Rev. David Holwick O (Adapted from Feb 18, 2007, sermon)
Boothbay Baptist Church
Boothbay, Maine
November 27, 2022
1 John 4:7-12
BECOMING A CARING FELLOWSHIP
I. Love is what it's all about.
A. CHRISTWASLOVE
It is the time of year when schools and churches are filled
with cute plays about the season.
Yesterday, our grandchildren put on one for us in our home,
composed by the 3-year-old. Celeste applauded, of course.
The innocence of children can reveal deeper truths.
When Candy Chand's son Nicholas was a kindergartner he was
one of these school plays.
He spent weeks memorizing songs for the big event.
Mrs. Chand couldn't attend the actual pageant so the teacher
let her and other harried parents to come to the rehearsal
held in the morning.
Each group of kids would sing their song and then sit down.
Because the public school called it a Winter Pageant instead
of a Christmas Pageant, Candy expected minimal spirituality.
She wasn't disappointed - there wasn't even a hint of a babe
in a manger or Christ's sacred gifts of life, hope and joy.
Yet when her son's group sang its song she was surprised it
was called "Christmas Love."
The kids in the front held up large letters, one by one, that
spelled out the title of the song.
As the class sang "C is for Christmas," a child would hold up
the letter C, then "H is for happy," and so on.
Everything went smoothly until a small, quiet girl held her
letter upside down.
She was supposed to hold up an "M" but it became a "W" instead.
She was clueless as all the kids started laughing.
But the songs continued and the title was fully spelled out.
Then a hush fell over the audience.
In that instant they finally understood the reason they were
there, why they were celebrating in the first place.
For, when the final letter was held high, the message read
not "Christmas Love" but "CHRIST WAS LOVE".
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1) Love is God's message to us for Christmas.
2) It is the reason God sent his Son to this earth.
3) If we want to honor God, we have to get love right.
B. Love defines who God is.
1) In verse 7, John says that love comes from God.
a) In verse 8, he says God IS love.
b) Love is the essence of God's nature.
2) It is important not to misconstrue this.
a) Many people adore the concept of love but have issues
with the God of the Bible.
b) They often take verse 8 and twist it to suggest anything
involving love is what the divine is about.
1> In other words, instead of saying "God is love"
they prefer to say "love is God."
2> So if you care about people, that is all that
religion entails - human emotion is all you need.
3) The Bible strongly disagrees.
a) John makes the focus on God, and what he has done for
us by sending Jesus to earth.
b) Biblical love originates in God and always flows from
God.
c) God alone is the source of true love.
C. Christmas - and Easter! - is the greatest example of love.
1) Christmas is in verse 9 (God sent his Son) and Easter is
in verse 10 (his Son is our sacrifice).
2) Take note of verse 10 - love is not what we have done,
but what God has done.
a) I have always been amazed at Paul's statement in
Romans 5:8 --
"God demonstrates his own love for us in this:
while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
b) Salvation is not offered to people who have cleaned
up their act, or have attained a certain level
of holiness or morality.
1> Salvation is only offered to sinners - you and me.
II. Those who know God are able to love others.
A. This is John's exhortation three times in this section.
1) We should love one another.
2) Agape love is God's love made visible.
B. Can only Christians truly love?
1) Verses 7 and 8 suggests that to love you have to know God
first and be born of him.
2) You don't have to be a genius to recognize that some
non-Christians seem to be very loving, and some Bible-
thumping Christians are not loving at all.
3) It is important to look at the bigger picture.
a) All humans are created in the image of God.
b) Since God is love, we all share a part of his nature
and have the ability to love.
c) Becoming a Christian should give you deeper insight
into real love, and God can help you achieve it.
d) However, notice that John is exhorting or challenging
Christians to love more.
1> Apparently, not all of them do.
C. The world needs to see more of God's love.
1) The church needs to show more of it.
2) Without genuine love, churches die. And should.
III. Churches can be lousy at love.
A. Where we often fall short:
1) We are too busy to notice others.
