WEBVTT 00:00:00.780 --> 00:00:05.599 We're gonna move on to reading our scripture. 00:00:06.519 --> 00:00:08.859 I'm gonna read it in Spanish. You can follow 00:00:08.859 --> 00:00:31.829 along in English. es el mensaje que han oído 00:00:31.829 --> 00:00:36.090 desde el principio, que nos amemos los unos a 00:00:36.090 --> 00:00:40.909 los otros. No seamos como Caín que por ser del 00:00:40.909 --> 00:00:45.450 maligno asesinó a su hermano. ¿Y por qué lo hizo? 00:00:46.509 --> 00:00:50.250 Porque sus propias obras eran malas y las de 00:00:50.250 --> 00:00:55.670 su hermano justas. Hermanos, no se extrañen si 00:00:55.670 --> 00:00:59.460 el mundo los odia. Nosotros sabemos que hemos 00:00:59.460 --> 00:01:04.000 pasado de la muerte a la vida porque amamos a 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:08.359 nuestros hermanos. El que no ama permanece en 00:01:08.359 --> 00:01:12.780 la muerte. Todo el que odia a su hermano es un 00:01:12.780 --> 00:01:18.500 asesino y ustedes saben que ningún asesino permanece 00:01:18.500 --> 00:01:25.079 la vida eterna. En eso conocemos lo que es el 00:01:25.079 --> 00:01:29.310 amor. in que Jesucristo entregó su vida por nosotros 00:01:29.310 --> 00:01:33.469 así también nosotros debemos entregar la vida 00:01:33.469 --> 00:01:37.590 de nuestros hermanos si alguien se posee bienes 00:01:37.590 --> 00:01:41.150 materiales ve que su hermano está pasando necesidad 00:01:41.150 --> 00:01:45.569 y no tiene compasión de él cómo se puede decir 00:01:45.569 --> 00:01:50.170 que el amor de Dios habita en él queridos hijos 00:01:50.170 --> 00:01:54.870 no amemos la palabra ni de labios para afuera 00:02:11.210 --> 00:02:13.770 All right, well the last three weeks we're ending 00:02:13.770 --> 00:02:15.629 a series tonight the last three weeks we've been 00:02:15.629 --> 00:02:19.090 in a series in first John really covering We've 00:02:19.090 --> 00:02:20.669 been kind of calling the basics of the faith 00:02:20.669 --> 00:02:24.289 which We're looking kind of more individually 00:02:24.289 --> 00:02:27.069 as a community comes together, what are the things 00:02:27.069 --> 00:02:29.250 that Christians ought to prioritize as they are 00:02:29.250 --> 00:02:32.550 gathering into a church? In week one of the series, 00:02:32.729 --> 00:02:35.750 we looked at the measure of God's love for us, 00:02:35.750 --> 00:02:37.949 and we saw that the measure of God's love is 00:02:37.949 --> 00:02:40.969 defined in what Jesus did for us in laying down 00:02:40.969 --> 00:02:44.430 his life for us, right? And so we know that we 00:02:44.430 --> 00:02:46.770 are always loved and safe with the Lord because 00:02:46.770 --> 00:02:51.189 Jesus laid down his life for you and I. In the 00:02:51.189 --> 00:02:53.069 second week, we heard about the security that 00:02:53.069 --> 00:02:56.250 we have with the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. 00:02:56.590 --> 00:02:59.870 The triune God has been eternally secure within 00:02:59.870 --> 00:03:02.889 himself. And so the insecurity that we carry 00:03:02.889 --> 00:03:05.310 around in our life, what we're really looking 00:03:05.310 --> 00:03:08.150 for is to belong to God who is eternally secure. 00:03:08.189 --> 00:03:11.729 And so we can be secure with him, which means 00:03:11.729 --> 00:03:14.189 we don't need to go through life with this scarcity 00:03:14.189 --> 00:03:17.050 mindset, always holding on to what is ours. We 00:03:17.050 --> 00:03:19.889 can give ourselves away. to others, right, if 00:03:19.889 --> 00:03:23.530 we're secure with God. Last week, as we said 00:03:23.530 --> 00:03:26.250 earlier, we talked about this problem of sin 00:03:26.250 --> 00:03:28.710 and darkness and we compared sin and darkness 00:03:28.710 --> 00:03:32.110 to sort of like the trauma of traumas and how 00:03:32.110 --> 00:03:35.689 God is kind to us. You know, any kind of trauma, 00:03:35.689 --> 00:03:37.770 we need someone to name it for us, right? Otherwise 00:03:37.770 --> 00:03:40.349 we can't heal. We need someone to name our problem. 00:03:40.969 --> 00:03:43.449 God loves us enough to name it. And so when we 00:03:43.449 --> 00:03:46.770 confess our sin, we are agreeing with God that 00:03:46.770 --> 00:03:49.530 we need his help to be made new. that we have 00:03:49.530 --> 00:03:55.849 sinned and we need his help to make us new. Tonight's 00:03:55.849 --> 00:03:58.409 message, I hope, is straightforward and to the 00:03:58.409 --> 00:04:00.949 point, because I think our text is straightforward 00:04:00.949 --> 00:04:04.969 and to the point. We have reached the application 00:04:04.969 --> 00:04:08.509 of John's first letter. This is the application. 