LoveSick - Week 3 - St. Peter - Pastor Tim Glende
LoveSick
Week 3 - St. Peter
Pastor Tim Glende
Welcome to the final week of LoveSick. Love is week one. We defined it. Love does what it looks like in action in our life. Of faith and today love different.
And that topic in and of itself is going to cause me to just be honest with you up front, this is going to be a hard week for me.
And I'm guessing it might be a hard week for you.
It's not going to be a hard week for you or for me because the Packers aren't in the Super Bowl. I know your heart's still broken about that, they should have beaten the 49ers but they didn't. Thanks you're gonna watch probably tonight and and think about what could have been, what should have been, but that's not what's going to make this week hard.
And it's not the fact that it's Valentine's Day, even though that would be hard for some people who miss someone that they love. Don't have someone that they love or those of you who didn't get their reservation, the one you love. Want you to get like not talking about this week being hard because it's Valentine's Day. In fact, here's a great idea, guys, tell your wife, you got dinner plans for her on Wednesday, bring it to church and offer her an amazing meal. Like I got you covered. Jesus and food. What can go wrong on Valentine's Day. It's all about love.
No, that's not what's going to make it hard. Now, what's going on this week? On your calendar, it's going to be the topic of today's sermon in the who behind the what of it.
Like during the course of this series, we've talked about love is and what love does. And in week, number one, we talked about God and his love for us, how he defines it. And loving him is not what's going to make this week hard. Like loving God is hard for us because we're sinful human beings. It's hard for us because the world tugs at our hearts, but a Christian longs to love. God wants to love God because they know the love of God. And what he did for us on the cross, like loving God is not hard, our hearts want to, we desire to and why we do because of His first loving us He's not the who of this week.
It's not hard to love them. Like this is my them. All of you probably have pictures in your house. People like this who’s loving God and loving them? Is natural. It's normal. It's a part of your life. Like this includes the seven closest people to me in this side of Heaven, people who got us. Bless me with my wife, my two kids, their spouses and two grandkids. Like loving them isn't always easy and we're not always perfect at it but we we love each other, we forgive each other. We make each other better. We practice it. We do it, it's natural.
And you probably have. Themes like these in your life as well. It's not always perfect, sometimes it's messy, but It's not hard.
It's natural. And it flows.
So it's not God and it's not thems of your life. The people that you're you do life with it's those people.
Like the who of today's sermon is going to be those people. Like the people who are different than you.
The people who have maybe, Cause your life to be difficult.
Like, it's hard to love those people.
The people who are different, they believe differently than you like. If you ever struggled in relations with people who Whose faith and religion and beliefs are different than yours, like the tension that is there the conversations that happen, maybe the, the ridicule that you've received, Like,
Difficult to love people who are different spiritually. Or how about politically,
Like loving people who are different, it's difficult.
Like, unless you've been living under a rock over the course of the last Basic decades like you understand this? There's like not much Middle Ground, it's either one or the other and it's very polarizing.
Because they're different.
And then there's people whose values and ideals and lifestyle is different. And maybe it goes against what you believe religiously or what you value politically. And it's hard to love that person.
Because you look and you go, if they don't love what I believe God, clearly calls us to do and not do.
And are so different.
Like, it makes it difficult.
And maybe there are a few of those people on your list.
Are you not? So sure if you could ever love because of what they did?
Like they walked out the door and said I'm done.
Maybe abused you hurt you verbally? Emotionally, or maybe physically. Like they've ruined your reputation. I don't know who those people might be in your life, but the odds are good. You've encountered some at work in your community, maybe in your circle at one point. No longer in your circle, like loving people who are different. Those people is difficult.
And we do a sermon series like this. It's easy to love God and want to love God, to love them and and to carry that out and to do it and
And I don't think we're always so convinced that God's definition is Doable.
Or should be the way it is.
See, here's the underlying truth that we can all relate to today. It's the tension within this sermon. Different makes love difficult.
Different. People who are different. Look, different speak different language have different values. Politically are different like whatever the difference might be different makes love difficult.
