January 11, 2004

Service Theme – "Our God Transforms Us"

Matthew 22:35-40

How to See with God’s Eyes

  1. Introduction
    1. Pastor Andy Stanley, in his book The Next Generation Leader, wrote this question that has really touched my heart: "What do I believe is impossible to do in my field…but if it could be done would fundamentally change my business?" I know I’ve read this to you before and I’ve paraphrased it for us before, but I’m going to paraphrase it again: (NEW SLIDE) What do I believe is impossible to do in my church…but if it could be done would fundamentally change my church? For our church, the statement that most of us believe is impossible to accomplish is our vision statement.
    2. This is the vision statement that God has given us: (NEW SLIDE) The passion of Sodaville Evangelical Church is to reach people for Christ by accepting all people where they’re at and moving them toward Christ-like maturity. We do this by providing a safe and stable place to share, serve, and grow together into a loving Christian family. There is one word that underlies this whole vision, and that word is love. Matthew 22:35-40 shows us the love we’ve got to have if we’re going to see this vision fulfilled.
  1. Scripture Passage
    1. Matthew 22:35-40 (from the New Living) – (NEW SLIDE) One of them, an expert in religious law, tried to trap him with this question: 36 "Teacher, which is the most important commandment in the law of Moses?" (NEW SLIDE) 37 Jesus replied, " ‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ (NEW SLIDE) 40 All the other commandments and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments."
  1. A New Perspective
    1. We have a lot of misconceptions about what love is. Our world tries to tell us that love is based purely on emotions or on physical compatibility. But in this passage Jesus is telling us that we have to look at love from His perspective if we’re going to get it right, if we’re going to accomplish the vision He’s placed before us. What is love from His perspective? What would it look like in our lives if we were fulfilling the vision He has for us? In other words, how do we allow God’s transforming love to overwhelm us to the point where our church is radically transformed?
    2. (NEW SLIDE) First, we have to love God with all of our heart. In the Greek this is understood to be the center and source of our emotions, wishes and desires. On our own we are helpless to transform them. We can try all we want to have more controlled emotions, more realistic wishes, more Christ-like desires. But without the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit purifying our heart, we’re hopeless. (NEW SLIDE) We desperately need to plead with God for His Spirit to purify our emotions, wishes, and desires, sanctifying them or making them holy for His purposes. I know this is tough for us, because we all like our own way. We all like to nurture our own desires, no matter how unChristlike they may be. We all like to harbor our own emotions and allow them to control us, no matter how much they distort our view of the world. We all like to hang on to our own wishes, wanting certain things or for certain things to go the way we want them to, no matter how bad they may be for us, or no matter how much they lead us away from Christ. But if we’re going to love God with all our heart so that ourselves and our church are transformed and that wonderful vision God has given us is fulfilled, we’ve got to beg the Holy Spirit to purify our heart and then let Him do it.
    3. (NEW SLIDE) Second, we have to love God with all of our soul. I know there is going to be some overlap here, but in the Greek this is understood to be the center of our inner life as expressed in our feelings and emotions, as well as being that which will transcend earthly life. You could call it our personality, that which makes each one of us different from the other. If we try to change who we are on our own, we’re helpless. It’s like trying to teach a cat to fly by tossing it into the air– it frustrates the cat and gets you all clawed up! We all have things about our own personalities and temperaments that drive us crazy – both in us and in others. We try and we try to change those annoying little traits and get more and more frustrated until we either lose our tempers or our hope. Loving God with all our soul means begging and pleading with the Holy Spirit to change who we are, those unChristlike personality and temperament traits that drive us nuts and drive others away from Him. (NEW SLIDE) Loving God with all our soul means begging and then allowing the Holy Spirit to purify our soul, to take the evil right out of it and make us holy even as He is holy. It’s tough, especially when we try it on our own. Even though we hate those unChristlike parts of our personality, we still clutch onto them because they’re all we know. The familiar is more comfortable than the new, even if the familiar is killing us off inside. But if we’re going to love God with all our soul so that ourselves and our church are transformed and that wonderful vision God has given us is fulfilled, we’ve got to beg the Holy Spirit to purify our soul and then let Him do it.
    4. (NEW SLIDE) Third, we have to love God with all of our mind. In the Greek this is understood to be our insight, understanding, intelligence. If we try to change what and how we think on our own, we’re helpless. We’ll be talking more about this in a few weeks, but I have to address this here and now if we’re going to understand how all this fits together in the fulfillment of the vision God has given us. We have a tendency to believe that what goes on inside of our heads is our own private personal business and no one else’s. We believe that we can feed our heads whatever junk we want to, or let them think and dwell and even obsess on whatever they want to, and it will have no impact on us at all. That’s like saying that I can put diesel into my Geo and expect it to run perfectly. (NEW SLIDE) We have a desperate need to beg and plead and allow the Holy Spirit to purify our mind, so that we can think and believe that which is honoring to God. A