Christ’s love compels us to do something. The question is, What?
Skunks
This past summer when I was away on sabbatical, Alisha and I went to a marriage retreat at WinShape just outside of Atlanta, GA. The retreat center was beautiful. It’s on the campus of Berry College in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains.
One morning, I went out for a run on this gravel trail into the woods and I’m just absolutely loving the scenery, the sunrise, the mountains, and the deer. It’s beautiful. I’m running along when, out of the corner of my eye, I see something that I didn’t expect to see.
It’s a skunk!!! And I’m about 6 feet away. I know that’s the recommended distance for social distancing these days, but it felt WAY TO CLOSE! I keep running and just slowly moved over as far away as I could from the skunk so maybe it would not see me as a threat!
Thankfully, I was able to escape without getting sprayed!
I’ve never been sprayed by a skunk but I know that when they feel threatened that is their defense mechanism. And because they are famous for spraying people with this terrible smelling toxin that comes from their bodies, when people see skunks they stay as far away as possible. I know I did!
Hurt People Hurt People
We do this with skunks and we do this with people, don’t we?
I bet if I were to ask you, you could name 2-3 people you avoid because whenever you get to close they “spray” you. Talking to them, working with them, being around them, it’s just so hard because whenever you do you just walk away feeling defeated, beat down, hurt, mad, angry, frustrated, all the emotions!
I bet you know a few skunks. Hopefully, you’re not a skunk! But you probably know a few people who when you get to close, you walk away HURT.
And that hurt could cause you to retaliate, to be defensive, to spray them back when they spray you! I wonder what happens in nature when two skunks get together and get mad at each other? Somebody google that.
We said this before, we live in a world where… Hurt people hurt people.
But even when we are hurt by people, as followers of Jesus we don’t have to respond back with hurt because we are LOVED.
Because we have experienced real love, because we have been loved despite what we’ve done, because we’ve been on the receiving end of love when we didn’t deserve it, the Spirit of God creates the capacity within us to love others in the same way.
And this is WHY we are DIFFERENT. We are loved. We are secure in the love of God. And because we are secure in God’s love for us we don’t feel threatened when others hurt us. It may still hurt, but we are loved. And… Loved people love people.
What does love compel us to do?
What does this love, the love that we have experienced in Jesus, REQUIRE of us?
Listen to what Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5.14-15.
For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
How do we live as people who have experienced the great love of God revealed in Jesus at the cross?
This Love Controls Us
Paul says… this love, this love is so great it CONTROLS us.
Some of you don’t like to be controlled, I understand that. But this “control” is not in the sense of I have no choice in the matter. Think of it this way… My wife’s love for me controls me. There are certain things I do — like the DISHES! – because I am controlled by her love. There are certain things I won’t do — like turn our bedroom into a man cave with Bobbleheads and sports posters — because her love controls me.
Her love FOR ME changes how I act, behave, and the decisions I make. I am controlled by her love FOR ME, not her love OVER ME. Because I am loved by her, I feel compelled to do certain things. Not because I have to but because I want to.
This Love Compels Us
In fact, another translation of this same verse says Christ’s love COMPELS us.
This love motivates, inspires, requires, necessitates, I am compelled to respond to this love! When I consider how much I am loved by God I can’t help but respond to that love with all I am and all I have.
I’ve started telling my kids that they are getting old enough that I don’t want them to do things to help out around the house because they HAVE to, because I make them, but I want them to get to the point where they help out because they love me & their mom. They love each other.
So helping out with the dishes is no longer required as a chore, but an act of love. Helping out with the yard work isn’t done out of, “my dad is making me,” but as an act of love. I’ll be honest, some days that works, some days it doesn’t. But that’s the goal!
That’s the goal because I know I HAVE to respond to the love of God revealed through Jesus on the cross. When I encounter that love, His love, when I realize how much God loves me, I can’t walk away unchanged, disengaged. I must do something in light of what Christ has done for me.
Which then begs the question… What do I do in response?
What does this LOVE require of you?
A Greek Runner named Pheidippides
This may be more legend than historical fact, but as the story goes in AD 490 the Persians were on their way to attack the Greeks. The Persians had some 600 ships that were approaching the shores at the Bay of Marathon with anywhere from 80,000 to 150,000 warriors.
The Athenians sent their warriors to Marathon to fight the Persians, but they only had some 10,000 soldiers. However, they were much better equipped for battle. They had helmets and armor of bronze, as well as shields made of metal. The Persians didn’t have anything like this.
Although they were outnumbered 15:1, they defeated the Persian army at Marathon and sent the Persians running back to their ships.
