Words that Changed the World - The Kingdom of God

 If I were to ask you what the main message of Jesus’ teaching was, my guess is you would say love.  In light of the series we just finished on love, we can easily say that love was central to all Jesus said and did, but if you read through the gospels, you will see that Jesus talked about love 28 times while He talked about the Kingdom of God 112 times.  If we really want to understand the message of Jesus, we have to understand what He means when He talks about the Kingdom of God, or the Kingdom of Heaven, or just, The Kingdom.  Gordon Fee, a New Testament scholar, said, “you cannot know anything about Jesus, anything, if you miss the kingdom of God.”

Today we are starting a series that will look at some of the messages we find in the teaching and preaching of Jesus.  Jesus' words are filled with different themes and ideas that not only changed people’s lives, but have the power and potential to change our world.  There is perhaps no greater message than the one we find in Jesus' very first sermon.  The first message of Jesus was short and simple.  “The time has come,” Jesus said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”   Mark 1:15

While love might be a hallmark and value of God’s kingdom, it was the Kingdom of God itself that Jesus came to bring.  To help us understand what Jesus means when He talks about the Kingdom of God we need to go back to the Hebrew scriptures, the Old Testament, to get a proper background. Psalm 99:1-5

The Lord reigns, let the nations tremble;

he sits enthroned between the cherubim, let the earth shake.

Great is the Lord in Zion; he is exalted over all the nations.

Let them praise your great and awesome name—he is holy.

The King is mighty, he loves justice—you have established equity;

in Jacob you have done what is just and right.

Exalt the Lord our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy.

This scripture, and many like it, talks about God as a king over all of creation.  This passage led to a prayer that rabbis say often, Blessed are you, Lord our God, King of the Universe.  

God is the ultimate king of the universe.  He is the ruler of all things, at all times, and in all places.  God’s dominion and authority over the universe is greater than we can even imagine because the universe is larger than our minds can comprehend.  

This is a picture taken from the hubble telescope deep in space.  What you are looking at are thousands of galaxies, which each contain 100’s of billions of stars.  The universe is larger than anything we can imagine and God knows it all. He knows every star by name.  He knows when stars are formed and when they die.  He knows where there is life and where there is no life.  He knows how they spin and turn.  I also have to believe that God has somehow placed His hand around us so that we are still here in our own tiny corner of the world, spinning away unharmed and with the ability to see all of creation and know the One who created it all.  

God created this.  God spoke it into being.  God sustains it, keeps it spinning, and as we hear from many scientists, God keeps it growing - ever expanding.  This is part of the Kingdom of God. God is the King of this Universe.  While we can’t comprehend the power, strength and vastness of God, He is truly HOLY, we are told some of what is important to God and therefore are values and principles of His Kingdom.  

If we go back to Psalm 99, we see that God wants justice.  He established equity.  He does what is right.  And yes, God loves.  This is what God wants for His creation, His Kingdom, and it is what God established in the Garden of Eden.  God created the perfect, peaceable, loving kingdom and gave it to us to enjoy and rule over.  Instead of living in God’s kingdom the way God called us to live, we turned away.  We fell short of God’s rule and instead of putting God first, Adam and Eve put themselves first, and that has been the human story, our story, ever since.  We have made ourselves king of our own universe.  

Instead of striving for justice, love, mercy and righteousness, we wrestle with gluttony, greed, lust, sloth, anger, rage and pride.  These are 7 deadly sins that pull us apart and destroy the kingdom we live in, and yet in all of us, and in our world, there is a longing and a desire for another kingdom, God’s kingdom.  

When the nation of Israel was faced with devastation and destruction brought on by their own sin and failures, the prophets started talking about a coming kingdom of God.  The prophets, and the people, longed for a day when God would rule on earth as He did in heaven and they began to provide pictures and images of what this kingdom would be like.  It was these images and ideas that shaped what Jesus was talking about when He talked about the Kingdom of God.  So let’s look at what the prophets said. 

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.  The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.  He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples.  They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks.  Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.

Come, descendants of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the Lord.   Isaiah 2:3-5

This is what we still long for in places like Ukraine and Gaza.  We hunger for a place where nations would not take up swords against one another or train for war anymore.  It’s a kingdom of peace and justice.  It will be a place where righteousness and love will prevail.

Isaiah also said:  A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.  The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—     the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding, the Spirit of counsel and of might, the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord —and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears; but with righteousness he will judge the needy, with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.

He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth; with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked. Righteousness will be his belt and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

The wolf will live with the lamb, the leopard will lie down with the goat, the calf and the lion and the yearling together; and a little child will lead them. The cow will feed with the bear, their young will lie down together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox.  

The infant will play near the cobra’s den, and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest. They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.   Isaiah 11:1-9

Isaiah wrote at a time when the Assyrians were bearing down to destroy Israel and they were looking for God to bring a lasting peace.  The prophet Ezekiel wrote during a time of Babylonian oppression of the people.   Ezekiel 34:23-24

I will save my flock, and they will no longer be plundered. I will judge between one sheep and another.  I will place over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he will tend them; he will tend them and be their shepherd. I, the Lord, will be their God, and my servant David will be prince among them. I the Lord have spoken.  

