. In this vision he saw all kinds of unclean animals that were forbidden to eat in his Jewish upbringing. This very well could have been pork chops, shrimp platters, and other non-kosher things. However, the Lord says in verse 15, “Don’t call unclean what God has called clean.”  For a man who’s upbringing forbid eating these things, this was a pretty big hurdle to cross.

However, the real message in this pericope was that God, through Christ and the new covenant, declares all people, Jews and Gentiles alike, to be equally clean. The love like you mean it lesson that welcomes the pork-eating, Sabbath-working, uncircumcised Gentiles to stand arm and arm in faith with fellow Jews and all believers to receive baptism like everyone else. Not only that, what punctuated the situation for Peter is the fact that Cornelius was a Roman Centurion. One does not get much farther away from the Jewish ethos than that.

This wasn’t the first time Peter had to be made aware of being all inclusive when proclaiming the good news of the risen Lord. But you know what? We often need that reminder as well. Our God tolerates no favoritism or exclusion amongst humanity. God sent His Son to redeem people from all walks of life, the good, the bad, and the ugly. It wasn’t easy for Peter, but he thus understood and was ready to welcome those outside of his cultural boundaries.

Overcoming Barriers

It makes me wonder… in our given situation here in the 21^st century, how do those outside the walls of our boundaries, our comfortable circle of faith… see us? Could we possibly be seen as people who would love like you mean it? Not always.

Those who might be on the outside of your comfortable boundaries might include the homeless, the drug addict or the guy standing on the corner. It could include the corrupt politician, or those who have committed a heartless crime… how about a transgender or homosexual? Would you welcome any of these people into your circle? Or even here in your place of worship? How about the neighbor across the street that has made your life miserable or that bone head at work that you might despise? Could you possibly love… not just pretend to love… any of these people we must call neighbors? Even though Jesus commands for us to do so… do we really have to love them like we mean it? Jesus says in John 13, verse 34 “Love one another as I have loved you, so you also should love one another.”

John continues to talk about love in the Epistle lesson in 1 John chapter 5. Here we are told that through our love of God we can in turn love others and better adhere to His commands.

Equipping us to overcome sinful barriers we so often get drawn into. In fact, those same barriers of exclusion are going on everywhere you look in the world today… Admittedly we don’t have to look very far. We are all guilty of shutting the doors that keep those whom we consider unclean… out. Caught up in our self-righteous circle where we find refuge, and don’t invite them in. But if you really believe that “He is risen.” If you really believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Then as Christians we are commanded to overcome these barriers.

Love Expressed in Repentance and Forgiveness

But Phil, really?? We are talking about… tax collectors, thieves, scoundrels, and prostitutes… Yes, it even includes someone who might have just said something that offended you. There is nothing telling us that we must love the sin or forget that it existed, but we are asked to love the sinner. No matter who they are or what they have done… Are my sins any better? In God’s loving eyes, we are all splendid sinners, lovable losers, marvelous misfits, and fantastic failures.

We all fall short of perfection and are asked to remember that as we extend love to those we condemn for their imperfections. This is the command John is reminding us of… The disciples asked Jesus in Matthew 22:36. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment of the law?” His reply… Love the lord like you mean it and love your neighbor as yourself.

Ask yourself this… When I believe in Jesus… that He is risen indeed… not only my sins, but the sins of my neighbor change for me. They are already overcome. While my mind is still trying to process why so much sin exists all around me… Jesus has already removed that sin.

Unfortunately, all sorts of sin will continue in our life and in the world. But as believers, we have a way to deal with that… It’s called repentance and forgiveness. That is the solution for loving our fellow man while keeping the divine command.

That love, if you mean it, will be expressed through forgiveness and will be the action that will overcome the world. Through faith, would you agree that Jesus is the Son of God? Indeed! Therefore, we can look at any evil and know that Jesus is bigger than any of it.

