Love is . . .
Mark 12:30-31
February 13, 2022
If you’ve been to the stores since December 26, you’ve seen all of the displays. You can’t miss them, Valentine’s day is coming. Yet, as of Tuesday, it will be Easter stuff that is out, but good sales on candy!
With Valentine’s Day in mind, I wanted to look at love this week. Most of us would say we don’t need to go to the dictionary to look up the meaning of love. We know it. Yet, if I asked each of you to define love, we’d have lots of different definitions. There’s a multitude of definitions. Love can be a noun or a verb.
I don’t think it’s an easily defined word. Love has to do with God. It has to do with sex. It has to do with romance. It even has to do with tennis. There's a pretty wide range of what the definitions are.
Picture going on a romantic date and the guy wants to drop the L word.
You go to a nice dinner, walk around the lake, sit on a bench. It’s the perfect moment. But you wonder, will she really know the depth of your love. Saying “I love you” might not be enough. So, after looking in a dictionary, he looks into her eyes and says . . . “I have tender and passionate affections for you.” Somehow, that doesn't quite capture all that love is about.
In English we have only one word for love. That’s unfortunate. When you want to express the depths of your love, sometimes saying “I Love you” just doesn’t seem enough. You know what I mean?
The ancient Hebrews had the same dilemma. There was one Hebrew word. Everything about love in English and Hebrew has to be captured in the one word.
The Greeks had far more. There’s actually around 6 words. But I want to talk about 4 of them, then narrow it down to one.
Storge was a common word for love for Greeks. It may be the most frequently used word. It referred to the love between a parent and a child, especially between a mother and a child.
Then they had a different word for the love between really good friends. They used the word Phileo. It’s a word which expressed the depths of their friendship, care and compassion.
The Greeks had another word for a very strong passionate love: Eros. Eros means someone is drawn to another person sexually. This is where we get our word erotic. It’s the love between a husband and wife.
Then there’s the 4th major type of love. That’s Agape love.
Interestingly, this word was not used very much and was even lesser used in ancient Greek literature.
There’s really a huge difference in these types of love. Agape is not centered in the relationship to the other person or their attractiveness. Agape is centered on the person who does the loving.
Agape love is more than a feeling oriented love. When the Greeks used the word they talked especially about action, doing something that is for the benefit of another person.
In storge, phileo and eros - we gain something from that relationship. But agape love is different.
Agape is rooted in the person who is doing the loving. Agape love is great to receive. And it is supernatural to give. It’s great to receive because everyone loves to be loved. We may not all admit it, but I believe there’s a universal desire to be loved by all people.
Some want to be hugged. Others are glad to be touched. Others want to be known, to be thought of as important. We want it to matter whether we come in late or don't come home at all. We want to have someone who will believe in us. The problem with all of these things is that we have been made to believe that so much is dependent upon our desirability.
If we look good, if we have the right look, if we conform to societies norms, maybe we’ll have friends who want to be with us. Some are seeking their parents love if they meet their expectations. They hope to find love by being a workaholic.
But wouldn't it be great to just to be loved because you are you!? You don’t have to look good. You could be a mess. You don’t have to be politically correct. You don’t have to live in certain places. You don’t have to have a certain amount of money. You can be whatever size you are. You don’t need power and prestige. You don’t need any of that in order to be loved.
Wouldn't it be great just to be loved for being you? Even if someone knew everything about me? Even when I make strange comments or sounds. Wouldn't it be great to just be loved "as is?"
There is only one type of love that loves us "as is." That’s Agape love. It is a love that has, as its exclusive source, God. Paul tells us - -
6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die — 8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:5-8
There aren't many of us who would die for somebody else. Most of us would have pretty short lists. It takes an unusual love in an unusual person for a very good person to be willing to die. Think about it - - -
Two people have been very close friends, but one betrayed the other. Maybe took money or their reputation. Don't expect the other person is going to die for you. A couple was once in love, got married, expected the best, but there was abuse or deception and adultery. It ended in a harsh divorce. Are they really willing to die for one another?
Yet, that is exactly the way God has loved us. He loved us in spite of our rebellion against Him. He loved us knowing every bad thing about every one of us. God demonstrated His love for us in this, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us, "as is."
Have you ever looked at buying something used. Sometimes they have a sign on them saying “AS - IS!” That means you take what you get. It’s not going to be perfect at all.
You see, the amazing thing about God is not only does He loves us, but He loves us "as is." More than that, the amazing thing is not that God buys us, but God pays top price! Nobody pays top price for a car that is "as is." Nobody pays top dollar for a used computer in AS-IS condition.
And yet, that’s precisely what the love of God is all about. He knew that we were rotten inside and out. That we were rotten apples, yet He paid the highest price of all. He paid with His Son’s life.
That’s what agape love is. It’s outrageous love. The agape love of God not only loves us "as is," but agape love is all about God loving us in what He does. It’s not like the person who says I love you and then their actions show anything but love. Many of us have experienced that type of love. People who have said "I love you" but those are just words. There's behind that love. No actions showing love.
