Agape Love is Practical
1 John 3v17-18
10th March 2023
We've been thinking about agape love, the sacrificial love of God that's a gift from God to every Christian but is posessed by no non-Christian. Jesus gave us the perfect example of agape love when He died to save us. Our Lord knew that the help we needed more than anything else was to have our sins paid for, so he came to earth to die in our place. He gave everything to meet our needs, and we should give what we have to meet each other's needs. We read last time:
1 John 3v16
This is how we know what [agape] love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.
and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
This agape love must be practical, not merely emotional or theoretical. John continues:
1 John 3v17
If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on
him, how can the love of God be in him?
This rhetorical question has an obvious and simple answer: "Well it can't". If, for example, your sister or brother in Christ needs food or medicine to be delivered, you won't hesitate; you'll deliver it. This demonstrates that you're truly a Christian. You don't do it because you'd feel guilty otherwise. You don't do it because you're supposed to. You do it because you love your brothers and sisters. But if you saw a brother or sister in need, and you couldn't be bothered to help them, how can the love of God be in you?
George Whitfield used to tell the story of a beggar who came to a pastor and asked him for money. The pastor refused. So the beggar asked, "Well, will you give me a blessing?" The pastor said, "Yes. God bless you". The beggar said, "You wouldn't have given me that if it had cost you anything".
May we take the opportunities given to us to serve each other and meet each others' needs. May it never be said that one of our brothers or sisters was in need and we didn't help. As John goes on to say:
1 John 3v18
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
If somebody phones you and says, "I'm running short of food", it's very easy to say, "That's' very sad. I'll pray for you to get food." That's not agape love. Somebody could phone and say, "I'm feeling very lonely and unhappy at the moment". We could say, "That's a pity. I'll pray that somebody visits you". It's easy to sound spiritual, and yet to hurt people more with our indifference. It's not enough to sound like a Christian. It's important to act like a Christian.
Sometimes the need really is for prayer, and we shouldn't despise that, but sometimes the need is for a parcel of groceries, or the gas bill paid, or a new car, or legal expenses or one of a hundred other things. And to give money, or time or physical effort, is a sacrifice. But this is the hallmark of the true Christian. True Christians sacrifice. For a true Christian it's natural to sacrifice.
Agape love is why many Christians and churches give regularly to organisations like the Barnabas Fund and Open Doors, because we have brothers and sisters in other parts of the world, who don't have enough food and medicine, or are persecuted, so we who are comparatively wealthy and free give regularly to help them who are not.
It's said that William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, sent a telegram to the leaders of all his churches across the world. The telegram contained only one word. It said, "Others".
Some Christians, who are not known for singing loudly, or leading prayers, or doing other things that we might perceive to be the more spiritual stuff, give of their time and emotions to the lonely and vulnerable, needy people. That's the true Christian heart, to help those who need help.
When John asks how we can see a brother in need and not help him, he's not advocating some sort of communism, in which we all live in exactly the same sort of house and eat exactly the same sort of food and drive exactly the same sort of car. He's not advocating boredom. He's just saying, "How can you leave people without the basic necessities of life, and then claim to be a Christian?" We really can't.
Although John is writing about practical things, I want to apply the same principle to emotional needs. If your brother needs an arm around him, or a cup of coffee and a chat, or to go for a walk with somebody who's not going to criticise him, meet his need.
When true Christians see their brothers or sisters suffering, we would take their place if we could. We want to sacrifice for them, to do what others need, especially for our brothers and sisters. This is the true Christian heart.
If you don't know what I'm talking about, if you have no sense of a desire to sacrifice for others, you're probably not saved. The Holy Spirit who dwells in every Christian in you is a sacrificial spirit.