00:04:09.210 --> 00:04:11.990 Everything he's been talking about, he now applies 00:04:11.990 --> 00:04:14.409 for us. And you can see this in chapter three, 00:04:14.509 --> 00:04:17.129 verse 18, which you have in your worship guide 00:04:17.129 --> 00:04:21.930 printed out. John said, dear children, let us 00:04:21.930 --> 00:04:24.569 not love with words or speech, but with actions 00:04:24.569 --> 00:04:28.949 and in truth. Let us not love with words and 00:04:28.949 --> 00:04:30.949 speech, but with actions and in truth. You see, 00:04:30.970 --> 00:04:35.970 a lot of people can talk about Jesus. They can 00:04:35.970 --> 00:04:38.170 quote scripture backwards and forwards, they're 00:04:38.170 --> 00:04:40.750 well -versed in theology, they sound good on 00:04:40.750 --> 00:04:42.910 a stage, but none of that matters, John said. 00:04:44.009 --> 00:04:48.329 If you can't love with actions and truth, you 00:04:48.329 --> 00:04:51.569 can't just talk about it, you have to actually 00:04:51.569 --> 00:04:57.509 be about it. You know there's nothing more damaging 00:04:57.509 --> 00:05:00.810 to the reputation of Christ than a church that's 00:05:00.810 --> 00:05:05.350 all talk and no action. I've shared this illustration 00:05:05.350 --> 00:05:07.310 with some of you recently, but I think to me 00:05:07.310 --> 00:05:09.069 it's moving and powerful enough that I'm going 00:05:09.069 --> 00:05:12.189 to share it again. And it's the musician Haley 00:05:12.189 --> 00:05:14.410 Williams, who she's the lead singer of a band. 00:05:14.750 --> 00:05:17.810 She's put out a solo album. And I am not recommending 00:05:17.810 --> 00:05:19.209 her album to you. I went and listened to the 00:05:19.209 --> 00:05:20.990 whole thing. I'm not going to recommend the whole 00:05:20.990 --> 00:05:23.149 album. But she has one song in particular that 00:05:23.149 --> 00:05:25.889 I think is powerful, and particularly powerful 00:05:25.889 --> 00:05:28.769 because she performed it live on the Jimmy Fallon 00:05:28.769 --> 00:05:31.790 show. So Saturday Night National TV. She performs 00:05:31.790 --> 00:05:33.810 this song a few weeks ago called True Belief. 00:05:33.610 --> 00:05:36.709 So she's up on stage, national TV. I want to 00:05:36.709 --> 00:05:41.389 read you two verses from Haley's song that she 00:05:41.389 --> 00:05:44.750 sang. It goes like this, I'm not going to sing 00:05:44.750 --> 00:05:53.889 it. The churches overflow each Sunday, greedy 00:05:53.889 --> 00:05:59.329 Sunday morning. Gift shop in the lobby, act like 00:05:59.329 --> 00:06:02.550 God ain't watching, kill the soul, turn a profit. 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:07.379 They put up chain -link fences underneath the 00:06:07.379 --> 00:06:10.819 biggest bridges. They pose in Christmas cards 00:06:10.819 --> 00:06:14.959 with guns as big as all their children. They 00:06:14.959 --> 00:06:17.779 say that Jesus is the way, but then they give 00:06:17.779 --> 00:06:21.199 him a white face so they don't have to pray to 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:26.959 someone they deem lesser than them. What is she 00:06:26.959 --> 00:06:32.339 getting at in those words? Christian hypocrisy. 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:37.079 Christians who are all talk and no action or 00:06:37.079 --> 00:06:41.980 maybe worse, all talk and then actions that totally 00:06:41.980 --> 00:06:47.680 disqualify their words. I don't share Haley's 00:06:47.680 --> 00:06:50.120 song because I'm concerned about the American 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:52.120 church, the image of the American church in general. 00:06:52.160 --> 00:06:53.560 That's a different message for another time. 00:06:54.899 --> 00:06:58.279 I'm concerned about this church in this neighborhood 00:06:58.279 --> 00:07:05.069 and who Jesus is calling us to be. Will we be 00:07:05.069 --> 00:07:10.529 a church that loves and more than words? Not 00:07:10.529 --> 00:07:14.509 the song and More than words, but also with our 00:07:14.509 --> 00:07:16.310 actions and our deeds. Will we be a church that 00:07:16.310 --> 00:07:18.430 loves more than our words with our whole lives? 00:07:18.949 --> 00:07:22.569 Are we prepared to give our lives away the way 00:07:22.569 --> 00:07:28.029 that Jesus gave his life away? That's The message 00:07:28.029 --> 00:07:30.050 of our text and that is I think the challenge 00:07:30.050 --> 00:07:32.009 before us as a church So as we enter into our 00:07:32.009 --> 00:07:35.060 text, let's pray together and ask for Jesus's 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:38.899 help as we sit under his word. Jesus, we do ask 00:07:38.899 --> 00:07:41.360 that you would pour out your spirit in our hearts 00:07:41.360 --> 00:07:47.579 that we might sit under your word tonight. Please 00:07:47.579 --> 00:07:50.220 don't allow us in our pride and our greed to 00:07:50.220 --> 00:07:52.000 sit over your word thinking that we can judge 00:07:52.000 --> 00:07:54.379 it for ourselves. We need you to pierce our hearts. 