The Cross and Love
Give yourself to others for their good, expecting nothing in return1
July 23, 2006
John 3:16-18
[NIV] 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. 17 For God did not send his Son into the
world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. 18 Whoever believes in
him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because
he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
Jesus’ death on the cross is God’s act of love towards us and he did it without any
guarantee that any of us would get the point and respond.
Let’s face it, it makes no sense that an Almighty God would denigrate himself by coming to
earth; and then make it worse by allowing himself to be executed for something he didn’t
do.
One of the major problems the Jews had with Jesus as the Messiah is their expectation that
the Messiah would restore the Kingdom of Israel in Jerusalem. They didn’t grasp the idea
that the Messiah’s kingdom would not be of this world.
To truly understand what love is, we need to recognize the difference between how see
things and how God sees things. Because the stuff we talk about doesn’t make sense to the
world we live in.
E.G.
Leroy Garrett essay on “The Absurdity of Faith.”
Romans 12
[NIV] 1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living
sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual[a] act of worship. 2 Do not
conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of
your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good,
pleasing and perfect will.
1
see GTP New Covenant, The Enigma of Translation
The Cross and Love, July 16, 2006
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1 Peter 3:15-18 -- give answer for what you believe; contrasts body v spirit
[NIV] 13 Who is going to harm you if you are eager to do good? 14 But even if you should
suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be
frightened.” 15 But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an
answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do
this with gentleness and respect, 16 keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak
maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. 17 It
is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil. 18 For Christ
died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was
put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit,
Suffering for doing good. Now there’s a concept that contrasts the perspective of the world
versus the perspective of the Spirit. Doesn’t the world do good, in order to get credit for it?
It certainly doesn’t do good so it can suffer.
2 Corinthians 5 [NIV] -- worldly point of view
NIV
11 Since, then, we know what it is to fear the Lord, we try to persuade men. What we are
is plain to God, and I hope it is also plain to your conscience. 12 We are not trying to
commend ourselves to you again, but are giving you an opportunity to take pride in us, so
that you can answer those who take pride in what is seen rather than in what is in the
heart. 13 If we are out of our mind, it is for the sake of God; if we are in our right mind,
it is for you. 14 For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for
all, and therefore all died. 15 And he died for all, that those who live should no longer
live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
The worldly point of view relies on what is seen, but God relies upon what is in the heart –
that’s the spiritual point of view. This is the reason God tells us not to judge each other –
because He judges the heart, and all we know is what people do or what they say. This is
why we need to be so forgiving, because we don’t know someone’s heart.
Have you ever tried to help someone with a problem their having, but it just doesn’t come
out right and what you do makes the problem worse?
E.G.
Linda tells me a problem, I give her a solution – but what she really wants is for me
just to listen to her problem and empathize.
NIV
16 So from now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once
regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who
reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that
God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.
And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s
ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on
Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us,
so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
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Have you ever done something for someone – but they didn’t notice – so you react by
saying to yourself (or maybe aloud), “Well, that’s didn’t do much good.” Or, “That didn’t
make any difference.” This is us thinking like the world. We do to and for others
expecting them to appreciate what we’ve done and give us credit for it.
E.G.
Making window well cover, then, making sure Linda saw and was dutifully
impressed with my handiwork.
E.G.
heart v impact in worship, music ministry, music survey
1 Peter 4:6 -- contrasts life in the flesh v life in the spirit
NIV
1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in his body, arm yourselves also with the same attitude,
because he who has suffered in his body is done with sin. 2 As a result, he does not live
the rest of his earthly life for evil human desires, but rather for the will of God. 3 For you
have spent enough time in the past doing what pagans choose to do—living in
debauchery, lust, drunkenness, orgies, carousing and detestable idolatry. 4 They think it
strange that you do not plunge with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they
heap abuse on you. 5 But they will have to give account to him who is ready to judge the
living and the dead. 6 For this is the reason the gospel was preached even to those who
are now dead, so that they might be judged according to men in regard to the body, but
live according to God in regard to the spirit.
God’s desire is that we live in this world according to the Spirit, rather than living in this
world according to the ways of the world. One of the questions I try to ask as I work my
way through life, is: Am I seeing this situation the way the world see it, or the way God
sees it?
God’s Love for Us
Hosea -- Gods unconditional love in the Old Covenant
Hosea 6:6 [MSG] – I’m after love that lasts, not more religion. I want you to know
GOD, not go to more prayer meetings.
God’s grace towards us is the result of His love for us.
The Cross
o This is an example of God doing something for us without any commitment
from us that we would respond.
