Sermon Tone Analysis
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Please turn to Luke 6:20
I’ve said this before, perspective is everything.
(Hold up picture) What you see … what I see are two different perspectives.
Isn’t that usually the case with God?
As we continue our Believe series, the Key Idea this week is:
“I believe all people are loved by God and need Jesus Christ as their Savior.”
I believe all people are loved by God and need Jesus Christ as their Savior.
We say it.
We hear it.
Do we believe it?
We know that’s the perspective that we’re supposed to have ….
I believe all people are loved by God and need Jesus Christ as their Savior.
Can I say that and mean it without exception?
Do I truly believe God loves the unlovables, the …? Do we really believe God hates the sin but loves the sinner?
Do I?
Perspective is everything.
For what God sees and what I see are often different perspectives.
He sees something in people that caused Him to say, “I will save them.”
“For in this way” - God didn’t just say it, or think it, didn’t just write about it - He took action, He actually did something.
And that is the precedence for genuine Godly love.
God’s love for people is always backed up by action.
- and so should ours.
It’s not a theory, it’s not just theology, it’s not something we say just to feel good.
God’s love for humanity is a reality and always backed up by action.
And if there is no other action we can find, we have the cross of Jesus Christ - and truthfully, that should be enough for there is no greater act of love.
But God did more than just the cross, and
His love for humanity is backed up by action primarily through whom?
The Church (i.e.
you and me).
God is still showing His love for people and their need for Jesus Christ through the Church.
Are we letting Him?
God’s actions are driven by love and faithfulness and a desire for all people to be saved.
His love is unique - has very little to do with us, and everything to do with Him.
And if His love is unique, what kind of love should I have?
A unique love that has little to do with others, but has everything to do with who I am as a follower of Christ.
If there is nothing unique about the love I have for others, then I might have the wrong perspective.
In Luke 6, Jesus spent the night praying.
In the morning, He called His disciples to Him.
And there was also a crowd wanting to be healed.
In the midst of all the busyness and the people and the coming and going, verse 20 …
We could talk a lot about persecution and being hated because of Christ, but we’re going to move on.
But I’ll say this, I believe one thing is Jesus telling us is that it could get really ugly for people who follow Christ.
Jesus, in a way is saying, “You want to follow me - that’s great.
But know this, following me will not win you a popularity contest.
You’re not going to be the cool kid.
You’re not going to be in the ‘in crowd.’
Probably won’t get any promotions.
Most likely, you’ll be hated and made fun of and ridiculed because of me.
Some of you will probably even die.”
How’s that for a motivational speech.
“Look, it’s going to get ugly, and when it does, perspective is everything.
There’s a certain way the world responds, but this is how I want you to respond.”
This is where a lot of people start questioning - what about this, what about that …? From one of my commentaries.
“If Christians took this one absolutely literally there would soon be a class of saintly paupers, owning nothing, and another of prosperous idlers and thieves.
It is not this that Jesus is seeking, but a readiness among his followers to give and give and give.
The Christian should never refrain from giving out of a love for his possessions.
Love must be ready to be deprived of everything if need be.
Of course, in a given case it may not be the way of love to give.
But it is love that must decide whether we give or withhold, not a regard for our possessions.”
The fact that we’re overly concerned about possessions reveals something doesn’t it?
The bigger issue is this - do I truly believe all people are loved by God?
Does He really love my enemies, those who hate me, spread rumors about me - does God really love those who have a grocery cart full of food in the express line (15 items or less) ….
Do I truly believe those who abuse and use me, slap me, steal from me, vote differently, think differently ….
Are all people really loved by God? Did Jesus really die for everyone?
It’s all about perspective!
The perspective from God’s point of view is yes!
And because God loves all people and because all people need Jesus Christ as their Savior, Jesus said …
1) Love your enemies.
Before we talk about loving our enemies, let’s identify our enemies.
Our real foe is Satan, demons and other spiritual forces of darkness (Eph.
6).
We are to battle against them, not love them.
However, and I don’t want to split hairs, but I believe Jesus is talking predominantly about people who oppose us because of Him - people who hate us because we’re Christian.
Not limiting it to that, but I think it helps answer some questions we often have.
Keep it in that context for today.
Let’s get technical for a while.
Don’t do this too often, but on occasion we need to.
The word love in verse 27 is ἀγαπᾶτε, agapate
(not to be confused with …).
Agapate is a variation of agapaō, which we would often say is that unconditional love, which is kind of our spin on the word.
It is
Unconditional, meaning that love is given regardless of the person’s state or the ability to reciprocate love.
But there’s a little bit more to agapaō than we often discuss.
Agapaō means to have strong affection or concern for, to cherish, or to take great interest in.
Jesus is saying, “I have a lot of affection for people; I care about them - cherish them; I’m genuinely interested in people - all people - even the bad guys.
So, love them how I would love them.”
For God was so interested in people, He had so much affection for all people that He gave His one and only Son ….
To have Christ-like love means to have a strong affection for, to be concerned about, to cherish and be greatly interested in.
Q - At this point, What are some questions we could ask ourselves?
Am I …?
Let’s get a little deeper.
We talked about what Jesus said, so now let’s look at how He said it - this will play a part in the rest of the sermon.
In verse 27,
A) Love is a verb.
It’s not something we say or feel, it’s something we do.
In Verse 27,
B) Love is in the present tense
- it’s always applicable to the Christian regardless of time or place.
In verse 27,
C) Love is in the active voice
, which means we are the doers.
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