00:07:55.420 --> 00:07:57.560 You have spoken and we pray you would speak to 00:07:57.560 --> 00:08:05.509 us now in our time together. Amen. God's love 00:08:05.509 --> 00:08:08.949 in Jesus Christ will transform how we love others. 00:08:09.829 --> 00:08:15.449 That's my point. God's love in Jesus will transform 00:08:15.449 --> 00:08:18.750 how we love others. So let's break this down. 00:08:20.089 --> 00:08:22.790 The transforming love of Jesus, we see that here, 00:08:23.009 --> 00:08:24.889 well all over the text, but we see it in particular 00:08:24.889 --> 00:08:28.189 at verses 11 and 16. These are the two verses 00:08:28.189 --> 00:08:30.610 that really drive like the engine of our passage 00:08:30.610 --> 00:08:35.009 tonight. So first look at verse 11. John says, 00:08:36.029 --> 00:08:38.590 I'm reminding you of a message you have heard 00:08:38.590 --> 00:08:40.129 from the beginning. Now, what is he talking about 00:08:40.129 --> 00:08:47.129 here? Remember, this letter was originally a 00:08:47.129 --> 00:08:50.029 sermon that was preached to a congregation, and 00:08:50.029 --> 00:08:52.049 then it was recorded and it was sent out. And 00:08:52.049 --> 00:08:56.330 it was received by another congregation. It was 00:08:56.330 --> 00:08:59.110 received after John had written his gospel. So 00:08:59.110 --> 00:09:02.350 the gospel was sent first, and then sometime 00:09:02.350 --> 00:09:05.740 later, 1st John, 2nd John, 3rd John get sent 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:11.139 to the same church. So when John says what you've 00:09:11.139 --> 00:09:14.019 heard from the beginning, he's talking about 00:09:14.019 --> 00:09:17.860 when you first heard the gospel, in my gospel 00:09:17.860 --> 00:09:20.759 that I sent to you. And so what he's referring 00:09:20.759 --> 00:09:25.679 back to is a teaching from Jesus in John chapter 00:09:25.679 --> 00:09:29.679 13. John chapter 13, this is going to sound very 00:09:29.679 --> 00:09:33.460 familiar. verses 34 and 35, Jesus said, a new 00:09:33.460 --> 00:09:39.059 command I give you, love one another. As I have 00:09:39.059 --> 00:09:43.799 loved you, so you must love one another. By this 00:09:43.799 --> 00:09:45.899 everyone will know that you are my disciples 00:09:45.899 --> 00:09:50.740 if you love one another. You hear the similarity, 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:54.860 don't you? Now slow down and pay attention to 00:09:54.860 --> 00:09:58.220 what Jesus said. He didn't just say go love people. 00:09:59.149 --> 00:10:04.850 That's silly anybody can say that What did he 00:10:04.850 --> 00:10:12.149 say Love one another as I have loved you see 00:10:12.149 --> 00:10:17.610 there it is The scriptures are not a self -help 00:10:17.610 --> 00:10:22.470 manual but a guide to the transforming love of 00:10:22.470 --> 00:10:27.409 Jesus Jesus's teaching is not simply go love 00:10:27.409 --> 00:10:31.389 people. That's boring Nor does he say, go love 00:10:31.389 --> 00:10:34.570 people so that you might earn my love. That's 00:10:34.570 --> 00:10:38.970 not transformation, that's manipulation. Jesus 00:10:38.970 --> 00:10:42.289 said, love one another as I have loved you. And 00:10:42.289 --> 00:10:45.850 in case we forget how Jesus has loved us, John 00:10:45.850 --> 00:10:50.549 reminds us in verse 16. This is how we know what 00:10:50.549 --> 00:10:53.870 love is. By the way, there's some great 316s 00:10:53.870 --> 00:10:55.730 in the Bible to memorize. This is another one. 00:10:57.250 --> 00:10:59.929 This is how we know what love is. Jesus Christ 00:10:59.929 --> 00:11:02.710 laid down his life for us and we ought to lay 00:11:02.710 --> 00:11:05.509 down our lives for our brothers and sisters. 00:11:07.629 --> 00:11:11.389 Please, I want to be clear on this. We don't 00:11:11.389 --> 00:11:16.789 do anything to earn love or security or favor 00:11:16.789 --> 00:11:20.629 from God. That's not what this is teaching. I 00:11:20.629 --> 00:11:22.070 want to be clear because I think in our head 00:11:22.070 --> 00:11:24.929 we read this but we hear it something different. 00:11:25.580 --> 00:11:29.139 This is not saying if you love in a certain way 00:11:29.139 --> 00:11:31.460 you are going to earn Jesus's love that's that's 00:11:31.460 --> 00:11:37.899 backwards Right. We have already been loved Profoundly 00:11:37.899 --> 00:11:40.600 by God and and he's and so Jesus is saying through 00:11:40.600 --> 00:11:44.700 John love in the same way I have loved you. Jesus 00:11:44.700 --> 00:11:46.940 says, I've given you my love and my presence 00:11:46.940 --> 00:11:49.100 and my security and my forgiveness as a gift. 00:11:49.139 --> 00:11:52.100 And these gifts are given to us by Jesus when 00:11:52.100 --> 00:11:55.159 he laid down his life for us. And if you know 00:11:55.159 --> 00:11:56.480 the measure of that kind of love, it's gonna 00:11:56.480 --> 00:11:59.840 change how you love other people. That's what 00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:05.179 John's saying. If you know how much Jesus has 00:12:05.179 --> 00:12:09.559 loved you, that is going to change how you love 00:12:09.559 --> 00:12:20.789 other people. You know, when Christianity exploded 00:12:20.789 --> 00:12:23.190 on the scene in the first few centuries after 00:12:23.190 --> 00:12:28.309 Jesus died, do you know how the church grew? 00:12:30.870 --> 00:12:33.769 It wasn't because there was awesome preachers. 