Norman Vincent Peale used to tell a story about a missionary in Africa who received a beautiful seashell as a gift from a student. He had walked a long way to the coast of Africa to get the special shell for his teacher. "You’ve traveled so far to bring me such a wonderful present," the missionary teacher told him. "Teacher," the boy replied, "long walk part of gift!"
There have been many long walks in my life; mostly, I’ve been on the receiving end. Many folks have shared the blessings of life with me and my family. The one that stands out far above all of them is the long walk that JESUS took for me. His walk was to the limit of love, when He went to Calvary’s hill.
The beloved apostle John had a lot to say about the long walk of love:
9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:9 - 11 (NRSV)
These verses tell us that God loved us and presents the conclusion that God thought love was priority one; so we ought to love each other.
There isn’t a person in this church who would disagree with the fact that love is a good thing – even perhaps the most important thing we can have in our lives. But, if I asked you to DEFINE love, could you do it in eight million words or less? Perhaps, for most of us, it is much more possible to explain the EFFECTS OF love (how it FEELS to be loved) rather than to try to give a definition.
So let’s investigate what Jesus meant when He whispered to John’s heart to write down that we ought to love one another.
Note the BIBLICAL CHARACTERISTICS of a walk in Christian love.
HONESTY
23So when you are offering your gift at the altar, if you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, 24leave your gift there before the altar and go; first be reconciled to your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23 - 24 (NRSV)
These words of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount are called the "law of the New Testament". Love can only be expressed to another; we cannot keep it inside. Notice how Jesus says that when we discover that a fellow believer has something against us, it is OUR responsibility to start the reconciliation process. I call this the HONESTY OF FULL DISCLOSURE.
Today many folks are not willing to take the trouble it demands to start reconciliation. Leo Buscaglia said; "I have a very strong feeling that the opposite of love is not hate – its apathy.” When we are too afraid, or too tired, or too busy, or too proud to begin the process of getting it right with a fellow-believer, we are not moving in an attitude of love.
It is not a mystery why folks, don’t want tc be the one to start reconciling; you become quite vulnerable. That goes against human principles of survival. We would rather be safe and protected than to reach out and be in danger. Someone who is willing to stand up and say the words that will honestly get folks stirred-up and thinking about what it takes to make things better, is usually about as secure as a sugar-coated fly in a spider’s nest.
But love, HONEST, GENUINE LOVE, is determined to set things right, and won’t rest until there is a reunion of spirits.
It is easy enough to sit back and do nothing. And that’s all that is necessary when your aim is to let a relationship deteriorate until its’ too late. It’s the same principle you find in much of life:
• With an automobile; if you want to see it break-down, just don’t pay attention to its needs.
• If you want to starve, don’t plant and cultivate;
• if you like cancer, don’t worry about regulating the dump¬ing of hazardous waste.
And if you prefer misunderstanding, strife and a continual state of conflict, where no ministry can take place, JUST DO NOTHING! It’ll come your way by and by.
But that’s not good enough for love. Chris¬tian love says we are accountable to each other. We can never let irritations and our human differences separate us. We were chosen by our Lord for higher things, greater things. We MUST settle our differences. Jesus said we shouldn’t carry out the façade of worship if we are carrying a grudge inside. Our worship is unacceptable, and our prayers are not heard; our religion is empty when we haven’t been honest enough to settle our differences.
Pierre Renoir, the great French painter, suffered from crippling arthritis when he was old. His friend Henry Matisse watched while Renoir weakly grasped a brush with only his fingertips, continuing to paint, even though each movement caused stab¬bing pain. One day Matisse asked Renoir why he persisted in painting at the expense of such torture. Renoir said: "the pain passes, but the beauty remains." Honesty is like that when we face our relationship problems and are bold enough to work thru them. The pain will pass...the beauty of brothers joined will never fade!
Hope
It [love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7 (NRSV)
When you "hope" for someone it’s not just wishful thinking. It means you BELIEVE in that believer. It means that you see that person as God sees him, clothed in the righteousness of Jesus Christ.
