WHAT MAKES HOLY
PEOPLE DIFFERENT?
We have talked a great deal about holiness these past few
weeks. Holiness is that peculiarity about Christians -- that quality and
behavior that makes us stand out from the rest of society.
The
Apostle Peter has written that holiness is single-minded devotion to the Lord;
that it is required of Christians because God himself is holy; and that it is a
God-conscious fear (love and respect) reflecting the precious blood of Christ.
But if that were all holiness was then we would be a very strict, joyless, and
rules-oriented people. Holiness is more than living correctly.
What is
it that truly makes holy people different from those who do not acknowledge
Christ as Lord?
On the
night before Jesus was crucified, he held a dinner for his closest companions.
Peter, the writer of the letter we are studying, was there. And it was Peter
who objected the strongest to the strange act that Jesus performed – Jesus
washed the disciples’ feet. But Jesus told him, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me,” (Jn 13:8).
We could
call this act the template for Christian service. We could call it a model for
humility that all believers should emulate. What Jesus called it was “love.”
Jesus was showing his disciples that he loved them and would do anything for
them because of that love.
Jesus
then explained his actions as an example for them. He said, “A new command I give you: Love one another.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. All men will know that you
are my disciples if you love one another,” (John 13:34-35).
Peter
heard these words and had a lot of time to practice them before writing this
letter. I believe these words of Jesus reverberate in 1 Peter 1:22-25. As Peter
wrote about holiness he knew that the crown of holiness is love. Holiness must work itself out in love for
fellow Christians.
1. True Holiness produces Christian love
The command is simple: “Love one another.” The example is
perfection himself: “As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Carrying out the command and living up to the example are much more demanding.
When is
it hardest to love others? When things aren’t going so well. Christians in
Peter’s day were suffering for their faith economically and socially. They were
persecuted for being followers of Christ. Suffering turns small irritations
into conflict between those who normally love each other. Our problems and
burdens have a way of dampening the flame of love for others. Self-care takes
over and we put our efforts into solving our own problems. When the problems
are all solved then we can care for everyone else.
Peter
recognized this tension and reminded them of Jesus’ command in his own words.
He wrote, “Now that you have purified
yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other,
love one another deeply, from the heart,” (22). This is no light suggestion
but a holy command.
a) Christian love
comes from obedience – Love is not a feeling; love is a decision. Feelings
are fickle and depend on circumstantial factors – how good we feel; how the
other person makes me feel; timing, etc. No, love is a decision based on the
highest character of God.
Peter
wrote that we have purified ourselves by obeying the truth. The truth is that
God loved us so much he sent his Son to die for us so that we would not have to
cease to exist, but live with God forever. That love was not meant to be
hoarded or dammed up, but allowed to flow like a river to us and through us. (like
a carbonated beverage)
The high
importance of Christian love is strongly repeated in the NT. Paul commands it
in Romans, “Be devoted to one another in
brotherly love,” (12:10). And Peter repeats himself in this letter, “Above all, love each other deeply, because
love covers over a multitude of sins,” (4:8). Frankly, we would not have a
NT if not for the deep love the apostles had for the church.
But note
this; both Paul and Peter limit this love to the church, just as Jesus did.
They call it “brotherly love.” For the sake of gender inclusion (women and
men), I have called it Christian love. And Christian love is first and foremost
for the family of believers, not for the world. Not that we shouldn’t love the atheist,
Muslim or the rest, but the prime target of our love is sister or brother in
the Lord. We have to love each other in the church, or love falls apart in the
eyes of others.
b) Christian love
is sincere – Therefore, Christian love must be sincere. Peter’s word
“sincere” means “without hypocrisy.” Love does not wear a mask. If you have
ever worn a mask you know the amazing transformation that takes place. You can
hide your feelings. You can be someone else and act a part because no one knows
you really are under that mask.
Peter
said, “Don’t fake it,” be real in your love for others in your church. If love
is a decision, you will act towards others in a way that benefits them, even if
you don’t feel tender towards that
person. That sounds like hypocrisy. It doesn’t have to be, not if you confess
it to the Lord and to a friend, even to the person you are trying to love. I
have heard time and time again how deciding
to love has kindled a loving feeling
towards those who have previously been antagonists.
c) Christian love
is fervent – Christian love is “fervent” or deep. Fervent love lasts and
lasts and lasts. Outside of the NT the word is used for galloping horses. In
Acts 12:5 it describes the manner in which the church prayed for Peter when he
was in prison. Fervent love implies effort and emotion.
While
love begins as a decision there is a heart-felt aspect to love that involves
feelings. Love requires effort and the effort invokes passion; passion is based
on our hope. The power to love comes through hoping in God. If we are not a
hope-filled people, we will not be a loving people. So the hope we have in
Christ to transform our lives compels us to love the brother or sister in the
Lord, no matter where they are in their faith journey.
While
Christian love is unique to the family of faith, that does not mean it cannot
be seen in others who are not of Christ. I believe the world has learned
Christian love from the church and genuinely copies it, even if they don’t
acknowledge its source. I read in the Free Press this week the story of the
individuals who ran to help the honor guard (Cpl. Cirrillo) who was shot in Ottawa. They rushed
to his side to tend his wound, speak words of love and encouragement to him,
and try to save his life. (One woman, a former Navy medic, heard the shots and, rather than run away, ran towards the sound of gunfire. She heroically used her skills to try and save him). He died. But the love they showed to this man they
didn’t know was deep.
Christian
love is rooted in the love of Jesus and is sincere and fervent. When there is
trouble in this church family, we should be the first ones to run to the
trouble.