00:12:34.549 --> 00:12:36.289 I mean, there was a few good ones, but it wasn't 00:12:36.289 --> 00:12:40.669 because there was rock star preachers. It wasn't 00:12:40.669 --> 00:12:43.669 because you had big mega churches with light 00:12:43.669 --> 00:12:47.940 shows and smoke screens. It wasn't really well 00:12:47.940 --> 00:12:51.320 -worked programs that were like well rehearsed 00:12:51.320 --> 00:12:54.899 and all of that. It was none of that. It was 00:12:54.899 --> 00:13:00.659 Christians who loved their neighbor in the face 00:13:00.659 --> 00:13:05.940 of suffering, trial, and persecution. That is, 00:13:05.940 --> 00:13:07.919 you look at any church historian, they're going 00:13:07.919 --> 00:13:10.460 to say unanimously, that is how the church exploded. 00:13:12.600 --> 00:13:16.200 I want to read one account for you. This is from 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:21.580 260. It's a man named Dionysius. And one of the 00:13:21.580 --> 00:13:23.340 things that happened in the first few centuries 00:13:23.340 --> 00:13:26.019 was several plagues broke out in Rome. So the 00:13:26.019 --> 00:13:28.100 Christians, they're living under persecution. 00:13:28.259 --> 00:13:30.259 They're being hunted by Romans. At the same time, 00:13:30.299 --> 00:13:33.000 there's always plagues breaking out. So everyone's 00:13:33.000 --> 00:13:37.480 dying. And whenever the plagues would break out, 00:13:38.059 --> 00:13:41.120 the priests of the Roman temples, they would 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.629 flee the city to safety. But you know what the 00:13:44.629 --> 00:13:49.889 Christians did? They stayed. Here's one account. 00:13:52.570 --> 00:13:55.409 Most of our brothers and sisters showed unbounded 00:13:55.409 --> 00:13:57.730 love and loyalty, never sparing themselves and 00:13:57.730 --> 00:14:01.529 thinking only of one another. Heedless of danger, 00:14:01.570 --> 00:14:04.230 they took charge of the sick, attending to their 00:14:04.230 --> 00:14:06.330 every need and ministering to them in Christ. 00:14:06.610 --> 00:14:09.490 And with them departed this life serenely happy. 00:14:10.990 --> 00:14:14.009 For they were infected by others with the disease 00:14:14.009 --> 00:14:17.529 drawing on themselves the sickness of their neighbors 00:14:17.529 --> 00:14:22.970 and cheerfully accepting their pains Many and 00:14:22.970 --> 00:14:25.629 nursing many in nursing and caring for others 00:14:25.629 --> 00:14:29.470 transferred their death to themselves and died 00:14:29.470 --> 00:14:34.169 in their stead The best of our brothers and sisters 00:14:34.169 --> 00:14:39.269 lost their lives in this manner a number of elders 00:14:39.269 --> 00:14:42.960 deacons and laymen winning high commendation 00:14:42.960 --> 00:14:45.879 so that death in this form, the result of great 00:14:45.879 --> 00:14:49.159 piety and strong faith, seems in every way the 00:14:49.159 --> 00:14:55.120 equal of martyrdom. Why were the Christians so 00:14:55.120 --> 00:14:58.379 hated? Malcolm gave this example last night. 00:14:58.500 --> 00:15:01.240 Emperor Julian was one of many Roman emperors 00:15:01.240 --> 00:15:06.460 who articulated his deep hatred for Christians, 00:15:06.539 --> 00:15:08.539 and it wasn't because they were wrong, it wasn't 00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:11.460 any, it was any, it was because they put the 00:15:11.460 --> 00:15:14.440 Romans to shame in how much they loved everybody 00:15:14.440 --> 00:15:18.139 else. And so Julian articulated that the Christians 00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:19.860 are putting us to shame because they don't just 00:15:19.860 --> 00:15:21.259 care for their own poor and they're sick, but 00:15:21.259 --> 00:15:23.639 they care for our poor and are sick better than 00:15:23.639 --> 00:15:27.440 we do. And he hated it because that meant there 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:30.179 were people leaving the Roman religion to become 00:15:30.179 --> 00:15:33.740 Christians. Instead, it made him sick. It made 00:15:33.740 --> 00:15:41.850 him sick. Brothers and sisters, what I'm trying 00:15:41.850 --> 00:15:46.350 to say to you is if we as a church are going 00:15:46.350 --> 00:15:50.029 to be put to shame in the eyes of the world, 00:15:51.690 --> 00:15:54.850 let it not be because we're hypocrites who hoard 00:15:54.850 --> 00:15:57.629 our treasures and build bigger temples for ourselves. 