Love That Looks Like Jesus | Steve Sauers | Calvary Church

you would take your Bibles and turn to

Hebrews 12.

As you're turning there, I want to

engage with you a little bit this

morning.

As you're turning to Hebrews chapter 12

Hebrews 12 · chapter mention

and we come to the end of our series of

Hebrews,

uh on the count of three, I want you to

yell out something that you love.

I know that could be a lot of different

things. All right? But on the count of

three, I just want you to engage,

interact. All right? Maybe that'll help

wake you up a little bit this morning.

You got it. Ready? One, two, three.

Oh, wow. Wow.

I heard like right. I heard my wife up

here. I I heard food. Uh, eagles. Is

there a girl named Laura here? I heard

that name. Somebody here loves you. All

right. Um, Brook Landis up in

Quakertown. I know for a fact you yelled

cake. She loves cake.

Now, I want us to think this morning. We

use the same word love for so many

different things.

I love pizza

and I love my wife. Now, I hope those

are radically different loves,

but we use the same word kind of to talk

about things that we love. Do you see

the problem with that?

You know, love is one of the most talked

about words, but one of the most

misunderstood.

We love our families. We love our

friends. We love our favorite foods. We

even love our hobbies. But what we're

going to see this morning as the sermon

of the book of Hebrews comes to a close

is that love at its core is more than a

feeling.

It's a steady sacrificial commitment to

seek the good of others even when it

costs us something.

So, as we've been studying the book of

Hebrews together, our focus has been

directed to really the supremacy and

majesty of Jesus.

From the very first verse all the way

throughout the book, Jesus has been

lifted up. He has been highlighted the

majesty and supremacy of Jesus. that he

is better than the prophets, that he is

better than the angels, that he is

better than Moses.

And as Jesus is being worshiped and

lifted up, we're challenged as followers

of Jesus to pay close attention to who

he is, what he has done for us, and what

he continues to do.

So the question we're going to encounter

today is this. After everything that has

been presented to us through the book of

Hebrews about Jesus, how are we supposed

to respond?

So look down at Hebrews 12. We will read

verse 28 through chapter 13:3

as we begin to see where the author of

Hebrews is taking us this morning.

Therefore,

since we are receiving a kingdom that

cannot be shaken,

let us be thankful and so worship.

Let us so worship God except acceptably

with reverence and all, for our God is a

consuming fire.

Keep on loving one another as brothers

and sisters. Do not forget to show

hospitality to strangers, for by doing.

Some people have shown hospitality to

angels without knowing it. Continue to

remember those in prison as if you were

together with them in prison, and those

who are mistreated as if you yourselves

were suffering.

You see what the author of Hebrews is

going to do at the close of this sermon

is to move us from explanation to

application.

I mean Hebrews is a is a rich

theological book.

It is rich full of tremendous doctrine

that we are grounded on.

But what does that theology and doctrine

look like lived out? He is going to go

from explanation to application. And

we're going to see that at the beginning

here of chapter 13. But notice verse 28

of chapter 12. Notice what the author

says here. Because we have received an

unshakable kingdom.

Because of what Jesus has done for us

and what we have through Jesus, when we

come into right relationship with Jesus,

we are part of a new creation.

We have a new life. We have a new heart.

And now as followers of Jesus, we are

living under the rule and reign of Jesus

because of his great love and grace for

us. So how do we respond? Notice verse

28. We respond in gratitude and worship.

Now what does that mean?

Well, as a church, we've already defined

worship in some of our other serieses

together. Worship as Calvary Church

defines it is simply seeing God

accurately and responding appropriately.

So according to Hebrews, how has Jesus

been presented?

Our thoughts and our hearts have been

directed to Jesus who is our creator,

sustainer, owner, ruler, and the

redeemer of the world.

And so, how are we to respond to Jesus?

The one who loves us so deeply that he

dies on the cross for us. The one who

loves us so deeply that he forgives our

sins.

The one who intercedes on our behalf.

The one who identifies with our

suffering. The one who welcomes us into

his family. How are we to respond? With

gratitude and worship.

And you know what that means?

To live a life full of gratitude and

worship means we reflect and live out

what we've received from Jesus.