While all of these pictures of the Kingdom of God came when Israel was facing destruction or after they had been defeated by earthly kingdoms, it was the prophet Jeremiah who proclaimed that the Kingdom of God wasn’t going to come from outside forces that would compel people to behave a certain way, the power of God’s kingdom was going to come from within.   Jeremiah 31:33-34

This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord.  “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.  No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord.  “For I will  forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

The Kingdom of God, and the kingdom Jesus talked about, was not going to come by force from the outside but by a transformation of people's hearts on the inside.  Governments can be good and kind and gracious, but no government, not even ours, will be the kingdom of God.  While our first leaders talked about us being a city on a hill for the world to see and we might aspire to be a light to the nations, we are not the kingdom of God because the kingdom of God doesn’t come from declarations and constitutions, it comes from Jesus and it comes from the Holy Spirit working within individual people.  The kingdom of God comes when you and I decide to follow Jesus.  

If we go back to Mark and the first sermon of Jesus, Jesus said, “The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

The kingdom of God had come near because Jesus was there.  The kingdom of God was near the people because it was in Jesus and He was near the people.  The kingdom of God was found in how Jesus lived, how He loved, what He did, how He healed, and forgave, and changed people’s lives.  Everywhere Jesus went, the kingdom of God broke through, it was near.  

When the dead were raised by the touch or voice of Jesus, it was the kingdom of God breaking into our world.  When the blind could see and the deaf could hear, it was the kingdom of God breaking into our world. When the hungry were fed and sinners forgiven and outsiders welcomed to the table, it was the kingdom of God breaking into our world.  The kingdom of God was near in Jesus and through Jesus the world began to see what the kingdom of God was like and that it was possible to experience it, to live in it, here and now.  

The kingdom of God is the life Jesus lived.  It was filled with the righteousness and peace Jesus gave to people.  It’s the picture of love and relationship and community that Jesus formed.  It’s the power of healing and forgiveness and hope He showed us.  It’s the way God always wanted life to be lived and experienced and Jesus is inviting us to be part of that kingdom.  The message of Jesus wasn’t just for people 2000 years ago.  The kingdom of God is near us today.  It is here, and we can experience it and live in it, if we will repent and believe. 

The word repent simply means to turn.  Maybe a better way to think about repentance is to return to the life and kingdom God has for us.  While God created us and called us to live in His kingdom, we too often miss the mark and pursue our own desires.  In sin, we turn away and repentance is simply returning to living in the kingdom of God.  Can we invite the holy spirit to change our heart so that we seek the things of God and not the things of this world?  Can we get ourselves back on track and live and love the way we see in Jesus so that we begin to experience the power of God’s kingdom in our own hearts and lives and families?  

As we wrestle with this message of Jesus, that the kingdom of God is near, I want to invite you to reflect on two things. 

How have you strayed from life in God’s kingdom?  From what you now know about the Kingdom of God, or how God wants us to live, how have you strayed from that life?  How have you missed the mark in love and justice and righteousness?

What do you need to do to return to Jesus?  What practical steps can you take to return to Jesus?  Maybe it’s to read the prophets that show us what Jesus was talking about when He talked about the Kingdom of God.  Maybe it’s to read one of the gospels and identify all the ways we see God’s kingdom breaking through in the words and actions of Jesus.  

Let me close with one more thought about the kingdom of God.  As powerful as the kingdom of God is and as powerfully as it was breaking through in and through Jesus, there were forces fighting against that kingdom and against Jesus.  The kingdom of religion and the kingdom of Rome fought against Jesus and had Him killed because He was bringing in the reign and power of God’s kingdom.  There is still a battle that continues in our own hearts and lives and there is still a battle going on in our world against God’s kingdom.  

While the world put Jesus to death, we know it was not the end of God’s kingdom.  We know it’s not the end because Jesus rose from the dead to keep bringing near to us the Kingdom of God. The kingdom of God is still near in and through the church.  Every time we offer healing and hope to others, we are bringing the kingdom of God near.  Every time we live not for ourselves but for others, we are bringing the kingdom of God near.  Every time we love God and love others, we are bringing the kingdom of God near.  Every time we repent of living the way we want to and return to living the way God created us to, we are bringing the kingdom of God near.  Every time we point people to Jesus by our words and actions, we are bringing the kingdom of God near.  The message of Jesus is just as true today as it was when Jesus first preached it.  

“The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Today Jesus is inviting us to be part of His kingdom and to be part of a movement that can continue to bring the kingdom of God near.  

Next Steps

Words that Changed the World - The Kingdom of God 

What do you think of when you think of the Kingdom of God?

What pictures come to mind when you think of life in God’s kingdom?

What might we learn about God’s kingdom by looking at the creation story and Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Read what the prophets said about the Kingdom of God.

Isaiah 2:3-5, 11:1-9

Jeremiah 31:33-34

Ezekiel 34:23-24

What picture begins to emerge about life in God’s kingdom?

How were people able to experience the kingdom of God in and through Jesus?

How have you strayed from life in God’s kingdom?

What do you need to do to return to God?

