Church of Our Redeemer

Live Like You Were Dying – “Love Deeper”

A sermon preached by the Rev. John Thomas Sheehan
February 24, 2008

Today we are talking about LOVE. For those who may not have been here the last 2 weeks, we are attempting to “Live Like You Were Dying.” Here is the question we have been pondering. “If I only had 30 days left on this earth, how would I live each day? What would change? In the song “Live Like You Were Dying” there is a two word phrase with enormous implications – “Love Deeper.”

For the record – this series is not about head knowledge, it’s about action. Our focus is on activating our hearts, our hands and our feet. When your credit card is about to expire, they send you a new card with a sticker that tells you that you must call the 1-800 number in order to activate your card. Until you activate the card – you can impress your friends with your platinum card, but it’s good for nothing – until you take action to put it into service. The same is true for our Love.

If “Loving Deeper” were to become the passionate of your life what would that look like?

Paul address this question in his 1st letter to the church in Corinth.

“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. ... If I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. 4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. ... So faith, hope, and love abide, but the greatest of these is love.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

Wouldn’t it make sense that the longer we walk with the Jesus – the more loving we would be? Well, experience teaches that – that isn’t always the case. Over time, many Christians – become crusty, negative, critical, and just plain grumpy. What I’ve discovered in my own life is that you don’t just become more loving. You need to pursue it. You need to be intentional. You need to take action.

I know we hear the word “love” an awful lot in our culture. In fact, we use it so much, it has almost lost its meaning.” For that reason, you may find it easy to tune out today. But let me urge you to take a hard look at yourself. What is the condition of your heart?

This issue is so important that at the last supper Jesus takes time to teach about love. “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples..." (John 13:34-35)

So, what’s the condition of your heart? Are you becoming more loving? What would those closest to you say? When we see darkness of our own souls and when we realize how much God loves and forgives, it changes everything. When we really comprehend the totality of God’s grace – love is the natural byproduct. It shows up in our words. It shows up in our relationships. It shows up in times of conflict. It shows up in how we interact with strangers. When we feel loved, we are more loving.

So, I challenge you to activate love in your life. To understand this kind of love, let’s look at one day in Jesus’ life.

“Six days before the Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently had been raised from the dead, was living. Lazarus and his sisters invited Jesus to dinner at their home. Martha served. Lazarus was one of those sitting at table with him. Mary came in with a jar of very expensive aromatic oils, and she anointed and massaged Jesus' feet, then she wiped them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance.

Judas Iscariot, one of the disciple, even then getting ready to betray him, said, “Why wasn’t that oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces.” Not that he cared for the poor but because he was a thief. He was in charge of their common funds, but he often stole some for himself.

Jesus said, “Let her alone. She’s anticipating and honoring the day of my burial. You will always have the poor with you. You will not always have me.” (John 12:1-8) Though this is a familiar story – it’s interesting that Jesus is the one receiving an unrestrained gesture of love. I think this story, challenges our “play it safe,” “everything in moderation,” “what will people think” approach to love.

Here are 3 action steps I want all of us to work on next week.

Do the unexpected (v.3)

When we pick up the story, Jesus is in his final days. His crucifixion, the defining moment in human history, was looming on the horizon. He knows what is coming and he is aware of the suffering he endure.

He knows his arrest is just around the corner. Jesus wants to spend these final days with people that he loves. Passover is only a few days away. Passover was and is, a time for extended family to come to gather, it was and still is a time for the Jews to remember how God delivered Israel from the bondage of Egypt.

On this night Jesus is in Bethany which about 2 miles southeast of Jerusalem. A man named Simon is hosting a dinner party for Jesus and some friends. Once again Martha was there – Martha was the perfect hostess and once again, we find Martha serving everyone.

Mary was also there that night. We don’t know a lot about Mary, but we do know that her love for Jesus ran deep. And, on this night, she does something spontaneous and unexpected.

Let me set the scene. Everyone is sitting around the table, laughing and enjoying great conversation. Martha is up serving coffee and dessert. Mary leaves the room and comes back with this alabaster container. She breaks the seal, and then does something that is “over the top”. She begins to pour out the whole bottle on Jesus. She pours out some on his feet, and Mark tells us that she also poured it on his head. Then, if that isn’t enough, Mary overcome with love in commits a social taboo. She lets down her hair. This wasn’t acceptable in this culture – woman would only let down her hair, in the presence of her husband. Then, Mary starts wiping Jesus’ feet with her hair.