00:15:58.330 --> 00:16:00.350 Let it be because in the eyes of the world we 00:16:00.350 --> 00:16:02.830 are fools who give too much of ourselves away. 00:16:05.620 --> 00:16:08.519 That's the kind of love that when that takes 00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:14.740 up root in a church, it transforms the way a 00:16:14.740 --> 00:16:17.460 people of God live together. And that's my prayer 00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:21.799 for our church. Now John, he breaks this down 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:24.879 in two ways. The way our love is transformed 00:16:24.879 --> 00:16:28.740 for others. First he says in a general way and 00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:31.230 he compares. what he's been talking about, he 00:16:31.230 --> 00:16:34.129 compares this to Cain and Abel. This is another 00:16:34.129 --> 00:16:35.710 way of articulating what he had been talking 00:16:35.710 --> 00:16:39.029 about with light and darkness. So Cain is a manifestation 00:16:39.029 --> 00:16:41.830 of darkness, Abel is a manifestation of the light. 00:16:41.889 --> 00:16:43.870 And so some of you know this story from Genesis 00:16:43.870 --> 00:16:46.049 3 and Genesis 4, Cain and Abel, they're Adam 00:16:46.049 --> 00:16:50.129 and Eve's first two sons. And so Genesis 4, you 00:16:50.129 --> 00:16:51.909 have this account where Cain and Abel, one day 00:16:51.909 --> 00:16:53.870 they both go and they make sacrifices to God. 00:16:53.870 --> 00:16:57.149 And it says that God accepted Abel's sacrifice, 00:16:57.149 --> 00:16:59.799 but he rejected Cain's sacrifice. We're never 00:16:59.799 --> 00:17:02.399 really told why, and I think it's not the point 00:17:02.399 --> 00:17:04.000 of the story, which is why we're not really ever 00:17:04.000 --> 00:17:08.279 told why. Because the point of the story is not 00:17:08.279 --> 00:17:10.000 what was wrong with the sacrifices, the point 00:17:10.000 --> 00:17:13.519 of the story is to show us how quickly sin destroys 00:17:13.519 --> 00:17:16.700 everything. Adam and Eve fall into sin in Genesis 00:17:16.700 --> 00:17:19.140 3, and Genesis 4, their children are already 00:17:19.140 --> 00:17:23.940 killing each other. Anyone who says that sin's 00:17:23.940 --> 00:17:29.049 not that bad, Scripture says otherwise. So, John 00:17:29.049 --> 00:17:32.829 is recalling this story to mind because he wants 00:17:32.829 --> 00:17:36.170 you to recall that Cain, after Satan, Cain is 00:17:36.170 --> 00:17:39.230 the first villain we meet in Scripture. He's 00:17:39.230 --> 00:17:41.470 the textbook picture of hatred, jealousy, and 00:17:41.470 --> 00:17:45.190 murder. And John said that if any of us hold 00:17:45.190 --> 00:17:47.670 hatred in our hearts in any way, we are like 00:17:47.670 --> 00:17:53.250 Cain. We're murderers. You say, wait a minute, 00:17:53.250 --> 00:17:54.549 I've never killed anybody. I've never thought 00:17:54.549 --> 00:17:59.279 about killing anybody. How can I be like Cain? 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:02.839 Jesus said in Matthew 5, 21 and 22 that anyone 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:04.420 who hates a brother or sister in their heart 00:18:04.420 --> 00:18:08.160 will be judged like a murderer. So those are 00:18:08.160 --> 00:18:13.359 the stakes. Those are the stakes. Now here's 00:18:13.359 --> 00:18:15.839 what this is not saying. This teaching does not 00:18:15.839 --> 00:18:17.799 mean that you should go and be everybody's best 00:18:17.799 --> 00:18:19.519 friend. We're not all quarry. We're not all gifted 00:18:19.519 --> 00:18:24.000 that way. Okay? Brother, we love that you could 00:18:24.000 --> 00:18:28.599 be everyone's best friend. I can't. Okay? It's 00:18:28.599 --> 00:18:30.160 not saying that you should let your guard down 00:18:30.160 --> 00:18:32.319 around people who have proven themselves that 00:18:32.319 --> 00:18:33.500 they're gonna wound you and they'll probably 00:18:33.500 --> 00:18:35.180 do it again. It's not what it's saying. It's 00:18:35.180 --> 00:18:39.759 not saying that you're gonna be naive. John is 00:18:39.759 --> 00:18:42.140 saying that the follower of Jesus can't go through 00:18:42.140 --> 00:18:45.740 life with a vengeful heart. You can't go through 00:18:45.740 --> 00:18:47.700 life wishing destruction and harm on other people. 