One of the early church leaders who saw the judgmental attitude of another church leader said "Call no man common for whom Christ died". If Jesus thought every person was worth dying for, we, who say we are His disciples ought to love in the same way. That is part of the walk. :
A man gave his wife a dress for Christmas. It was a size 12 (and she was a "snug" 18). "How-did you know the size to buy?" she asked. "It was easy", he answered, "I saw a saleswoman who looked your size, and I bought the size she wore." The wife made some alterations and wore the dress for years. Every time she wore it she was reminded of the love that looked past her imperfections.
Christian hope, or believing in each other as God believes in each of us, is something that sweetens life. It is the telltale characteristic relationship between believers. It is found in the person who will say an encouraging word. I know a saint who modestly denies having any spiritual gifts, yet is always the first to speak an encouraging word – even in the most discouraging circumstances. That is Christian hope!
A number of letters were discovered in an attic. They were written by a mother to her children just after the Civil War had ended. Those were dark, emotionally-charged days; hard days. She ended each letter with "Have I told you recently just what a wonderful person you are?” This is Christian hope!
Humility
5Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, 6who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form, 8he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death — even death on a cross. Philippians 2:5 - 8 (NRSV)
Paul encourages us to have the same attitude that Jesus had. Jesus was willing to look past the petty irritations of human personal¬ity and see the potential of his disciples…all of us!
Peter the unschooled fisher¬man, and Matthew the hated tax collector were not the kind to inspire immediate confidence. Yet somehow Jesus looked past their present state to what they COULD BECOME. I read about a minister who was busy in his study preparing a sermon. He remembered he had left a needed book in another room. He called his little daughter and explained carefully where she could find the book. She went gladly, re¬turning in a moment...with the WRONG BOOK. He hardly looked at the book, but kissed his daughter, Thank you, darlin’. When she left he quietly went for the book.
Our text says Jesus humbled himself. That means he looked past our lower nature, our faults, and saw what WE could be. And that is why He went to the cross. Humility makes forgiving easier. Humility is recognizing God has forgiven you in Jesus Christ even though we don’t deserve it. When we accept that love from God, then God EXPECTS us to be forgiv¬ing! Many of us have those snapshots in our memory banks, pictures of things others have done. It takes the humility of looking past those faults to see what Christ wants to make of your brother. It takes humility to begin the process of rec¬onciliation.
Bill and Gloria Gaither wrote a song that expresses this so well:
"I said if you knew me you wouldn’t want me.
There are scars so deep you wouldn’t dare.
You said ’My child, my scars go deeper,
It was love for you that put them there’.
Forgiven, I repeat, I’m forgiven,
And clean before my Lord, I now can stand.
Forgiven, I can now forgive my brother,
Forgiven, I reach out to take your hand.
I am loved, I am loved,
I can risk loving you.
For the One who knows me best loves me most.
I am loved, I am loved,
Won’t you please take my hand
We are free to love each other We are loved.
If ever we are to take a long walk towards loving each other, it will be because of the kind of humility that realizes Christ has forgiven us, looked past our faults, and loved us!
The greatest earthly treasure I have is not material, nor power, nor anything which can be possessed at all. It is the simple assurance of knowing that I am loved in such a way, so that no mat¬ter what VALLEYS I go thru, no matter what gaping holes there are in my ABILITIES, or how FAR SHORT I may fall by the world’s standards; there are those who believe the Lord will turn my failure into fruit, and are willing to have a part of that with me. These are called friends who are willing to take a long walk with me to the limits of love.
Jesus patiently went to, and beyond, the lim¬its of love for us all. Our mission in life as Jesus’ followers is to seek to walk that way as well.
What we’ve seen in these scriptures today are some of those ways:
• Honesty that will say the truth in love
• Humility that will willingly forgive because of being forgiven
• Hope that will believe for the best in my brother and sister.
How can you go wrong if you follow the example of Jesus? If we will walk to the limits of love we will find…
• WAYS to LIFT each other
• WAYS to LIKE and LOVE each other...
• and WAYS to LOOK AFTER each other. . .and LOOK OVER each other
• while being willing to OVERLOOK each other’s faults.
All in love; all to the glory of God. It’s a long walk, but it’s worth it!
