Sacrifice Instead of Selfishness

Sermon Transcript

My kids brought home their report cards this week, those mid-semester report cards. Of course, I sat down with them and worked through line by line. As I was doing that this week, it threw me back to the time when I had to sit down with my parents with my report card, and they did the same thing to me. What’s with that? Why is that grade like that? It’s like those times when I said to them, well, that grade is like that because the teacher said I didn’t turn in my homework. Of course, the follow-up question is, why didn’t you turn in your homework? I tried this one a couple times. Well, I thought the homework was extra credit. Because I didn’t do the extra credit. I mean, if it was extra credit, right, I’m thinking I don’t need any extra credit. And that’s where the test stopped. If those five questions about it were extra credit, forget it. And I know you weren’t like that, you overachiever, but, you know, I was fine with that. But, of course, if the teacher said, well, it was extra credit, then, of course, you know, my parents wouldn’t think it was not extra credit, and then I suffered the consequences.

Sometimes we get to the end of a book that we’re studying, and a lot of the New Testament books are this way, and we start to see these kind of rapid-fire, almost proverbial statements at the end of the book, and it’s kind of in there with, greet this person and say hi to that person and, you know, kind of grace to you and all that. Bye-bye. And it’s like, you know, it kind of seems like kind of extra stuff, kind of thrown in there, a little extra credit maybe.

Well, we’ve got to be careful when we come to the end of the study of a book like we have now to the 13th chapter of Hebrews. And though we don’t have elaborate explanations of all of these statements we’re about to encounter, I can assure you that what we’re about to get into here is not extra credit. I mean, this is core curriculum. And just because they’re short, simple, terse statements, you’ve got to understand they’re all imperatives. They’re put in terms of commands. They’re not statements like, well, if you’d like to do these things, here’s a few extra things I thought I’d throw in I didn’t have space for earlier. I mean, these are commands coming from the inspired writer of the New Testament, and the Holy Spirit wants us to take them seriously.

And that’s even more important for us to do as we approach the first three verses of Hebrews 13, because churches like ours can often look at verses like this and say, oh, that’s just elementary stuff. Because the topic today is a lot like the topic you hit last week, which for some churches like ours that are all committed to rolling up their sleeves and getting into the Bible and let’s study the deep stuff. We expend a lot of energy getting into the Bible and what it really means and understanding it and working hard at all that, we can look at this stuff and say, well, that’s kind of the, that’s superfluous. I mean, all that relationship stuff and kind of loving each other and, oh, you know, give me the hard stuff.

This may not seem to you to be a deep truth of the New Testament, and it may not take a lot of brain power to understand it, but be advised that this is really core stuff because Jesus said the whole adherence to the doctrine of the New Testament will be validated in the world’s eyes as they look at you by your love for one another. Remember Jesus saying that? It says, by this all men will know that you’re my disciples, if you have love for each other. Love, right? That’s simple. That’s Sunday school. Teach that to my kids. We want the deep theology here. You know, this is the deep theology. Everything that we stand for is going to be validated, particularly as the world watches us, by whether or not this kind of doctrine that we’ve just learned in the book of Hebrews can be evidenced in our relationships. Is this seen in your church?

I know I tell you that story from time to time about the pastor that preached the exact same sermon Sunday after Sunday, remember that? And after weeks of the same sermon, his congregation approaches him and confronts him and says, come on, pastor, you’re preaching the same sermon. And he says, yeah, I know. He says, and once you start living that one, I’ll move on to the next one. You’ve heard me say that? I know you might be tempted to think that that’s what I’m thinking, but I’m not thinking that. Because I didn’t plan that Bobby would preach on the last three verses of 1 Thess 2 on one weekend, and the very next weekend we would be preaching from Hebrews 13:1 through 3. And we’re preaching consecutively through these books, and we decided to preach these books long ago, and it just so happened that there may be a sense of redundancy here this weekend.

But I can assure you it’s not because I planned it or I don’t think you’re doing it, so you got to hear it. It’s just that I couldn’t skip it. Here it is. We got to deal with this passage. And if it’s redundant, I got to think in God’s providence, it may be because we need to hear it again. And God’s not in His providence stuttering, I think, from the platform. He really wants us not just to get it, but I think as Paul wrote the Thessalonians, he’d like us to excel in this. And I hope that you were able to, if you were here last weekend, to put some of the principles of 1 Thess 2 to action in your life, but we’re going to take it another step further, because churches like ours desperately need this.