A runner by the name of Pheidippides was sent as a messenger to Athens to tell them the good news. He ran 25 miles from the city of Marathon — thus, the idea of running a Marathon was born — to the city of Athens to deliver the message. And after delivering the message, he died of exhaustion.
Compelled to Tell the Story
There’s some debate about the truth of that story and it’s historical accuracy, but in a very similar way… YOU have been SENT!
This is what this LOVE COMPELS you to do, REQUIRES you to do.
Paul writes…
…all of this (what God did for us through Jesus at the cross) is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. – 2 Corinthians 5.18
So what do we do in response? What does this love require of us?
…God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. – 2 Corinthians 5.18-19
Now that’s really GOOD NEWS! Somebody should probably tell somebody about this… that God is “no longer counting people’s sins against them.”
And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation. So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!” – 2 Corinthians 5.19-20
God has given us this TASK! This MISSION! Of reconciling people to him! To share the GOOD NEWS that GOD is no longer counting people’s sins against them! To plead with people to “Come back to God!”
I have been SENT. You have been SENT like Pheidippides as a MESSENGER, literally an AMBASSADOR, with Good News of VICTORY!
Even though the odds were against him, even though it seemed like the Enemy would win, even though he was outnumbered, even though it seemed impossible… CHRIST WON. LOVE WON! The grave has been defeated. Our Enemy has been conquered.
And every time someone comes to GOD, every time someone encounters Jesus, every time someone enters the waters of baptism, every time someone hears, believes, and responds to what Jesus did on the cross because of your testimony… you LET LOVE WIN!
This is what the love of God compels us to do…
The LOVE of Jesus compels us to bring others to God.
What COMPELS you?
There are a lot of powerful forces in the world that can compel us to do great things. But the greatest and most powerful is love. You will move mountains for a friend in need. You will stop at nothing to help your children. You will walk through fire for the one you love. Why? Because of love.
So what happens when you come face to face with the greatest love the world has ever known? What happens when that love motivates you, inspires you, controls you, and compels you?
We’ve talked about skunks, we’ve talked about Pheidippides, now let’s talk about YOUR ROLE IN THE STORY OF GOD.
YOUR ROLE IN THE STORY OF GOD
Someone needs to hear this message of Good News! The question is WHO?
1 – Who needs to hear this message? YOU DO!
Every day you need to hear it. Be reminded of it. Remember, this is how much God loves you. Every day you need to be remember that because of Jesus you are reconciled to God. You can stand in His love, secure. You are his son, his daughter, and you are LOVED! And loved people love people!
2 – Who needs to hear this message? WE DO!
We need to remind each other. This is how much God loves you, me, us, the world. This is the length God went to for us — it looks like a cross! For some reason we tend to forget, we lose sight. We need to remind each other and motivate one another to continue the task, the mission, God has given us! It’s so easy for us to lose direction, for us to get off course, off mission. In fact, our Enemy would love nothing more than to constantly DISTRACT us from our mission. And this is our MISSION, our TASK… to share this good news with others!
3 – Who needs to hear this message? Others! Our Neighbors! Our Community! Our City! Our Coworkers! Friends!
We need to share this message of love and hope with everyone. We need to invite anyone and everyone! Too often we forgotten our calling and the good news we have to share. My friends who are church planters tell me that when you’re planting a church, starting a church, you invite everyone you see to come to your church, from the person in line at Starbucks to people you see at the park, the ballgame, anywhere and everywhere… you invite everyone everywhere all the time.
What happens to many churches after they get started and after they get to a certain size is that they stop thinking like church planters and they start thinking like church sustainers! I think we need to always think like church planters, not church sustainers.
Because… Love compels us to share this LOVE.
Skunks, Pheidippides, and Your Role in the Story of God
Just so you know, you may run into a skunk this week! I wish someone would have told me that earlier this summer before I went on my run in the Appalachian Mountains. I would have been better prepared. I want you to be prepared should you run into a skunk. Because even if they hurt you, you don’t have to hurt them back. Loved people love people.
And because you are loved, you might need to start running, like Pheidippides, towards people who need to know about God’s love. In fact, we need to run and share this message of the great love of God revealed in Jesus at the cross. This is our task, our mission. And whenever we share the message of this LOVE, we let LOVE WIN!
Because, this is your role in the story of God. You are to be a MESSENGER, an AMBASSADOR, a BRINGER of GOOD NEWS for those who are far from God. To share the Good News of the great love of God with others.
May we GO today as if we are being SENT, because we are!, with GOOD NEWS to share with SOMEONE about the great love of God!
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