All of Hebrews is laying out some

important foundations

of why Jesus had to come, who Jesus is,

the purpose of him and the cross, this

new covenant that we have because of

Jesus.

And because of this,

we are to live out this love and

forgiveness and grace that we have

received

from him.

So according to Hebrews, as I fix my

eyes on Jesus, which means to live with

awareness of his presence and a

yieldedness to his control, the Holy

Spirit transforms my heart.

The Holy Spirit transforms my

motivations.

which ultimately leads to a

transformation in my activity.

So as followers of Jesus this morning,

we are called to live lives that have

been impacted by his grace.

And as we come to chapter 13, where the

rubber hits the road, he is going to

explain to us what that looks like.

What does a life of gratitude and

worship look like as a follower of

Jesus? Notice chapter 13 verse 1.

Keep on loving one another as brothers

and sisters.

The first thing we see this morning is

that as followers of Jesus, we are to

continue in family love.

That word love in the Greek is a word

that you know and I don't think you even

know you know it.

That word love there is the word

Philadelphia.

What is Philadelphia? The city of what?

>> Brotherly love. It's a city that

resembles its name, right? That's

sarcasm. Man, you are asleep this

morning. Wow. Philadelphia, the city of

brotherly love. That's what we're known

for.

But really, what the author is

highlighting here by using this word,

he is telling us that the church is not

some social club.

that the church is not a political

coalition. It's not a hobbyist group.

The church is a family.

When you come into right relationship

with God, you are welcome into what the

Bible calls his family, a place of

belonging.

You are not only saved from your sin,

you are saved to God. And what comes

with God? Those who follow and given

their lives to him to become his family.

We are told here as followers of Jesus,

we are to continue in family love. That

word brotherly love means to care for

someone like family.

Now, what is interesting here, he uses

that word continue.

If you remember several chapters before

in Hebrews chapter 10 and elsewhere,

Hebrews 10 · chapter mention

there's evidence that they were loving

this way.

It's not that he's telling them to do

something they haven't already been

doing. But the word continue means that

now you're being persecuted and now that

you're living under pressure, it is

important that you continue in this

family love.

Now, why would we need to be reminded of

that? Because the activity of love is

easy when it's convenient.

It's easy to love people who like you.

It's easy to love people who agree with

you. It's easy to put yourself around

likeminded people.

But you know when it's hard to love?

It's hard to love

when things are difficult. Through

pressure,

through challenges, through struggles,

when it's inconvenient.

You see, the author here is directing

our hearts to think that true biblical

love

perseveres when it's hard.

We aren't to just love when it's easy

and love when it's convenient,

but we are to persevere in our love.

Means to love each other beyond

preference.

means to love each other when it's

challenging and difficult or pursue

depth, not convenience.

You know, how many marriages here this

morning would benefit if we would just

love our partner

the way Jesus loves us

as we would die to ourselves. And and

yeah, marriage can be challenging.

Relationships are hard. We're broken

people in a broken world.

But biblical love perseveres. It works

through.

That's how we are to love each other in

the church.

Do you know what Jesus says the mark of

the believer is?

Now, when I say mark this morning, uh

maybe some of you have a birthark. It's

a way to identify who you are. It tells

us something about you, right? I I don't

have a crazy birthmark. Uh I do have

some tattoos that have some great

meaning to me. This tattoo on the back

of my arm is a mark.

It's a way to identify who I am.

But there are four birds here.

And these birds are a picture of my four

children that my wife and I have been

raising to kind of uh eventually push

out of the nest and let them fly on

their own. Amen. Right.

and and we love them dearly. We do not

per parent perfectly,

but they are amazing kids. And then at

the end here, I have an egg.

And that egg is a child that we lost

between our youngest two children.

And this mark on me tells you a little

bit about me. It tells you a little bit

about my story.

Do you know what the mark or how you can

tell what a believer or a follower of

Jesus is? Jesus says this in John 13:35.

John 13:35

By this everyone will know that you are

my disciples. How?

If you love one another.

