Living In A Difficult World

Living in a Difficult World

Intro.: I wish I understood a great deal about God.

1. When I get to heaven there are questions I will want to ask.

   1. Some might seem silly – why does it have to get so cold in winter?

   2. Some are a bit more serious – why did you choose me, of all people, to be a pastor?

   3. Then some might be really hard – why in the world did so-n-so get sick, why did I get this dumb disease. Why are there wars, why do some people hurt more than others.

2. During the next few minutes, I want to look at some answers to the difficult passages in the book of Joshua.

Read: Joshua 10:40-43

Pray

Trans: Two weeks ago we gave two parts of the answer.

1. Joshua is descriptive, not prescriptive.

2. Though Joshua focuses on the people of God, it does focus on people.

T.S. Let me suggest three myths that make the events of Joshua difficult for us to accept.

1. Myth One – God is like us

   1. As a believer, I cannot get away from it.

   2. There are times that it might be easier to walk away from the kinds of descriptions given here

   3. Yet it is clear that God was involved in all that stated here.

   4. There is a problem – but it is not God. The problem is this, we expect God to be like us, rather than requiring that we be like God

   5. It is important to remember that God is not required to live by our rules. We can spend a lot energy trying to define what God should be like, but that's not fair – only God can define himself.

(Ill.) As part of my counseling training at the University of Nebraska, we studied the characteristics of an unhealthy relationship. One of the characteristics of such a relationship is imposing my expectations on another person. I can illustrate from my own marriage. Most of you know that 20 years ago, my wife and I were going through a tough, tough time. You have heard me say that both Sandra and I wanted the other one to leave. It was a dark time.
Part of what turned our marriage around came when we allowed each other to be what we were. For me that meant allowing Sandra to leave if she wanted. You know what, when I let Sandra be who she needed to be, our marriage started to change.

(Appl.) The same is true in our relationship with God. We need to let God be God.

2. Myth Two – The original inhabitants were good

   1. There is another myth – that myth is the the original inhabitants of the Holy Land were good.

   2. Here were a people that worshiped multiple gods. They practiced human sacrifice, The practice of their religion included lewd and immoral practices – that could easily have ingrained itself into the Jewish faith – this religion had to be cutout, much like some cancers have to be removed from the body. ^{1 and 2}

   3. At the same time, Biblically, it is not a difficult statement to make. Paul makes it clear in the book of Romans: What then? are we better than they? No, in no wise: for we before laid to the charge both of Jews and Greeks, that they are all under sin; as it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none that understandeth, There is none that seeketh after God; They have all turned aside, they are together become unprofitable; There is none that doeth good, no, not, so much as one. ³

   4. Of course that also includes us – there is a piece of me that wants to think that I am pretty good. But God says “no”. I am not pretty good. I am not even somewhat good – no one is good.

   5. And the wages of sin is death.⁴ You see, because I am not good, I do deserve to die. It is the natural consequence of sin.

(Ill.) If you had lived in the first years of the 17^th century in the Netherlands you would have faced the beginnings of the controversy that divided those of us that who are Methodist and those who claim the title Calvinist. A conference was called in the Dutch city of Dordt to resolve the issues – an event which did not occur. However, the conference did write an expression of Calvinism that has survived to this day. Though there were a number of differences between the Methodists and the Calvinist, they did agree on the first point:

Since all people have sinned in Adam and have come under the sentence of the curse and eternal death, God would have done no one an injustice if it had been his will to leave the entire human race in sin and under the curse, and to condemn them on account of their sin. As the apostle says: The whole world is liable to the condemnation of God (Rom. 3:19), All have sinned and are deprived of the glory of God (Rom. 3:23), and The wages of sin is death (Rom. 6:23). ⁵

6. I deserve exactly what was happening to the Amorites and the Canaanites and the others that occupied the Promised Land.

7. If we are offended, it ought not be because of what happened to the people Joshua was conquering. We should be offended because the same thing has not happened to us.

