The Nature of our Service is About Loss and Love
1 Peter
4:7-11 Now the end of all things is near; therefore, be serious and disciplined
for prayer. 8 Above all, maintain an intense love for each other, since love
covers a multitude of sins. 9 Be hospitable to one another without complaining.
10 Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others, as good
managers of the varied grace of God. 11 If anyone speaks, it should be as one
who speaks God's words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God
provides, so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To
Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.
Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead, He
and a small band of His followers assembled in a small town outside of
Jerusalem. Jesus would rise up to heaven, visibly, until He was out of their
sight. And then He was gone. We appropriately refer to this event as Ascension,
a date observed by Christians every year 40 days after Easter.
The first followers of Jesus finally
experienced the very thing they feared most – losing Jesus. He was gone and
since then He has not returned in bodily form to earth, at least not in a
normal way as He had lived (Paul’s conversion). One wonders how the disciples
reacted to this. Loss changes people in different ways. When loss
involves a deeply cherished and respected individual, it can be a difficult
time. Mental health experts say that loss can change people in their daily
routines, in what they prioritize in life, in long-term goals, and even in a
person’s faith. Sometimes, loss leads a person closer to God, to once again
appreciate and use the blessings of faith which God shares through His Word. At
other times, loss causes a person to push against God – to become bitter and
angry, and to lose faith.
Good or bad, loss certainly changes a person. So,
what about the disciples? They were so weak and feeble just a little over
40 days before. They all forsook Jesus to save their own necks. They worried
and contemplated what to do, assuming He was gone as they huddled together in a
locked room. It seemed then that loss had changed them for the worse. As they
now stood gazing up to heaven, witnessing with their own eyes the departure of
their Lord and Savior, we can hardly overestimate the gravity of the situation
and how crucially important the coming days would be.
Of course, you already know the answer. You
wouldn’t be sitting here today if positive change had not come about through
the loss of Jesus at Ascension. Truly, there wasn’t really a loss per se. Jesus
wasn’t dead or defeated. He didn’t leave because enemies subdued Him. He
departed in victory, according to His plan. And yet, we still know how dearly
cherished Jesus was to the disciples. Even knowing that He was in heaven, it
would still be tough to move forward without Him. Who wouldn’t have that
struggle, having experienced the sublimity of working with God’s own Son in the
flesh for three years?
The greater question is, how did the disciples do it? How did they move on so
seamlessly, and build the Church of God on earth? How did they conquer
an empire that deeply opposed their beliefs, that killed and imprisoned them, a
global power that defied the rest of the world’s nations? How did
Christ’s disciples eventually span the entire earth, reaching each continent
with the gospel, and establishing Christianity as the major religion in the
world? And perhaps most important, How do we continue that legacy today?
The answer is through service. Service to God, service to our fellow humans. And service
done through loss and love.
This portion of God’s Word before us today is
not about the Ascension, but it does describe the nature of the service we
offer in the name of our victorious Savior. And throughout Peter’s words we see
how loss changes us.
The disciples became different men when they
lost Jesus. You could say the training wheels were taken off. They were
abundantly blessed to be with Jesus but they also needed to grow in their
faith. Jesus indicated this when He said on the eve of His death, John 16:12 "I still have many things
to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 "However, when He, the
Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not
speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will
tell you things to come. (Joh 16:12 NKJ)
The coming of the Holy Spirit, ten days after
Christ’s Ascension, marked a turning point for the disciples. They were
emboldened to stand for the gospel. They felt the responsibility of bearing the
banner of salvation. Overall, as far as their personalities and characteristics
were concerned, not much had changed. They were still common men, sinners in
just as much need of the message they were preaching as their audience was. But
now, when called by God to step up and serve,
they delivered. The Holy Spirit sustained them in Christ’s absence, just as He
promised to, and just as He continues to do today.
Through loss, they were changed for the better. Peter now describes
some of those losses that apply to us. Overall, the message is that service
involves giving up (losing) certain things for the benefit of others.
·
Instead
of living for the moment, and for the cares and pleasures of the world, we
train ourselves in discipline and sobriety.
·
Instead
of operating by the qualities of our sinful nature, with quarrelling and
self-pride leading the way, we serve without complaining – thinking more of the
other person’s interests than our own.
·
We
use our gifts and skills to help others, to build them, rather than looking for
ways to separate ourselves.
·
And
the most important loss of all involves confessing our sins before God and
seeking to receive change than can only be given by Jesus. Yes, forsaking sin
and temptation is a loss. Swallowing one’s pride and admitting fault takes
sacrifice. But it’s change for the good.
Too many people try to live their lives without
loss. Some are afraid of loss. What would it mean to be less popular?