Followers of Jesus, we are to be known

by our love,

the way we love each other. You see, at

the core of all of us, I truly believe

there is this desire to be seen, to be

known, and to be loved. All of you

coming in here this morning,

different circumstances, carrying

different burdens and cares, but deep

down, do you know what you're longing

for? For somebody to see you, for

somebody to know you,

for somebody to love you.

And unfortunately for so many of us, we

look outside of God for that. We look

outside of what the Lord has given to us

in what is called the church.

But we are to love and be known by our

love. Love like family.

Something I want you to think about this

morning is, do you have relationships in

this church, in this family that goes

beyond the surface,

that goes beyond the smiling face and

the hello?

Do you have a single connection in here

that feels like because of your bond in

Jesus, you have this deep connection

with someone? Whether you agree with

them politically, whether you agree with

other things or not, do you have that

deep connection

with people in the place you call your

church, which is your family?

Some things to consider this morning.

Some ways to get below the surface.

These are not the only ways. There are

lots of ways to build relationships that

get below the surface. But as a church,

we try to offer ways for you to connect,

provide environments where

relationships, relationships like this

can exist.

And the first way you can get below the

surface by getting to know people and

relationships is by volunteering.

Some of the greatest ways I got close

with people at our Quakertown campus was

by serving alongside of them.

Because when you serve alongside people,

what are you doing when you're holding a

baby? You're talking.

What are you doing when you're chasing a

toddler? You're laughing together.

What are you doing when you're investing

in teens? You need each other.

And you begin to build these special

connections by serving, by giving of

yourself.

Maybe the next step for some of you

isn't volunteering because you're

already maybe doing that, but maybe

joining a small group

because it's in a small group that you

can build a close connection with

someone that really matters in

conversations that get below the

surface.

Doesn't it seem when you walk in here

every Sunday that people have it all

together? You're looking at me, you're

like, "Man, this guy's got it all."

Right? I do not.

Sometimes it takes everything you have

just to walk through the door.

But where do we live out the things that

God is showing us, teaching us, leaning

into the depths of our hearts about?

Small groups are a perfect place for

that.

It's a place to pray together, to

confess your sin together, to do life

together, to ask for help, to realize

that you're not on an island, that there

are other people who struggle, too.

Small groups is a great way to connect

in the lobby at both campuses. After the

service, there'll be a table by the hub.

Maybe your next step that God is

speaking to you right now about building

relationships below the surface is to

take that next step and say, "Man, I

need to jump in and get involved.

I need to go beyond learning someone's

name into actually learning more about

them. Maybe I need to jump into a small

group. There'll be places at both

campuses for you to connect and do that.

A third thing to consider this morning

is open yourself up to others.

Maybe a strategy for you is to come

early on a Sunday and stay a little

longer. I know I'm rocking your world,

right? Come a little early, stay a

little longer,

and maybe ask people different types of

questions.

Hey, how is your heart doing?

Maybe we need to change the questions

we're asking and said, "Hey, how you

doing? Good, good, good, good, good.

Everybody's good. I'm just trying to get

to the kids' wing." Right?

But if we have margin, we can ask

something a little more meaningful.

How can I pray for you?

What brought you here?

What do you love about here being a part

of this family? But we are called to

love like family in community. Number

two, we see in Hebrews chapter 13 verse

Hebrews 13 · chapter mention

two, do not neglect to show hospitality

to strangers.

So we love like family, but we also

extend what is called hospitable love.

This verse moves us from loving those we

already know to loving those we don't.

You see, the author is talking about a

love that starts in the church and then

extends outside.

If we go back to John 13, and this is

how Jesus's followers are to be known by

their love, then we should be loving

each other in such a way that is so

different from the world that when we

extend it out, people are just like,

"What is this?

I have never experienced this kind of

love."

But it starts here and extends to people

we don't know.

Now what's interesting is in the eastern

part of the world hospitality is part of

their culture.

I mean maybe some in the west in the

midwest maybe in in this side of the

globe but most eastern cultures

hospitality is a part of their culture

to welcome an outsider a traveler

someone to shelter in your home to

provide

is a very common thing.

Uh, I can think when I was pastoring in

Wisconsin, there was a a new couple from

India that came to the church and they

wanted to have my wife and I over for

dinner. I love all kind I just love

food. If you want to get to know me,

feed me, right?