And some people would argue because they're different, it makes love impossible or Unnecessary.
Under serving, they don't worthy of it.
So right now, I want you to hear this loud and clear.
Loving different is difficult, loving different in each and every unique situation might be different, but loving different and loving. Those people is not optional.
Jesus is going to tell us that today.
My goal is for you to see that today.
I promise for you today is that I'm not going to be able to teach everything on the topic of Of different makes love difficult like every different situation. Every different relationship, every specific unique in your world. Like you might be a victim of abuse. You might have that neighbor, who is just a horrible person who's done rotten things to you. Like each situation is very unique to give specific application to all of the uniques about different would be not just difficult, but impossible, unless you want to stick around for the next two days. Like, I get it. I hope you see it. I need to give you that disclaimer. Like my goal today is to not to give you this one, two, three list of that applies to each and every unique situation of different and how difficult it is, okay? So bear with me, forgive me, if I say something very generic, that causes your mind to go to Pastor Tim. You should have said, I get it. Just have a little Grace for me today. My goal is to teach you. The general truth, the principle that God is applying and also maybe cause our hearts to change to, to live different and maybe apply something in our life. That's very unique based off of it.
So as we dig into it today, I I want you to see these words are going to come from Jesus himself. But remember our definition of of love from week. Number one, while, pastor, Mike, and I talked about it law, equals doing what's best no matter who, no matter what, and then, no matter who is really the Crux of the matter today. Of Love different.
Like the world in which we live would say, you pick and choose who you love and you can also on the opposite side. If people oppose you, if they're bad to you, if they're the enemies of you, you can actually hate them.
Which is what Jesus unpacked in Matthew chapter 5. If you ever want to read an amazing little section of scripture where you get a lot of Jesus words, a lot of tough words, a lot of, in your face, call out from Jesus, like start with Matthew 5, The Sermon on the Mount and you're gonna be like, whoa, seriously, Jesus said that? That's really hard. How do I do that? Here's one of them. Matthew chapter 5 verse 43 is where we're going to start today. Jesus speaking preaching to a whole bunch of people on the side of the mountain. So it's not just to his disciples, it's a large crowd. A group of people who had all sorts of different backgrounds, different ages. And in this section, he begins with these words. You have heard that. It was said, in other words, here's a common saying, in our world today, That's what Jesus kind of laying out. You've heard it said, Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.
Thank you. You've heard it said, love your neighbor and hate your enemy. We're not talking here about the people who cheer for other teams even though today, Mr. Spruce in early church said, love different. Does not mean I'm going to wear that kind of color blue.
Sorry, if you are, any of you are, Xavier grads. He's a Fox Valley guy through and through, he's like love different, love your neighbor, hate your enemy. Like I'm not talking about people who cheer for a different team. I'm talking about people who you are opposed to are so different than you. They value things that are different. They live different, like Jesus got this, the world in his day, believed it many of them followed it, lots of them practiced, it the Pharisees and the Sadducees, you know what, they were enemies, they hated each other. The only thing that ever caused them to align and and get on the same page with someone by the name of Jesus. They hated him more than they hated each other. They had a common enemy.
The Jews hated the Romans.
Like, not just a strong dislike, not just a yeah, they're not so good. They wanted nothing to do with them. They wanted them gone. They were politically different.
And throughout history and time these things are the same like the Old Testament, Believers looked at the world around them and judged them and treated them differently because they believe different, they act different, they practiced different
In 2000 years after Jesus, it is still the same.
Like, if I bring up a certain name of a certain person who's running for president, on either side, if I bring up the one that you don't like and you don't agree with your heart is going to start racing today, you're going to be like Pastor Tim that person like
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Strong emotion and feeling that you have because they're different.
That value of our world that definition in a lot of people's mind is what love is love. Is doing what's best? Not always no matter who.
And Jesus understood the world in which they live, that was real. And if that's the working definition, we have a big spiritual problem. Like if our definition is a Biblical one, a god-based, one that applies in our life, in a relationship with God, if the definition is love your neighbor, love the people that you are are more alike than not alike that people that are good to you and nice to you and smile with you. Love those people but you get to hate that your enemies, the ones who do bad and do wrong. You know what, spiritually happens if that becomes our definition
You and I are in trouble when it comes to God because what defines love and hate them?