8. So why has the same thing not happened to us – it can be summed up in one word: GRACE. God, by has grace, loves us so much that he allows us to find our way – and if possible, find our way to Him.

(Appl.) The events in Joshua should not drive us away from God, but allow us to love him more than ever. The greatest saints – the Wesleys, the Calvins, the Grahams, all understood this. They knew they deserved death, and they knew it was God's grace that allowed them to serve. Are you being driven to God?

3. Myth Three – God showed no grace

   1. If we are convinced that we deserve what these people got. And if we are convinced that it is only by the grace of God that we do not, a natural question presents itself: why did God not show grace to these people who live in the Holy Land?

   2. Let me suggest that this is the third myth – that God showed them no grace.

   3. Let me suggest that there are at least three distinct times that God did show grace.

      1. First there was Rahab and her family. It would be hard for many of us to show the kind of grace that God showed to this woman – but God fully allowed her join the family of God

      2. Then there was the Gibeonites. After the way they deceived the Israelites to protect their culture, God would have been justified to eliminate this city state. Rather he allowed them to participate join into the Israelite culture.

      3. Finally, if take time to read Joshua 13 – you will that there are many places that had never been conquered by Joshua's army. Oh, they may have wanted to, but they did not do it. What was to become of them remains to be seen – God promises to do what needs to be done. But what that is exactly is unknown. For the time being, God shows grace.

(Ill.) The grandest operations both in nature and in grace are the most silent and imperceptible. The shallow brook babbles in its passage and is heard by everyone, but the coming on of the seasons is silent and unseen. The storm rages and alarms, but its fury is soon exhausted and its effects are partial and soon remedied; but the dew, though gentle and unheard, is immense in quantity and the very life of large portions of the earth. And these are pictures of the operations of grace in the Church and in the soul.⁶

4. God's grace was active in the lives of these people – whether they saw it or not and whether we see it or not. In the small things, God was working in their lives.

(Appl.) I hope that this week you can slow down enough to see God's grace in the small things that come across your path this week. We need to slow down and see God's grace in the small things. In the rain drop, in the rose bud, in the smile, in the still times that God gives us.

Pray

1Wood, D. R. W. (1996, c1982, c1962). New Bible Dictionary (164). InterVarsity Press.

2Youngblood, R. F., Bruce, F. F., Harrison, R. K., & Thomas Nelson Publishers. (1995). Nelson's new illustrated Bible dictionary. Rev. ed. of: Nelson's illustrated Bible dictionary.; Includes index. Nashville: T. Nelson.

3Romans 3:10-12

4Romans 6:23

5Water, M. (2000). The new encyclopedia of Christian quotations (58). Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd.

6AMG Bible Illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; Bible Illustrations Series. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers.

Responding To God View the Video

Responding to God

Intro.: Life presents a great number of options.

1. But the decisions we make will determine where we will be in the future.

2. A while back (actually several years back) I played the pin ball machines. I was never very good at it.

3. And though I had some control of the ball, it also had a very random scheme. I could control only the first direction that the ball traveled – but with that bit of control, I had some control over where the ball went.

4. But the science of physics tells me, that how I chose to hit that ball would have a great deal to say about where it went after that.

5. In a similar way, the choices we make in life, determine where we will be in the future.

Read: Joshua 10:16-28

Pray

Trans:You know, I don't I always understand the decisions made by Joshua.

1. Sometimes they seem harsh and I would prefer a softer approach

2. After all, I serve a God of love.

3. Yet as I read, I see behavior very similar to that presented by our own armies. Humiliation with the feet placed on the necks of the losing kings. The hangings of these same kings. I feel as if I am reading a current newspaper.

4. But there is a single facts that helps me to understand these events – and the first is this: What we are reading is descriptive, it is not prescriptive. It describes what occurred, it does not necessarily serve as an absolute example

5. Secondly, I have to remember that though these are God's people, they are also people. God's people do not always do what they ought to do.

6. Today's passage is exactly that – it can help us understand people respond to God – they do not require that we do so.