00:18:47.740 --> 00:18:49.880 You can't be the kind of person who bears a grudge 00:18:49.880 --> 00:18:55.200 forever. You can't find joy and violence. Instead, 00:18:56.160 --> 00:18:59.579 If you've been loved by Jesus, then you're going 00:18:59.579 --> 00:19:01.619 to become the kind of person that he describes 00:19:01.619 --> 00:19:07.759 in the Beatitudes. Meek, dependent, merciful, 00:19:08.599 --> 00:19:11.240 compassionate, patient, generous, the kind of 00:19:11.240 --> 00:19:13.759 person that Paul describes in Galatians five 00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:15.660 with the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, peace, 00:19:15.940 --> 00:19:17.920 patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, 00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:20.039 and self -control. In other words, in a general 00:19:20.039 --> 00:19:22.779 way, you're gonna become more Christ -like in 00:19:22.779 --> 00:19:26.599 the way that you love. Your general attitude 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:29.680 is gonna grow in the way that you love others. 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.019 So there's kind of a general application point, 00:19:32.019 --> 00:19:34.960 but then John drills this down into the specific 00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:36.720 application. I want you to look at this in verse 00:19:36.720 --> 00:19:41.180 17. You say, okay, John, that's still, I still 00:19:41.180 --> 00:19:43.119 don't know how, that's still not specific enough. 00:19:43.180 --> 00:19:44.900 Well, he's gonna give you something very specific. 00:19:45.960 --> 00:19:51.069 Verse 17. If anyone has material possessions 00:19:51.069 --> 00:19:52.910 and sees a brother or sister in need but has 00:19:52.910 --> 00:19:55.170 no pity on them, how can the love of God be in 00:19:55.170 --> 00:20:00.730 that person? See, God's people ought to be marked 00:20:00.730 --> 00:20:05.069 by a special love for the poor, the suffering, 00:20:05.109 --> 00:20:09.349 and the oppressed. The clearest evidence that 00:20:09.349 --> 00:20:15.450 Jesus is at work in someone if they are taking 00:20:15.450 --> 00:20:17.930 care of people in need, if you are sitting in 00:20:17.930 --> 00:20:19.609 your seat and you know the person in front of 00:20:19.609 --> 00:20:21.349 you is struggling to make ends meet and they're 00:20:21.349 --> 00:20:23.569 struggling to put food on their table for their 00:20:23.569 --> 00:20:25.289 kids and then you just go home from here and 00:20:25.289 --> 00:20:27.470 you don't do anything about it, how can God's 00:20:27.470 --> 00:20:32.289 love be in you? If a church exists in a neighborhood 00:20:32.289 --> 00:20:34.210 where people are struggling to keep their lights 00:20:34.210 --> 00:20:35.910 on, they're struggling to pay their bills and 00:20:35.910 --> 00:20:37.869 the church does nothing about it, how can the 00:20:37.869 --> 00:20:39.829 church say that the love of God is in that building? 00:20:43.250 --> 00:20:52.990 Do you see? Do you see? Love is not expressed 00:20:52.990 --> 00:20:56.009 as a feeling, but as an action. Jesus didn't 00:20:56.009 --> 00:20:58.569 stay in heaven and yell down, I love you, and 00:20:58.569 --> 00:21:00.509 then do nothing to relieve us of our distress. 00:21:01.190 --> 00:21:05.089 He took action to relieve us of our misery and 00:21:05.089 --> 00:21:08.849 our need. The people of God cannot stay back 00:21:08.849 --> 00:21:11.880 and say, we love you. and do nothing to help 00:21:11.880 --> 00:21:16.220 people in their need. Nothing about that is demonstrative 00:21:16.220 --> 00:21:19.420 of the kind of love that Jesus has shown to us. 00:21:19.680 --> 00:21:22.099 A gift shop in the lobby might impress the world. 00:21:22.859 --> 00:21:25.259 A large megaplex building or a big, beautiful 00:21:25.259 --> 00:21:27.819 cathedral might draw a crowd, but a group of 00:21:27.819 --> 00:21:29.880 Christians who will not prioritize the needs 00:21:29.880 --> 00:21:31.859 of the oppressed and the suffering and the poor 00:21:31.859 --> 00:21:36.940 are still in death and darkness. And that's just 00:21:36.940 --> 00:21:44.619 1 John 3, friends. We live in a world you and 00:21:44.619 --> 00:21:46.440 I this is where I think you and I need to be 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:49.859 challenged on this Because we live in a world 00:21:49.859 --> 00:21:53.259 where people love to talk about justice and equality 00:21:53.259 --> 00:21:56.759 and mercy But nobody wants anything to change 00:21:56.759 --> 00:22:02.099 And I think we Probably more than we want to 00:22:02.099 --> 00:22:05.380 admit are shaped by this kind of logic. This 00:22:05.380 --> 00:22:08.240 is what Dr. Foley was getting at last night. 