2) We are too self-centered to care about others.
3) We think someone else will help.
4) We think problems will solve themselves.
5) We are often judgmental and critical instead of supportive.
B. The world wonders why we can't be more like Jesus.
1) His way of dealing with people has always astounded the
world.
2) What made him different?
IV. How Jesus loved people.
A. He noticed people's pain.
1) He cared about their basic needs.
a) When those who followed him were hungry, he noticed.
b) Then he did something about it. Mark 6:34-37
2) Other examples:
a) Woman with internal bleeding. Mark 5:25-34
b) Lepers and disabled. Matthew 8:2-3
B. He accepted people everyone else rejected.
1) Notorious examples:
a) Woman who washed his feet with her hair. Luke 7:37-39
b) The woman caught in adultery. John 8
c) Tax collectors (Zacchaeus) and prostitutes. Luke 19:2-8
Maine is a little threadbare in this department.
In New Jersey, we had strip clubs and massage parlors
all over the place.
In Maine, you have to travel to Portland, Bangor or
Augusta.
But let's say some employees of such an establishment
showed up here on a Sunday.
Of course, we wouldn't drive them out of church.
But would we welcome them as warmly as we would a more
typical neighbor? I don't think so.
Jesus DID accept sinners warmly.
2) However, Jesus did not accept them "as they were."
a) In each case, they repented when they met Jesus.
b) Jesus was open to everyone, but expected conversion
of everyone. John 8:11
C. He accepted good people who failed him.
1) Note Peter's denial, but also his restoration.
D. Jesus cared even when it was socially uncomfortable.
1) Many of his healings happened on a forbidden day (Sabbath).
2) He healed foreigners and infidels.
3) Jesus loved very widely.
V. How our church should be like Jesus.
A. Notice when others are hurting.
1) Many Christians are too isolated to be able to reach out.
a) People in churches are often masters at this.
1> Image and reputation are everything.
b) We separate ourselves from others by adding layers of
protection so that the "real us" is never seen.
c) We may make small talk and speak superficially because
we are afraid of getting involved with others.
d) One lady conducted an experiment.
1> To everyone who asked her, while passing the
hallways, "How are you?", she replied, "Lousy!"
2> Some didn't even hear what she said.
3> Some said, "I'm sorry to hear that" but no one
asked her why she was feeling badly.
2) Fine-tune your "compassion antennae."
a) Can you read their feelings below the surface?
1> Who among us is lonely?
2> Who is wounded?
3> Who is lost?
b) Some Christians are good at this.
In my church in New Jersey a member noticed that a
regular attender had stopped coming.
The member knew this person was having a rough time.
There were financial problems, and grief over the loss
of a young son.
After she missed for two Sundays, the member called
her.
No answer, or return call.
She called again.
Then she went to her house.
No one was home so she left a note.
Francis Thompson once wrote a famous poem about "The
Hound of Heaven," about how God wouldn't let him
go but sought after him.
This member was our church's Hound!
And God blessed her efforts - a short time later she
received a beautiful letter from the woman.
It explained how she was feeling so low and was even
bitter toward God, but she appreciated the member's
concern.
On the following Sunday, she was back in church!
Boothbay Baptist has some people like this, I am sure.
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3) We cannot care for people if we don't realize they need it.
a) Find out what is going on in people's lives.
B. Take the initiative to do something about their problems.
1) Don't assume someone else will do it.
a) It is natural to run to the pastor or some other
professional (though I am not that professional).
b) There is always someone else.
c) But Someone Else is no longer available.
A church once announced in their bulletin:
Our church is deeply saddened by the passing of an
irreplaceable member, Someone Else.
For all these years he did far more than any other church
member.
Whenever leadership was mentioned, Someone Else was looked
to for inspiration and achievement.
Whenever there was a job to do, a class to teach, or a
meeting to attend, everybody always turned to
Someone Else.
It was common knowledge that Someone Else was among the
largest contributors to the church.
Whenever there was a financial need, everyone just assumed
that Someone Else would make up the difference.
