Sermon Tone Analysis
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/This morning I begin by sharing a newspaper column written by Chuck Simmons entitled “No Greater Love” from the Birmingham Examiner: /
/ /On Dec. 4, 2006, Ross McGinnis…was manning the machine gun on a Humvee while his unit was on a mission in Baghdad.
A grenade was thrown from a rooftop and went into the hatch alongside him and into the vehicle.
McGinnis called out a warning, but he was the only soldier to see where the explosive had landed.
He had time to jump off the Humvee, but instead dropped down into the hatch.
Pressing his back against the equipment where the grenade was lodged, he absorbed the entire blast and died instantly.
His fellow soldiers, four in total, escaped.
His superiors were quick to recognize the special nature of McGinnis’ actions.
Soon the president of the United States will present the military’s highest award for valor, the Medal of Honor, to the parents and family of Spc.
Ross McGinnis.
It will be covered by a few media outlets…but the men he saved, his unit, thel\ First Infantry Division…will remember McGinnis far longer.
Someday, somewhere, a little boy or girl will be told the tale of Ross McGinnis by his or her father, and the child will marvel at this hero, as we all should.
[i]
/Tomorrow our nation sets aside a day known as Memorial Day, a holiday to remember all the heroes in our nation’s armed services, both past and present.
Not all of them receive medals from the President, but all of them deserve the honor of being remembered for their service to their country.
They deserve to be honored because they lived out the words of Jesus Christ that are found in *John 15:13*.
This morning I want us to look a little closer at what these words say, what they mean, and how they can be lived out in our own lives.
/
*PRAYER*
* *Clarity is absolutely essential to communication.
During their golden anniversary party the husband wanted to tell his wife just how he felt about her.
She was very hard of hearing, however, and often misunderstood what he had to say.
With many family members and friends gathered around, he toasted her: "My dear wife, after fifty years I’ve found you tried and true!" Everyone smiled approval, but his wife said, "Eh?"
He repeated in a louder voice, "AFTER FIFTY YEARS I'VE FOUND YOU TRIED AND TRUE!" Her face formed a big frown as she shot back, "Well, let me tell you something-after fifty years I'm pretty tired of you, too!"[ii]
Clarity is absolutely essential to communication—especially when you’re talking about love or when you’re talking about the Bible.
We need to take time to think through what Jesus says about love in this verse.
* *Let’s begin with the context.*
*Jesus is speaking to His nearest friends and followers on the night He is betrayed, shortly before He is crucified.
*John 13-17* record one last conversation Jesus has with them in which He tries to explain what is about to happen, and why it will happen.
I say He’s trying to explain because they’re just not getting it.
They’re confused, and scared, and He tries to comfort and encourage them.
When you read Jesus’ words, you get the picture of a parent, trying to calm down their fretful, frightened children.
It is in this context Jesus says the words of *John 15:13*.
Notice first how Jesus speaks about love in the highest degree.
We use the word /love /to talk about all kinds of things: I love pizza, I love my cat, I love my wife, I love the Lord.
Obviously I don’t mean the same thing every time I use the word /love.
/Love can take many different forms.
But love also has varying degrees, from highest to lowest.
Jesus focuses on the highest love one person can have for another.
What makes this love the greatest?
/It is love that makes a choice./
This love is more than just emotional, it is volitional, more than just what you feel, it’s what you choose.
This love involves feelings, but it also involves your will.
You can lose your life by accident, but you can only lay down your life by choice.
/ It is love in action.
/This world is littered with letters, cards, songs, and lips that all profess the greatest love, but the real test is not in what is /said/, but what is /done/.
Laying down your life is not just a feeling you have inside, but is something you /do./
/ It is love that costs.
/On Valentine’s Day some people give expensive gifts as an expression of love: gold, diamond rings, dozens of roses, boxed candy.
But this kind of love offers the one it loves what is supremely valuable.
What is worth more to us than our lives?
This kind of love is the greatest because it costs the most.
The other forms and degrees of love have their place.
It’s OK to say you love your pet, or you love football.
But Jesus tells us the highest love is expressed when a person chooses to offer the costliest sacrifice of all—/your life.
/
In his book /Written in Blood/, Robert Coleman tells the story of a little boy whose sister needs a blood transfusion.
The doctor explains that she has the same disease the boy recovered from two years earlier.
Her only chance for recovery is a transfusion from someone who had previously conquered the disease.
"Would you give your blood to Mary?" the doctor asks.
Johnny hesitates.
His lower lip starts to tremble.
Then he smiles and says, "Sure, for my sister."
The two children are wheeled into the hospital room--Mary, pale and thin; Johnny, robust and healthy.
Neither speaks, but when their eyes meet, Johnny grins.
As the nurse inserts the needle into his arm, Johnny's smile fades.
He watches the blood flow through the tube.
With the ordeal almost over, his voice slightly shaky, Johnny finally breaks the silence.
"Doctor, when do I die?"
Only then does the doctor realize that Johnny believes giving his blood to his sister means giving up his life.[iii]
This is the kind of love Jesus is talking about: not just warm fuzzy feelings, but a choice to willingly lay down your life for the sake of somebody else.
But Jesus didn’t just talk about this kind of love—He shows us what this kind of love looks like in action.
He shows this love to His disciples.
They will all walk to the Garden of Gethsemane, where He will pray, and a mob will come out to arrest Him.
As He and His followers are surrounded by guards Jesus will say in
*Jn 18:7-9 */7// …“Whom are you seeking?”
And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.”
8Jesus answered, “I have told you that I am He.
Therefore, if you seek Me, let these go their way,” 9that the saying might be fulfilled which He spoke, “Of those whom You gave Me I have lost none.”/
/ /*Luke 22: 50-51* records how Peter draws a sword and cuts off a man’s ear—an offense which would surely get him arrested.
But Jesus heals the man’s ear, and Peter escapes with the rest while they carry Jesus off to die.
Jesus lays down His own life for His friends.
In a much bigger way, Jesus laid down His life not just for those 11 men, but for all of us whom He wants to call His friends.
The prophet Isaiah paints a vivid picture of how and why He did this in
*Is 53:4-6 */4//Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted.
5But *He* was wounded for *our* transgressions, *He* was bruised for *our *iniquities; The chastisement for *our* peace was *upon Him*, And by *His* stripes *we* are healed.
6All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; *And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.*/
Jesus Christ came to earth to lay down His life for you and I, to suffer the punishment we deserved, so that, according to *John 3:16* …/whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.
/This is prompted the amazed apostle Paul to write in
*Ro 5:7-8 */7//For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die.
8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us./
"Jesus' message is not to be good boys and girls so that when you die you can go to heaven.
The message of Jesus is 'I love you.
I love you so deeply it kills me.'"-Rich
Mullins[iv]
The greatest love the world has ever seen was publicly displayed on the Cross of Jesus Christ, where He laid down His life for you and I and all who believe in Him.
/ /It was during the Civil War when a farmer named Blake was drafted as a soldier.
He was very worried about leaving his family, because his wife had died and there was no one left to care for his children.
The day before he was to report for duty, his neighbor Charlie Durham came by to visit.
"Blake," he said, "I've been thinking.
You're needed here at home, so I've decided to go in your place."
The farmer was so overwhelmed for a few moments he was speechless.
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