00:22:08.240 --> 00:22:09.680 I'm coming at it in a little bit of a different 00:22:09.680 --> 00:22:17.059 way Here's an example of what I mean. Years ago, 00:22:18.180 --> 00:22:23.640 when then candidate Joe Biden, soon to be President 00:22:23.640 --> 00:22:26.180 Biden, when he was campaigning to become president, 00:22:27.480 --> 00:22:31.440 he gave a speech in a room of very wealthy Wall 00:22:31.440 --> 00:22:37.940 Street donors, all the top 1%. And after naming 00:22:37.940 --> 00:22:41.599 the problem, of income inequality. So he names 00:22:41.599 --> 00:22:44.000 the problem. There's income inequality in this 00:22:44.000 --> 00:22:47.960 country. He goes on and he says, I promise you 00:22:47.960 --> 00:22:51.000 that nothing will fundamentally change for you 00:22:51.000 --> 00:22:56.559 if I'm elected president. He said, I need you 00:22:56.559 --> 00:23:00.920 very badly. And if I win this nomination, I promise 00:23:00.920 --> 00:23:05.680 I won't let you down. See, this is the politicians 00:23:05.680 --> 00:23:07.359 promise, and I think this is the way many of 00:23:07.359 --> 00:23:10.259 us have been trained to think about justice and 00:23:10.259 --> 00:23:15.759 mercy. We might put our finger on problems, but 00:23:15.759 --> 00:23:17.480 we like it when people tell us, I'm going to 00:23:17.480 --> 00:23:18.920 fix everything, but nothing's going to change 00:23:18.920 --> 00:23:21.579 for you. You're never going to have to lift a 00:23:21.579 --> 00:23:23.920 finger to help. You can still be comfortable. 00:23:25.839 --> 00:23:29.680 Nothing has to change. That's what the politicians 00:23:29.680 --> 00:23:37.089 tell us. Jesus isn't a politician. Jesus is the 00:23:37.089 --> 00:23:39.930 King. He's the Savior. He's the Redeemer of the 00:23:39.930 --> 00:23:42.210 entire universe. And Jesus doesn't ask us to 00:23:42.210 --> 00:23:44.230 vote for him. He doesn't ask us to sign up for 00:23:44.230 --> 00:23:47.309 an ideology. Jesus asks us to follow him. And 00:23:47.309 --> 00:23:49.150 when we follow him, he says, then we have to 00:23:49.150 --> 00:23:50.930 be willing to get very uncomfortable because 00:23:50.930 --> 00:23:52.710 he says, I'm going to change everything for you. 00:23:54.000 --> 00:23:55.880 If you follow me, I'm gonna change everything. 00:23:55.940 --> 00:23:57.319 I'm gonna change the way you spend your time. 00:23:57.380 --> 00:23:58.519 I'm gonna change the way you spend your money. 00:23:58.539 --> 00:23:59.920 I'm gonna change the way you relate to people. 00:24:00.059 --> 00:24:01.480 I'm gonna change what you do with your resources 00:24:01.480 --> 00:24:02.960 and your energy and your talents. Everything 00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:11.039 is gonna change if you follow me. Will we follow 00:24:11.039 --> 00:24:18.079 Him and His call for everything to change? Everything 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:20.759 has to change because Jesus gave us everything 00:24:20.759 --> 00:24:25.500 when He laid down His life for us. Jesus never 00:24:25.500 --> 00:24:28.200 promised us follow me and I will make you a comfortable 00:24:28.200 --> 00:24:35.200 well -adjusted person He said follow me as I 00:24:35.200 --> 00:24:41.880 lay down my life I Want to think about this in 00:24:41.880 --> 00:24:47.720 three ways And then I'm done I think churches 00:24:47.720 --> 00:24:53.569 churches typically have a hard time bringing 00:24:53.569 --> 00:24:56.450 people together across different income levels. 00:24:58.089 --> 00:24:59.609 And I think one of the reasons, one of the significant 00:24:59.609 --> 00:25:01.410 reasons why churches have a hard time bringing 00:25:01.410 --> 00:25:03.390 people together across different income levels 00:25:03.390 --> 00:25:06.230 is because if you're gonna bring people together 00:25:06.230 --> 00:25:08.930 who have a wide gap in how much money they make, 00:25:09.170 --> 00:25:11.390 then to have an honest community, that means 00:25:11.390 --> 00:25:13.569 you're gonna have to talk about money in the 00:25:13.569 --> 00:25:17.049 church. And nobody wants to talk about money. 00:25:18.490 --> 00:25:20.769 Nobody wants to admit that they don't make enough. 00:25:22.169 --> 00:25:23.910 And nobody wants to admit that they make too 00:25:23.910 --> 00:25:28.710 much. So we'd rather worship with people who 00:25:28.710 --> 00:25:30.210 make the same amount of money as us so we don't 00:25:30.210 --> 00:25:35.369 have to talk about money ever. Friends, do you 00:25:35.369 --> 00:25:40.230 see how foolish that justification is? And how 00:25:40.230 --> 00:25:47.089 contrary to the purposes of Jesus that is? So 00:25:47.089 --> 00:25:48.450 three things I want you to think about. Number 00:25:48.450 --> 00:25:51.309 one. Proximity I'm kind of reviewing a little 00:25:51.309 --> 00:25:52.950 bit of what dr. Foley talked about last night 00:25:52.950 --> 00:25:54.849 But I think this is some of you may have this 00:25:54.849 --> 00:25:56.410 practical practical question of like so what 00:25:56.410 --> 00:25:58.250 does this mean? For us as a church, and I can't 00:25:58.250 --> 00:26:00.069 answer all that you can ask me later, but I want 00:26:00.069 --> 00:26:06.069 to Remind us of the principle of proximity We 00:26:06.069 --> 00:26:10.109 can't fix everything we can't help everyone Which 00:26:10.109 --> 00:26:12.069 I think is one of the reasons why as a church 00:26:12.069 --> 00:26:14.109 it's important for us to say this is our this 00:26:14.109 --> 00:26:18.000 is our focus This is what we can do right? which 00:26:18.000 --> 00:26:20.319 is why we've kind of put our finger down on Hawville. 