Hope Shaped Love

My thoughts and prayers are with you at this difficult time.

I wish you well.

I hope everything is okay.

These are all very common ways of expressing that we support someone.

But I wonder if they often don't turn into action.

I see it all over social media.

Someone will express a hard time that they've been going,

and people will often respond,

my thoughts and prayers are with you.

But do people actually put any thought into a friend situation?

Is there any seeking to understand a crisis that happens?

Like in France last year,

there was a lot of people saying,

my thoughts and prayers are for France.

And when people say my thoughts and prayers,

do those people even believe in a God,

let alone actually pray to him about the situation?

I think this sentiment has become a nicer version of good luck.

It's a hope that you'll figure things out on your own.

I wish you well,

but I'm not actually going to do anything about it.

It's a message that can say,

I love you,

and I support you,

but I'm not actually going to get up and support you.

I wonder if it is because it is so much easier to actually just say words

than to be motivated to engage and to help.

We who know how much Jesus has done for us,

his love and his sacrifice shown on the cross,

we too can fall to this same temptation.

The temptation to say,

oh, look,

I know I should forgive,

but it's hard,

and so I'm just going to say those words,

I forgive you,

and then I'm going to hold a grudge for years.

Oh,

I know I should give generously,

and you know,

I'll pledge,

but I really want to hold on to my money,

just in case something happens tomorrow.

Look,

I say that I'm not a racist with my words,

but do you know what?

With my eyes,

I judge people who have different skin than me.

Can you imagine if Jesus was a thoughts and prayers savior?

If he said,

you know,

oh,

look at you guys down there on earth,

I see all of your sin,

I see your hardened hearts turned away from God,

and look,

I'm thinking about you guys,

if that helps.

We would be nowhere if Jesus was just a thoughts and prayers savior.

The challenge for us today is to turn our good intentions into actions that express God's love for us.

We are in a series called Share Hope,

and we want to share the hope that we have in Jesus.

We want to also share the hope for today with people in very practical ways.

And today,

we're going to see that our love is shaped by our hope in God.

Love in deed and action,

and not just in words.

We're going to be looking at a letter written by the apostle John,

and he outlines what this kind of love looks like.

So please have your Bibles open,

have your St.

Paul's app open.

There are notes that you can be taking for this sermon.

And the first thing that we're going to see as we have a look at 1 John,

is that we are loved.

We're going to have a look at 1 John 3 verse 1.

1 John 3:1

See what great love the Father has lavished on us,

that we should be called children of God.

God has shown his wonderful love through his adoption.

He has taken a lost and hopeless people and brought them into his family.

Now all those who love Jesus are in God's family,

and are to be on about God's mission,

to do the same thing as God,

to love others.

What we love is shaped by the one who has loved us.

Verse 11,

For this is the message that we heard from the beginning,

we should love one another.

Love one another.

John contrasts this with an illustration of Cain and Abel,

Adam and Eve's first two sons.

Have a look at verse 12 with me.

Do not be like Cain who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother.

And why did he murder him?

Because his own actions were evil and his brothers were righteous.

Cain murdered his brother,

proof that he was influenced and shaped by Satan.

Our actions,

the things we do,

point to the one who shapes us.

They can either show that we're being shaped by Satan,

or that we are being shaped by God.

Verse 14,

We know that we have passed from death to life,

because we love each other.

Anyone who does not love remains in death.

John is saying that hate and murder is a marker that we don't know Christ.

But love is a mark that we have died with Christ,

and we have been raised with him.

Growing up in Sydney,

I am very much a product of this culture.

The things that this culture here in Sydney loves,

I have found myself loving as well.

I can't help but find that when I take my kids to McDonald's,

I get a little bit excited about a Happy Meal,

because it's got the good food,

but it's also got a toy.

And that still excites me,

even though that's just for my kids.

But I continue to love the things my culture loves.

I love the movies that my culture tells me to love.

I love the TV shows.

I love the food.

I love what my culture has shaped me to love.

And to a large degree,

it's consuming capitalistic products and being entertained.

But when we become children of God,

our culture changes.

The most influential culture changes.

We go from being something called ethnocentric.

Ethnocentric means that our ethnicity,

our culture is our center, ethnocentric.

So we go from thinking that everything that our culture loves

is good to love.

Everything our culture does is right.

And everything every other culture chooses to love is wrong.