How can you help bring the kingdom of God near to people today?  

 Last week we answered the question What Would Jesus Do? by saying, He Would Love First.  In love, Jesus welcomed people, served people, and healed people.  In the cross, we see the love of Jesus given for all people and redeem all people.  God so loved the world that (in love) He gave His one and only Son so that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have everlasting life.  Love is what Jesus did first, last and always.  As we finish our series on love, we are going to look at 3 specific ways Jesus loved that give us a framework of how we can not only love but grow in our faith.

When we step back and look at the life of Jesus, we see 3 primary relationships that guided His life and in each relationship, Jesus allowed love to shape Him.  Jesus had a relationship with God (His father), the church (or the disciples and that community of believers that formed around Him) and the world.  (3R image)

These are the same three relationships we focus on when we talk about how we can grow in our faith.  We will deepen our faith when we allow love to define these 3 relationships and give shape to the rhythms we find in each.  

Clearly the strongest love we see in Jesus’ life is the love He had for God.  Jesus is perhaps the only one ever who loved God with ALL His heart and soul and mind and strength.  Throughout His life we see that Jesus had a strong relationship with God.  As a child, Jesus stayed behind in the Temple when His family returned to Nazareth.  When His parents finally found Him, Jesus was sitting among the teachers and religious leaders listening to them and asking them questions. 

Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”  “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house.  Luke 2:47-49

From an early age, Jesus knew He and God were in a unique and special relationship and all through His life we find Jesus taking time out to connect with God in prayer.  Those times of prayer and healing, God’s word shaped Jesus’ life, and in love He was obedient to God in all things.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, the night Jesus was arrested and betrayed, and the day before He would be crucified, Jesus was again praying. He was asking God if there might be a way to complete God’s mission without dying on a cross.  It was in that prayer that Jesus fully revealed Himself to God, and also fully submitted Himself to God and was obedient to God’s will.  Jesus said, Not my will be done, but Your will be done.  

Jesus' love for His father guided all that He did and that was one of the relationships that gave direction to the life of Jesus.  Another relationship that guided Jesus' life was the relationship He established with His disciples, who in time became the church.  The first thing Jesus did after His baptism as an adult, and at the beginning of His ministry, was to choose 4 disciples that became the foundation of His team of 12.  

Peter, Andrew, James and John were all fishermen who worked together, and it’s interesting to note that from the beginning Jesus didn’t choose 4 individual people, but a team, a family, a community.  Jesus’ goal was to build a community that could love and support one another knowing that it would be the  community, the family of God, the church, that would transform the world.  

Jesus not only chose a team of 12, but He was surrounded by a larger group of people who were devoted to Him.  Jesus gave Himself in love to all His disciples when He taught them, when He performed miracles that they could witness and be part of, when He led them to do things they never imagined they would do, and when He empowered them to carry on His work in the world.  It was the love of Jesus that gave shape to the larger family, the church.  These were powerful relationships of love that gave shape to Jesus' life and mission as well as being the community that has transformed the world.  

The world is the last relationship that we see in the life of Jesus.  Jesus didn't just love His disciples and those who followed Him, He loved everyone.  At the very beginning of His ministry, Jesus was at the home of Simon Peter, and He healed his mother in law.  Word of this healing and the power of Jesus spread quickly and the entire town showed up to be healed.  

That evening after sunset the people brought to Jesus all the sick and demon-possessed. The whole town gathered at the door, and Jesus healed many who had various diseases. He also drove out many demons, but he would not let the demons speak because they knew who he was.  Mark 1:32-34

Jesus hadn’t just come for a few people who said they believed in Him, He came to be a blessing to everyone.  He came for Jews and Gentiles.  We find Jesus offering grace and bringing healing to Samaritans and Syro-Phoenicians.  He reached out to Roman guards and Temple leaders.  He cared for Pharisees and tax collectors.  No one was beyond His love and Jesus made clear that His love could save and redeem all people.

In what has come to be known as the great commission, Jesus said that the good news of forgiveness and salvation is for all the world.  

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  Matthew 28:18-20

During His life, Jesus had a relationship with the world, and after His death and resurrection, He made clear that His people, His church, was to reach out in love to all the world.   

Three relationships guided Jesus’ life: a relationship with God, the church, and the world.  And love helped shape each relationship.  Following Jesus, means focusing on these 3 relationships and allowing love to give them shape.  So here at Faith Church, when we talk about what it means to follow Jesus and grow in our faith, we talk about our need to focus on and develop a deeper relationship with God, the church, and the world.  

One of the ways we can make sure love is shaping these 3 relationships is by looking at the 5 rhythms that make up each relationship.  These rhythms aren’t a to-do list as much as they are ways love can be experienced and expressed in each relationship.

In our relationship with God there are these 5 rhythms:

Passion - Jesus is the center of my life

Scripture - My life is directed by the Bible

Prayer - Conversations with God overflow to every area of my life

Obedience - I listen to the Holy Spirit and obey

Identity - I know who I am in Christ and live accordingly

One of the important things to notice is that each of the rhythms can also be seen in the life and love of Jesus.  For example, Jesus' love for God was at the center of His life.  Love for God’s word gave direction to His life.  Jesus’ love for God moved Him to intentional times of prayer, and because Jesus loved God with ALL He had, he was obedient to God’s will.  In each of the 3 relationships we see the love of Jesus breathe life into the rhythms that shape each relationship.  