2. Christian love is the mark of your new nature
The reason behind the command to love one another is the
reality of our new nature in Christ. Jesus said, “All men will know that you are my disciples if you
love one another.” Love is the mark of the new nature and everyone will know
there is something different about us if we love each other. Peter says three
things about this reality:
a) When you love
you demonstrate the new birth – Peter connects “love one another deeply” to
his reason for loving with “For you have
been born again…” (23a).
To be
“born again” is to know and understand love in a radically different way than
Hollywood portrays love. Almost beyond rescue, the word “love” today is largely
perceived as “how you make me feel.” And we think this way in the church
sometimes too. People often say “they don’t feel loved in the church,” when
what they really mean is they were not “loved” the way they thought they should
be loved. Sometimes it’s a failure to read someone’s mind – a very difficult
task.
Salvation
is living in the way of love. That does not mean a warm, fuzzy feeling nor
friendships around a coffeepot after worship (though love is present there).
Love refers to righteous relationships with each other based on God’s
character, which Christian behavior reflects. God’s love disciplines the
sinning believer; God’s love corrects; God’s love goes the extra mile; God’s
love serves; God’s love sacrifices; God’s love is wise and wisdom in action.
When we
love like God loves we show that we have been born again. And we might not get
applause for that.
b) When you love
you show where you come from – Peter emphasizes the new birth by referring
to our new genetic code. He wrote that we are born again “not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,” (23b). When you are
born of someone’s seed you take on the character of that person’s seed. It
constitutes your nature. You have the DNA of that person. The seed that created
us to be born again was the Word of God that is imperishable, living, abiding
and eternal. That is who we are. We are a forever people.
With
eternity born in our hearts we have a different perspective on the world around
us. Disappointment and failures, suffering and rejection are all seen
differently by Christians. People without hope find these things to be the end
of their world. We see them as temporary. Having an eternal hope frees us from
dwelling on temporary pain and disappointment so that we can look beyond the
pain that is caused by others to love them in view of eternity.
c) When you love
you proclaim the eternal Word – The inclusion of this final word from
Isaiah appears out of place in our subject of love. What Peter suggests by
including “All people are like grass…but
the word of the Lord endures forever,” is that while trials and suffering
tempt us to turn away from God, is that God is faithful to his promises. God’s
promises are forever. He has promised to deliver us from this present struggle
with the return of Christ. As we believe in this hope, we reveal that we are
God’s people. And just as God’s promises are eternal, we are eternal people. If
we live like eternal people we are free to love. And through our love we
proclaim the eternal Word of God.
It
really is a matter of perspective. How do we look at life? How do we view our
world? We can endure a lot of garbage for Christ’s sake and glory if we grasp
the truth of what Peter has been saying about holiness and love.
In Ernest Gordon’s
true account of life in a World War II Japanese prison camp, Through the Valley of the Kwai, there is
a story that exemplifies holy love. It is about a man who through giving it all
away literally transformed a whole camp of soldiers. The man’s name was Angus
McGillivray. Angus was a Scottish prisoner in one of the camps filled with
Americans, Australians, and Britons who had helped build the infamous Bridge
over the River Kwai. The camp had become an ugly situation. A dog-eat-dog
mentality had set in. Allies would literally steal from each other and cheat
each other; men would sleep on their packs and yet have them stolen from under
their heads. Survival was everything. The law of the jungle prevailed...until
the news of Angus McGillivray’s death spread throughout the camp. Rumors spread
in the wake of his death. No one could believe big Angus had succumbed. He was
strong, one of those whom they had expected to be the last to die. Actually, it
wasn’t the fact of his death that shocked the men, but the reason he died.
Finally they pieced together the true story.
The Argylls (Scottish soldiers) took their buddy system
very seriously. Their buddy was called their “mucker,” and these Argylls
believed that is was literally up to each of them to make sure their “mucker”
survived. Angus’s mucker, though, was dying, and everyone had given up on him,
everyone, of course, but Angus. He had made up his mind that his friend would
not die. Someone had stolen his mucker’s blanket. So Angus gave him his own,
telling his mucker that he had “just come across an extra one.” Likewise, every
mealtime, Angus would get his rations and take them to his friend, stand over
him and force him to eat them, again stating that he was able to get “extra
food.” Angus was going to do anything and everything to see that his buddy got
what he needed to recover.
But as Angus’s mucker began to recover, Angus collapsed,
slumped over, and died. The doctors discovered that he had died of starvation
complicated by exhaustion. He had been giving of his own food and shelter. He
had given everything he had -- even his very life. The ramifications of his
acts of love and unselfishness had a startling impact on the compound.
“Greater love has no man than this, that a
man lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12).
As word circulated of the reason for Angus McGillivray’s
death, the feel of the camp began to change. Suddenly, men began to focus on
their mates, their friends, and humanity of living beyond survival, of giving
oneself away. They began to pool their talents -- one was a violin maker,
another an orchestra leader, another a cabinet maker, another a professor. Soon
the camp had an orchestra full of homemade instruments and a church called the
“Church Without Walls” that was so powerful, so compelling, that even the
Japanese guards attended. The men began a university, a hospital, and a library
system. The place was transformed; an all but smothered love revived, all
because one man named Angus gave all he had for his friend. For many of those
men this turnaround meant survival. What happened is an awesome illustration of
the potential unleashed when one person actually gives it all away. (Tim
Hansel, Holy Sweat, 1987, Word Books Publisher, pp. 146-147.)
Christ
gave it all away. Holy love compelled him to die for us. The badge he wanted
his followers to display to show that they belonged to Jesus was love for one another.
How much do we need to love each other in KEMC? How much is enough? Peter said,
“Love one another deeply, from the heart.” That’s a lot of love.
AMEN
No comments:
Post a Comment