When we become children of God,

we become shaped by Christ.

We join a Christ culture

instead of thinking that our culture is right.

And so before anything else,

I am a Christian.

My loves and the things I dislike

are to be shaped by Christ.

They trump what my culture says.

One example of this is that

in the Australian culture,

an Australian male wants to show that they are strong.

They don't want to show weakness.

They don't want to show emotions.

And definitely don't cry.

Unless it's at the football, that's okay.

Whenever the football goes back.

But Christ shows his own weakness

when he died on the cross.

And I can be upfront about my own weakness

and how much I need his salvation

and how flawed I am.

The hope we share

is shaped by the one who has loved us.

John encourages us to love

because we have been loved.

This is a new culture that we are to be part of.

And so the second thing that we see this morning

is that we have been loved to love.

Have a look at verse 16.

This is how we know what love is.

Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.

And we ought to lay down our lives

for our brothers and sisters.

He, Jesus, laid down his life for us.

And John pushes this to be a principle for us.

It is not just that Christians are saved by his generosity,

even to death,

but we are to show the same generosity,

the same love.

We should also lay down our lives for people.

I don't think I've ever actually had the chance

to lay down my life for someone else.

I say to my kids, you know,

I would jump in front of a bus for you.

And I think I would,

but I've never actually had that opportunity.

So it's really easy to have this thought up in the cloud,

up in the back of my brain somewhere that,

you know, I'd lay down my life for someone,

in particular my kids.

But John immediately grounds this love for us.

Verse 17.

If anyone has material possessions

and sees a brother or sister in need.

John makes this hope that we have

incredibly simple and practical.

If we have a material possession

and a brother or sister is in need of it,

we share it with them.

Let's not make it more difficult than that.

We see a need,

we have that material possession,

we meet that need.

But if we see a need that we can meet

and instead we close our hearts,

we turn away and only offer,

say, thoughts and prayers,

well, John questions us.

Let me read verse 17 again.

If anyone has material possessions

and sees a brother or sister in need,

but has no pity on them,

how can the love of God be in that person?

How can the love of God be in that person?

Have they heard the gospel?

Are they actually following Jesus?

If we can't love with the love that we've been shown,

do we know God's love?

If there is a person in front of us

and they need something that we have

and we don't share it,

do we know God's love for us?

Are we still operating like our own culture dictates

instead of operating by a Christ-shaped culture?

John knows the importance and difficulty of the reality of this.

And so to encourage and also challenge us,

he writes in verse 18,

Dear children,

let us not love with words or speech,

but with actions and in truth.

He starts with dear children.

This is a recurring phrase that comes up in John's letters.

It's an expression of closeness and love and affection.

It's the parent that says to a child,

little child, share with your brother.

Little child, I forgive you and I love you,

but don't disobey.

Little child, it's okay.

Dear children,

let us not love with words or speech,

but with actions and in truth.

Love with actions and in truth,

not just with words.

Let's not just be thoughts and prayers type Christians

in just words or some words we've typed on the computer,

but let's love with actions and in truth.

Loving in action is truth

because when it's just words,

it can show to be false and hollow.

And so to be able to love other people,

we have to know God's love for us.

We have to know how loved we are to love.

Romans 3 is a great place to be reminded

of how amazing God's love is for us.

It paints a picture of our sin and our rebellion,

and yet God chooses to show his love.

He chooses to show his righteousness.

Let me encourage you,

go and spend some time meditating on God's love for us.

Because when we are reminded of all that God has done,

sharing his love is so much easier.

A couple of weeks ago,

as I was preparing for this series on sharing hope,

thinking about what it means to love others

and to show mercy,

it was just as isolation was starting to ease.

And my family, we went out,

we went through Chatswood for the first time in a while,

and we went down the road and we bought ice cream.

And as we were walking down through the Chatswood shops area,

I noticed somebody on the side who was homeless,

and they were clearly in need.

But my heart and my eyes have built up a callus

against people and their needs.

I've gotten used to ignoring people's needs.

But as we walked past,

I noticed the eyes of one of my children

watched this person,

and I could see the compassion they had on them.

And so as we walked back up,

I said to this child,

do you think we should help out this person?

Do you think we should help them with their needs?

And thankfully at that time,

I actually had some cash in my pocket,

which I don't often do.

And I said, I have some money.