As we look at the rhythms that make up our relationship with God, we need to ask ourselves: 

Is our love for Jesus at the center of our life? 

Do we love God and His word so much that we allow it to direct who we are and what we do?  

Do we love God enough to pray at all times and in all places and allow those conversations to bring us hope and healing and direction?  

Do we listen to the Holy Spirit and then love God enough to do what the Spirit calls us to do?  

Do we know who we are in Christ?  Do we know that we are loved?  Do we know that we were made in love and made to love God? 

By reflecting on these 5 rhythms, we might see where our love needs to grow or be strengthened or where we just want to experience more of God’s presence and power.  

In our relationship with the church we find these 5 rhythms:

Accountability - Allow open and honest feedback

Generosity - Use my time/treasure to further the kingdom of God

Community - Interactions with the church are rooted in love

Service - Use my gifts/talents to grow the church

Family - Faith overflows first and foremost in my home

Once again we can see how love is foundational to each rhythm.  A foundation of love is what allows for honest feedback to be given and received.  Without love, feedback can become harsh and critical.  Love is what motivates us to give our time and treasure, and use our gifts and talents so that we see others blessed and the work of God increase.  Love draws us into community and strengthens our families and the family of God.  While love for the church is important, it can’t be where our love ends, it also has to flow into the world.  God so loved the world that he gave and so we need to love the world as well.  

The 5 rhythms of love for the world are

Readiness - Prepare my mind/heart for interactions with others

Engagement - Look for opportunities to introduce people to Jesus

Blessings - Find ways to make the world around me better

Sharing - Communicate the gospel to others

Global - Involved in making disciples worldwide

Jesus calls us to love the world by making disciples, which means preparing ourselves and looking for opportunities to share our faith.  It means finding ways to bless the world in Jesus’ name, and looking at how we can spread the good news of Jesus all over the world.  

While each of these 3 relationships are important, if we get our love for God right, it will increase our love for the church and the world.  Likewise, if we are struggling in our love for the church or the world, we might have a problem in our relationship with God. 

At times it is important for us to stop and reflect on these 3 relationships and the 5 rhythms found in each relationship. The season of Lent begins this week and Lent has traditionally been an intentional time of reflection, repentance and renewal.  It’s a time for us to evaluate our relationship with God, our commitment to the church, and the ways we serve God in the world.  So let me invite you to take some time and reflect on these 3 relationships in your own life.  

How is your relationship with God?  The church?  The world?  How are the rhythms of each relationship leading you to love more fully and more deeply?   

Where might you want to focus some time and attention?  

What areas are going well that you want to celebrate and give thanks for?  

To help you answer these questions and guide you in some reflection, we have workbooks available both online and in the lobby.  You should have already gotten one at a belong workshop or when we have shared about the 3 Relationships, but we invite you to take one and go through the study and reflection again.  

Another resource we have is a 3 Relationships Assessment that you can take online.  The assessment will give you some honest feedback about where you might want to take some time to think and study and reflect.  You can find the assessment at  bellefontefaith.com/3r.  You can also reach out to us to get more support or to talk to someone about how to grow in your faith.  

Spending some time reflecting on our relationship with God, the church, and the world, and exploring how love can be experienced and expressed in each of the 15 rhythms, might be the first step in strengthening your faith, but don’t do it alone.  I’m always struck by how Jesus didn’t do life and faith alone.  The first thing Jesus did was to surround Himself with friends and family.  If Jesus needed this kind of support and community to sustain Him, how much more do we need it?  Find support and community to help you grow as well. 

Jesus loved God, He loved the church, and He loved the world.  May these three relationships give shape to our love and provide a pathway to grow in our faith so that we might love and live like Jesus and transform not only our lives, but our world.   

Next Steps

Three Relationships

Identify for yourself where you see these 3 relationships in the life of Jesus.

Relationship with God:

Relationship with the Church:

Relationship with the World:

Which of these relationships do you feel healthiest in?

Which of these relationships might need the most growth?

Take the 3 Relationships Assessment found at bellefontefaith.com/3r

Using the 3 relationships workbook, learn more about each of the 15 rhythms and how you can deepen and develop each one.

Each week of Lent, focus on one rhythm and how love can be experienced and expressed in this area.  (Consider choosing 2 rhythms from each of the 3 relationships for the 6 weeks of Lent.)

For support and to learn more about the 3 relationships, please contact the church office or one of our pastors.  

WWJD? Love First

 Back in the 1990’s when I first started as a pastor, there were bracelets that were very popular that had 4 letters on it.  My guess is you know what they were.  WWJD.  What Would Jesus Do?  The movement started at a church in Holland MI, but spread across the nation and across the world.  The idea was that every time you had a decision to make you would ask yourself, what would Jesus do?  Once you figured out what Jesus would do, that’s what you would do.  The idea of doing what Jesus would do and looking like Jesus in the world can be traced to Paul’s letter to the Galatians.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  Galatians 2:20

If Christ lives in me, I should look like Jesus and do what Jesus did.  Last week I mentioned an early theologian of the church, Augustine, who talked about the proper order of love.  Augustine also took this idea of Christ living in us and developed what came to be known as the Imitation of Christ.  In 1400, Thomas à  Kempis wrote a classic devotional book with that name which explores doing what Jesus would do in our day to day lives.  