And when we practice it, not only will it be distinctive from the rest of the world, and it will be that, because they’re not doing this down at the fraternity house or the Elks Lodge. This is distinctive to the people of God to live out the first three verses here of Hebrews chapter 13. But I think if we got serious about this, it would be distinctive not only from the secular organizations out there, I think it’d be distinctive among Christians. Because I think a lot of people think, like you and I are tempted to think, it’s just kind of natural stuff. We just kind of do this. I don’t think we do. It is countercultural, not just for the world’s way of doing things. It’s countercultural, I think, for a lot of us who have spent a lot of time in church, trying to understand the Bible and do what it says.

So this morning, I hope that you will recognize that this is not protracted for another weekend because we didn’t think you didn’t get it. It’s in God’s providence, another reminder that you and I need to take this seriously. So open your Bibles, if you haven’t already, to Hebrews chapter 13, as we get to the non-extra-credit section of Hebrews, the passage where the writer of Hebrews begins his concluding remarks, which may be how this whole section is labeled.

By the way, sidebar here, if you don’t normally take notes in church, this would be a great weekend for you to start. And it’s not because it validates my homework or anything. Oh, look, they’re taking notes. How affirming. It’s not that. And you’ll see why as the message unfolds. But this is a critically important message to put the pen to the paper. So if you didn’t find our worksheet, then it’s in your worship packet. Pull it out. If you didn’t get one, at least grab a scrap of paper and jot a few things down this morning because it will be critical to turn this statement of God’s truth into a to-do list for your life. And I know you feel you get a lot of that here, but this one will not happen unless you put the pen to the paper. I’m almost certain of it because it’s just too many balls to be juggling in our minds on Thursday afternoon. We got to write it down. Okay? So with that said, I know there’s a few rebellious people among us that won’t do it. But if most of you would grab that worksheet, let’s talk about what it means to be a countercultural Christian.

The first seven verses are going to deal with a lot of topics. Let’s start with the first topic that extends for three verses, and it happens syntactically in an increasing sacrificial measure. In other words, we go from a simpler statement, if you will—simpler, how’s that?—a more simple statement in verse 1 to a more challenging statement in verse 2 to an even more challenging statement in verse 3. Let’s read it and then we’ll study it.

Verse number 1, writer of Hebrews says, keep on loving each other as brothers. That sounds simple. That’s easy stuff. Come on, keep loving each other as brothers. Well, it’s essential. As a matter of fact, here’s one demonstration of it. Verse number 2, and don’t forget to entertain strangers. Now, here’s a bizarre motivation. For by doing so, some have entertained angels without knowing it. You know, that’s kind of weird. More on that later. I won’t skip it, I promise. Verse 3, remember those who are in prison as if you were their fellow prisoners.

Now, the first two verses, those painted pictures in my mind of something rather positive. This one doesn’t feel so good. Empathy for those that are hurting, and those, middle of verse 3, who are mistreated, literally badly treated, as if you yourselves were suffering. You should live through that with them.

Three concentric circles, if you will, from what may be for us the easiest hurdle to a little more difficult one to the highest hurdle on verse 3. Let’s start with the easy one. How about that? Let’s start with the easy one. Verse number 1, keep on loving each other as brothers. We ought to have a commitment to one another that is like a commitment and sacrifice that is demonstrated in a familial relationship. Siblings.

Here’s the difference between friends and siblings. You get to choose your friends, right? You don’t get to choose your siblings. Isn’t that how it is? I didn’t pick mine. No slam on my siblings, but I wouldn’t have picked those, right? I mean, these are kind of given to you. You get these people and you’re locked into these relationships. Even if your parents adopted, they probably didn’t consult with you, right? You’re stuck with your siblings biologically.

And that’s kind of how it is in the body of Christ. We are in this group not because we all chose to somehow hang out because we all share the same kind of hobbies and interests. We were pulled together, the Bible says, because of our common commitment to Jesus Christ. And we come from all different backgrounds. And who knows how you grew up or what your interests and tastes and hobbies are. But we are now in this thing called the local church, and now we are to relate to one another, not based on our decision to be friends, but based on our connection that God sees that we should have because we’re all connected to Him. And that’s how the church is set up.