T.S. Joshua 10:16-28 illustrates three distinct ways of responding to God.

1. Hiding from God

   1. The Israelites had all but defeated the Amorites. And they responded.

   2. The most prominent group, the leaders, run south to a cave. And they hide.

   3. I suppose that is one way to handle life difficulties.

   4. Of course, though you think that it is helping, it really is not.

   5. First – it is offense to those who depend on you. The army for whom these kings were responsible lost their leaders. The very men who were responsible for giving them direction now were in hiding. Even when life gives us trouble, we still have people and things for which we are responsible.

(Appl.) During the 21^st century, we may not hide from God in caves, but we hind in what we do. Take, for example, the parent who avoids caring for their child. They become too involved with work, they become too involved with their social live, and (for some) they become too involved with their church. And they spend increasingly less time with their children. When we avoid those things that God has given us responsibility for by putting placing secondary things first, we are hiding from God.

6. But it is not only others that are hurt when we try to hide from God. We also hurt ourselves.

7. I can hear someone saying now, “But Pastor Floyd, we can't hide from God. God, after all, is all seeing and all knowing. There is nothing that he does not know.”

8. And yet we live as if we can hide our sins from God. We live as if our words make no difference. When we try to hide – we fail miserably. They say confession is good for the soul. It is true – for when we confess who we are to God, we are no longer hiding from God.

9. When the five kings tried hiding in the cave, they thought they were safe, but they were not. Joshua had his men seal the cave. They were alive – but they would still need to face the consequences of their actions.

2. Running From God

   1. The kings hid from God, but their army continued to run.

   2. They were not alone – one of the first Bible stories that many use heard growing up was the story of Jonah and the Whale. Though the story actually never tells us it is a whale, the truth is that Jonah is running from God.

   3. Whether it is the Amorite army or the single believer, like Jonah, running from God does no good.

(Ill.) And running from God did not stop in the Old Testament. John Bunyan wrote what one author called arguably the most famous published Christian allegory, Pilgrim's Progress. This same man once said, “He who runs from God in the morning will scarcely find him the rest of the day.”¹

(Ill.) I have never been to a dog race – but the pictures I have seen include a rabbit mounted on a stick. At the start of the race, the rabbit is pulled ahead of the dogs – just far enough ahead that they will never be caught. You see, we may think we are like that rabbit and will never be caught as God chases us. But God does not work like that. He will chase you and, if he wants you, he has already caught you.

4. Running did not help the Amorites, it will not help us.

3. Obeying God

   1. Hiding from God does not help. Running from God does not help.

   2. But there is another option – that is obeying God.

   3. Joshua and the Israelites had God's promise which we find earlier Joshua 10:8 - And the Lord said unto Joshua, “Fear them not: for I have delivered them into thy hands; there shall not a man of them stand before thee.”

   4. The kings are trapped, but the army is running. The Israelites persue.

   5. In the middle of life it can be hard to remember and believe God's promises. After all, we spend too many hours not even dealing with them – and then when life demands that we remember what those promises are:

   6. For example, the Israelites would like these promises: No king is saved by his great army. No warrior escapes by his great strength.… But the Lord looks after those who fear him, those who put their hope in his love. He saves them from death and spares their lives in times of hunger. So our hope is in the Lord. He is our help, our shield to protect us. (Psalm 33:16, 18-20) If God is with us, no one can defeat us. He did not spare his own Son but gave him for us all. So with Jesus, God will surely give us all things. Who can accuse the people God has chosen? No one, because God is the One who makes them right. (Romans 8:31–33) The Lord’s love never ends; his mercies never stop. They are new every morning; Lord , your loyalty is great. I say to myself, “The Lord is mine, so I hope in him.” The Lord is good to those who hope in him, to those who seek him. (Lamenations 3:22-25)²

   7. None of these promises had been committed to paper at the time of Joshua; yet Joshua and his men lived their lives (at least for now) knowing that God was in control.

   8. Can we do any less?

Pray

1Water, M. (2000). The new encyclopedia of Christian quotations (756). Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd.