How you do but you've done.
Like that definition, the one, the world lives by Completely opposed to the gospel.
Like that. Definition love your neighbor. Hate your enemy puts us in a predicament if that's how God operates when it comes to love. Because We have to make sure that we're on the right side of good.
And lovable by what we've done. And not defined by the bad.
So we pick and choose which laws and Commandments are more important than others. Like hey God, at least I'm not The person who's crossed the line, sexually like that person. Good.
Doesn't work that way.
Allah's got to be different.
But Jesus knew the culture when she was in. Talked about love that way like if they don't love you if their definition of Love is different you can cancel them as opposed to like them be kind to them. Jesus followed up his words and said this, but I tell you so that you've heard it said this is a worldly statement that you could accept, but I'm telling you, and this is God, speaking Jesus, the son of God, saying these words, I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
Love your enemies.
Love the people who are different.
Love the people who are difficult.
Like people who go after you, who don't like you. Don't seek revenge on them. Don't wish ill on them. Instead drop on your knees and pray for them. Jesus said,
Like, I want you to think about those people. Like, there are some people in this room right now. Have been hurt from some by others. That's really hard to do, isn't it?
Like instead of wishing that they got a little in return for their wrongs. Feeling good. Maybe when they did get some That's a whole lot easier and a whole lot more natural than to pray for them.
That guy would open their eyes. Would be what's best for them.
Like Jesus' words, give us a reminder of what love different is. We're going to learn more about this but I want to set the stage differently makes love difficult but Jesus would say different does not make love optional. We're not only called to love people that we like,
We're also called to love those people. The different. The difficult.
All those people.
And you know who did that.
Jesus didn't preach just preach it. Like the one saying those words in The Sermon on the Mount didn't just say these are my words go and do he did.
Like Jesus. Loved different. He loved those people.
Like he hung out with the tax collectors of his day, Zaccheus and Matthew, like the robbers, the ones who had cheated people out of their money. Like Pastor Bill last week. Talked about what love does. Love follows God's Commandments followthroughs on things. God loves it doesn't steal. It doesn't covet. It doesn't take and those people were takers. Those people were robbing them. And Jesus loved them. Like he did dinner with them. He hung out with them.
You know, who else? Jesus loved.
People whose lives were messy and train wrecks.
Like, when Jesus went through Samaria and he saw that woman by that. Well, who he knew had been married five times. And then divorced, five times was now living with the next person, but was not married to them. Jesus didn't go.
We need to avoid her because she is a mess.
Like, Her sexual life and her activity and lifestyle. Not our kind of people.
Oh, Jesus. Stopped at the
Because that's what Jesus does.
A lot of different.
Or how about the people who want to kill you.
You want to ruin your reputation who want to take you down,
Like Jesus, loved those people too. Like Love spoke. Some hard truths to those Pharisees and religious leaders at times. But you know what? Love did time and time again call to repentance over and over again. He he, he called them out so that maybe there was hope. And you know what he did? The last time he entered into Jerusalem as he entered Jerusalem and knowing what was going to happen, he wept for them. His heart broke for them. He loved different.
For those who jam nails through his hands.
He loved different and said, Father, forgive them.
Like Jesus. Was called for a purpose, not to love the people that He liked not to just love the 12 disciples who loved Him and liked Him. No. He understood that a life of love was to love all. To love those and God's called you. And I to do that, too.
And, before I go on, with the next verse, I need to have one more disclaimer like two sermons with disclaimers or asterisks is really a bad thing for a pastor to have to admit. But I need to say this loud and clear and some of you need to hear this loud and clear. Like I need you to understand. What I'm not saying, is what the world sometimes has taken this to be like, you need to love your enemies. And love is always one of those things that just takes it and accepts it and, and allow us for bad things to happen. No, love different. Sometimes has to be radically different and does some very serious things. Like, sometimes loving different is calling the cops.