Do you think we should give it to them?

And my child said, yes, I think we should help them.

And so we walked over,

and we shared what we had with them.

Now, I know that that was a very small thing.

It was not much help in the long run.

But I had a chance to share this part of the Bible with my kids,

to show that we have been loved by God so much,

that we are called to love others.

He has been so generous to us.

We are called to be generous to others.

And the reality is, we can do it.

We need to have that connection between

how awesome God is and how much He has loved us.

And when we do,

it is so much easier to share His love with other people.

So we have seen that we have been loved.

We have seen that we have been loved,

and now we are to love other people.

And now we are told to do that.

Go and do that.

Don't just do that in words or speech.

Actually love with actions.

But the third thing this morning,

well, what does this look like?

How do we love?

Earlier, I was putting down the idea

of being a thoughts and prayers Christian.

But I think it's actually a good place to start.

When we look at the world right now,

the problems seem so big.

They seem insurmountable.

How are we supposed to meet all the needs of the bushfires,

let alone the needs of all those people impacted by coronavirus?

There's a number of cafes around here

who are all doing it particularly tough

because their businesses just disappeared.

And even if I went to four different cafes

and bought two coffees a day,

the reality is it's not going to help them that much.

And I'll just be buzzing from caffeine.

Now, I pushed hard against the idea

of being a thoughts and prayers Christian.

But if we start with those two,

it's actually a really wonderful thing

to think about an issue,

to actually spend time investigating

and researching a friend's problem,

an issue overseas,

a problem in our country,

we might realise we actually can help out.

We can serve somebody.

Maybe something we give will actually make a difference.

And if we can't,

just understanding, seeking to understand,

helps us to empathise with others

and love them more.

And so the first thing we can start with

is thinking deeply about an issue.

And the second thing is prayer.

Prayer is a good and wonderful thing to do

because we have a God

who is in control of all things.

There are plenty of problems in our world right now,

in our country as well,

that seem too big for us.

But they are not too big for our God

because He is sovereign

and in control of all things.

Prayer is an effective way

to love people who are in need.

And so the next time

you're tempted to just type,

oh, you know,

my thoughts and prayers are with you,

well, do those things.

Take a moment to investigate

and to spend some time in prayer to God.

But the call and the challenge for us today

is that deep thinking and understanding

and real prayer to God

is not where it should end.

I found it really difficult

watching what's been happening in the US

with the protests and the riots

after the death of George Floyd

almost two weeks ago in police custody.

I've been horrified by both the rioters

and by some of the politicians.

With an issue like widespread racism,

it is just one of those big things

that I don't even know how to start dealing with.

And I don't just want to support in words

and not in actions.

Tuesday week that just passed in the week,

it was branded as Black Out Tuesday

to show that Black Lives Matter.

And many people change their image

on Facebook or Twitter

to just a blank image of black

to show that Black Lives Matter

and to show their support.

I thought about doing the same thing

because I believe that black lives do matter.

But I stopped

because I thought

that it almost would have been too simple

because for me,

if I had done that,

that would have been the only action that I took.

I would have just changed a picture

on the internet

and that's where my action would have ended.

For me, that's all it would have done.

Now, there's nothing wrong with doing that.

There's nothing wrong with supporting

our African brothers and sisters

and people of African descent in that way.

But for me,

I think it would have been a problem

because that's all I would have done.

It's easy to think that racism

is just a problem overseas

and it's easy to support in that way

because it's far away.

But the reality is,

is that racism is alive and well

in Australia too.

We only have to think of our

indigenous community.

People from an indigenous background

are put in jail

at rates far higher

than the rest of the population.

In 2015,

an indigenous man died in jail

in very similar circumstances

to George Floyd.

We only have to go back

to the start of the coronavirus spread

in Australia a couple of months ago

to be reminded of the racism

that came out

to people from an Asian background.

There was abuse

and beatings

on the streets of Sydney

that just stemmed from racism

because people

looked different.

Part of the action

that we are called to do

means calling out racism

when we see it.

We are all raised

to think in an ethnocentric way,

to think that our culture

is right,

but Christians should seek

to bring Christ to bear

on all that we do,

what we love

and what we allow

to influence us.

The love that we share

is to be shaped

by the love God has had for us

and to love in action.