But the actual phrase, what would Jesus do, comes from a book written in 1896 by Charles Sheldon called In His Steps.  In the book, a pastor is working on his sermon when there is a knock at his door.  It is a homeless man looking to do a little bit of work to get some money, but the pastor says he doesn’t have any work for him and sends him away.  That Sunday, sitting in the back of the church, is that same man.  After the last hymn he asks if he can say a few words.  He comes to the front of the church and is clearly sick and says, It seems to me there’s an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn’t exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out. I suppose I don’t understand. But what would Jesus do?  

The pastor takes the man home and cares for him all week, but he dies before the next Sunday.  In worship that next week, the pastor gets up and doesn’t have a sermon but asks people to join him in an experiment and not make any major decision without first stopping and asking themselves, what would Jesus do?  That question changed the lives of many in the church and eventually set off a revival in the town.  

Sheldon’s book set off its own revival in our nation as people started asking themselves, what would Jesus do.  The question calls us to stop and think about how we can imitate Christ, how we can look more like Jesus in the world and how doing what Jesus would do can change our lives and our world.  

So in any given situation, what would Jesus do?  Or as some might say, what would Jesus have me do?  We may not be able to do exactly what Jesus would do, but what would Jesus have me do?  The short answer might be the single word - LOVE.  

In any and every situation we find ourselves, the question we might want to ask is: how can I love like Jesus?  What would the love of Jesus look like in this situation?  How can I put the love of Jesus to work in this situation?

Many people have said that if we could sum up all the teaching of Jesus, it would be to love.  Jesus told us that the first and greatest commandment is to Love God and the second is to Love Others.  Jesus said that all of the law and the prophets, in other words, all the teaching of God, can be summed up with a call to love.  Paul said, For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”  Galatians 5:14

Paul also said. Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.  Ephesians 5:1-2

John said, If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.  1 John 3:17-18

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.  1 John 4:7-11

Love is the driving passion and message of Jesus and so to imitate Jesus we need to love.  Love God.  Love others.  Love ourselves. And find the most loving thing to do in every situation.  We need to love like Jesus.  And this is what the love of Jesus looks like.

When at the table with His disciples, Jesus got up and served His friends by taking on the role of a household servant and washing their feet.  

Love looked like eating with tax collectors, prostitutes and other outcasts and sinners when no one else wanted to get near them.  It looked like forgiving a woman caught in adultery when everyone around her held rocks and wanted to stone her.  It looked like turning over the tables of the money changers in the Temple because they were taking advantage of the poor.  It looked like stretching out His arms and willingly laying down His life to pay the penalty for our sin.  

All those pictures of Jesus can teach us what loving like Jesus means for us today.  Love means serving others.  It means welcoming others.  It means putting the wellbeing of others before our own.  It means sacrificing for others.  It means being willing to lay aside our lives for others.  

So what does this love look like in practical ways today?  Let me offer a few examples of what loving like Jesus might look like today. 

(Amazon driver shovelling snow)  This is an amazon driver who delivered a package to a house that had a wheelchair ramp.  It had snowed the day before and the ramp was still mostly covered, but he saw a snow shovel there so after he dropped off the package, he picked up the shovel and cleaned off the rest of the ramp.  He just did it.  He didn’t want recognition or thanks, he just wanted to love.

(Amazon Driver tying tie) This driver saw a young man heading off to his homecoming dance with his tie not looking right.  The driver stopped and took the time to tie the tie the right way so the young man looked good for the dance.  The driver said he learned how to tie from some of the older men at his church when he was younger and he passed on the knowledge to his own children because wearing a tie can be an important thing at times.  

What makes these stories really powerful is that Amazon drivers are often timed and have a tight schedule to keep, so when they stop and sacrifice a few minutes here or there, it is a gift of love.  

Another picture of love I was able to be part of was on a snowy night here at the church.  We had about 40 people on a bus trip that was delayed due to snow.  They were getting in late and it had been a difficult trip so I came up to the church to make sure the bus could get into the parking lot and people could get to their cars.  I was just shoveling some pathways when Linda Heverly - Ferenchick’s husband came up to clean off her car as she was on the trip.  As we talked, Gene started to clean off another car and so I helped out.  We were able to clean off all the cars so when the people got home, they were able to just get in their cars and head home.  It was a great example of love that Gene invited me to be part of.  

And speaking about snow, here is another picture of love from a popular movie that is already 12 years old.  (Olaf)

Olaf is a snowman who is so concerned about Anna’s well-being that he builds a fire for her.  She warns him not to do it and to not stay around after the fire is going because he would melt.  Olaf’s response was, some people are worth melting for.  Who are you willing to melt for and how are you willing to melt, or sacrifice, because you want to love like Jesus?  