How can I be happy with fewer possessions? What will happen to my vision and
dreams if I serve others? These are all thoughts generated by fear – fear of
losing out on something. In other circumstances, spiritual blindness
leads people to foolish priorities. They become consumed by sinful pride.
Interactions with others are only done as a means to some other end. This too,
is a path that seeks to avoid loss.
This insistence on keeping a certain level of
comfort and attachment to the world, while saying that we follow Christ, can be
extremely detrimental to our faith. It causes us to loosen our defenses and cut
corners of guarding against temptation. It provides a faulty confession and
witness to the world around us, so they get a warped picture of what it means
to be a Christian.
God says we don’t have to dance around loss,
but rather we can embrace it. Not in the sense of hastening after it, but in
trusting that He changes us for the better when we experience it. The is what
the disciples realized through the Ascension of Jesus. They lost something, but
they gained a gift in the process and it led them the better service. When God
deprives you of something, try to discern the blessing in disguise. When you
come to confess your sins, actually bring something before the Lord. Talk to
Him about what you’re repenting about. Don’t over generalize to the extent of
falling between the cracks. Contemplate your life before God’s commandments
with brutal honesty. Trust that when you bring something before Him, you will
lose it in exchange for His mercy. When we lose the selfish, sin-ridden
inhibitions of our fallen nature before Jesus, we understand better the second
aspect of the nature of service, growing in love.
Loss is the catalyst for change, but it’s love
that provides the power. Love is what gives meaning to loss. And so, God tells us, Above all, maintain an intense love for
each other, since love covers a multitude of sins. “Above all” refers to
that which leads the way in your life [emblem]. If you think about your values
and qualities as a line of things that describe you, what would be at the very
front? What would be the thing you want people to see the most? God says that
should be love – the kind of love that can cover a multitude of sins.
God tells us a bit more about this love, too.
First, it’s to be offered in a sincere and deep way. The word “intense” is used
in our verses. This is a love that goes above and beyond. It’s a love that
makes sacrifices and looks out for the interests of others. Secondly, this love
upholds the Word of God. As we love by our words, it should be according to the
God’s Word. As we love in our actions, they should honor and glorify Christ.
And this love is the kind that instead of excusing sin, covers it
with repentance and forgiveness.
The love of serving others by faith is rare.
Jesus predicted this and explained why it’s rare saying, “And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold
(Matthew 24:12).” Love suffers when sin abounds. Jesus agreed with Peter
when he wrote that love must uphold God’s Word. Without that connection, Christ
is not honored, the gospel is not imparted to sinners, and service is not
rendered to one another. We must love in truth, not in making concessions for
every belief outside of God’s Word. The world’s love is cheap. That kind of
love changes from person to person. It’s based on fleeting feelings and
temporary experiences. God calls the believer to something deeper and more
stable. Love that doesn’t change. Love that does not have its origin in this
world but in the very nature of God. This is why true, unadulterated service to
others is rare, because the love that fuels it is rare.
Whenever lawlessness abounds over love, someone
is excluded.
When Christians do this, it leads them to belittle others outside of the
church. It causes Christians to despise those who are different, instead of
caring for their needs. It leads Christians to become hypocritical and
self-righteous – using their faith merely as a way to hold power over others. But
lawlessness affects those outside the church, too. It causes them to denounce
all other beliefs that do not align to their own, in the name of tolerance and
justice. It leads them to use equality as a cloak to suppression of
righteousness and control. It has all the signs of utopian bliss, but it cuts
and excludes just as much as the most hateful, racist, and bigoted person. In
both examples, Christian and non-Christian, when lawlessness abounds, love
grows cold.
Christ alone offers love that embraces all –
that brings change for the better, and that upholds true holiness. A love that
serves. There will be loss – don’t mistake that for worldly division and
prejudice. Loss doesn’t mean you’re doing things wrong, or that you’re not
right in what you believe. God’s loss is directed first at the self. He wants you to see the need and experience that
loss before you tell others about it. He desires that each person look honestly
at their own heart and intention, because in so doing loss is revealed and then
love changes. No one you talk to is going to be changed like that by you
pointing the finger, or by you conceded God’s Word. You first experience loss
and love in your life, and you share both with others. Loss of pride. Loss of
distrust. Loss of self-reliance. Loss of sin. And in place of it all, love from
Jesus. No one is excluded, especially God.
It didn’t seem helpful or loving for Christ to
depart the world and go to heaven. One wonders how the first disciples made it.
Well, like them, we need to take that first step – stop gazing up and look
forward. We see the same thing that they saw – serve God and one another. Along
the way there will be loss and there will be love, and that’s the message we
continue to share from God’s Word. With that as our source, we have every
blessing from the Holy Spirit. Amen.
