Happy Friday and happy Christmas Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve. It’s getting close. I talked to a girl of about 8 years old yesterday and asked her what she asked for from Santa and you could see her eyes just come alive. The excitement of Christmas is in the air.
I’ll have to admit, yesterday I did something stupid. Something that makes absolutely no sense in our world today. Something that caused people to look at me like I was crazy. I’ll give you all a few seconds here to insert your own ideas, I’m sure they will really display what you think of me.
So, Margie is in the throws of the Christmas rush and is up against some sales numbers that are quite stratospheric. The real ordeal with retail at Christmas is not securing the business, it’s processing the business. It’s what to do when 25 people walk through your door at the same time and all buy one thing. It’s process management 101. It’s all about staffing up and getting busy. Well yesterday, one of her busier days, one of her ladies had to leave early and another called in as her husband went to the hospital. This was quite the ordeal for Margie, so I said I would go to her store and greet people…for free. And not just one day but three.
Now you’re seeing the crazy part. Work for free? Those three words don’t really exist today. Why in the world would somebody do ANYTHING if they weren’t getting paid for it? It seems to be the driving force in our world today. If you expect me to do anything for you, give me money. If you don’t give me money, I won’t do it. I’m blessed with a little extra time off this weekend, so I decided to conduct a social experiment. To see how the world (specifically Margie’s employees) react to seeing someone work for free. It has been fascinating so far to say the least. The one general reaction is WHY? It’s an absolute disconnect. We can’t conceive. There’s no perception. The second general reaction is why are you so happy? Your working for free shouldnt you be bummed and keep a sour look on your face? (That's a whole different lesson...Col 3:17) Well, I don’t tell you this story to ring my own bell, it’s not about me it’s about how God has used this experience to reveal Himself. It’s also the perfect segway into our Bible study this morning. Why did I do it? Very simple, a love that comes from God.
This morning in chapter 3 of 1 Thessalonians Paul talks of love. A different kind of love. He talks of a love that’s real, a love that manifests itself into the tangible. We usually talk of love as a flowery feeling that we have deep down somewhere. Unfortunately, that deep, powerful love is usually reserved only for those very close to us. I’ll have to tell you, its pretty easy to love my sweet Margie, my parents and the people I really care for, but isn’t that kind of cheating? You can’t just love the people you love and stop, I mean what about the other 7 billion people on the planet, what about them? We’ll see a love from Paul today that transcends the feeling of love and moves into the reality of what love looks like as we make it something that others can see.
You see, love is not just general affection or a nice, warm, cozy feeling deep down in your heart for special people. Love seeks the welfare of another. Let me repeat that, Love seeks the welfare of others. That is the way love is expressed for anyone. If you love someone you will seek their welfare, even to the point of jeopardizing your own life for theirs. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” John 15:13
Paul opens chapter 3 in dire concern for the church at Thessalonica. He is being hindered by Satan and he fears that the church there might be undergoing the same. So instead of just adding them to His prayer list or thinking about them, Paul makes his love real. He does the next best thing he can do besides go see them himself, which he could not do. He writes a letter, gives it to Timothy, his beloved helper and sends Timothy all the way back to Thessalonica to hand deliver the letter. Paul’s love spurred action. The love that Paul had made his hands move.
At the end of the chapter, Paul makes a statement and it will be our focus verse for the day.
“and may the Lord cause you to increase and abound in love for one another, and for all people, just as we also do for you.” 1 Thes 3:12
What a tremendous statement from God about love, who to love and where love comes from. Lets look first at where love comes from.
“may the Lord ‘cause’ you to increase and abound in love.” Paul realizes that a true love that changes the heart and moves the hands, comes directly from God. In fact, he realizes this to the point that he is praying for the church, that God would ‘increase’ their capacity to love others. He is saying on your own you can only love this much, but with God you can love more. This brings up a great point about our capacity to love. You see, I believe that just as our human intellect and understanding has limits, I believe that we have natural human emotional limits. As we are born, sinners in rebellion towards God, we have only a limited potential to love and understand love. As we call upon Christ as our Savior and the Holy Spirit moves into our lives, we become new creatures. Completely new creatures spiritually and emotionally. “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” (1 Cor 5:17) We are changed in a way that brings us closer to God. And there is no love that has ever existed that is like the love of God. As we are changed by the Holy Spirit, we are able to see, experience and understand love on a different level. Just as God's Holy Spirit allows us to understand His Word on a different plane, His Spirit allows us to see love on a different plane. And the ability to love on that plane comes from God. That is Paul’s prayer, that they be transformed by God and elevated to this new and abundant level of love.