2Lucado, M., & Gibbs, T. A. (2001, 1996). God's inspirational promises (10). Nashville, TN: J. Countryman.

Man's Predicament, God's Involvement View the Video

Man's Predicament, God's Involvement

Intro.: Monday was a tough day as we began to hear the story of shootings a Virginia Tech.

1. I had never been on the campus – but I know those kids. Their smiles, their dreams, their hopes. And the faculty were my colleagues.

2. I work at a college – could it happen there?

3. It was a tough day, a tough week.

4. There were times I was near to tears.

5. I wonder how I would cope if I were faced with such a crisis?

6. I do not know the answer to that question – I hope I never have to find out.

7. Today I want to look at one scripture that helps us see how one man managed a crisis.

Read: Joshua 10:1-15

Pray

Trans: In some ways, these stories from the Old Testament seem far removed from the 21^st century.

1. Yet these people carried the same emotions, the same kinds of pains, the same kinds of concerns for their lives.

2. Though we are reading about events that took place 1400 years before Christ – We must never forget that these were men and women who could have been us.

T.S. During the next few minutes, I want to look at three characteristics that may help us define the events that are part of our lives.

1. There are events in our lives over which we have no control

   1. Our passage does not start with Joshua, our passage does not even start with the Israelites. Rather it begins by looking at a group of city kings that don't want to lose control of what they had.

   2. It is one of those things Joshua had no control of.

(Appl.) Those kind of things happen to all of us. For me lat weekend it was my car. It may be our house, it may be our jobs, it may be family – or any number of other things that are part of our lives.

3. And for Joshua it was going to be these five kings. Surprisingly, their tactic was not to go to war against against the Israelites or even against their leader, Joshua.

4. They were going against the Gibeonites. You probably remember the Gibeonites – they were that group that deceptively won the hearts of the Israelites by dressing in dirty cloths that made it appear that they had traveled a great distance. But now they were in trouble.

(Appl.) You know it is amazing that when Satan wants to really get after those of us who are solidly grounded in the faith, he often will not go after us, but he will go after those things that are most important around us. Sometimes it is the things that hold most dear that become the center of our spiritual battles, but all too often it is the people that we care about most that will find themselves under attack. It will be our kids, it will be our spouses, it will be our friends – that are facing temptation in the worst ways imaginable.

(Ill.) Those of you who have been parents any length of time know what I am talking about – you have seen your kids struggle. You know what it is like to walk with your kids through the tough times. But the coin was flipped – when our parent's faith was at its strongest, I suspect many of you faced temptation and maybe gave in to it in ways you normally would never think of doing. But you did.

5. Let me restate the principle – when our faith is at its strongest, we will find that those around us will face the greatest challenges.

6. Joshua was about to face an enemy that he had not planned on; Joshua was about to face those who were attacking the very people that Joshua had sworn to protect.

2. There are times when God expects us to be involved

   1. Joshua had two possible responses to the crisis.

      1. He could have ignored the plea for help – after all the Gibeonites had started out by deceiving the Israelites. It would be an easy matter to leave let them suffer the consequences of their decisions

      2. Or he could abide by the commitments they had made – regardless of the consequences. Joshua was a man who had received God's blessing, the kind of man who kept his commitments.

(Ill.) If you visit any large foundry where the boilers are kept going at full force, you would never be able to look into a boiler to tell how much water there is in it, but you would be able to tell how much water the boiler contains by an instrument which is attached to the side of the boiler. Alongside is a small glass tube which has some fluid in it. If this glass tube is half full of liquid, then there is an indication that the boiler is half full of water; if the glass gauge indicated that there is no water in the glass, then we can depend that there is no water in the boiler. The little glass gauge is the indicator for the large boiler. How can people tell whether we love God, our fellowman, or even ourselves? They can never look within our hearts and get the answer; it is only by our outward actions, the works that we do as Christians that people are able to tell how much or how little our religion amounts to. Our love for God is indicated by the works of love in which we engage. There are people who are constantly looking at the Christian’s gauge.¹

2. Regardless of what was going on in Joshua's heart, we can only understand Joshua's heart by how he lives, rather than by what he says. And Joshua does decide to keep his commitments and he and the Israelite army.