Let me give you a few other pictures of what love looks like. 

Missions week  Love looks like using our gifts and giving our time and money to people we might not even know but need a helping hand.  There will be a couple of opportunities to love this spring as our mission team organizes a local mission week and then a 2 week mission trip to North Carolina.  

PQSM For some people, love looks like making quilts and knitting shawls for those who are sick and in need.  

Wheelchair swing There is a wheelchair swing at governors park and in the process of installing the swing they were told at the last minute that they had to put down special padding at the base that was going to cost about $5,000.  We heard they didn’t have that much and the project was going to be delayed so I asked our church leaders if we could give them the money.  Everyone agreed that we could and we did.  This is what love looks like.  (child on swing)  

Next month there is going to be a community food drive in Bellefonte and you are going to see signs and boxes for food all over the community.  We will be taking part and you can bring food here to go to the foodbank to help feed those who are hungry.  This is what love looks like  

Sometimes love is painful and sad and we have seen that these past few weeks as we gave away all the items from our daycare.  As difficult as it was that we had to close, we heard from those who were able to get supplies what a blessing it was.  We not only were able to help other child care centers in our area at a time when all of them are struggling, but some of our materials are going to a school in Rwanda.  As sad as it was for us to close, we were able to bless and help others in the process.  This is what love looks like

Love looks like those who visit people who are sick or shut in.  It looks like a card sent to someone who is going through a difficult time or a meal given to someone who just got home from the hospital.  Many of you do these things through the church all the time. You are part of what love looks like.   

There are pictures of love all around us and they need to inspire us to love like Jesus.  Dr. King said, “We must discover the power of love, the redemptive power of love. And when we do that, we will make of this old world a new world, for love is the only way."

That quote was included in a sermon on love that was preached to over 1 billion people about 7 years ago.  Bishop Michael Curry spoke about love at the royal wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Makle.  Over a billion heard about the power of love.  

Someone once said that Jesus began the most revolutionary movement in human history.  A movement grounded in the unconditional love of God for the world - and a movement mandating people to live that love, and in so doing to change not only their lives but the very life of the world itself…

[Jesus] didn't die for anything he could get out of it. Jesus did not get an honorary doctorate for dying… He gave up his life, he sacrificed his life, for the good of others, for the good of the other, for the wellbeing of the world... for us.  That's what love is. Love is not selfish and self-centered. Love can be sacrificial, and in so doing, becomes redemptive. And that way of unselfish, sacrificial, redemptive love changes lives, and it can change this world.

If you don't believe me, just stop and imagine. Think and imagine a world where love is the way. Imagine our homes and families where love is the way. Imagine neighborhoods and communities where love is the way.  Imagine governments and nations where love is the way. Imagine business and commerce where this love is the way.  Imagine this tired old world where love is the way. 

When love is the way, then no child will go to bed hungry in this world ever again.  When love is the way, we will let justice roll down like a mighty stream and righteousness like an ever-flowing brook.  When love is the way, poverty will become history. When love is the way, the earth will be a sanctuary.  When love is the way, we will lay down our swords and shields, down by the riverside, to study war no more.  Bishop Michael Curry

Maybe love is the answer.  Maybe loving the way Jesus loved is the answer.  Imagine what your family would like if love is your way.  Imagine what our community would look like if love was the way we interacted with our neighbors, supported those who are vulnerable, and cared for those in need.  Imagine what kind of revival, what kind of revolutionary movement we could usher into the world if we made love the way of our hearts and lives, and if we loved the way Jesus did.  

While asking, WWJD is good, the truth is that we already know the answer.  Jesus would love first.  Jesus wouldn’t think about what was in it for Him, or what He would get in return.  Jesus wouldn’t ask if the love would be received well and make a difference and if it didn’t then He wouldn’t love.  He would still love.  Jesus didn’t evaluate the people first to see if they would be worthy of His love,  No one is ever worthy of His love, but he still loves.  

WWJD?  He would love first.  Maybe that is what we need to remember, He Would Love First.  HWLF    Maybe that is what we need on our wrists - a reminder to imitate Christ, to follow In His Steps, to love God and love others and love first.   Today we have that reminder for you.  Not only do we want you to know that you are loved, but we want to remind you that He would love first - and so should we.  We have HWLF bracelets for you to take as a reminder that Jesus loved first and so should we.  Let’s go show the world what love looks like.  

Next Steps

WWJD - LOVE

What pictures of love do you see in the life of Jesus?

How did His love change those who received it?

How did His love change those who witnessed it?

How did His love change the disciples?

What did Jesus mean when He said that all the “Law and Prophets” hang on the command to love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ and to love your neighbor as yourself?’  Matthew 22:37-40.  

See Galatians 5:14, 

Ephesians 5:1-2, 

1 John 3:17-18 

1 John 4:7-11.

What “pictures” of love have you seen recently?  

How can these pictures inspire you to love first?  

How can you be a “picture” of love in your family?  

In the church? 

In the community?  

In the world?  

