I love being able to write sermons and share them with the people I meet and my other squad mates. Most of my squad knows that I went to Bible college before I did the race, so they nominate me to do sermons a lot. I don’t mind. I like to think of it as a compliment and I like to think I’m good at writing sermons. Here is one I wrote to encourage my squad and the host that was hosting us for our first month in Nepal.
When you think of love, what comes to your mind? When you think about showing love, what does that look like? Let me tell you a story of when I saw true love. When I was a little girl, my parents weren’t always there for me. They did a lot of drugs and alcohol. It got to the point where they couldn’t take care of my sisters and me. So my grandparents took my 6 sisters and me in. They sacrificed their jobs and there next 20 years of life to take care of us.
Our generation has a destructive view of what love is. We live in a broken world where true love isn’t always modeled or expressed in a healthy way from our parents, relationships, and friends. To understand love, we need to go to source of true love. Jesus defined love in terms of sacrifice and actions rather than words or emotions. In the Gospel of John, chapter 15, verse 13 Jesus says, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” Jesus said that we practice true love when we place others ahead of ourselves. He modeled this true love and He modeled it first to us. Why? So we could love others the way He loved us. Could love be this simple? Yes, but know this, simple is not easy. This isn’t the first time this has happened though. When Jesus was teaching in Mark 12:28-31, the Pharisees were strict on the 622 do’s and don’t’s commandments. When one of the teachers of the law asked Jesus the most important commandment, Jesus gave only 2: “love God with all your heart, soul and mind and “love your neighbor as yourself.” He said all the other commandments can be fulfilled with these two.
So tonight I’m going to talk about a commandment that means a lot to me and speaks a lot of truth. It comes from Matthew 7:1-6. Sometimes we might have a problem in our own life, but we don’t see it right away, so we start to blame it on someone else. That’s what Jesus is talking about with the speck in your own eye. When we see that someone is doing something wrong in life, we notice it and start to judge them for it because they’re doing wrong . But what we don’t see is that we have done the same thing. And sometimes when we see that speck in their eye, we don’t see that we have a speck in our eye right now. It also says in Matthew 7:12 that if we did this we would naturally obey all the laws that talk about our realtionship with others. We should treat people like they should be treated. Because you want to treat people like you would want to be treated. You wouldn’t want people to pull your hair because that doesn’t feel good. But then if somebody does pull our hair, does that mean that you have the right to pull theirs? No. The Bible tells us in situations like that, we should turn the other cheek. It’s hard to physically turn the other cheek when you’re not getting treated the best. But that’s what Jesus has called us to do, and we have to obey His laws. When He calls us to be leaders and to be disciples of Christ, we can’t not live by His rules. Disobeying His laws wouldn’t be discipleship. So let’s be people that follow the rules that Jesus laid out for us. Let’s treat people like they should be treated. By being nice, showing love, and giving respect. Because in return, that’s what you want, don’t you? But you also have to keep in mind that you’re not doing it out of what you want coming back at you, but out of the kindness of your heart. You’re doing it because you truly do love them and care for them. It’s hard to love people that you don’t like, but that goes into another command that Jesus has laid before us. To love your neighbor as yourself. You’re not always going to agree and love all the people in the world, but Jesus calls us to show them respect and love just as He has done for us. Jesus continues to forgive us for our sins, so we should continue to love people when they sin. We should all give our problems to Jesus, for He cares for us and loves us so deeply. This all sounds simple, doesn’t it? So why as followers of Christ don’t we do it? Or maybe you’re asking: how do I do that? Keep it simple, but be ready to confront your own selfishness. Look for ways each day to love on your classmates and teammates and share the gospel. Start by praying and asking God to show you at least one lost peer. Then when God creates an opportunity to serve them or put them ahead of yourself, step out in faith. We love our neighbor when we are sensitive to their problems and are willing to help. Let’s lay our lives down for our classmates, teammates, and the people we meet. We love God when we love the lost in our world. So specifically look for ways to love people who are nothing like you. One preacher put it this way, “Jesus liked people who were nothing like him.” Let’s look for people to love and keep it simple. Imagine what our world would look like if we started loving people the way Jesus did. Simple but not easy, but wow is it fulfilling.
Let’s pray. Lord help us love your way. And let it not just be simple but let us glorify you though everything we do whether it’s sharing your Word or loving on someone everday. In Jesus name, amen.