God tells us He loves us, and then He proves it. In 1 John 4, we read - - -
9 In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. - 1 John 4:9-10
That’s great news! God loves us and shows us His love. Jesus came for us in love. He’s the atoning sacrifice, the One who appeased God by doing in our place.
You see, that’s not natural behavior. Honestly, it’s not. Who would do that for a bunch of rotten apples. Those are put on the discount shelf at the store. Yet, God sent His Son, His one and only Son . . . for you and me.
It’s not normal. Seriously, it’s not natural to love someone who doesn't love you. It's not natural to give your very best when you could get by with a lot less. It's not natural to love someone who doesn't care. And it is not natural to give everything when there’s no guarantee that you’ll receive anything in return.
Understand this . . . it’s not natural, it’s supernatural. It’s the best that we can get. God loves us. How do we respond? What do we do with it? What difference does that make in our lives? Do we just take it for granted and know we’ve got a piece of heaven? Or do we become passionate and love God back!
In fact, as I was writing this I wondered if we could sincerely, honestly say “God, dear precious God, I love you! I love you! I love you!”
Could we say that and mean it? And if we do, then are you showing it to Him by your actions and attitudes?
One day a scribe asked Jesus, “which commandment is the most important of all?”
Jesus replied - -
30 And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” - Mark 12
This means we love God with everything we have. God is love, God has loved us with His words and His actions. Now we give love back to God and we love Him with our entire being. We love God with our heart / our emotions, our spirit / our soul, our mind / our intellect, and with our strength / our body. That covers who we are. We give God not some, but all of our love.
Then we go and we love others as well. We do the same for others, showing God’s love to them.
Loving others means loving them "as is." It means loving the rotten apples, the lemons, the stalks of celery. It means loving them even if they hate us. It means loving them not because they give us something or can do something for us, but because God is love and has loved us.
We now have the opportunity to love like God. We can be God to the world. We show the fullness of God in us. And that has the opportunity to change the world in the name of Jesus.
We read in 1 John 4:12 - - -
12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and His love is perfected in us. - 1 John 4:12
What’s really cool about this statement is the fact that no has ever seen God, but the way people can see God and experience God comes when they see the love of God in us. They see it in the way we love others, in the way we do our jobs, in the way we treat people. They see it in our character. They see it in our social media posts. There’s so many ways to show who Jesus is when we live our lives for Him.
Maybe this will make sense . . . at Christmas time we put up all of those lights on a wire. You know, 100 lights on one wire. From what I understand, the electricity comes into the wire then goes into the first bulb, and through the bulb and its filament and then back into the line on to the next bulb and so on. As it flows, not only into each of those lights but out of each of those lights, then the entire circuit is completed and the string of lights is bright.
BUT - ever have a loose light, or a filament that’s broken? Then when it receives the electricity it doesn't pass it along to others.
There's a sense in which that is the way that God has wired us. God has wired us to receive His love, but He’s also wired us to pass it along to others.
That’s what I see in this verse. God’s love is perfected in us. The word in Greek means - - to bring to an end, to complete, perfect. So God’s love is made perfect or made complete in us. We now have the opportunity to not only receive God’s love, but to pass it on to others.
In John 13, Jesus said - - -
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.” - John 13:34-35
That's how the world sees who we are in Christ. That’s how they experience the Bible. That’s how they experience Jesus. You are the Bible! You are Jesus! You represent God in all you do. That’s how we tell the world who Jesus is. Sometimes it’s with words, but more often than not, it’s with our actions as God’s love flows through us.
This is the part of the sermon where I’m supposed to give you some fancy acrostic with the word love which tells you how to love those rotten apples. But and I’m just going to be real . . . most of us have tried that and we’ve been hurt over and over again and we’re pretty cynical about helping those people.
And now you’re feeling guilty that you’re tuning me out and tuning God out. But don’t feel guilty, well, just a bit!
Seriously, this is what I want you to do if you’re feeling stuck, cynical, and beaten up. And I’m being really serious here . . .
I don’t want you to try to love those people. Instead I want you to go to God and seek Him. Seek His presence, seek His grace, seek His compassion, seek His tender loving care, seek His strength and power.
Pray and ask God to fill you, because you’re running on empty. You’ve only got fumes left in you and you don’t know how you’re going to do it.
So, let the God of agape love, the God who came to love you. Remember agape love is more about the person doing the loving. So, let God do the loving. Experience the power of His restoration and redemption. Be recharged and refreshed. Be rejuvenated.
See what I did. Follow the 6 R’s - -
Restored Redeemed Renewed
Refreshed Recharged Rejuvenated
Ask and you will receive. Ask to be filled until His love is oozing out of you.
Just sense the love of God "as is." You don't have to pretend. You don't have to be anybody special. Just experience and receive His love. Give thanks as you pray, Lord fill me, fill my cup and make me whole.
