Church On Mission | Care

What this episode covers

About the Talk: Not only is God loving, he is love. Everything he does is consistent with his love because, unlike us, it is a perfect, permanent part of his character. And at the heart of God’s movement towards mankind throughout the Bible is his love. “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8); “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us” (1 John 3:16). In fact, God loves the whole world (John 3:16). But not only is he love, he fills his people with his love so they are enabled to love like he does. The love we’ve received from him becomes: A pattern for loving others: “Live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:2). A motivating force for loving others: “Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died” (2 Corinthians 5:14). A power within us to love others: “The fruit of the Spirit is love…” (Galatians 5:22). So the Spirit of God within his people moves us, in love, towards other people, including those who are not followers of Jesus. If loving God is directly connected to loving people, we can rightly ask ourselves to what extent our love for God is in reality moving us towards people in love. Not in obligation, not as a project, not only because we’re told to; but because of love. In Matthew 5, Jesus famously talks about his people as salt and as light. As salt they are a preservative, a flavouring, a cleanser. As light, they illuminate what would otherwise be darkness. In both cases, their ‘faithful presence within’ (Tim Keller) is distinctive, life-giving and loving. In particular “let[ting] your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven” has the sense of not only being observable from a distance (“Those Christians seem to do a lot of good over there”), but of being up-close-and-personal. Letting that “light shine before others” such that we make a personal difference wherever we go - in workplaces, schools, neighbourhoods, families, communities. Letting people around us experience our “good deeds” such that they feel our care and have their lives brightened / blessed from having us in their lives. ‘An experience of love opens a person’s heart to a message of love’ (Steve Sjogren). The challenge for all of us is to get close enough to people that they’re left to wonder what it is that motivates such grace, love, care, with the prayer that it may lead them ultimately to “glorify your Father in heaven.” What would it look like to intentionally become invested in the lives of those we work with, live near and meet? What small steps could we take - taking an interest in people more than we have done, offering to help where we might previously have left someone to solve something on their own, giving time to the one everyone else avoids, being hospitable to those we have so far kept at a distance. The changes might each be relatively small, but the compounded effect could be hugely significant.

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