Although we are grieved by the loss of Someone Else, his
death comes as no big surprise.
He was far too overworked and continually stretched too
thin.
In fact, we may have contributed to his death by expecting
too much out of Someone Else.
He left a wonderful example to follow, but it appears there
is nobody willing to fill the shoes of Someone Else.
I shudder to think what will happen to our church since we
can no longer depend on Someone Else.
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2) You actually have the ability to make a difference for
someone.
a) Start doing something for them.
b) Don't wait for them to come to you.
C. Take time to be compassionate.
1) A Presbyterian church which reached out to a cancer patient.
The man wasn't a church-goer, or even a believer.
He had advanced cancer and was hugely bitter.
He had valid reasons - because of his medical bills he had
run through their savings and they were about to lose
their house.
When the church found out about him, they visited him.
They didn't just hold his hand but started working on his
basic needs.
A realtor in the church found a cheaper home for his family
to live in.
In the end, the man died.
He never gave his heart to Christ.
But he did acknowledge that their concern was genuine.
We are not compassionate because it "works."
We are compassionate because Jesus was.
If it was good enough for him, it's good enough for us.
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2) The best compassion is when you don't feel compassionate.
Several years ago, youth evangelist Ken Owens described an
evening in his life.
Ken was scheduled to speak to a large group of young people
and he was running late when he pulled into a
full-service gas station for fuel.
A little guy came out from the office.
He had a ski cap pulled down low, his face was covered with
acne, his hair was greasy, and his pants were so large
he had to keep pulling them up.
The guy spoke poorly and slowly.
It seemed to take forever for him to pump the gas.
When Ken gave him his credit card, it took several minutes
before he came back to say they didn't accept that card.
Ken gave him another card only to learn after several more
minutes that that one didn't work either.
Finally in desperation, Ken asked, "Do you still take
cash?"
The little fellow then took several more minutes to make
change and return it.
Ken was so furious when he left that he backed up and spun
his back tires on the station's "ding ding" hose!
A few blocks away, the Holy Spirit began to convict Ken
about his impatience and rudeness to the attendant.
He drove back up but the little guy was too scared to come
out of the office!
Finally, Ken cajoled him out and said to him, "I'm really
sorry for the way I treated you."
The man pushed back his ski cap and said, "That's okay,
mister. Everybody treats me that way."
There are a lot of people who might say, "Everybody treats
me that way."
In a cold, lonely, impersonal world, those who take time
to care for others are the exception, not the rule.
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D. Broaden our idea of who is "acceptable" in our church.
1) Caring churches don't just love the people they have.
2) They reach out to love the people who haven't found us yet.
a) Jesus' parable of the wedding banquet. Luke 14:17-23
1> The respectable people turned the invitation down.
2> So the master ordered, seek high and low and fill
up my house!
b) God wants this house filled up, too.
1> Seek out the hurting people you know, and invite
them to be a part of our fellowship.
2> Then love them the way you want Jesus to love you.
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SOURCES FOR ILLUSTRATIONS USED IN THIS SERMON:
Material for this section was derived from the sermon "Becoming A Caring
Church, part 1" by Rev. David Shook of the Church of Rodondo Hills,
Rodondo Beach, California. It is Kerux Sermon #24782.
# 1871 "Dealing With the Real Problems of Life," by Van Campbell of
Homer, Louisiana; Leadership Magazine, January 1984, page 55.
# 6985 "Everybody Treats Me That Way," by Rev. Dean Scott, Kerux Sermon
#19529.
#18729 “Christmas Love (or, the W In Christmas),” by Candy Chand,
Internet: Chicken Soup of the Day, December 22, 2000.
#34155 "Someone Else, The Best Worker," by Rev. Don Robinson, Kerux
Sermon #17954.
#66607 "The Church Hound," by Rev. David Holwick, from his personal
experience at Ledgewood Baptist Church, New Jersey.
These and 35,000 others are part of the Kerux database that can be
downloaded, absolutely free, at http://www.holwick.com/database.html
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