Disordered and Misdirected Love

 For a brief period of time after college I worked in a coffee store.  The store not only sold coffee, espresso and cappuccino but all kinds of coffee beans as well.  One of the perks of working there, pun intended, is that we could drink as much coffee as we wanted as long as we brought in our own coffee mug.  Since I love coffee, I took my mug in and drank a lot of coffee.  We could also take home ground coffee that didn’t sell as well as samples of the coffee we sold so again, since I love coffee, I took coffee home to drink at night.  I was drinking coffee just about all day, every day.   

The caffeine never bothered me and I slept great, but then one night I think that the caffeine from all the coffee I drank for a month hit my system and my heart started beating really fast.  I could feel my body moving as my heart beat.  My brain couldn’t stop and I was up and down about every 5 minutes.  My heart was racing fast and I couldn’t stop moving and thinking and shaking.  

The next day I decided that maybe I needed to cut back on the amount of coffee I was drinking and I began to understand the truth of the saying, too much of a good thing can kill you.  In 2019, there was a Massachusetts man who loved black licorice so much that he ate a bag every day.  Three weeks later he died of a heart attack.  His death was caused by the glycyrrhizin found in the black licorice which can cause low potassium levels and heart arrhythmia.  Once again, too much of a good thing literally killed him.  

While his death was a very unusual circumstance, we know that too much of anything we might love to eat or drink can be dangerous.  Too much alcohol can cause liver damage.  Too much sugar can cause diabetes.  Too much saturated and trans fats can lead to high cholesterol.  Even too much water can cause kidney damage.  Too much love for a good thing can be a bad thing.  So let me ask you to reflect on what you love the most.  

My hope is that the first thing that came to your mind was a person or family, but what is it you love the most?  

Who are the people you love the most?

What are the experiences you love the most?

What are the things you love the most?

My guess is that the people you love the most might include your spouse or your children.  For many people, the real love comes when they are a grandparent because that is a special kind of love.  The people you love most might include a best friend or maye you included yourself on the list.  It’s important for us to love ourselves, not in prideful and narcissistic ways where we put ourselves first in all things, but we have to see ourselves as loved and valued in order to really know how to love others.  We need to remember that I Am Loved (pin) so it’s ok to say that one of the people I love is myself.  

The experiences you love the most might be time spent at the beach or in the mountains.  For years I loved hiking and spent 2 weeks every year in the smoky mountains.  It’s not that I don’t love that anymore, but I then started vacationing at the beach and realized that I really love the beach as well.  Maybe you love playing sports, riding bikes, hunting or fishing or more extreme adventures like skydiving or zip lines or car racing.  

And then the things we love can be broad.  Many here love Penn State Wrestling.  I love Duke basketball and maybe the best thing is eating kettle cooked potato chips while watching Duke basketball.  There are many things we love from food to sports to music to books to movies to games. 

All of these things we love are good, but they need to have their proper place.  My hope is that you love your family more than sports and maybe experiences like hiking or vacations more than potato chips and ice cream.  If we were to look at the things we love like a pyramid, we need to have the foundational things we love at the bottom and secondary things at top.  (Pyramid picture)

The base of the pyramid should be our love for God and understanding God’s love for us.  We were created in the image of God to be loved by God and to love God in return.  This is the love and relationship that needs to be the rock on which everything else, and every other love, is built.  On this love we build our love for family and then a love for others, our friends and neighbors, and then we might talk about love for experiences and the things we love to do and eat.  

When our love is ordered this way, life is healthy and good, but when love is not ordered, when we try and make the foundation things that were never meant to be the foundation, it’s like trying to keep an upside down pyramid stable and strong. Misordered love in our lives can lead to disaster.

St. Augustine, one of the early theologians of the church, talked about the importance of an orderly love, or a love that starts with God and then moves to family, self, others and then the things of the world.  Augustine knew the importance of this because his early life was very disordered.  David Naugle, one of the premier scholars on Augustine, said this about his life.  

He grew up in a dysfunctional family, suffered through a childhood of unhappiness, was prone to theft and dishonesty, abhorred study and formal education, was virtually addicted to sex and food,  enjoyed the life of the theatre, studied off-beat philosophies and religions, and for a time was a single parent. His life was unquestionably disordered, and like many of our contemporaries, he found himself on a relentless course in search of healing and happiness.  

When our love is misordered, we aren’t content, we are always searching for something more, and never happy.  While my early life didn’t reflect the depth of disorder that Augustine’s did, it was disordered.  I went to college thinking I wanted to work at resorts because I wanted to live in beautiful and comfortable places around the world.  I wasn’t thinking about the work of hospitality and business, I was thinking about how nice it would be to live in Bermuda.  I was hoping to make a lot of money and be comfortable. 

Another priority I had when I got to MSU was to transform myself into some kind of party guy so I could experience a life that I didn’t have in High School.  My priorities and what I thought I would love were disordered and the more I tried to make it happen, the worse it got.  I was unstable, unhappy, burning through relationships and isolating myself from family and friends.  I was a mess, and it wasn’t until God stopped me short and began to reorder my life that I began to experience contentment and purpose and peace.  

In Augustine’s work, On Christian Doctrine, he talks about an order to our love and how we need to make sure we love God first, then others and ourselves, and then the things of this world. (pyramid)  If we get the order wrong, life will fall apart, if we get it right, we can find contentment and peace and purpose.  What God says is that our primary love, our first love, has to be Him.  

The greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength.  The second is like it, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.  The love of others and a healthy love of self have to be secondary to our love for God.  Everything has to be secondary to our love for God because when we begin to make our love for other things primary, we run into trouble.

If we love our job more than we love God and our families, it can lead to financial success but relational failure.  Children know when they come in second to the job of their mother or father and that’s when families and marriages start to crumble.  When we love money more than anything else it can lead to reckless behavior like gambling or get rich quick schemes which can quickly deplete all we have and endanger our family’s future.  If we love alcohol more than anything, it can lead to physical problems and dangerous situations that can jeopardize relationships and jobs.  

It’s not that loving our jobs or money or even a glass of wine is wrong, it’s getting our love for those things out of order that can be destructive.  Love has to be ordered.  

Love God

Love Others

Love Self

Love everything else

Not only can our love get disordered, but it can also get misdirected.  There are times we find ourselves loving things that we just shouldn’t love.  For example, if we are in a covenant relationship with a spouse, we shouldn’t be loving other people the same way.  Those feelings might come up.  We might feel drawn to someone in romantic and emotional ways and it might be tempting to entertain those feelings because it is exciting, or the other person makes us feel good or valued when our marriage is struggling, but that is a misdirected love.  Jesus said we shouldn’t entertain those thoughts because it will lead us astray.  

In His Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said, You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. Matthew 5:27-28

Jesus is clear that entertaining the idea of loving someone we shouldn’t is dangerous and while the feelings and emotions might come up, we need to see it as misdirected love and work to direct our love back to the right places.  We need to direct our love to the right relationships and always make sure God is at the foundation.

Another example from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount is that there are times we might actually love to hold on to bitterness and anger.  If we are honest, it can feel good to lash out at others when we are mad and hold on to bitterness and look for opportunities to pounce and hurt others, but Jesus said, 

I tell you that anyone who is angry with a brother or sister will be subject to judgment. Again, anyone who says to a brother or sister, ‘Raca,’ is answerable to the court. And anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell. Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.  Matthew 5:22-24

When we love being angry at someone it is misdirected love.  We love the feeling of anger and getting revenge more than we love God or others.  This is something we shouldn’t love and we need to see it for what it is and work to let it go, to release it, and forgive.  Forgiveness helps us direct our love back to God and then allow that love to shape us.  

We will all experience the struggle and temptation of disordered and misdirected love.  Sin is missing the mark.  Disordered and misdirected love is missing the mark and we all find ourselves there at times.  Every once in a while we need to stop and reflect on the order and direction of our love.  Is our love ordered the right way?  Is our love directed toward the right things or are we loving the wrong things and in the wrong order?  

When Moses was getting the people ready to move into the land God had promised, he took a moment to remind them how they needed to love.  They couldn’t love the land and the abundance of food they were going to get or the military success they were going to have more than they loved God.  Their love had to remain ordered and directed.  Moses said, 

Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. Deuteronomy 6:4-9

If they did this, things would go well with them.  That was God’s promise.  Hear, Israel, and be careful to obey so that it may go well with you and that you may increase greatly in a land flowing with milk and honey, just as the Lord, the God of your ancestors, promised you.  Deuteronomy 6:3

Loving God first still helps us make sure that things will go well for us.  It is easy for our love to get misdirected.  It is easy to get the order of love wrong.  So it’s important from time to time to stop and ask ourselves, is the foundation of our life love for God?  Is our order of love right?  

To use a circle example, if we look at concentric circles of love with God in the center, others second, us third, and the world fourth, the question becomes, Is God at the center?  If it is, then our love for God radiates out through all the other things we love?  If God is at the center, then all our love is healthy and strong and leads us to life.  If God isn’t at the center, things will slowly fall apart.  Even if we are loving good things, our love is out of order, or misdirected, which in time will lead to chaos and confusion and sin.  

Is God the foundation of your love?  Is God at the center of your heart and all that you say and think and do?  If not, how can you bring your love back in order?  How can you build on the right foundation?  Today I want to invite you to examine what it is you love the most.  Is your love ordered and directed after God’s will?  Hear this again, love the LORD our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all strength because when we do, things will go well and God will bring blessing and peace.  

Next Steps

Disordered and Misdirected Love

Take time to reflect on these three questions.

Who are the people you love the most?

What are the experiences you love the most?

What are the things you love the most?

St. Augustine says that our love needs to be ordered in the right way.

Love God

Love Others

Love Self

Love everything else

Is this the order of love in your life?  

Is love for God the foundation on which all other love is built?  

How can you grow in your relationship with God?

Check out the resources at bellefontefaith.com/3R.  

How can you grow in the rhythms of passion, scripture, prayer, obedience and identity? 

Take time to reflect on any misdirected love in your life?  

Read Matthew 5:21-30

Are there things you love that you need to let go?

For further study:  Read Matthew 4:1-11.  

How do the three temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness show us the importance of rightly ordered love?  

How was Satan tempting Jesus to love the wrong things and in the wrong order?