3. And the war starts – the Israelites are winning, but the enemy is getting away.

4. Joshua has done his part – now God does his part. He brings a storm – a hail storm.

5. I've heard of golf ball or baseball size hail, but I have never seen it. I'm not sure I want to.

6. Our passage tells us that God accomplishes more than Joshua and his army combined.

(Appl.) Here is the lesson - there are times when God will not do what he can until we do what we can. It means that as believers we need to take responsibility for our spiritual lives – if we want God to use us, then we need to be doing what he wants us to do. But it is also true for the church – if we want God to use us in this community, it means that we need to be involved as a church in our community.

7. God wants to use us to win the people around us to Christ, but he also, as he did Joshua wants us to get started on that task.

3. There are times when God will do what needs to be done

   1. There are times when God expects us to be involved. But there are times when God will accomplish what we could not regardless of how hard we may try.

   2. It was a long day, Joshua had done what he could do, God had contributed to the success of the battle. But there was more to do and the day was coming to an end.

   3. When it seemed that Joshua had done all he could do – he did the one thing he could do – he prayed:

O sun, stand still over Gibeon,

O moon, over the Valley of Aijalon.”

And they did.

4. There is no way that Joshua could have stopped the sun. There is no way he could add extra time to the day. It is only something that God could do. I do not know what happened that day. I came across a number of plausible explanations – but they all agreed, GOD WAS AT WORK and in doing so gave Joshua additional time to accomplish what he needed to do after he prayed for God's intervention.

(Ill.) The world, too often, defines a miracle as something God does outside the normal explanations given by science – hence, no miracle can be proven. But as believers a miracle is more. For the Christian a miracle is anything God does - whether within the bounds of science or not. Whether it is the gift of life in a baby, or the beauty of a rainbow, or turning water into wine – because God did it, it is a miracle.

5. And sometimes God does things that we cannot do.

Conclusion: This may have been a tough week for many of us.

1. But not so surprising. Things do happen over which we have no control.

2. We have heard stories about people doing what they could do to protect those who were under attack.

3. And there have been those who don't understand why they lived – God did what they could not do for themselves.

Pray

1AMG Bible Illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; Bible Illustrations Series. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers.

Joshua Reruns

Joshua Reruns

Intro.: This is the worst time of year for those of us that enjoy watching TV

1. We have entered the “RERUN” season.

2. Reruns have taken over the airwaves.

3. Sandra and I avoid the reruns as best we are able. It is during this time that we watch films in our video collection or the reruns that we have purchased on DVD

4. Or we just plain turn the TV off – nothing worth watching is on.

5. Of course, those of you who are baseball fans don't blink. Just as the reruns begin, the baseball season begins. It must be great.

6. But sermons don't quite work like TV shows. Sermons are expected to be fresh and catchy. In fact, as a pastor I want the same thing as you.

7. But it seems only fair that occasionally you might get a “Rerun” sermon – except that I have never preached this sermon before.

8. Today we want to return to something we started a year ago. It was the week after Easter in 2006 that we began an examination of the book of Joshua. At the time we looked at chapters 1-4 together and then took the summer off. In Fall, we spent six weeks again looking at the book of Joshua.

9. Then came Thanksgiving, advent, the new year, and lent.

10. Now five months later, I want to again continue our study of Joshua. But I have a problem. I expect that, like me, you have forgotten much of our earlier look at Joshua. So today, we present “The Rerun”.

Read: Joshua 1:1-9

Pray

Trans: Joshua was a friend and confidant of Moses

1. There is an old joke that asks you name two men in the Bible who had no parents. Everyone knows about Adam. But not many know that Joshua, too, was the son of Nun. Of course the joke is that Joshua's father was named Nun, N-U-N.

