Church, I think if we evaluate, each of us has a similar story, don't we? A time where we've said something or failed to say something, we've done something or failed to do something, we've taken a misstep where now we're sort of marked by somebody or even ourselves in a way that we don't want to be known by, remembered. And I don't say this statement or share the story to make us overly concerned about what people think about us or for us to move into a space where we're people-pleasing. No. I'm asking this question to genuinely have us consider, as people who are transformed by the love of Jesus, what are we marked by? What are we known for? What do people experience of us? Is it something else other than the love of Jesus?
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And today we're going to talk about one final thing that hopefully keeps us living on this side, and that is moving from a space of being less self-seeking and more self-giving. Learning the balance of what it means to love yourself, but also how to love other people equally.
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The goal is to help them understand what brokenness are they continue to perpetuate to the other people in their lives, right? There's this really big trend that's happening in social media and our culture called self-love. And the idea is like, hey, YOLO, you only live once. Do you. No one else in this world is going to take care of you. Take care of number one. That's you. And while there's some good message in that, it's not exactly the most accurate message we're going to keep telling ourselves.
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A narcissist is often marked by this belief that they're the most important person in the world. Significant self-importance. But it's also coupled with this idea that you're unable to empathize with someone else. Meaning you're unable to actually put yourself in someone else's shoes, consider their opinions, consider their feelings, consider their thoughts. You simply think you are the most important person in the conversation.
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There's a regular habit that I tend to do. It's when I begin my day, I sort of create this bubble or this bookend where I spend time with Jesus. And then when that's done, I almost like remove myself from that space. And then I move into whatever it is that the rest of the day has for me. The grind.
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A lot of theologians, scholars, even social scientists have called this a separation between the sacred world and the secular world. Where we simply begin to create two different worlds that we live in. One, where we're in the sacred. Where we're living and experiencing the love of Jesus. And it's great. We feel encouraged. We're at peace. But then we leave that space. And then we move into the secular. That's everything else. Our work. Our time with family. Our time with friends. Doing chores. And sometimes we forget. Or maybe we don't forget. Maybe it's intentional. Where we simply don't include Jesus in any of that.
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And if that's our mindset, that's how we begin. And when we bring that to the secular, chances are that we're also having that same pattern of thinking, hey, what can these people around me do for me today?
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This is what our passage says. It says, This is how we know what love is. And essentially, this passage is saying, how do we bring the sacred and the secular together? How do we become less self-seeking and more self-giving? Well, the very first verse tells us a very practical illustration, right? It says, Christ laid down his life for us. And this is actually very simple for us who are believers. And yet, it's quite profound. Because we can argue that Jesus is the most important person that ever lived in the universe, right? And yet, Jesus didn't consider that of himself. He actually considered all of us to be as important as him. Which is why he was willing to lay down his life for us.
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And if we believe that, then when we practice the same practice of learning to love people, we aren't just doing it for us to think of doing it. We are agreeing with Jesus that we are not the most important people or person in the world. That Jesus doesn't revolve around me alone. We agree that others, everyone else here is equally as important as I am.
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But is that it? Is that really the key to everything here, to learn how to be less self-seeking and more self-giving? Is that it? I'm pausing because you're probably like, don't tell me yes, Jeff. But it is. It's yes. It's an emphatic yes. Jesus says it himself, right? In Matthew 6.21. Where your heart is or where your treasure is, so will be your heart. But there's more. Yes. The way we give. The way we're generous. Absolutely represents how we are transformed by God. But there's more. There's more.
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So with these three shifts in translations, here's what I think this passage is essentially saying. So I paraphrase this. This is what I think it says. It says, if you have a new way of living, a new kind of life, that is, you have experienced the love of Jesus, and you recognize that someone is in need, someone that hasn't experienced the love of Jesus, but you close off your heart, you choose not to empathize, you're indifferent, how can the love of God be in you? That's a jarring question to ask with this translation. How can the love of God be in you?
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He brought us to his side. And if we're unable, as we receive this love, to then reciprocate that. The hard question that this passage is asking is, are you then truly transformed? Has the love of God truly changed you in any way?
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It focuses on whether or not you have any emotion towards a person who's in need. And this is what I feel like we should take away from this passage, church. If you've been in any part of our sermon series, you're probably wondering, well, how do I move in this direction? I would say you've probably experienced a new way of living, haven't you, as someone that has been changed and transformed by Jesus.
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So, if you see a person that's in despair, be a person that moves them to a place of hope. If there's a person struggling with scarcity or believes that lie that they don't have enough, be a person that shows them how powerful generosity can be. If there's a person that you know that's living in isolation, bring them into community. If you know someone that's feeling anxious, be a non-anxious presence to them. Show them the peace that Jesus gives. Be a person that empathizes. Be a person that listens and makes space. Be a person that allows others to notice, hey, you are marked by something different. And hopefully, it's the mark of the love of Jesus in us.
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And here's what BELLS stands for. An acronym for BLESS, EAT, LISTEN, LEARN, and SENT. And I want us to remember this because this is a very simple way for us to continue to learn to be self-giving.
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Any way that you can show some kind of kindness to bless somebody, you'll be surprised how far that goes. So to bless three people. Eat. Spend time eating with people, drinking with people. There's something about the table that disarms people. Everybody feels invited and welcome. It's a space where most of the time the deepest conversations are had. Inviting people to just spend time with you. And if you're generous, feel free to treat them, right? Kindness. Bless them. Get two in one for the day, right? So just spending time to actually invest in people by sharing a meal or a drink with them.
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Listen both to the person you're engaging with, but also listen to the Holy Spirit. We believe God still speaks to us today if we're willing to listen. Taking time to just simply have Jesus tell you, hey, this is a person I want you to consider to bless. Or to eat with, or to think about, or to pray. Simply taking that time to listen. Away from focusing our sacred space from ourselves and more onto others.
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Learn is basically any time we're struggling or we're thinking about what we need to do next. It's just remembering what Jesus did. What did he teach? What are we supposed to be implementing? What practices were helpful? What did the scriptures say? Learn what Jesus was trying to teach us and how he lived his life.
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But that's often what it means to be self-giving. Loving somebody, especially people that we deem unlovable. Even if it's just a handful of people. It's costly. It hurts. But we're called to love.
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And that is, it doesn't matter how imperfect you are, how awkward, how quirky, what your personality is like. No one's going to remember those things if you love well. If you're a person that's been transformed by Jesus, has truly experienced what that means for yourself, you will live a life that is self-giving, that loves others well, that people will notice that and will remember you for it.
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Church, how are we being remembered now? How are we known? How will people experience us?
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