Obedience is our response to the Cross.
o Obedience is not relevant until we acknowledge the facts of the Cross;
o Until we have not fallen humbly on our knees, seeking to do whatever God
wants us to do, because of what he did for us on the Cross, obedience is not
even appropriate to talk about.
o But, remember, the Cross is evidence of God’s love
o Now, what are God’s commands, which we’re supposed to obey?
Is it the Ten Commandments?
The Cross and Love, July 16, 2006
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Is the minutia delineated in the Torah?
Is it the hundreds of regulations in the Talmud, all promulgated by
men?
Matthew 22:34-40
John 13:34-35
NIV: 34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must
love one another. 35 By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one
another.”
Notice, he doesn’t say people will know we’re Jesus’ disciples
because we tell them we are;
because we preach the gospel;
because we attend worship services every Sunday;
because we attend mid-week services;
because we are part of a family group;
because we’ve been baptized;
And I’m not saying any of those things are bad.
Jesus doesn’t say people will know we’re his disciples
because we follow some set of rules that some person laid down, based upon their
personal interpretation of the Text.
Because we’re a member of one church rather than another.
But Jesus says, people will know we are his disciples if we love each other. And he’s not
saying if we love our families; or if we love other disciples; there is no limitation on who
“each other” refers to. Remember the parable of the good Samaritan.
Jesus loved us by going to the cross. And what does he ask of us in response? Well, we can
probably all quote Matthew 28:19
Matthew 28 The Great Commission
NIV
16 Then the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had told them
to go. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. 18 Then Jesus
came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19
Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father
The Cross and Love, July 16, 2006
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and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have
commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.
But the question this raises is “what did Jesus command?”
In the NIV translation of the New Testament, Jesus is quoted as saying, “I command” only
a few times.
Twice, He commands evil spirits to leave someone
He commanded the sick to heal and the dead to arise
He commanded Peter to put down his sword in the Garden
He commanded us to love.
Don’t forget John 13, that we just read, but we can also look at this:
John 15:9-17
NIV: 9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you
obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s
commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you
and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have
loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants,
because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends,
for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16 You did not
choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.
Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17 This is my command:
Love each other.
This is Jesus’ only command to everyone. This command applies to all of us. No
exceptions. No excuses. No exclusions.
But how do we love each other. What does loving mean? The reality is we spend our entire
life figuring that out. Because the struggle of the Christian life is figuring out how to love
every moment we’re here.
Definitions2 of love
Eros – intrinsically selfish love reaching out to possess an object for its own
satisfaction and self-enhancement.
Philia – affection among friends.
Philadelphia – love between brothers and sisters.
Stergo – family affection
Philanthropia – love for humanity.
Agape – love arising out of the will rather than the emotions, which expresses itself
in action.
2
Charles Corwin, quoted in “The Enigma of Translation” Galilee Translation Project.
The Cross and Love, July 16, 2006
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Agape is not about feeling good. It’s not soft and mushy. It’s not cute and sweet. It’s not
why you marry your sweetheart. Agape is about something you decide. It comes from
your will. Your head. It is an act. It is something you do. Agape is how a Christian lives
their life – or least tries to live their life.
This is why you’ve heard me talk about love as “giving yourself to others for their good,
expecting nothing in return.” That is agape.
Sometimes, giving yourself to others, for their good, expecting nothing in return means
doing the hardest thing. Sometimes big things. Sometimes small things.
Building a Habitat House
Hope Worldwide trip to Indonesia tsunami region
Hope Worldwide Operation Safeplace in Biloxi
Katrina Hurricane response
Not getting bent out of shape when you don’t get the service you deserve at a
restaurant or store; e.g. frustration with customer service contact centers.
Not yelling at the driver in the car in front of you, just because they don’t drive the
way you do – especially when your kids are in the back seat.
Giving up your seat on MetroRail, even though you were there first.
Helping your spouse in the kitchen, even when you come home from work tired.
Not getting angry at your spouse, just because they’re not helping you the way you
think they should.
o Describe scene from “The Breakup,” Vince Vaughn and Jennifer Anniston:
“I want you to want to do the dishes.” “Why would I want to do the dishes?”
o Recall Jesus’ Parable about the Father who asked his two sons to help in the
field. The first son said no, but ultimately went. The second son said yes, but
never showed.
Telling your friends things you know they don’t want to hear, because they need to
hear them, and not because you’d do it differently.
Not responding “in kind,” when someone is upset with you or your behavior.
Turning the other cheek.
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Responding with kindness when someone
mistreats you.
Do unto others as you want them to do to
you – not do unto others before they do to
you – not do unto others because they do
to you.