Because that person is doing something that is wrong.
Like, that's not unloving. That's loving
Like sometimes. Loving different is putting up boundaries in your life, to help guard your heart and guard you emotionally. Because You can forgive that person. But, Because of what they did their consequences, to their actions that might never allow you to be in relationship. That is close ever again. Like, if you've gone through those things, I need you to hear that. Like I'm not saying love is a license to get away with the things in the hurts that you've caused without consequences. And if you're one of those uniques, I understand I'm not touching. Even the surface of how hard that is. You can come and talk to us. We'll help you walk through it.
But even in those situations, it can be different.
Because God says, love different.
Like the love that. God has that the love that God shows it's different.
Jesus went on to describe it. He said, here's the why behind the what of his call to love that you maybe children of your father in Heaven. He wants you to not only to be a chip off of the block. Uh, that is who he is. He wants you to be a chip off of the love block. Like he wants you to exude and show love. He wants you to be visible, love in the world. He wants through, you others to know that God is different and my friends, so many people in our world today. Look at Christians and go. You're not different. In fact, you might be even worse than the Heathen of this world who love and are kind to everybody.
Because Jesus God's love is different. He causes the son to to rise on the evil and the good sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous like if me and my
Neighbor who has nothing in common with me. We're so different. We don't believe the same things. We don't have the same values. And we're walking through Plumbing Park together like God doesn't just look down on Pastor Tim and give him sunshine and lollipops and roses on his side of the walkway to make a beautiful day for him and hail and thunderstorms and lightning and hurricanes and tornadoes on the bad, dude. No God doesn't work that way. I wish you did sometimes. No.
That's not how God operates.
He doesn't just do good and be good to people who are good and like him or even Believers in him. No, God shines on all God, sends rain for all. Because God loves different.
Jesus, love different.
God calls, you and me to love different.
And goes on to say that. The way that we might be the children of God, the why, that we might be light in the world. A few verses earlier in Matthew 5. The, why is because he wants us to look and be different. So people get to know the god, who is different, the god of love, who loves different. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get Like no offense.
Loving my kids. Is nothing special. I mean, I think they're special, but You love your kids. And you love your kids. And you love your kids. Like we all have thems in our life that we love. Like, I don't get extra credit for loving my kids.
I don't get extra credit for loving you, my people.
Like everyone does that. God says Even the pagans do that. Like even unbelievers and heathens get that they they live this way, they love their neighbor.
That's why Jesus calls us to love our enemies. Those who hate us? Those who hurt us? Those who are different. Like love is different.
And so, here's God's call to action the last verse of the section Be perfect as your heavenly father is perfect. Sometimes versus taken out of context and applied like God calls, you and me to be perfect to be holy. That's true. But in this section, if you take it in his context, what is Jesus saying? Be perfect. Therefore begin with the last part as your heavenly father loves perfectly. If it's about love and God is perfect in love he wants us to love perfect. Like the way that God Defines love and perfectly loves.
And thanks be to God that his love is perfect.
And that God loves different.
Because you and I by Nature were different.
Like you and I by Nature were the train wreck and the mess.
Like, just like that woman at the, well, that's our spy nature. And God loves different. He loved you and me, and sent his son. To undo, what we could in.
Like you and me who are rule Breakers? Who We want to love God. But sadly don't always love him with our whole heart. Like God law has loved you and me different. And he wants us to model that perfect love because he wants people to know God.
To come to believe in God.
Because he wants them to experience a different kind of law than that. The world does not offer.
God loves different. And God wants you and me to love different.
Which is why just a few minutes of today, would be well, spent on On what loving different. And those who are difficult might look like for you.
Like I don't know each and every unique situation but I know what Jesus said, and in Matthew chapters, Five. And in Luke chapter 6, give us some guidance. But to you, who are listening to those who have ears, let them hear love your enemies. Do good to those who hate you bless those who curse. You pray. For those who mistreat you have. Someone has mistreated you instead of seeking out revenge or ruining their reputation. Maybe the first thing you do, how you love different is drop down on your knees and pray that God would work on their heart. Pray that God would open their eyes. For that, God would create a change so that they might be different.
