Experiencing God XI: ‘Kingdom People’
Sermon Review
17 June 2001
1Cor.13:1-3

Introduction

Today I want to talk about God’s intention in moving his people from being self-focussed to Kingdom focused. This kind of growth requires more than a shift in focus, but changes of the heart. In this series, up till now, there has been an emphasis on the need for people to adjust their lives in order to be able to obey God’s directions, purposes and plans. This is right and proper and indeed necessary. You cannot stay the way you are and move on with God. But it is also true to say that you cannot move on with God and stay the same either!

You see, experiencing God is dangerous; you will be changed. It has been said that to change and to improve are two different things. This is true. Experiencing God can change you for better (eg.Lk.19:8,9; Lk.8:35; Acts.2:44,45; Phil3:8etc.), or for the worse (eg.Matt.12:45; Lk.22:22; Heb.6:4-6; 2Pet.20,21etc.). It appears that experiencing God is not a neutral thing. We either respond positively or negatively to those experiences, and in turn reap what we sow.

Either way, God comes to change us cf. Matt.1034-36. Are you prepared to not only change and adjust your life for him, but to also be ready to be changed by him? I hope so, for this church to be obedient to God, we need to be just as willing to change as be changed, because being changed is something that every church needs to be Kingdom oriented, and not self-oriented, ourselves being no exception.

Love’s Intention

John tells us that God so loved the world (John.3:16) that he gave his only son, not that he loved only Jerusalem, or Samaria, or even Greece, Rome or India. He so loved the WORLD. His love is ‘shed abroad in the heart’ of every believer (Rom.5:5), and will be neither satisfied nor content to allow his children to remain self-focused and inward.

As God’s love gains ascendancy in our lives, we will desires and convictions which urg us to care for ones own brothers and sisters in the Lord (1John.3:14,15). It will earnestly move us beyond mere emotion and affection (1John.3:16,17). This love, as it penetrates further within will also encourage, persuade, and relentlessly drive us to reach beyond the perimeter of ones own brothers and sisters in the Lord in our own church, to other believers elsewhere (eg. Jerusalem & Antiochan churches Acts.11:19-26, 29-30; Jerusalem and Gentile churches Acts.15; Macedonian, Achaian, and Jerusalem churches Rom.15:16-27 etc.).

Finally, when our heart begins to synchronise with God’s heart, we will want to reach beyond even the church, churches and other denominations and para-church groups, to the world beyond (eg. lost sheep, lost coin, lost son Lk.15; Acts.1:8ff.etc.). You see a loving church will not be able to help itself. When God gets a hold of people, they will find themselves under the influence of His love being shed abroad in their hearts, and moving away from self-centredness to other-centredness. This outward focus is God’s intention. Are you ready for it? Are you prepared for it? Are you willing for a sometimes subversive, sometimes explosive, revolution of love to invade your life? Are you praying for it?

Gifts or Love?

Paul, in 1Cor.13:1-3 settles for all time that giftedness is not as important as being loving. This is a little startling. Surely, being better informed through prophecy, having faith to move mountains, courage and commitment suited for the extremes of martyrdom, or the self-denial of a monastic monk would be more practical and more efficient for church and Kingdom Building, than love? Yet this is not so.

Why? Because love motivates us to think beyond ourselves, to reach beyond ourselves, whereas giftedness has no inbuilt tendency to move us beyond wanting to cater to our own needs and wants. A church can be full of very gifted people, both naturally and spiritually, and still be very focused. Whereas a church can be light on with talent and obvious giftedness, yet be full of love, driving them to reach out beyond themselves, for love cannot help itself. You see, when a person is not loving, their no loving must seem quite reasonable and justifiable, for no one loves because they see why, but because they love. Love loves because it is love!

Love Prompts Kingdom Thinking

Love prompts Kingdom thinking - a Kingdom that undoubtably stretches beyond the church! But a Kingdom that should find its keenest expression in the church, as well as be its most passionate source. The revolution of love in our hearts that God desires to work will prompt a church to lose its life, to give itself away for the sake of others, rather than keeping its life and resources to itself, leading to its own demise spiritually and ultimately literally Lk.9:24.

We need to be made aware more than ever today just how valuable being a member of his kingdom is – a hidden treasure and peart Matt.13:44-46; that small starts can lead to big effects – mustard seed Matt.13:31,32; and that steady effectiveness rather than explosive growth effects are the norm Matt.13:33, resulting in courage to start and persevere, letting God handle the outcome Matt.4:26-29.

Conclusion

Love is a powerful force. When we let God cause us to love with even a semblance of his own love, it will change us and others through us. It is a blessing to love. As Karl Menninger said, ‘love cures people – both the ones who give it and the ones who receive it.’ Or as George MacDonald has said, there is no merit in loving; it is inspired by God within us, and saves us from our own selfishness!

It will cause us to be Kingdom people, starting with our brothers and sisters in the Lord, and our own family and friends, to others in varied churches, and Christian activities, as well as beyond them into the world of the community, country, and world. Pleasingly, as a church we are heading in the right direction – trying to build in awareness to care for a love each other, to be welcoming to all who come, to support the Law Court Ministry, and to support the work of Freedom Inc. It is a starting point, involving some mechanics and some heart.

However, are we willing to undergo further divine changes in our own hearts? Loving means change; a style of living that is selfless and more conscious of others needs than ones own. God wishes to work love into the hearts of each of his children and each of his churches, love that drives us out of ourselves in to the lives of others in the world of need around us. When a church is not intensely concerned about those hurting and needing beyond the bounds of ones own church, community and city, their spirituality and maturity are suspect. So let us pray for two things this morning:

Wanting to experience God is dangerous. It is lethal to selfishness. Not only do we have to adjust our lives to suit God’s plans and purposes, but we need to remember that He also wants to change us as well – the most powerful and extensive change being that of the Divine loving others through us. Loving in a way that it becomes more than a duty to love, but an imperative which washes competing loyalties and obstructions in our lives away. Loving in a way that is not a sneaking or pinched way of life, but a generous wholehearted commitment to allow the love of God burn the needs of others into our lives, causing us to ache for opportunities to satisfy that love.

Let a person who has not loved in such a way allow this divine love burn in their hearts but once, and all the difficulties which appeared to oppose it at first will become just so many more arguments for loving. Mother Teresa once said, ‘it’s not how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts’. Paul puts it this way, ‘…the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love’ Gal.5:6. It takes courage to love like God; we need to keep praying for that courage.

Blessings

 

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