Can you sense the emotion of this scene? Mary comes to Jesus with a spontaneous, awkward, unrestrained, uninhibited, lavish, excessive expression of love. If had been there that night – I’m pretty sure I would have been a little unnerved. But, here’s the part that overshadows the social awkwardness. This was an act of joyous humility. Mary didn’t care who was there or what they thought.
I love the impulsiveness and spontaneity. In a way, she gives what we all want. We all like being surprised by gestures of love. We love a surprise parties (we protest but ...) And, all of us have all felt the urge to do something lavish and “over the top” for someone we love. But most of the time – we stifle the urge – we choose to play it safe. And, we miss the chance to watch people light up because we took the risk to love.

I just wonder how many times this past week we missed an opportunity to surprise someone with love. We live in a world that is driven to achieve. We are obsessed with efficiency and productivity. Our hard driving, bottom line lifestyle fights against spontaneous acts of love.

If I am honest, too often I pass by the person who needs to be surprised by love. I have too many “important” things on my schedule to be spontaneous with my love. We rationalize because there is no margin in our lives for something so impulsive. And with each time we push the urge back down our hearts shrink and shrivel just a little more.

There was a church that decided to reach out to the college that was right across the street from the church. They printed up brochures inviting the students to worship with this congregation and they placed in the student mailboxes. Most of the folks were skeptical, but went along with the idea.

On Sunday morning the people in the church looked around and just as they suspected, there were no college students. Just when the pastor started to preach and a young man, obviously a college student, walked through the door. He was wearing tattered jeans and a t-shirt. He was looking for a place to sit, trying not to disturb the service. No one moved or offer him a seat. Finally, he simply plopped down on the floor in the middle of the aisle.

The pastor wasn’t quite sure what to do, so he just kept preaching. Finally, after a couple of minutes one of the old elders got up. He was a long time member of the church and started down the aisle in his coat and tie. People in the congregation thought, “Finally, it is about time someone in leadership went and told the young man that this was inappropriate for a worship service.” The elder reached the front of the church where the college student was sitting. And, without saying a word, he sat on the floor with the young man and stayed there through the rest of the sermon.

I love stories like that because they are about unexpected love. So, how about it? Who could you surprise with your love this week? Who could you ambush with grace and kindness? Go for it this week. When you feel the prompting, say “yes.” You are never off track when you are expressing love to people.

So, the first action step is to do the unexpected…the second action step is…

Do the unaffordable

Let’s go back to the scene that night at the dinner party.

In the room that night there were other invited guests. John tells us how Judas reacted – he said: “Why wasn’t that oil sold and the money given to the poor? It would have easily brought three hundred silver pieces.” Judas did not applaud her spontaneous gesture of love. He saw it as wasteful, inappropriate, and careless.
There is something about the price tag of a gift that says something about our love. I know we say that you can’t put a price on love. But guys, next anniversary, try giving your wife a $29 blender. And, then write on the gift tag “remember, it’s the thought that counts”.
There’s a show on television that has been a phenomenon. It has no sex, no violence, and no political corruption and yet it has been wildly popular. It’s called “Extreme Makeover.” This is a show where they identify an extremely needy family whose home is usually in very bad disrepair. Then, Ty Pennington and his design team, along with hundreds of workers converge on the house and in one week’s time do an extreme make-over. Part of the success of the show is not what they do, but how they do it. They don’t just come in and make a few repairs, slap on a new coat of paint and call it day. Sometimes they tear down the whole house and put in its place a brand new, spacious, beautifully designed and decorated home. Part of what makes this show fun to watch is that what they do is “over the top.” It is lavish. They spare no expense. They do things for these families that they could never even dream of doing for themselves. It’s the “extreme” part of the show that makes it so popular.

The New Testament, is full of the same kind of “over the top” love. You find Christians doing the unaffordable. Just days or weeks after the first church was launched in Jerusalem, you read these remarkable words.

“All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.” (Acts 4:32) They loved Jesus and their fellow believers so much that they did the unexpected and unaffordable. Their love was “over the top.”

Then, later Paul writes to the church at Corinth about the believers in Macedonia. These were very poor Christians going through many difficult problems. Paul was collecting an offering to take to the saints down in Jerusalem.

Listen to Paul’s description of their love.

“I was there and saw it for myself. They gave offerings of whatever they could – far more than they could afford! Pleading for the privilege of helping out in the relief of poor Christians.”(2 Corinthians 8:3-4)

Talk about “extreme” Christianity. They begged Paul to take up an offering from them. When is the last time you saw that in a church?

However, without question, the most extreme example of love was demonstrated on the cross. It was the most costly gesture of love in the history of man.

