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What's Love Got to Do With it?
Shaun Rossi // The Gospel of John
We are called to love one another as Christ has loved us.
“31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”
— John 13:31-38
Sermon OutlineI. Love Displays the Glory fo the Cross vv 31-34a
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”
— John 12:23
“far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”
— Ephesians 1:21
II. Love Defines the Quality of our Mission vv 34-35
“the Mark of the Christian” and in it he argues that love is the true mark of the Christian and that the loving church is the most persuasive apologetic of the Gospel. He writes: “Love—and the unity it attests to—is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.”
— Francis Shaeffer
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
— Galatians 3:28
III. Love Displays A Commitment for the Good of Others vv 36-39
“25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
— Ephesians 5:25-27
Can I love those i don’t like?
Living in a sinful world presents us with many difficult situations that require prayerful wisdom to obey Jesus’ command to “love one another”. Fore example: Does loving someone require that I like that person? Does it mean that I must become a close friend with a difficult person? By looking at Jesus’ example, we must conclude, “Not necessarily.” While He loved all people, He did not give His time equally to all. He spent the most time with His disciples, but even among the twelve, He was closer to Peter, James, and John. And John is the only one called, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:1, 23) So, yes! By God’s grace you can love those you do not “like” or those you are not “close with”— just as Christ loved us “while we were still sinners”. (Romans 5:8)
C.S. Lewis on Self-Giving LoveIn The Problem of Pain, C:S. Lewis talks about God being self-giving, giving himself in the sacrifice of the cross. He writes,
“In self-giving, if anywhere, we touch a rhythm not only of all creation but of all being. For the Eternal Word also gives Himself in sacrifice, and that not only on Calvary.”
To give yourself in a fallen world may mean pain and suffering. Loving anyone is a risky thing. When you make yourself vulnerable, you could get hurt. Love is never seized apart from courage.
Lewis knew about the pain of loving. He lost his mother around the age of nine. He lost Paddy Moore, a close friend he fought with in World War I. He lost his father. And, by no means least, he lost his beloved wife Joy to cancer.
Despite these tragic losses, Lewis says this about love in The Four Loves:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be broken. If you want to be sure to keep it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglement, lock it up safe in the casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change.”
Lewis continues:
“It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the perturbation of love is Hell.”
You must allow love to cast out fear (I John 4:8) of being hurt and look to the cross for the motivation to love others as He loved us.
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By United Community ChurchShaun Rossi // The Gospel of John
We are called to love one another as Christ has loved us.
“31 When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now is the Son of Man glorified, and God is glorified in him. 32 If God is glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself, and glorify him at once. 33 Little children, yet a little while I am with you. You will seek me, and just as I said to the Jews, so now I also say to you, ‘Where I am going you cannot come.’ 34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” 36 Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, where are you going?” Jesus answered him, “Where I am going you cannot follow me now, but you will follow afterward.” 37 Peter said to him, “Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for you.” 38 Jesus answered, “Will you lay down your life for me? Truly, truly, I say to you, the rooster will not crow till you have denied me three times.”
— John 13:31-38
Sermon OutlineI. Love Displays the Glory fo the Cross vv 31-34a
“The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified”
— John 12:23
“far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.”
— Ephesians 1:21
II. Love Defines the Quality of our Mission vv 34-35
“the Mark of the Christian” and in it he argues that love is the true mark of the Christian and that the loving church is the most persuasive apologetic of the Gospel. He writes: “Love—and the unity it attests to—is the mark Christ gave Christians to wear before the world. Only with this mark may the world know that Christians are indeed Christians and that Jesus was sent by the Father.”
— Francis Shaeffer
“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
— Galatians 3:28
III. Love Displays A Commitment for the Good of Others vv 36-39
“25 Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, 27 so that he might present the church to himself in splendour, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”
— Ephesians 5:25-27
Can I love those i don’t like?
Living in a sinful world presents us with many difficult situations that require prayerful wisdom to obey Jesus’ command to “love one another”. Fore example: Does loving someone require that I like that person? Does it mean that I must become a close friend with a difficult person? By looking at Jesus’ example, we must conclude, “Not necessarily.” While He loved all people, He did not give His time equally to all. He spent the most time with His disciples, but even among the twelve, He was closer to Peter, James, and John. And John is the only one called, “the disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:1, 23) So, yes! By God’s grace you can love those you do not “like” or those you are not “close with”— just as Christ loved us “while we were still sinners”. (Romans 5:8)
C.S. Lewis on Self-Giving LoveIn The Problem of Pain, C:S. Lewis talks about God being self-giving, giving himself in the sacrifice of the cross. He writes,
“In self-giving, if anywhere, we touch a rhythm not only of all creation but of all being. For the Eternal Word also gives Himself in sacrifice, and that not only on Calvary.”
To give yourself in a fallen world may mean pain and suffering. Loving anyone is a risky thing. When you make yourself vulnerable, you could get hurt. Love is never seized apart from courage.
Lewis knew about the pain of loving. He lost his mother around the age of nine. He lost Paddy Moore, a close friend he fought with in World War I. He lost his father. And, by no means least, he lost his beloved wife Joy to cancer.
Despite these tragic losses, Lewis says this about love in The Four Loves:
“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be broken. If you want to be sure to keep it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries, avoid all entanglement, lock it up safe in the casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change.”
Lewis continues:
“It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the perturbation of love is Hell.”
You must allow love to cast out fear (I John 4:8) of being hurt and look to the cross for the motivation to love others as He loved us.
Back to Bulletin