2. We first meet in the Pentateuch where is shown to be the Joshua's aid. Joshua had been working along side Moses for many years – scripture says he had been Joshua's aid “since his youth.”

3. He was one of the twelve spies who were sent into the promised land by Moses to determine what the Israelites would face. And he was one of the two who came back convinced that God would give them the land.

4. By the time we get to today's passage, Joshua is ready to serve.

T.S. During the next few minutes, as we review the first eight chapters of Joshua, I want to look at four milestones in the book of Joshua that will help us to understand the character of this man of God.

1. Joshua given command of the Israelites

   1. I was amazed when I discovered that Joshua was 80 years old as he was commissioned for this new role.

   2. And that probably explains why God said to Joshua three times to “be strong and courageous.” Even though Joshua was eighty, I suspect that he had developed habits would allow him to be “strong and courageous” - God's words were not meant to change Joshua – but to affirm what was already part of his life.

(Ill.) There is an old Irish prayer that goes: Give me
-- Enough happiness to keep us sweet;
-- Enough sorrow to keep us human;
-- Enough wealth to meet our needs;
-- Enough failure to keep us humble;
-- Enough friends to give us comfort;
-- Enough determination to make each day a good one;
-- Enough faith to give us courage;
-- Enough trials to keep us strong.

3. Courage and strength go together. To be courageous and have no strength would allow us to be foolish. To have strength and have no courage allows us to be useless.

4. My prayer for you this morning is that you would “strong and courageous” whatever God may send your way.

2. Joshua allowed to cross the Jordan

   1. The first task Joshua had after being commissioned to serve was to lead the Israelites across the Jordan.What amazed me was that after he had lead all the people across the Jordan, he took time to build a memorial in the middle of the river.

   2. The Israelites were descended from twelve brothers, the twelve sons of Israel – and the descendants organized themselves in tribes based on which brother they had descended from.

   3. One representative from each tribe was to bring a stone to the river to be used in the memorial. The people had to remember what God was doing. The people had were to never forget that God had brought them to this new land.

(Appl.) God had reached out into each of our lives. But in the middle of life, it is easy to forget those times that God had brought us through the most difficult times. We need to build memorials in our own lives. We need to find ways to remember those times that God has reached out and touched our lives. It might be a journal entry. It might be a note at the end of our Bible. It might be charm on a necklace or bracelet. But, just as the Israelites had to remember what God had done, we also need to find ways to remember that God has worked in our lives. How will you remember what God has done?

3. Joshua told to capture the cities

   1. Joshua had some tough obstacles to overcome. Not the least was the land the God had given them was occupied by its original inhabitants.

   2. Now people reacted in some strange ways to the Israelites presence in their land

      1. Some just huddled together in their communities – and God gave those cities to Joshua and the Israelites – Jericho was a great example

      2. Some rushed out to fight Joshua and the Israelites army it did no good.

      3. And then there were the Gibeonites in chapter 9. They approached Joshua saying that they had come a long distance. They said they had heard of how God had given the land to Joshua and the Israelites and they wanted to join them. Actually, they were from the next town over. Their deception of course was discovered – but they were to serve the Israelites for as long as they remained a people.

   3. You see people handle their difficulties in a number of ways -

   4. But you know what – none of them seem to work. They only tend to alienate themselves from God

   5. What is amazing is that the one family who responded to God and acknowledged that he was Lord and in control was saved.

   6. That family was not a leader Jericho, that family would not see themselves as coming with the highest moral character. The community would not hold that family up as an example for its young people.

   7. Yet when they responded to God – he protected them. Of all the families, it is the one that scripture makes clear was allowed to join the family of God.

   8. God is not looking for the best people God is not looking for the richest people God is not looking for the beautiful people None of those things got anybody into heaven

      God is looking for men and women who can acknowledge that they are broken and the only way will get into heaven is by the grace of God.

   9. Scripture makes clear that three is no other way – except through Him.

   10. Are you willing to say yes to Jesus. Are you wlling to follow Him.

Conclusion:

Pray

1AMG Bible Illustrations. 2000 (electronic ed.). Logos Library System; Bible Illustrations Series. Chattanooga: AMG Publishers.

