Pastor Jann Braaksma
Love is a many splendor thing.
There is tough love and toxic love.
Love means never having to say you are sorry. Sorry, but I reject that one.
Hallmark would like you to think love is …..? (cards)
Brachs and R.S….? (chocolate)
Corner floral shop ….? (flowers)
Restaurant…..? (food/meal)
Discount store…..? (anything you buy from them)
Do you suppose the bible has anything to say about love? Sure it does!!
Let’s refresh our memories by hearing John 3:16 –
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
So to show us his love God sent flowers. No? A card? No? Chocolates? No?
Took us to a great buffet? No?
He gave us his son. His one and only Son. And what did Jesus give?
Yes, his life. His very life.
And like any gift, what is the cost to us? Nothing! Jesus gave his life, on our behalf, and it cost us nothing.
And it costs us everything. Salvation is free, free to all who will accept it.
Living a holy life takes the rest of our lives, and it costs us obedience to God’s will, seeking justice and wisdom. Not saying things, when we want to so badly. Perhaps it means not hitting someone, or even giving them “the look”.
By the way, what does John 3:17 say? “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Did King David love Bathsheba? Lust was first I think. David was not at war with his army, and Bathsheba was taking a bath outdoors. Not a good mixture do you think? (2 Sam. 11)
Lust led to adultery, adultery to a pregnancy, pregnancy to murder, murder to the death of a son, death to grief.
Yet even in their grief, and perhaps because of it, King David loved Bathsheba.
2 Samuel 13:24-25 tells us: “Then David comforted his wife Bathsheba and he went to her and lay with her. She gave birth to a son, and they named him Solomon. The Lord loved him;”
And who was born in the line of Solomon? Yes, Christ Jesus. I don’t like that my spiritual heritage has deceit, adultery, and murder in it, but it does. The bible is full of real people, living real lives, and sometimes it’s messy.
Before we leave King David, it is believed that he wrote Psalm 51 during or shortly after this time. And he wrote Psalm 32 to express the joy he felt after he was forgiven.
King David & Bathsheba’s story is quite different than Romans 5:3-5; let’s hear it now – “We rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”
God’s love, poured into our hearts, by the Holy Spirit, whom God has given us.
More gifts, more love, more free things to those who choose to believe in Jesus and Christ and Lord.
Another love story from the bible? Abraham and Sarah had one son, and his name was….? (Isaac)
Isaac married ….? (Rebekah)
And Genesis 24:67 says – “Isaac brought her into the tent of his mother Sarah, and he married Rebekah. So she became his wife, and he loved her; and Isaac was comforted after his mother’s death.”
They had never met, they didn’t grow up together, it was an arranged marriage.
But Isaac loved her and she gave him comfort when his mother died.
Another? When the turn came for Esther to go to the king, she asked for nothing other than what Hegai, the king’s eunuch who was in charge of the harem, suggested. And Esther won the favor of everyone who saw her. Now the king was attracted to Esther more than to any of the other women, and she won his favor and approval more than any of the other virgins. So he set a royal crown on her head and made her queen. (Esther 2)
Another? We’ll hear the reading, then you tell me who it’s about.
“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.” (Ruth 1:16-17)
Who was speaking? Ruth
Who was hearing? Naomi
And the happy ending of the story? “So Boaz took Ruth and she became his wife. Then he went to her, and the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son. The women said to Naomi: ‘Praise be to the Lord, who this day has not left you without a kinsman-redeemer. May he become famous throughout Israel! He will renew your life and sustain you in your old age. For your daughter-in-law, who loves you and who is better to you than seven sons, has given him birth.’”
Now for fun – you tell me your favorite bible verses about love, and I’ll see if I’ve got them on my list.
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. Deut. 6:5
Jesus replied: “’Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it; “Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Matt. 22:37-40; Mark 12:28
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. 1 Corn. 13:4-8
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Eph. 4:2
“I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” John 13:34
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Gal. 5:22
But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. Luke 6:27-28 & 35-36
Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Romans 12:9-10
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue 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. 1 John 4:7
Love your neighbor as yourself. Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. Romans 13:9b-10
We close today with our Life Application topic from the Wesley Study Bible, Loving God, page 1310.
Love is such an easy word to say and such a hard thing to do. Ultimately love shows itself not by declarations of affection but by the service we render to the one we profess to love, especially service that inconveniences us or that calls for sacrifice. What is true in expressions of human love is equally true of our love for God. Jesus put the matter quite simply: If we love him, we will keep his commandments (John 14:15). This is the kind of practical Christianity that characterizes the Wesleyan tradition at its best.
Let us pray.
Resources: Life Application Study Bible & The Wesley Study Bible