Digging Deeper — What Are We Doing Here? (week 2)
September 29th, 2022
Hello Crossway,
Sickness struck the Kelly family this week, so Kyle and I were unable to film digging deeper together. In lieu of a video I'll share my thoughts from this week.
In our new series, What Are We Doing Here?, we have been walking through our mission statement "We are a community that loves God, loves people, and is passionate about sharing the gospel." The last two weeks have been spent looking at how we love God.
The first week centered on the story of Jesus being asked, "what is the greatest commandment?" to which He quoted the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4.
"And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”
(Matthew 22:37–40)
The focus was on a full love of the Lord with everything we have, in all aspects. We are to love the Lord, and keep that as the highest commandment. Although we would all agree with this assessment, oftentimes in practice we put other commandments in higher regard. "Don't mess up, be right always, be the best father or mother, make sure everyone is happy, etc."
This week we continued our look at the greatest commandment, but Kyle expanded our vision to see How we can love the Lord.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments."
(John 14:15)
It really is that simple. Jesus is the king. He wants our allegiance, and thus, our obedience. He experiences our love when we obey His commandments.
Much could be said along these lines, but I will hone in on the passage that Kyle read in 1 John 5:1-3.
"Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."
(1 John 5:1–3)
Take another look at the end. And his commandments are not burdensome.
We are all sinners, born into sin. So, obedience is a challenging step. There's the parable that Jesus tells of the two brothers in Matthew 21:28–32. The first brother says he will not obey his father, but then ultimately does. The second brother says he will, but then does not. The first brother, even though he speaks disrespectfully, is the right one in the end.
But there's an even higher level, and that is when our love so overflows that we are eager to serve the Lord and do as He commands.
When you love something it's not as hard to do it. I don't know about you, but if you tell me to go eat a pizookie from BJ's, the warm cookie in a skillet topped with vanilla ice cream drenched in chocolate sauce, I may be feeling many things, but a burden is not one of them. I love eating those 1,400 calories or whatever monstrous number it actually contains. And because I love it, I don't feel resistance doing it.
Kyle mentioned that his wife, Sarah, when he wakes her unintentionally as he enters the room will instinctively ask if he is alright and if he needs anything. The endearing "ahhhh" from the congregation said a lot! My honest evaluation of myself predicts I would receive no such applause for how I exit slumber in the middle of the night. Evidently, I don't love serving as much as I ought.
The point is not guilt, but to recognize what could be before us. When we love the Lord, our hearts WANT to do what pleases Him. If we're going through the motions or loving our lives more than Christ, then these commands become burdens.
So, when God commands you to be patient—perhaps through your kids (I'm not speaking from experience)—is your immediate response joy, or is it a heavy block crashing upon your shoulders? Do you feel free and drawn to engage that person who is an outcast (again, not something from my experience), or do you feel repulsion? Or when that guy who gets under your skin opens his mouth again and says the most offensive, absurd, abominations, and your brain finally finds the perfectly wicked response but the Spirit firmly warns you to keep your mouth shut (I can't imagine where I'm getting all these examples from), will your teeth remain closed but clenched, or will your lips be quick to offer blessing in return?
This isn't about a test. This is about love. Do you love the Lord?
We do not seek to love the Lord aspirationally, as if it is something we wish we could attain, but rather our love comes from the love God showed to us.
"We love because he first loved us."
(1 John 4:19)
God loved us so much that the Father sent the Son, and the Son voluntarily went to the cross for us.
The way to love more is not to strive harder, but to receive deeper.
The more you embrace the cross and God's love poured out for you, the more you will love in return.
Connect with Christ this week!
God Bless,
Pastor Nigel