Learning To Love Jesus View the Video

Learning to Love Jesus

Intro.: At one time I taught a kindergarten Sunday School class.

1. The story I read about makes perfect sense to me.

2. One Sunday late in Lent a Sunday School teacher decided to ask her class what they remembered about Easter. The first little fellow suggested that Easter was when “all the family comes to the house and they eat a big turkey and watch football.” The teacher suggested that perhaps he was thinking of Thanksgiving, not Easter, so she let a pretty young girl answer. She said Easter was the day “when as you come down the stairs in the morning you see all the beautiful presents under the tree.” At this point, the teacher was really feeling discouraged. But after explaining that the girl was probably thinking about Christmas, she called on a lad with his hand tentatively raised in the air. Her spirits immediately perk up as the boy says that Easter is the time “when Jesus was crucified and buried.” She felt she had gotten through to at least one child until he added, “And then He comes out of the grave and if He sees His shadow we have six more weeks of winter.”¹

3. Easter is not about Turkey, Easter is not about presents, and Easter is not about winter.

4. Easter is about Jesus Christ – his death, his burial, and his resurrection.

5. Today I want to look at one passage that will focus our attention on the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Read: John 21:15-19

Pray

Trans: A slight change in direction.

1. Focus has been “Learning to love like Jesus loved.”

2. Today we focus on “Learning to love Jesus”

T.S. I want to look at four ways in which we need to love Jesus.

1. We love Jesus with OUR HEARTS

   1. Eventually love will effect the way we live, but it will start in what happens in our heart.

   2. It is true in human relationships and in our relationship with God.

   3. Jesus understood it – this was the question that He was asking of Peter.

   4. Remember that Peter had really had shown rather poor behavior the day that Jesus was crucified. Jesus had not been surprised – I don't know whether Peter was surprised or not. But, regardless, it was just a few days before that Peter had been challenged about his relationship to Jesus Christ. In fact he had been challenged not just once, not twice, but three times – and each time he had denied knowing Jesus.

   5. In some way, this whole conversation is a response to that event. Jesus does not love Peter any less because of his behavior – but does he really want to leave His church in the care of men who will deny him at the simplest sign of hardship.

   6. And so he asks Peter, "Do you LOVE me?"

   7. Most of you will know that the word that Jesus uses is that wonderful word "Agape"

(Ill.) Martin Luther King understood what Jesus meant by Agape Love. He once said that "Agape (love) means understanding, redeeming good will for all persons. It is an overflowing love which is purely spontaneous, unmotivated, groundless, and creative. It is not set in motion by any quality or function of its object. It is the love of God operating in the human heart."² It is the unconditional love that has its origin in our relationship with God.

8. Three times Jesus asks Peter, "Do you LOVE me?" Three times he asks Peter, "Do you love me with the unconditional love that only God can give?"

9. Jesus understood that loving God, must begin in a person's heart. It is true for us and it was true for Peter.

2. We love Jesus with WHAT WE SAY

   1. Jesus was seeking to discover the state of Peter's heart.

   2. But Peter is not, at least initially, up to it. Jesus asks Him "Do you love me unconditionally?" But Peter's response indicates that he cannot, at least yet, respond in the positive. You see, he switches the word – when he replies, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you." He uses a Greek word that is a substantially weaker than the Agape love that Jesus.

(Ill.) If you are familiar with the nick name of Philadelphia – "the city of brotherly love" – you are already familiar with the word that Peter uses. Phileo is the Greek word to express the love between two siblings – "Brotherly Love".