You are, unfortunately, forced to relate to me and the person across the way and the person in front of you because we’re all committed to Christ and fellowshipping in the same church. And we are now called in Scripture, the most popular, by the way, word that God uses for us, we’re called brothers. Brothers and sisters, siblings in the body of Christ. I didn’t choose you, you didn’t choose me. We had to have this relationship, and it’s based on commitment. And we can use the word friends if we want, but it’s a kind of friendship that’s a little bit deeper, a little bit more sacrificial, and necessarily a little bit more selfless, right? Because if you’re a parent, you know how this is. You’re always trying to get your kids to not just not fight. You’d like them to help each other, wouldn’t you? You want them to assist. When I go to school, watch out for your brother. Hey, be nice to your sister. Look out for her. Watch her. Make sure she doesn’t. There’s all this mutual kind of responsibility that’s laid on siblings to not only get along, but to be serving one another. And that’s what it’s about. It’s not just friendship. It’s a kind of friendship that’s more selfless and it’s deeper.

So let’s put it that way. Number one on your outline, if you’re taking notes, here it comes. You and I, we need to, level one of sacrifice here, selflessly deepen our friendships. Selflessly deepen your friendships. You have relationships that are based on the fact that you go to the same church, and those relationships need to not just be like friendships you might have had in the world. They need to be deeper than that. They need to be the kinds of relationships that you can imagine God looking from heaven as our heavenly Father, seeing two of His children in the same church, saying, come on, guys. I want you to serve each other. I want you to look out for each other. I want you to be committed to each other.

Now, here’s the note-taking part that I was talking about. Here’s what I’d like you to do. Be bold. Don’t be rebellious. Here it comes. Jot down three names under number one that come to mind, just right off the top of your head, that you say, these are my friends, just three. These are my friends at CBC. These are my friends at Compass. Now, unless you’re new to the church or you’re friendless, I don’t know, we can fix that by the end of the sermon, you can hopefully write down three people’s names. Go ahead. Write down three names. I’ll wait. Write those names down. Okay?

You got them down? Here we go. Now, that’s our focus. First thing in anything in the Scripture, we’re going to have to figure out the target. What are we supposed to do? Well, before we know what it means to be brothers and siblings, we’ve got to know who we’re targeting. And let’s just start with the easy one. Pick three names. Three people. These are my friends at church. Great. Got those names? Here we go. Let’s think through what this means. Let’s try and understand this.

A passage that’s going to parallel this entire section is Romans chapter 12. So let’s turn there and then fold down the corner because we’re going to be back to Romans 12, because Paul expands in the book of Romans on everything that the writer of Hebrews is saying here in the first three verses of Hebrews chapter 13, talking about our commitment to one another. And again, the word, you Greek students with your Greek New Testaments on your lap, you know the word here is Philadelphia, right? It’s that word that we transliterate to the city in Pennsylvania, brotherly love. Matter of fact, it’s a very short word in the Greek New Testament. He got an article, and then he says, just let brotherly love keep on going in your church, which isn’t just let the friendships keep going. It’s something deeper than that. So there is a challenge here for us, but make sure there are relationships in church that are a lot like sibling relationships in terms of the commitment and selflessness and care that you give for one another.

And Paul gives us some definition here in Romans chapter 12, and thankfully he unpacks it with another phrase that gives us some explanation of what this means. Look at verse number 9. Let’s start and get a little context here. Love, in this verse, agapē, right? Let it be sincere, without hypocrisy. Okay, so this is not just an assignment, right? I know it is an assignment. I recognize that, but it’s not just, well, I have to do it. Let it be sincere. Let this assignment prompt something from the heart. Hate what’s evil, cling to what’s good. Certainly we’re going to do things in the realm of what’s righteous and good.

Now let’s talk about it. Be devoted, verse 10, to brotherly love. That’s our word again, Philadelphia. Now he gives us a sentence that helps us define this. Here it comes. Honor one another, here’s a challenge, above yourself. Honor one another above yourselves. Philadelphia is that very thing. It is being able to, like you want from your kids, to put the other interest, the interest of the other sibling, above their own. That’s different than friendships in the world. Friendships in the world are a lot like this: we’re equal partners here. Philadelphia, and moving my relationships to a real sibling relationship in God’s mind, is the idealized relationship of saying, I am going to look out for their interests above my own. I’m going to honor them above me. I want them to have their interests come first in my life.