Random Acts of Kindness -www.actsofkindness.org
Pay It Forward -- movie with Helen Hunt,
Kevin Spacey, Haley Joel Osment -www.payitforwardfoundation.org
Kind of like a multi-level marketing program (diagram)
WHAT IS “PAY IT FORWARD”?3
“Pay It Forward” is a book written by Catherine Ryan Hyde, but it's also an idea. It's an action plan within a
work of fiction. But does it have to be fiction? We're hoping not. In fact, since the book was released in
January of 2000, a real-life social movement has emerged, not just in the U.S. but worldwide. What began
as a work of fiction has already become much more.
Reuben St. Clair, the teacher and
protagonist in the book “Pay It
Forward,” starts a movement with this
voluntary, extra-credit assignment:
THINK OF AN IDEA FOR WORLD
CHANGE, AND PUT IT INTO
ACTION. Trevor, the 12-year-old hero
of “Pay It Forward,” thinks of quite an
idea. He describes it to his mother and
teacher this way: "You see, I do
something real good for three people.
And then when they ask how they can
pay it back, I say they have to Pay It
Forward. To three more people. Each.
3
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
People Paying
1
3
9
27
81
243
729
2,187
6,561
19,683
59,049
177,147
531,441
1,594,323
4,782,969
14,348,907
43,046,721
129,140,163
387,420,489
1,162,261,467
3,486,784,401
People Receiving
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
x
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
3
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
=
3
9
27
81
243
729
2,187
6,561
19,683
59,049
177,147
531,441
1,594,323
4,782,969
14,348,907
43,046,721
129,140,163
387,420,489
1,162,261,467
3,486,784,401
10,460,353,203
Washington Metro Area < 4 million
US Population < 300 million
World Population < 5 billion
http://www.payitforwardfoundation.org/home.html
The Cross and Love, July 16, 2006
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So nine people get helped. Then those people have to do twenty-seven." He turned on the calculator,
punched in a few numbers. "Then it sort of spreads out, see. To eighty-one. Then two hundred forty-three.
Then seven hundred twenty-nine. Then two thousand, one hundred eighty-seven. See how big it gets?"
This is the essence of the Christian life. It is the essence of evangelism. But we don’t see it
this way because we miss the radical nature of agape – giving yourself to others, for their
good, expecting nothing in return.
Under the old covenant, God continued to give himself to the children of Israel, in spite of
their unfaithfulness. He expected nothing in return and often received nothing in return.
Jesus inaugurated the new covenant by giving himself for us, for our good, to re-establish a
righteous relationship between us and God, expecting nothing in return for his sacrifice.
Then Jesus asked us to do only one thing – love God and each other the way He and God
have loved us – giving ourselves to others for their good, expecting nothing in return.
1 Corinthians 3
[NIV]: 4 For when one says, “I follow Paul,” and another, “I follow Apollos,” are you not mere
men? 5 What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you
came to believe—as the Lord has assigned to each his task. 6 I planted the seed, Apollos
watered it, but God made it grow. 7 So neither he who plants nor he who waters is
anything, but only God, who makes things grow. 8 The man who plants and the man
who waters have one purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor. 9
For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.
When I was in college, admittedly a few years back, I studied
communications theory. Part of that study was a study in persuasion.
Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs – Our willingness to
change our opinion on any given issue depends in part on
how important that opinion is to us.
Theory of conversion – people who change opinions on a
significant matter, dramatically and suddenly rarely continue to hold to the new
position. People, who change their view incrementally over a period of time, tend to
hold to the new position.
Theory of Conversion
The men who studied the theory of conversion
only discovered what God already knew.
The message I have for you today is to give
yourselves to others, for their good, expecting
nothing in return; to be prepared to give an
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answer for the hope that is within you (because if you do give yourself the way Jesus did,
someone will ask you why you do what you do); and then learn to wait for God to give the
increase.
John 3:16
GTP: God gave himself to the people of the world, for their good, expecting nothing in return,
by giving up his one and only son. Every person who commits himself to Jesus will not
be destroyed. Instead, that person will have eternal life.
Matthew 22:36-40
[NIV] 36“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
37Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and
with all your mind.’4 38This is the first and greatest commandment. 39And the second is
like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’5 40All the Law and the Prophets hang on these
two commandments.”
[GTP] Teacher, what is the most important command in the law?
Jesus answered them, “You must give yourself to the Lord your God, for His good,
expecting nothing in return, with all your heart, with all your soul (or life), and with all
your mind. This is the most important command. The second most important command
is like it: You must give yourself to your neighbor, for his good, expecting nothing in
return, the same way you give to yourself. These two commands are the foundation of
the whole law and the prophets.”
4
5
Deuteronomy 6:5
Leviticus 19:18
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