00:26:20.380 --> 00:26:23.380 We can do something about Hawville. We don't 00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:25.099 have enough to do anything about the East Side, 00:26:26.599 --> 00:26:28.740 which other people might be called to the East 00:26:28.740 --> 00:26:31.599 Side. We're not called to the East Side. And 00:26:31.599 --> 00:26:33.140 I'm going to tell you personally what that means 00:26:33.140 --> 00:26:35.240 for me when I'm out driving around the city. 00:26:35.259 --> 00:26:36.920 If I'm on the East Side and I see people asking 00:26:36.920 --> 00:26:40.579 for help, I say, I probably can't do anything 00:26:40.579 --> 00:26:43.240 for this person because I'm giving as much as 00:26:43.240 --> 00:26:47.259 I can away here to the people here. I'm giving 00:26:47.259 --> 00:26:49.259 all my money to this to this church to Stuart 00:26:49.259 --> 00:26:51.460 and I give to our immediate neighbors here I 00:26:51.460 --> 00:26:55.380 make an impact here Right, I can focus my time 00:26:55.380 --> 00:26:57.599 here and and a group of people we can do more 00:26:57.599 --> 00:26:59.500 if we keep in mind this principle of proximity 00:26:59.500 --> 00:27:02.700 We focus together on a particular area of need 00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:04.440 rather than trying to do everything for everyone. 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:07.940 We can't we're finite our resources are finite 00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:12.519 I'd encourage us to remember that But then two 00:27:12.519 --> 00:27:15.420 more things There is really two sides of what 00:27:15.420 --> 00:27:23.859 John is instructing us here. If you are someone 00:27:23.859 --> 00:27:32.339 who has needs that are not being met, you have 00:27:32.339 --> 00:27:45.029 to ask for help. There is a way in which following 00:27:45.029 --> 00:27:52.049 Jesus for you might mean letting go of whatever 00:27:52.049 --> 00:27:58.470 it is where insecurity, pride, whatever, you 00:27:58.470 --> 00:28:02.309 don't want to let people in to help. There has 00:28:02.309 --> 00:28:08.730 to be a willingness to ask for help, right? Now, 00:28:08.730 --> 00:28:10.509 I also want to encourage everyone has something 00:28:10.509 --> 00:28:15.069 to give. Everyone has something to give right 00:28:15.069 --> 00:28:21.670 resources time energy gifts So everyone here 00:28:21.670 --> 00:28:23.829 has something to give but you may also have needs 00:28:23.829 --> 00:28:25.289 and that means you have you have to open yourself 00:28:25.289 --> 00:28:31.009 up and ask for help And the other side of that 00:28:31.009 --> 00:28:35.529 is there are some of us in this room And we have 00:28:35.529 --> 00:28:39.789 too much we have too much and as dr. Foley challenges 00:28:41.960 --> 00:28:44.359 the call is back to a kind of self -examination 00:28:44.359 --> 00:28:51.079 of how can I need less so that I can share more? 00:28:53.480 --> 00:28:59.799 But I think this prayerfully we've discerned 00:28:59.799 --> 00:29:02.619 is the calling for this congregation is to be 00:29:02.619 --> 00:29:05.480 a congregation that shares and to give ourselves 00:29:05.480 --> 00:29:07.839 away the way that Jesus has given himself away 00:29:07.839 --> 00:29:13.640 to us. And so I hope that for years to come, 00:29:13.940 --> 00:29:19.180 Jesus might continue to do a work in us, to open 00:29:19.180 --> 00:29:22.559 ourselves up and give ourselves away so that 00:29:22.559 --> 00:29:25.359 people might know him and know his love. Let's 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:31.740 pray. Jesus, we thank you for just how clear 00:29:31.740 --> 00:29:36.180 your word is to us. And this charge you've given 00:29:36.180 --> 00:29:42.960 to us, it's not easy, but it is simple. Call 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:48.279 us to share. And to let go. And ask for help. 00:29:50.319 --> 00:29:52.099 I pray that you would pour out your love into 00:29:52.099 --> 00:29:55.220 our hearts that we can be a community that does 00:29:55.220 --> 00:29:59.400 these things with one another. And that if we 00:29:59.400 --> 00:30:01.660 would be put to shame in the eyes of the people 00:30:01.660 --> 00:30:04.700 around us, it would be because they say, what 00:30:04.700 --> 00:30:08.740 on earth is going on over there and why do they 00:30:08.740 --> 00:30:14.079 just keep giving more? of themselves away. We 00:30:14.079 --> 00:30:17.460 can say, because that's what you did for us. 00:30:18.720 --> 00:30:21.960 That's what you did for us. Move in our hearts, 00:30:22.059 --> 00:30:23.700 we pray. Jesus, amen.