Now, that’s different, and that is a bit of a challenge, and that’s going to take some doing. So let’s figure out how to do that. First thing, we’ve got to identify who they are. Some of you have done that. Wrote down three names. Fantastic. How do we go about doing this? Let me give you four quick ways, and these are broad. I won’t take time to prove all these necessarily, but hopefully they’re intuitive.

Biblically, if I’m going to—let me give you some proof for the first one. 1 Thessalonians 5:24, I’m sorry, verse 25, 1 Thess 5:25, we see the connection in Scripture, which hopefully is no big challenge to you in terms of prove it to me, Pastor Mike, is that sibling relationships and the commitment to sibling relationships definitely need the key ingredient of prayer. And Paul here says, brothers, if we’re brothers, pray for us. And hopefully, that obviously is part and parcel of having a commitment to put the other person’s needs above my own. I want to pray for you.

Okay? So if we’re making some subpoints, this would be letter A. I’ve identified a few names, and if I’m going to love them like brothers, then I need to be praying for them, and let’s just get real specific. Here’s a challenge. I would like you to pray for those three names every single day this week. All three names every day, Monday through Sunday. Start tonight, Sunday through Saturday. You’re going to pray for those three names, and if we’re going to honor them above ourselves, here’s the mental challenge. I want you to pray for them every single day before you ever ask God for anything for you. Got that?

In the morning, by breakfast time, I’m sure you’re thinking, God, help me. I got, I have this and I need that. I got a big assignment today. As that starts to slip out of your mouth, put it all back in and say, uh-oh, I committed, I’m devoted to this thing called brotherly love and I committed myself to pray for them first. So every morning, these three names, you’re going to pray for them and you’re going to ask God to do something for their good before you ever pray for anything for yourself. Deal?

There’s a pastoral discipline, a little workout regimen, that will help our church to become distinctive, not only from the world, but I think distinctive and countercultural even among other churches. Here’s a church where you got people putting the prayer requests of other people before their own. And you probably, if you put three names down to people you know, you probably already know what you need to be praying for for those people. If not, give them a call and ask them, what can I pray for you about this week? And then every day, you are not going to talk to God about your need until you talk to God about their needs. That’s honoring them above yourself. Prayer, key ingredient.

Letter B, second thing you can do. If you’re going to express brotherly love that has a concern about them, okay, here’s another expression of this in the New Testament, and I won’t chapter and verse this, but I’ll look back at the whole canon of the New Testament. And let me just make this observation. When it comes to the New Testament, if I’m going to help build someone up, here’s how the Scripture typifies and illustrates this for us. It does it with words. Here’s the example. There are 27 books of the New Testament, right? Did you know, think this through, that there are eight of them that are written to individuals? Eight of them. You might dispute the eight, but there are eight, in my opinion. Eight New Testament books that are written to individuals. That’s over 30%. Almost a third of all the New Testament books are written to individuals.

What are you trying to say? Here is the apostle, and I understand they’re inspired letters and all that, and they were meant for us to read, but they are one Christian reaching out and writing to another Christian to edify that person. The tool in Scripture is building them up, honoring them, helping them, putting their needs above my own through my words. So if you’re going to pray for them every day, you got a seven-day assignment now to pray for those three people before your own. Here’s the second assignment, letter B. I’m going to use my words at least once this week intentionally, purposefully, my words to somehow edify each of those three people. So you’ve got this week an assignment to take your words, whether written, email, I don’t know how you want to do it. You want to talk to them on the phone, but you’re going to make the phone call. You’re going to write the email. You’re going to send the letter specifically for the purpose of, I want all three of these people to be edified by my godly words. I want to say something that’s going to lift these people up.

That, I mean, can you already see, is going to make a big difference. Can you imagine? I mean, a couple thousand people probably that will hear this sermon this weekend. Let’s just say half the people at Compass Bible Church take this and put it into action. Let’s just say half. That means there’ll be 3,000 people that are not only prayed for every single day in the morning, selflessly, before the person prays for themselves, and there will also be 3,000 communiqués that go out through text messaging, emails, postcards, phone calls, that have the sole and exclusive purpose of edifying those people. Do you think that would be a unique church to attend? That would change things around here. That would, the feel of the church would be changed. The church would be hallmarked by, man, those people love each other. They said that about the early church. Let’s have them say that about Compass Bible Church.