Like if someone slaps you on the cheek, You don't wind up and hit him back. Like, how did that apply in your life when you're siblings hurt? You. Like, I, I remember my brothers. Love to trip me. I knew what the move. Was the leg kick back to get them too. Like God says, don't love different, don't see prevenge don't hurt.
If someone slaps you Turn the other cheek. If someone takes your coat, don't withhold your shirt. Give to everyone who asks if anyone takes Do not demand it back, just let him have it. Do under others, as you would have them do unto you.
The section of out, even Sinners love people who love them, who are good to them, who are like them.
Even Sinners like us, sinners expecting to be repaid in full. But here's the last part of the verse.
That we read earlier, but love your enemies, do good to them, lend to them, without expecting anything in return, then your reward will be great and you will be the children, the most high because he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful as your heavenly father is merciful.
Like love different. God says because God loves different.
So, maybe what that looks like in your life is
It's time to give up the 20-year grudge that you have with that person who hurt you.
Like maybe you need to call them up and say. I don't know what this means or what it might look like, but
But I need you to forgive me for what I did. And I forgive you.
That would be love different.
Or maybe the way you apply it.
As you look at that neighbor or that co-worker that is very different than you they value different than you. The one you try and avoid you don't want to associate with maybe what you need to reminded of is what God describes in First Corinthians 13. That love is kind. Like, maybe, just maybe that now's the time for you to show kindness to them like be a kind person.
That they might see the love of God even though they're different.
And maybe, can I put on your heart that in this world? This year, our social media feeds, and our conversations. Might be different when it comes to politics and our enemies. Those who are different. I cannot telling you not to have your values. I'm not telling you not to speak up for your candidate. I'm not telling you that that you can't speak out for the things that you value and are important, but we can treat each other differently with our words and our posts.
Like, we can support a candidate. And love those who are different.
Like I don't know which one of those it is for you if it's a grudge that's old if it's that person, who's different love is kind. Love is patient be different, allow them time.
Doesn't boast, it isn't rude. As in itself seeking, it doesn't keep a record or wrong. It's like, what on that list of things are ways that you maybe might apply, but love different in your relationships to people who are different. I know it'll be difficult.
But here's that definition of love. Love does what's best even if they're different Jesus says
Like the world and you've heard it said love.
Neighbor, hate your enemy.
Jesus said, love your enemy.
And he taught it. When someone said, Who's my neighbor? He's told the story of The Good Samaritan. Remember that story? Like the Jewish boy gets robbed. He's left on the ground bleeding and dying, the rabbi, and the Levites, the, the Jewish religious leaders, the people who should have stopped and helped didn't, whether it was out of fear, whether they didn't want to waste their money, that person was different. That person was beaten, that person was messy, he would have taken their time. But the person who stopped was a Samaritan, a half-free, and a person who should have looked at that person and never touched him.
Because of how different Jews treated Samaritans, but he did.
And you know, how you love different, he uses money in his resources to help him get better. He took his time and his energy to get him care. He made a promise that he would come back and help and check on him. The Good Samaritan is God's example of love that's different. And you know, that that story is not just about a kind person who helped his neighbor at the end of the day, Jesus is the ultimate Good Samaritan.
He came into this world. And brought you and me healing. He love different.
No matter who. No matter what the cost.
Even if they're different.
I don't know where this message resonated with you. I hope you didn't tune out. I know it is hard.
But God says, there's help.
Like if you want to know what love is what love does and how love different is possible. John says this in first John 3:16 and so we know and rely on the love, God has for us. Begin with God's love for you a God. Who loved you? Different, a God who loved you from eternity? Who made you his own? No matter how messy you are or broken? You are or how many times you've messed up, he loves you different start there and And allow that to overflow in your life because God is love. Whoever lives in love. If you live in love, love. That is different, love, that is unique. Love is not that picks and chooses, whoever lives in, love lives in God, and God in them. Like you want to blessed life. If you want to be love healthy, not love sick. Love different.
Because God loves different.
And he loves you.
