Sacrificial Love

A Sacrificial Love

Pastor Tom Mitchell

Love Like Jesus Desires

There are about 82.5 million mothers in America. This Mother’s Day weekend, 3 billion dollars will be spent on lunch and brunches. 2.1 billion on flowers, and 1.1 billion on spa treatments. A famous writer once wrote about what it takes to be a mom:

“-You know you are a mom when you are willing to kiss an ouwee no matter what part of the child’s body it is on.

-You know you are a mom when your saliva becomes your primary cleaning agent.

-You know you are a mom when you only have enough time to shave one of your legs.

-You know you are a mom when somebody else’s kid throws up but you keep eating.

-You know you are a mom when your kid throws up and you catch it!”

Today, I'm going to preach a Mother's Day sermon, and some of you may be dreading it. You'd just as soon do eight loads of laundry or get a root canal than listen to a Mother's Day sermon! One group says, "I'm tired of getting hammered on Mother's Day with impossible expectations. I'd like to be the ideal mom, but I'm too busy raising children!" A second group says, "I'm a woman without children. Mother's Day is hard for me. It's awkward because I feel like I don't fit." To women in both groups, I want to say, "Relax! I don't want to add to the pressure or pain that comes from being a mom or not being a mom. I want to encourage you from the Bible. And this is a sermon not only for moms, but also for dads, teachers, coaches, aunts, uncles, grandparents, and next-door neighbors of children. Men, this is not a day off when the sermon is just for mothers, so stop daydreaming!

Jesus shared these words at the end of his earthly ministry: “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” John 13:34-35

Jesus, the greatest example of authentic, sacrificial love the world had ever known was about to leave. This presented a huge problem for his followers. If Jesus were gone, how would people know how to love like Jesus? How would people see sacrificial authentic love demonstrated if Jesus wasn’t there? Who would model what love is to look like?

Who would show the world how to love?

Jesus gave them the answer. He says, get this, don’t miss this, His disciples, his followers, Christians like us are to love as He loved, “WE ARE TO MODEL LOVE AS HE LOVED!”

A number of years ago Dr. Francis Schaeffer wrote a book called, “The Mark of a Christian.” In the book he discusses the quality, the characteristic that specifically sets Christians apart from every other group of people in the world. What makes followers of Jesus different than Buddhist, Hindu’s, Muslims, different than followers of Judaism, or Mormonism or Scientology or followers of Humanism? What makes Jesus followers different? The mark of a Christian is NOT a bumper sticker, its NOT a certain denomination, its NOT a cross hanging around the neck, it’s NOT what Bible translation you use, its NOT whether you sing hymns or choruses or gospel songs, its NOT whether you are a republican, democrat or independent, its NOT whether you read through the Bible in a year. The mark, the identifying mark, the disguising mark of a Christian is love, authentic sacrificial love, which is seen in deeds not just heard in words!

Hear this: Jesus turns to the world and says, “I’ve got something to say to you. On the basis of my authority, I give you the right, I give you permission to judge whether or not an individual is a Christian or not on the basis of the love he or she shows other Christians.

So what kind of love are we to show if the world is to look at it and conclude that we are Christians?

Obviously it is a special kind of love that Jesus is talking about.

It’s a love that has to do with character and not just the feel good of emotion.

The Bible defines love this way, “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful, proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love never fails” (1 Cor. 13:4-8 NLT). That’s quite a list. Love is to be expressed through patience, kindness, humility, unselfishness, forgiveness and to be hopeful in difficult relationships.

Love also has to do with practical, costly care for one another. Acts 2:45: "They began selling their property and possessions, and were sharing them with all, as anyone might have need." In other words, meeting needs in the church was more important than personal possessions. The Jesus kind of LOVE is—giving, caring, helping, supporting, and protecting. Love among Christians is the mark of Jesus in the church, the school, the workplace, the neighborhood, in a family and in a marriage. “Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.”

Differences are opportunities for Love: Inside a marriage, a family, or a church we have differences that call for authentic, sacrificial, and relentless love toward one another. It is in the midst of differences that we have an opportunity to show love. When everything is going well, its no problem. But when things are not going well that’s where love can really be demonstrated. It’s then when others can see that these really are Christians. Christian who are living in love in challenging marriages, in less than perfect families, and in churches where people don’t always see eye to eye.

Let me mention one "opportunity" for us at Perham Community: There are the differences among us in what we find helpful in worship. What kind of music? How loud is music played? What kind of singing? What kind of atmosphere?

Here is an opportunity to learn how to show love in the midst of difference. The key question is not just what should worship look like or what my preference is! The question is what should love look like among Christians who don't agree on what worship should look like. Let me say that again for those who were thinking about something else: The question is: What should love look like among Christians who don't agree on what worship should look like.

I long personally to grow in love for my wife and family, for my church staff and church family, for my neighbors and for my community. I get encouragement from what the apostle Paul said about love. He said, Love is something you can grow. Phil. 1:9, “This is my prayer for you: that your love will grow more and more; that you will have knowledge and understanding with your love.”(NCV) (Repeat) That's what I want, as I get older. That’s what I believe Jesus wants for our church, for our marriages, for our families. He wants our love to grow.

Why is it so hard to love sometimes? If we have the power of the Holy Spirit, shouldn’t it be easier to love as Jesus loved? The power of the Holy Spirit is indeed an extraordinary power. But in this life, we Christians do not get unhindered access to the Holy Spirits power. We struggle to get free of those other powers, called the world, the flesh, and the Devil. Those other powers limit our access to the full power of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is working to create in us a desire to love as Jesus loved - but not without opposition.

So I ask you to pray to God the Father and ask that by His Holy Spirit He would give us the power, the wisdom, the insight, and patience as we seek to grow in love. Mother’s, fathers, husbands, wives, students, fellow Jesus followers, we are most like Jesus when we love. I John 4:7-8“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God….. because God is love.”