And who should they pour this ‘new abundant love’ out on? Their spouses? Just the people in their church? The people that look and talk like them? Just the people of the same religion? The people that hold the same political views that they do? Only the people of their nation? No’s all around. Let’s revisit the verse, “abound in love for one another and for all people.” Abound means to “exist in great quantities or numbers.” Paul is praying for them to increase and then to be overflowing in this God gifted love. And as they do where does it overflow to? “One another and for all people.” I understand this verse as there is no one on this planet that should not be a recipient of the love that God gifts us. We are to love one and all. My friends we have no excuses, this verse is crystal clear.
I heard a preacher one time say that “we are commanded to love everybody, but it never said that everybody would be easy to love.” Ha, I love it, so true. So how do you really, truly love everybody. Where do you even start? Well, for me I start with a visualization. One that is rather hard to imagine. One that we don’t like to think about too much. I try my best to visualize what Jesus saw as hung on that cross on Calvary. I try my best to imagine the scene that Jesus must have seen, through swollen bloody eyes, as He gazed out on that crowd. The chaos, the screams of anger, the cries of agony. I try to think of what He must have seen as His eyes scanned the crowd and stopped on each face that was there, staring up at Him. Oh, what He must have seen. All the different colors of skin. Men and women of all ages. The different nationalities. The different religions. As He gazed upon each and every one of them though, there was one constant, HE LOVED THEM ALL.
You see Jesus hung on that cross for every single person in that crowd. Some hated Him intensely and were responsible for Him being on that cross. He was to die for them and their sins. His mother was in the crowd. Jesus died for her and her sins. A few of the disciples were in the crowd. He died for their sins. Several Pharisees and Sadducees were there in that crowd, the ones responsible for hounding Him and demanding He die. He died for them too. The view from the cross is one that I cannot get out of my mind. As I see people in my life that are different, I try to see them as Jesus would see them. As I see people that want to do me harm, I have to try my hardest to see them as Jesus would see them from the cross. I don’t understand it, it’s not easy, but I’m not asked to understand, just love.
As we experience love that flows directly from God, it will feel different. God’s love will not just be satisfied staying within your heart. God’s love will cause your hands to move in reaction to His love. You see, God’s love moves, it does, it creates and it serves. It moves people to love others in a way that their welfare becomes more important than our own. You see, God’s Love seeks the welfare of others before ours.
As I go back to stand at the door of Brighton today and greet the 100’s of Christmas shoppers, I will do my best to exhibit the abounding love of God. A love that calls us to do things that make no sense to our human understanding. A love that calls us to put others needs before our own. A love that calls us to move our hands and make His love visible to the world. The world doesn’t just need to hear of His love, it needs to SEE His love. That display of God’s love starts with my hands and yours.
If today you feel lost, like you are looking for an unknown destination, you can find what you’re looking for in Jesus. If your life feels hollow, like there’s something missing, there is. Jesus Christ can fill the void that we all have. That void is the emptiness created by sin and it must be covered with righteousness. Everything can change for you today. You can find value, you can find purpose, you can find peace. If you have never called upon the name of Jesus Christ as your Savior, you can do that today. It's simple, it's free, it is a gift. A gift from a God that created and perfected love. Just like a gift this Christmas that sits under a tree with your name on it. It was purchased just for you. It was made for you and it is yours. All you have to do is claim your gift. Pick it up and open it.
If you would like to know Jesus today just pray this prayer, “Dear Lord, I admit that I am not capable of being perfect before you, I have sinned and messed up in my life. I realize my need for a Savior to come into my life and fill the void that sin has created. I need to have my sins forgiven and covered and you, Jesus, can do that. I ask you now to come into my heart and save me from my sins. I ask you Jesus, to be the Lord of my life, Amen.
If you prayed that prayer from you heart, your new life begins today. I would love to hear from you and help you along in this new walk. Feel free to contact me.
I love you guys and if you’re reading this, you are being prayed for.
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