Letter C. Got four things here. Here’s the third one. 1 Peter 4:10. 1 Peter 4:10, don’t need to turn there, but jot it down. You may be familiar with this simple statement that Peter throws out to us. He says, whatever, whatever gift you’ve received, and by that he means grace or enablement, that’s the word. Whatever enablement that you’ve gotten from God, any gracious ability, endowment, propensity, skill that God has given you, he says, employ that gift or that grace to serve others, faithfully administering the grace of God. In other words, God has given you things that you can do, insights that you have, skills, talents, endowments, whatever. You have an ability with your life to serve others.

And I’m just saying those three people right there, let’s make this a month assignment. One time this month, you’re going to use your life experience, your life skill, your trade, your insight, your experience, whatever, and you’re going to personally serve all three of those people. So you’re going to pray for them every day. You’re going to write them an encouraging note this week or talk to them and give them specific communique to edify them. And now I’m saying, use what God has invested in you in terms of your abilities and your giftedness and employ that in those three people’s lives at least once in November. That’s all I’m asking for. One time, say, I’m going to try and help you. You know, I know I have some insight and that person doesn’t. And I have this ability and I’m going to use that ability to somehow help you. And I don’t know what your thing is. I don’t know what God has gifted you to do. But He’s gifted each one of us. The Bible makes that very clear. 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Peter 4. Now use whatever that giftedness, that insight, that ability, that skill, and serve those three people.

Isn’t that, as a parent, you’d love to see your kids do that with each other? I mean, just imagine that. Just imagine your kids coming and using their ability to, just without prompting, without God kind of, you know, forcing, you know, to have them say, yeah, I’d like to serve you. That’d be huge, critically important.

Pray for them, use some words to edify them, serve them for their good. Lastly, and this is distinctive from letter C, okay? Because letter C is about you serving them. Letter D, let’s just jot this one down. Luke chapter 6, verses 33 through 35. Luke 6:33 through 35. And Jesus makes a contrast in comparison, and it’s challenging. He says, you know what? If you’re good to those that are good to you, big deal. Whoopee. I mean, basically, He says that even the pagans do that. If you give to those who you know are going to give back to you, what good is that? Even the pagans do that. But He says, why don’t you be like God who gives without expecting anything in return? Here’s the fourth one. Give them something.

And I’m not saying wait till Christmas. I’m not talking about that. You don’t have to wait for their birthday or Christmas. Give them a gift. Literally, give to them. That is the essence, is it not, of biblical love? I mean, think about it. God so loved, first verse you ever learned, God so loved the world that He gave. Love is expressed in giving. Well, I don’t have much. You don’t have to give much. Give them something, though.

Now, number three, I’m giving them myself in some way. Hey, can I help you with that? Can I come over and do that? I want to serve you. Here’s the fourth one. I want to give you something. And that may seem so bizarre to you, but I had someone give me a random gift last month. Completely and for no reason, and I don’t know if they were just at the checkout—you know, now they have all those gift cards that, you know, you can be at the hardware store, get a gift card for Ruth’s Chris right there. It’s bizarre. But they’re all hanging there now everywhere. And that person, for whatever reason, grabbed one of those cards, put a little bit of money on that, wrote me a note, handed that, thanks for being my pastor. Here’s a card. Total blessing.

And it was a blessing not because the card, oh great, now I can buy something there, you know. Although there was a little bit of that. But it was just the expression of care and concern and love. Hey, I love you. Here’s a gift. I’m amazed at what that’ll do. Well, it’s not my birthday. It’s not Christmas. Just a gift. Three people on your list. These shouldn’t be a high hurdle. You can put three enemies on there, right? Put three of your friends on there. Give them something this month, okay? So you’re going to serve them. You’re going to give to them. You’re going to pray for them every day. You’re going to write them this week or say something to them for their edification and their good.
Again, imagine what church would be like if just half of the people that hear my voice this week put this into action. It would transform this church. It would be distinctive. Selflessly deepen your friendships. You’ve got them here. You should have them. If not, build some and put this list to work. Let it happen. It’s a different kind of relationship. It’s not like just the relationships in the world. We’re to keep loving each other as brothers. Let that brotherly love continue.

Verse 2, Hebrews chapter 13. And again, the syntax of this, the concentric circles of this move us into each level. Each verse moves us into a more demanding area of sacrifice. If love is all about sacrifice, and it is, that first one, okay, well, I guess that’s a challenge, but I really like those people. Now, here’s one that gets a little harder.

