A Different Kind of Love

Eastford Baptist Church
March 23, 2007

“You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

(Matthew 5:43-48)

Bud was a factory worker with more than a slight resemblance to Archie Bunker. Every single day he’d come home sweaty and dirty. He’d go in the back door, grab a beer from the frig, and plop himself down in front of the TV until his wife fixed his supper. One day as he was driving to work he happened across a Christian station on his car radio. And something the preacher said stuck in his mind -- that love and marriage are about sacrifice. And it hit him – no, it actually convicted him – he’d been expecting his wife to sacrifice for him but he’d never really sacrificed much for her. It was as though a relational light bulb came on and he knew that he had to do something about it. So he decided that he was going to surprise her the next day. Before coming home he showered and shaved at work. He then went to the florist and bought flowers and instead of going in through the back door he went to the front and rang the bell. When his wife answered the door he held out the flowers and said – “Honey, they’re for you! I love you.” She looked at him, her mouth dropped open. Tears filled her eyes. And she started sobbing, “I’ve had a terrible day. Billy fell earlier and broke his leg and I had to take him to the hospital. No sooner had I got home than the phone rang. It was your mother and she’s coming to visit for two weeks. I tried to do the wash but the machine broke and there’s water all over the basement floor. And now, you come home drunk!”
Poor Bud.
Sometimes it seems that it’s hard to win at love, doesn’t it?
In the passage above Jesus begins to explain to his followers how he expects us to love others. He shows there is a kind of love that is normal for the rest of the world. The kind of love we kind find all over the world is that we love those who respond towards us in a favorable way. But God’s love is very different. What makes God's love different from standard, generic, brand-X love is that it flows to people who don't deserve and may never respond to it. It flows to people who may never give anything back. Look at what Jesus says in (Matt.5: 43-48), “You’ve heard it said, “Love your neighbors and hate your enemy. But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” Jesus is saying I’m setting a new standard for you to follow. It’s very different than what you will see in the world. WHY? Because God doesn’t love that way. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” What’s that mean? God doesn’t limit the extent of His love.
Jesus is simply saying that there is common generic kind of love that is everywhere you look. “Love your friends – hate your enemies.” This kind of love places limits on the scope and the extent of your love. But that’s not the kind of love a follower of Christ is to have. Why? It allows room to camouflage a deep problem of the heart – unforgiveness - which is rooted in pride. There’s nothing especially commendable about loving people who treat you the way you want to be treated. “If you love those who love you, what reward have you?” That's not all that noble. Even tax collectors do that. That kind of love is so easy, even a tax collector can do it. “Are not even the tax collectors doing that?” (Special Note: Not necessarily referring to modern day IRS agents but to people who habitually took advantage of the Israelites by charging fraudulent taxes. If you are an IRS agent – and are upset with the negative connotation, please do not e-mail me. I didn’t write the verse. God did. - - - P.S. In case you know my social security number - I personally think you’re a very lovable group of people!) Jesus goes on and says, “If you greet your brothers only, what are you doing more than others?” How different is that? Everybody does that, even the pagans do the same. That’s so easy, even a pagan can do it. “Do not the pagans do that?” (Again, if you are a pagan who is upset with the negative connotation, please do not blame me. I’m only reporting what is recorded in Scripture. --- You might consider talking to a counselor if you find the comment upsetting to you.)
Jesus is telling us we need to love others as God loves us. The gospel of John puts it this way: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:22) That little word “as” is the hard part of this verse. It’s always the little words that will get you. It’s easy to love somebody as long as long as I use my own definition for the word love. But love is really defined by the sacrifice Christ demonstrated on the cross. He gave himself completely – paid the highest price - so that we might be forgiven. Since this is the way he was willing to love us, how can we do any less to others?

So how are we to respond to God's love? We're to mimic it. We're to imitate it. We're to copy it. We are to reproduce the same kind of love. We’re to extend to others. It’s unique. It’s different. It’s sacrificial. It’s a kind of love the world may not completely understand. It’s a love with no limits attached to it. But it’s the only kind of love that changes the world. By keeping our eyes on Jesus, it’s so easy – all of us can do it.

Amazed at His love,
PT