I want to encourage you

to do two things

if you are in the same place

that I have been concerned

about what has been happening

in Australia,

Australia,

let alone overseas.

The first thing

is to write a letter.

Earlier in the week,

I wrote a letter

to those who can make change

in our state.

I wrote to two members

of our state parliament,

to the Minister for Corrections

and the Minister for Police,

the Honourable David Elliott

and the Honourable Anthony Roberts,

employing them

to make a change

because they have

significant influence

and power.

You can get a template

for the letter

that I wrote.

You can go to a website

called

commongrace.org.au.

It has a lot of information

there for Christians

about supporting

indigenous people

in our country.

Or you can even contact me,

contact the church.

I can send you my letter

and you can send that as well.

The second thing

that you can do

is be aware

of your ethnocentric bias

and change what you do.

Be aware

that we are all ethnocentric.

We all,

just the way we are brought up,

are raised to think

that our cultural way

of doing things

is right.

And we need to be aware

of that

and move away from that.

Because it is very easy

to go from thinking

our culture is right

to being racist

and saying that people

who are different

are wrong.

There is no one race

or culture

that is more Christian

than all the others.

This is one of the reasons

why we speak

of being a trans-cultural church.

We don't just want to be

an Australian culture church.

We don't want to be

a Chinese culture church.

We want to be

a church

that is shaped

by a Christ culture.

One that is united

in our diversity.

And this is really difficult.

One of the small ways

I've noticed

that I need to change

my ethnocentric preference

is just in the way

I give people nicknames.

If you've ever met me,

I have probably given you

four different nicknames

in the space of four minutes.

It is one of my favourite

things to do.

And we have

a dear colleague at work,

Adrian,

our missions pastor.

His last name is Wong

and

I call him

Wongi sometimes.

And I did that

with another brother,

another Christian brother

of

Chinese background

and he was shocked

because it is not

a respectful thing

to do.

And

I had this moment

where I just went,

ah yeah,

but I'm Australian

and this is what I do

and this is fine.

And Adrian's okay with it

but I realised

that my preference

was not actually

loving my brother.

Not actually

loving people

who are from

a different culture

who don't,

who understand

that it is not

respecting people.

We need to be aware

of our own biases

and to instead

be shaped by Christ

and to change

our behaviour.

to love

in action

and not just

in words.

Verse 18,

Dear children,

let us love

with words,

let us not love

with words or speech

but with actions

and in truth.

So,

we should first of all

be thoughts

and prayers Christians.

We should be thinking

deeply about

other people's problems

and bringing them

to our Lord.

And we should also

be prepared

to help those

around us

in need.

seeking to bring

real healing

to people's lives

who are damaged

from sin,

who are damaged

from their own sin

and other people's sin.

Their needs could be

from psychological trauma,

from social instability,

from economic

or physical pain.

I want to encourage you

to come

and drop off food

for the Anglicare Food Drive.

That is a really

wonderful thing to do.

Be supporting

Sam and Sally

financially

as they seek

to plant their church

and see many people

on the Gold Coast

come to know

and love Jesus.

Give money

to support

the people

in Narrabri

who are continuing

to find life difficult

after the floods

and bushfires.

These are all

great things to do.

I commend them

to you

and I will be

financially supporting

all of them.

But let's not think

that when we do

those things

we have met

the call

for the Christian

to love

in action.

God has called us

to meet the needs

of the people

that are around us.

Brothers and sisters,

we can give

to every worthy cause

but we can also

ignore

the people

God puts

in front of us.

Let's not only

love with words

or speech

but love

like we have been loved

in actions

by God himself.

Let me pray.

Dear Heavenly Father,

I thank you so much

for your love

to us.

I thank you

that you

did not leave

us alone

but that you

sent your Son

and that he

acted to die

on the cross

the greatest

expression

of love ever.

Heavenly Father,

help us

to love

like you have loved.

To love

when it is difficult,

to love

when we see

people's needs

in front of us

and not just

give loving

words

but to love

in physical

needs,

Lord.

Father,

help us

to be able

to support

the many

things that we

are seeking

to support

this month.

Father,

continue to be

with Sam

and Sally.

Help us

to support

Anglicare

as they support

many people

and Narrabri

as well.

But Lord,

open our eyes

to the people

who are in front

of us

who have

needs.

Change our

hearts

that we

would love

like you

love us,

Lord.

Amen.

Amen.