sanctified mind is a powerful tool in the hands of the living God. An unsanctified mind is a powerful tool in the hands of the devil. Folks, it’s either going to be one or the other. If our mind has not been purified and made holy by the power of the Holy Spirit, it will be impure and Satan will have a field day with us – both in driving us to despair and in driving people away from Christ. Loving God with all our mind means begging and then allowing the Holy Spirit to purify our mind, to take the evil right out of it and make us holy even as He is holy. Again, I know it’s tough, especially when we try it on our own. Even though we hate those unChristlike parts of our mind, we still clutch onto them because they’re all we know. The familiar is more comfortable than the new, even if the familiar is killing us off inside. But if we’re going to love God with all our mind so that ourselves and our church are transformed and that wonderful vision God has given us is fulfilled, we’ve got to beg the Holy Spirit to purify our mind and then let Him do it.
    5. (NEW SLIDE) Fourth, we have to love others as much as we love ourselves. In other words, we have to offer the same considerations to others and cut them even more slack than we do to and for ourselves. And the source of this love for other has to be our love for God. Otherwise we’ll constantly be picking at each other and keeping each other at a distance because our defense mechanisms will always be overriding our need for intimacy. (NEW SLIDE) John 15:12-13 says, "I command you to love each other in the same way that I love you. And here is how to measure it – the greatest love is shown when people lay down their lives for their friends." We’ve got to love each other enough that, not only will we die for each other, we will live for each other. That’s a struggle for me, because it goes against everything in me that wants my own desires to win out. (NEW SLIDE) It’s a struggle for all of us, but if we beg and plead and allow the Holy Spirit to purify our heart, soul, and mind so that we can love with God’s transforming love, loving each other will happen. We will live for each other, helping and encouraging and loving each other through all the good and bad times of life, not trying to make it through them on our own, but receiving joy and strength from each other. That may sound a bit utopian, but that is the standard Jesus is calling us to. Jesus never called us to do anything that is impossible. What He called us to do is only impossible if we try to do it on our own strength and effort, and not by the transforming power of the Holy Spirit. Are we going to love each other as much as we love ourselves? Then we’ve got to beg and plead God for His help and allow Him to transform us. Then look out!
    6. When all this comes together, and we’re loving God with everything we are and have and loving each other with a sacrificial love, here’s a picture of what things will look like. This is the vision that drives us. This is our piece of God’s transforming love in action. The picture of what God has placed in my heart and mind looks something like this. The church is packed Sunday after Sunday with people pouring out their hearts to God and finding what they need at the foot of the cross. People worshipping God like there’s no tomorrow every day of their lives. Prayer meetings packed out with folks pleading with God for their families and friends who don’t know Christ, for their community and area, for our church, for revival. People coming to know Christ day after day and week after week. Small groups packed with nonbelievers learning more about Christ and how to know Him. Small groups for accountability, small groups for discipleship, small groups for support and recovery – all packed with people being healed and becoming more like Christ. New ministries sprouting as Christians get excited about using their spiritual gifts for God’s glory to serve others and to reach people in need. New outreaches and innovations in doing church being developed and implemented so that many will come to know Christ. Love so pervading everything we do that it is almost palpable – you can almost see it, taste it, touch it. The Holy Spirit so powerful among us that there are times when we simply fall on our faces and worship. That’s just a small part of what God’s vision for our church will look like if we allow ourselves to be transformed by His love. Powerful? You bet! Unrealistic? Only if we try it in our own strength. (NEW SLIDE) With God, anything within His will is possible. If we will only dare to dream, and allow Him to transform us so that it will happen.
  1. Conclusion and Communion
    1. I know this is a lot to digest. We’re going to take a few minutes to pray and listen to what the Holy Spirit whispers to our hearts about what He wants us to do about all this. And I encourage you, if He tells you He needs to purify or sanctify your heart, soul, or mind, beg Him to do it. Ask Him what the next step is, and follow Him in doing it. Let’s take a few minutes to pray and seek His will in this. If you need to come up to the altars to do this, feel free. Then we’ll pray together.
    2. Is it now well with your soul? Have you settled some important business with our Lord? If there is now nothing between you and God, you are welcome to participate in the celebration of communion with us. You don’t have to be a member of our church, you just have to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And I ask if there is nothing between you and God because Scripture clearly says that if you eat and drink the bread and the juice in an unworthy manner (and that includes a heart, soul or mind that is not right with Him), there are some very negative consequences. So if there are some things you still need to get right with God, wait until next time. No one will think any less of you.
    3. So if all is well between you and the Lord Jesus, please come forward, take the bread and the juice, and return to your seats. We’ll partake together when everyone is ready. So come forward now and take the bread and the juice.
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