(Ill.) I know that we are six months away from the football season, but there is a wonderful story told by a long time sports announcer who worked for local radio stations across the United States and Canada. On this one particular night, Jim Turner had the responsibility of covering the 100^th meeting between the Green Bay Packers and the Chicago Bears. Now these two teams basically lived down the road from each other and over the years the rivalry had grown intense. Today's gave was scheduled for 6:00 PM at Packer stadium and, because they both were in Green Bay on Sunday morning, members of each team decided to go to church. So, on Sunday morning, sitting in St. Willibrod's Catholic Church were George Halas and other "monsters of the midway". On the other side of the aisle sat Vince Lombardi and others from the Packer team. Paul Hornung who played for the Packers at that time, sat in the front row. Ironically the sermon that morning was on "brotherly love". And these two teams know what brotherly love was all about. It was good to be in God's house with God's people. They were truly brothers. But the priest knew that brotherly love was not unconditional – for as he came to the end of his sermon, he turned to those from the Packer team and ended with the punch-line: "Now go out and beat those Bears." You see, brotherly love has limits – and for those players, that day, one of those limits was the green grass of Lambeau Field.³

3. Now, brotherly love is important – and Jesus understood that. So even though Peter cannot give a totally affirmative response to Jesus, Jesus can still turn to Peter and say, "Feed my lambs"

4. But Jesus still wants to know if Peter has and unconditional love for him, so he asks again, "Do you love me?" And Peter responds in a similar fashion. And again, Jesus commissions Peter to "Take care of my sheep."

5. But Jesus is going to push a bit more. So for a third time he asks, "Do you love me?" Finally, Peter gets it. He answers from his heart – "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you!" and this time he uses the same word that Jesus used, he says that his love is the Agape love that has its origin in our relationship with God.

6. I don't think that Peter was changed in that conversation – but because his heart was right, he was finally able to say what he felt.

(Appl.) When we love God with all our heart, then what we say will demonstrate that love. It will come out in our interaction with God, it will come out with our interaction with the Church, and it will come out in interaction with all those who cross or path throughout the day.

7. Let me ask you the question that Jesus asked Peter, "Do you love Jesus?"

3. We love Jesus with WHAT WE DO

   1. Not only are our Heart and our Words changed, but how we live our live will also change.

   2. Jesus makes that clear in His conversation with Peter – listen again to the instructions that Jesus gives to Peter:

      1. Feed my lambs

      2. Take care of my sheep

      3. Feed my sheep

   3. Unless our faith impacts what we do, then it really makes little difference at all. Unless our faith allows us to see our world and respond to our world as Jesus would, we are missing the point.

(Ill.) One of the place I check regularly on the Internet is CNN – and I ran across an editorial piece by Roland Martin. Roland is Black Christian who is a Talk Show host on a Chicago radio station. More recently, he has begun a series of editorials on the CNN cable network. Too often, he wrote this week, the church has strange responses to the world in which we find ourselves: Poverty? Whatever. Homelessness? An afterthought. A widening gap between the have and have-nots? Immaterial. Divorce? The divorce rate of Christians mirrors the national average, so that's no big deal.⁴

4. I suppose I could respond by saying so what. Let me suggest way in which it could make a difference. Many of you know that there is a lady who comes to most of our dinners who, as she finishes her meal, starts hiding extra rolls or food into her purse. I was challenged this week to ask what would Jesus would do if this woman crossed His path. You know what he would do? He would feed her – he would invite her back into the kitchen and offer her more.

5. Are you willing to be the face of Jesus? Are we, the members of Garland United Methodist willing to be the face of Jesus to our community?

Conclusion: As believers, we need to learn to love – both those around us and Jesus.

1. It will impact our hearts

2. It will impact what we say

3. It will impact what we do

How will Jesus impact you this week?

Pray

1Streiker, L. D. (2000). Nelson's big book of laughter : Thousands of smiles from A to Z (electronic ed.) (412). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

2Martin Luther King, Jr. found in Water, M. (2000). The new encyclopedia of Christian quotations (636). Alresford, Hampshire: John Hunt Publishers Ltd.

3Based on a story found in Streiker, L. D. (2000). Nelson's big book of laughter : Thousands of smiles from A to Z (electronic ed.) (169). Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers.

4http://www.creators.com/opinion/roland-martin.html