“For Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people wouldn’t be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:6-8)

Giving is always attached to loving. Being generous demonstrates love. So, who can you bless this week with an “over the top” expression of love. I want to challenge you this next week to do something unaffordable, something sacrificial, and something extravagant. Let me ask you, what is the 21st century equivalent for this woman’s jar of perfume? What precious, valuable thing do you have that you could lavish on someone else as an expression of your love?

Not everyone will applaud. Some won’t understand. Some will accuse you of being wasteful. So what? Go for it. In the name of Jesus, let’s break open the perfume bottles this week.

So, from this wonderful story, we learn that when we ambush someone with love, we do the unexpected. Then we do the unaffordable.

There is one final thing I want to ask you to do.

Do it now

I’m sure you could have heard a pin drop. Can you imagine how Mary must have been feeling at this point? She was motivated by love. She thought she was doing a good thing. Now she is being blasted.

But before the detractors can say anything else,

Jesus rushes to defend this woman.

Listen to what Mark reports:

But Jesus said, “Let her alone. Why are you giving her a hard time? She has done something wonderfully significant for me. You will always have the poor with you every day for the rest of your lives. Whenever you feel like it, you can do something for them. Not so with me. She did what she could – she pre-anointed my body for burial. (Mark 14:6-8)

Mary did a good thing. Jesus isn’t minimizing the need to care for the poor. He is simply saying that this woman has done a good thing in seizing the moment to show love. She would not have this opportunity again.

You can’t ask for any more. She did what she could with what she had. She didn’t know that Jesus was about to be crucified. But she saw an opportunity to express her love and she grabbed it. And, now her story lives on thousands of years later.

We really don’t know if we will be here a week from now. We only have today. We may only have right now. We have this moment. We can’t do everything. We can’t meet every need. We can’t bless every person. We can only do what we can.

For some of us, the most radical expression of our love might be to speak it. Some folks are not very good at saying those life-giving words – I love you. There are people all around you that are affection starved. Some of those people may be sitting with you and around you today. They have learned to hide the pain and they would never ask for it, but they long to hear you say, “I love you”. I hope before you even get out of the parking lot today, that you will grab a spouse, a child, a good friend and look them in the eye and say “I just want you to know that I love you. I am glad you are in my life. My life is better and richer because of you.” Words of love and affirmation and blessing ought to flow more freely in this group here today than any other group of people in this town. Don’t wait. Do it now.

A few years back there was an article in the Chicago Tribune that is sobering reminder that we don’t always have much time. Bob Greene writes about a dad who is saying good-bye to a three-and-a-half-year-old son. Like all of us he thought he would have his son for a life time. But a diagnosis of a brain tumor shattered their world. Listen to an excerpt from this father to his son.

“Dear Casey, As I lie in bed holding you, I am so painfully aware that you will only be with us for only a few more minutes or hours, and my heart breaks when I think of the struggles you have endured in the last eight months. I would give anything to switch places with you. Nothing would make me happier.

As you close your eyes and decide when you want to go to heaven, remember how proud I am of you. From the day you were born until today, you have brought me only joy. You have exceeded my highest expectations of what fatherhood would be like. You have not only been my son, but you have been my dearest friend. Whenever I was at work or out of town, I would ache to be with you. I will miss you terribly.

All I have learned from you validates that my life is on the right course and that my values are in the right place. How else could I have such a wonderful boy? For this I thank you. We will never forget the happiness you brought us. I am the luckiest man in the world to have been your father and friend. I love you madly. So Casey, it's OK to close your eyes now. You don't have to fight anymore. Thanks for being my son. Love Dad.”

You just never know how many more opportunities you will have. So, do it now.

For some of you this week, God will call you to a radical expression of generosity. Maybe it is doing something for a widow in our church or a friend who has lost a job or a single mom who needs a car or a student in your school who is outcast. Maybe it is blessing someone on the mission field or an unexpected opportunity that God will bring across your path this week. Look for opportunities this week.

Who knows the impact your love could have? Can you imagine what could happen if just the people gathered in this room today took this seriously. What if our primary objective this week wasn’t a paycheck, or our to-do list, or getting a new gadget but this week we lived to love.

What if this week we broke open the perfume?

The final part of this story comes from the lips of Jesus.

“I tell you the truth, wherever the Good News – the gospel – is preached throughout the world, this woman's deed will be remembered and discussed.” ( Mark 14:9)

My greatest dream for our church is that – When it is all said and done and when history is written our legacy be a legacy of extravagant love for Jesus.