That means I can look at my sins and at the brother or sister who has hurt me, the neighbor, the fellow congregant, or the person on the outside of my perpetual circle and know that Jesus has died for their sin as well. That burden is not on me, it is on Jesus. If Jesus can forgive, love that sinner like He means it… why can’t I?

God Didn’t Say It Would Be Easy

Wouldn’t it be easier though to just live our life on that cruise ship. Nothing to fret about, just sunny beaches, great food, and endless ocean waves as far as you can see. Delving into love for one another and for our God the entire time (sigh). Ok, back to reality… admittedly, in due time, that experience did realign my priorities and give me insights how to “love like you mean it.”

Then, when you blend that together with what Christ teaches about love and relationships… it is like putting a puzzle together where each piece has its place, and the finished product is Christian love.

But I must warn you. Not all the pieces of that puzzle are found in the joy of roses and boxes of chocolates. Like I mentioned earlier, they are found in actions. Some of which can weigh heavy on your heart. For example, an action of showing compassion to someone that is hard to love. The action of professing, “I’m sorry”, “I forgive you”, or “please forgive me”. Love can also be found through the action of tough love. Taking a phone away from a teenager… telling a parent they cannot drive… or giving an addict an ultimatum.

All these are actions of love. But on the other hand, we can also find great joy in many other actions through various peace-loving situations. The point being, popular or unpopular, all these actions are categorized as loving like you mean it.

Put Christ In The Center

But if you want to truly love like you mean it, you must have Christ at the center of all those relationships… That was God’s plan when He sent His only Son… to suffer and die on the cross… for that eternal relationship with you and for me. For our sake not His. Then we are asked to willingly put Christ first in our sacrifice for others. If we can do that, then maybe those people we have been afraid of confronting will put Christ in the center of their life as well.

There is a lot going on when we proclaim, “He is risen indeed.”  The post Easter message where we announce Christ dwelling now within us.

Leading us down a path to a relationship in loving those who might be hard to love… and calling them our friends. This is not the one click friend or thumbs up emoji we are casually accustomed to in this Facebook age. But rather an intense relationship, like we truly desire with Jesus.

In the Gospel of John today, Jesus unites a relationship with His disciples as He calls them His friend. We read from verses 13-14, “Greater love has no one than this, that someone laydown his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you.” These words just hours before His death, Jesus demonstrates the greatest love of all through the power of His relationship with them. A relationship that will result in the forgiveness of all people.

This is what we must not lose sight of as we continue to rejoice in the resurrection. The forgiveness of sins that is a free gift from Jesus. But it is also important we never forget how costly that gift was for Him to give through His actions. Jesus give His life out of pure love for all of mankind. Truly a picture of, love like you mean it… a love that begins and ends with God’s powerful definition of love itself.

This He did for all people. The thugs, the bone heads, the pork eating Gentiles, and for you and me. Like Jesus told His disciples in verse 16, “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.” Jesus singled us out. Chose you and me, loved us, before we even existed. And continues to do so day after day. Once again, for all people. He loves every sinner, and He means it.

Love Like Jesus

Yes, Jesus shows us repeatedly how to love people when… in our mind… don’t deserve it and when they don’t or can’t earn it… Jesus asks us to learn from His command and do what He would do.

Unpack what real love looks like through the lens of the genuine attributes in 1 Corinthians 13. Take that action to put Satan, the world, our stubbornness, and selfish desires away and rejoice in the fruits found in the vine of repentance and forgiveness.

What a wonderful eternal gift of love. God truly loves each one of us like He means it. Our sin is not a barrier; Through scripture we are assured that Jesus’ blood carried that guilt for us.

We are assured through scripture that tough situations are laced with love. That our righteousness is founded in love. Our reconciliation is planned in love, given by love, finished by love, has meaning because of love. We continue to celebrate “He is risen,” that is the miracle of love. And when Christ returns, that will be the fulfillment of love. “Love like you mean it” is our post Easter message founded in our eternal promise of… “He is Risen” … (He is risen indeed, Alleluia).

And may the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.

Alleluia and Amen