But Indian food is awesome, but it can

be very spicy.

Especially when it's made by people from

India. Because when you say, "Is this

spicy to them?" Oh, no. Not at all.

Right. And my mouth is on fire. So, we

go to their home. I walk into this condo

and there's two lawn chairs and a 70in

screen TV. That's the only furniture

they had. I'm like, these are my kind of

people, right? But I'm thinking, where

are we going to eat? So, they set up

this blanket on the ground. We sit on

the floor and they just serve my wife

and I food. They don't serve themselves

food.

And then we just sit there. I'm waiting

for silverware or for them to serve

themselves so we can all start eating

together. But not in their culture. You

are the guest. You are the honored one

in their home. They want you to eat

first.

And so I said, "Is there silverware?"

And they just start laughing. They're

like, "No, just eat with your hands."

And I'm looking at this food on this

plate. I'm like, "I've never had soup

with my hands before." Right? I don't

know what I'm doing, right? And I start

eating. Two bites in, I have a volcano

in my mouth. And they're sitting there

going.

This is great.

And I said, "Tongue hot. You know, I

need something." They go to get homemade

yogurt. And I'm waiting for a spoon.

They're like, "Nope." I'm like, "Ah."

Right.

Cultures, different things happening.

It's crazy. But for them to welcome us

into their home to treat us as an

honored guest, it it's a picture of

honor, intimacy, and an expression of

love.

That's what we are to think of when it

comes to hospitality. Look at verse two.

Do not neglect hospitality. The wording

matters. Why? Because there we are prone

to forget.

The reason the author is telling us not

to forget, it's because it's easier for

us to live in our comfort zones.

It's easy for us to extend love to the

same people, to sit in the same places,

to build circles that feel safe.

But yet, the love that comes with the

love that Jesus gives us is a love that

goes beyond these walls to people who

are different.

Jesus taught this

in Matthew 5:44-47

Matthew 5:44–47

and it goes beyond strangers. He even

uses the word enemies here. Look at

this.

But I tell you,

love your enemies and pray for those who

persecute you

that you may be children of your father

in heaven. Verse 46.

If you love those who love you, what

reward will you get? Are not even the

tax collectors doing that?

And if you greet only your own people,

what are you doing more than others? Do

not even the pagans do that? Do you see

what Jesus is trying to get to at the

heart here?

He's saying, "It's easy for you to

extend love and kindness to those who

think like you, look like you, act like

you, and agree with you.

But who were we when Jesus extended his

love to us?

We didn't think like him. We weren't

definitely not acting like him. We

didn't agree with him about who is the

ruler and authority of our own lives.

But yet, according to Romans 5'8, what

does Jesus do? While we were yet

sinners, what did Jesus do? Christ died

for us.

He moved toward us.

And so I want you to think beyond having

people in your home. Hospitality, yes,

that can be involved in that. But at a

deeper level, hospitality means that

you're opening your life up to other

people.

Do you have closed connections where you

are opening your life up to other people

and talking about things that deeply

matter? processing things that are that

are formative and what is happening in

your life and in the world like where

does that happen for you

or is every relationship you have is hey

how you doing good I'm going I'm going

going going

because if we are followers of Jesus we

love deeper

it's family love it's hospitable love

not only in these walls but outside you

see as followers of Jesus we ought to be

a community of hospitality in a culture

of hostility.

You want to make an impact in your

family or in your neighborhood or at

your workplace.

Be somebody who wants to build a

community of hospitality in a culture of

hostility.

And how do we live this out? How do we

live this brotherly love? How do we live

and extend this hospitable love? Listen

to me this morning. You have to be so

gripped by Jesus's love for you that you

become loving.

And I know it would be easier for me to

sit up here and give you five steps.

But that's not how transformation works.

As Jesus is lifted up in the book of

Hebrews, as we consider and fix our eyes

on him,

how can our hearts not stir an affection

for who he is and what he's done for me?

And you know what that translates to? A

life that is transformed.

Or maybe the better word is a life that

is transforming because it's continual.

