Loving the Unlovely

In the last entry, we mentioned the verse, Luke 9:23, where Jesus gave the requirements of discipleship: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” We’ve discussed this before. It’s the willing sacrifice of everything we have, including our very lives, all for the sake of Christ.

But does Christ really demand our death? He might, and He did with the apostles. But, more often He demands a living sacrifice. Romans 12:1 says: “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”

But, how do we make our lives a “living sacrifice?” Is this some kind of mysterious mumbo-jumbo? That’s the essence of our passage in 1st John. Look at it again: 1st John 3:16-18, “By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him? My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”

Isn’t that clear? To love God is to love each other.

Tony Compolo addressed this saying:
“There is a tendency for many people in our ‘rational’ society to make Christianity into a commitment to abstract principles, rather than making it into a commitment to others. I can remember, as a boy, going through the catechism class in which I was taught that ‘the chief end of man is to love God and to serve Him forever.’ That statement is beautiful, but very often we fail to understand how God is served. There is a tendency for us to make loving God into nothing more than a private, inward, meditative trip. I believe that it is critical for us to acknowledge that the Jesus whom we find within ourselves is, first of all, the Jesus who confronts us in the form of a neighbor who is in need.”

I want you to look at Matthew 25:31-40. I acknowledge that this passage describes the judgment of the nations at the end of the Tribulation when Christ comes to set up His earthly kingdom. It is more commonly known as the sheep and goat judgment. But the point I want you to see is this: What is the basis of judgment? And then ask, does this reflect Christ’s priorities for my life?

Let’s read: Matthew 25:31-40
31 “When the Son of Man (Jesus) comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory (at His Second Coming) . 32 All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33 And He will set the sheep (His followers) on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then the King will say to those on His right hand, ‘Come, you blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: 35 for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; 36 I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? 38 When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? 39 Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ (We don’t remember any of those times) 40 And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’

The next few verses show us the reverse; It shows the goats – the people who did not love - with the opposite result. They were cast out.
Matthew 25:45-46 says: Then He will answer them, saying, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.” That is the tragic end of a selfish life.

But, do you see what this shows? Jesus chooses to manifest Himself to us through the neighbor in need – through the unwed mother struggling to make ends meet, through the dirty little boy who can’t sit still.

How do you respond to them? Will Jesus be able to say to us one day: “Thank you, for the smile you gave me, and the encouragement you offered. Thank you for how patient you’ve been with me; for the help, for the hand out, for the love”

For many of you, the answer will be, “Yes!” But for others, it will be, “NO!” Unfortunately, “No!”

But, listen to me! How can someone claim to love Christ and not respond to the suffering of the people Jesus loves? That’s the point of 1st John 3:18 – “My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.”

In other words, don’t just talk about a need you see, roll your sleeves up and get it done! Loving in tongue means loving insincerely, but your act of helping shows your sincerity.

At our church in Syracuse during the time of our adoption of our Korean children, there was a mentally handicapped couple who heard we had a need, and so they brought a $10.00 bill and a box of Kraft macaroni and cheese to give us. They said, “That’s all we’ve got right now, but we’ll give what we can.”

That’s it! It’s giving of ourselves to those Christ loves. It’s offering the shoulder to cry on. It’s taking a dinner to someone who has been in the hospital. It’s helping an over-whelmed young mother.

James 2:14-17 shows the opposite of this: “What does it profit, my brethren, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can faith save him? If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled,” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.”

That’s a great question, isn’t it? Do words fill an empty belly? Do words take the cold out of chilled bones? A faith that doesn’t prove itself by action is dead - it’s useless. It is worthless to save us.

John Calvin always said, “It is faith alone that justifies, but faith that justifies can never be alone.” So, faith requires work: In the same way, real loves requires actions. Our love for our wife and children is demonstrated by the work we do to make their lives better.

But love is not natural, is it? Selfishness is. Oh, it’s easy to love the brethren, but it’s hard to love a brother. Do you understand what I’m saying here? It’s easy to love the corporate whole, but much more difficult to love the individual. “Oh, yes, I love the church; but the people in the church, how can you put up with them?”

There’s an old ditty that goes like this:
“To dwell above with the saints we love,
Oh, that will be glory;
To dwell below with the saints we know,
Now, that’s a different story.”

No it’s not! Jesus demands we love them as He loves them. Do you?