What would it look like if our lives

were so gripped

by who Jesus is that it impacts our

calendar,

our attention, our affection, our

emotions, our activity, our money?

What would that look like?

That's what we see in Hebrews 13.

The third thing we see, not only are we

to continue in family love and extend

hospitable love, but we are to enter

into sacrificial love. Look at verse

three. Continue to remember those in

prison as if you were together with them

in prison.

And those who are mistreated as if you

yourselves were suffering.

You see the final uh command here is to

love deeper from what is comfortable to

what is costly.

We are to go deeper from what is

comfortable to what is costly. That word

remember means more than just a passing

thought. He's actually speaking of deep

empathy here. Notice the wording in

verse three is very important. You see

it twice there. as if you were together

with them in prison. That's what we're

to feel.

That we are where they are in

persecution and in suffering. Notice the

end of the verse. As if you yourselves

were suffering.

You see, we are called to live with this

deep empathy to put ourselves in their

place to feel what they feel that leads

us to action.

He specifically talks about uh two

different kinds of people we are to love

sacrificially here. The first person he

ne he mentions is those in prison and

the second is those who are mistreated.

You see, in the early church, many

believers were imprisoned or persecuted

for their faith. And it was up to their

friends and family to provide for them

in jail because they weren't going to

get fed and they weren't going to get

clothes unless somebody from the outside

brought it to them.

And so, they were very dependent on

family and friends to care for their

needs. But it was risky because if

they're in jail because of their faith,

then what are who are you aligning

yourself with?

them a follower of Jesus.

But we're challenged here this morning

to know that real love refuses to forget

those who are hurting.

Real love enters into their suffering

with them.

So ask yourself this morning, who around

you is hurting right now?

Do you have enough margin in your life

to even recognize that there are folks

around you who are hurting?

Have you been avoiding someone else's

pain because it's uncomfortable for you?

Or maybe thirdly, what would it look

like to remember them in a tangible way

this week? Because empathy moves to

action.

Empathy is not just feeling sorry for

someone's circumstances. It moves you to

do something.

And so what we see here in Hebrews 13:es

1-3 this morning is this.

This is not generic love.

A love that is family love, a love that

extends hospitality, and a love that is

sacrificial

is a love that flows from grace.

Jesus loved us when we were strangers.

Jesus welcomed us when we were outcasts.

Jesus enters into our suffering.

And being recipients of this kind of

love, we are now encouraged to live it

out.

It makes a difference in our world.

So think this way this morning. Where do

you need to stay committed

when you think about family love?

Is there a relationship that right now

it's really challenging and hard? And

are you fighting for that relationship?

Is your heart open to being humbled and

broken?

Because believe it or not, maybe you're

the issue.

In what ways can you open your life this

week to others and extend hospitable

love?

And thirdly, how can you enter into

someone's pain?

You know, sermons like this are not

meant to stay in this room.

The love of Jesus that we have received

is never meant to just stay in this

room.

It's supposed to transform us in our

living and impact the world in which we

are engaged in.

And so maybe what you do next matters.

So my question for you is what is your

next step as you think of family love,

hospitable love, and sacrificial love?

Maybe it's volunteering. Maybe it's a

small group. Maybe you need to learn of

the community partnerships we have as a

church to get us out into the community.

I don't know what it is for you,

but there's a place for you to actually

leave this room and pray and go and take

another step

and see where God takes you through

that.

Let's pray this morning. And Father,

thank you for

how you take a book like Hebrews that is

deep in theology and doctrine, but close

it out with what does that mean for us

now?

And as followers of Jesus, we are

recipients of your amazing grace.

And Lord, allow that grace to continue

to shape how we live from this place

this morning. To love each other so

deeply that it is a different type of

love than the world has ever

experienced.

To open our hearts and our lives up to

other people that so transcends the way

relationships look outside these walls

that it reaches people to where they are

and welcomes them in.

And lastly, Lord, may you move in our

hearts in such a way through this deep

empathy that it moves us to action.

That when we think about those who are

suffering around us, we don't just feel

sorry for them, but it moves us to lean

in

because these are a reflection of what

you have done for us. So move in a

powerful way this morning in Jesus name.

Amen.