And again, you Greek students, if you have your Greek New Testament in your lap, look at the distinction here. It’s a great play on words. The first verse, I mean, the centerpiece of that is Philadelphia. Phileo, you know that biblical word. You’ve been to Sunday school, right? And delphos, the word brother, love your brother’s brotherly love. Okay?

Now there’s a play on words in verse 2. It’s a compound word, but it uses the same first part, phileo, to love. And then it adds this root at the end, xenos. Xenos is the word for stranger or alien, outsider. And it says, love the outsider. That’s the play on words. Love your brothers, love the outsiders.

Now the problem with the translation is that the word phileo xenos, you put those together, it also is the word that’s just translated hospitality, which means in not only in English but also in Greek oftentimes, having someone into your house, which means you may not be a stranger to me, but you don’t live here and I’m inviting you in. Either way, they’re both biblical concepts. They’re both another level of discomfort, right?

If it’s adding someone into my circle that doesn’t normally belong in my little circle, that’s a challenge. That’s a risk. If it’s bringing someone who may be in my circle that doesn’t normally hang out in my house and bring them into my house, again, I’m impinging on a comfort zone. Are you tracking with this? Both of them are a difficult thing. Both of them take another level of sacrifice.

Well, which one is it? If you were to take 14 English translations and just lay them out, you’ll watch how translators struggle with this. Some of them go this way. It’s all about having someone into your home. Some people will go this way. It’s about kind of loving the outsider. Now, both principles are biblical, so let’s deal with both of them and just kind of conflate the second point so that both concepts are reflected in the second point.

Let’s just jot it down this way. Number two, second level of sacrifice, okay? You and I, we need to risk hospitality with new friends. Let’s put them both in that point, because both could be intended, and certainly both are biblical.

Now, note-taking, critical in this message. Why? Because you need to know the target of those points. You put three names down, right? Here’s the target for the second point. I want you to add a fourth name. Here’s the fourth name. The fourth name, let’s start with the first aspect of this: someone who’s not in my inner circle. I want you to include a fourth name that is an unlikely inclusion in your church friends. That’s the fourth name. I’ll wait.

Now, this one could be a little harder because what I’m saying is the person you wouldn’t think of, think of and put them on your list. And I know that’s hard. But think of someone you wouldn’t normally think of who you go to church with, who’s a part of your church family. God sees you as siblings, but they live way down the hall, and I don’t ever really, I don’t even know them. I don’t know. I see them. I bump into them. I know their name, but I’ve never even had a meal with that person. Bring that name and put it under number two. So now we’ve got four people on the list.

What are we going to do with that fourth person? Well, we want to include them. We’d like to have them be a part of what I do. Now, I told you to fold down Romans 12. Let’s go back to Romans 12, because Paul hits this topic too in Romans 12, and he explains a little bit about this. This may be helpful. Broadening your circle of brotherly CBC friends, your CBC siblings, broadening that circle.

Verse 16, let’s look at this. Live in harmony with one another. That’s a great word, musical word, right? We think of music, some of us do at least. Big orchestra, harmony, the concept of all these different kinds of instruments, different sizes, different sounds. You got the cello, you got the bassoon, you got the tuba, you got the timpanis, you got the piccolo, and all together they’re making some kind of music and it all sounds good and it fits, right? Harmony.

Live in harmony with one another. And to do that as a church, look at it. He says, middle of verse 16, you can’t be proud. Do not be proud, but be willing—you brass players—to associate with the flute players. Okay? Do you see that there? That’s the concept though, right?

For you band geeks, did you identify with that? I was a band geek. You know that. Confessed. I’m still a geek. Different kind of geek. But I was a band geek in high school. What’s interesting, this is a side note, but my wife and I, of course, as some of you know, we went to high school together. We played an entire year in the same band. Okay? I know that’s geeky. She went on to be cool. She became a cheerleader. I was geek the whole high school career, but I know, it’s not a laughing matter. You feel bad for me. I get it.

We were in the same band for an entire year, played songs together all the time, never met. We found that out when we found a picture after we started dating, and there we were, both in the same picture, in the same band, in the same school, never hung out together. Why? Because she played the flute, right? Come on. We’re definitely too cool for the flute players, right? You brass players know what I’m talking about. Can’t even hear them on the football field. What good are they out there? Some of you know exactly what I’m talking about.

But the Bible says, come on. I mean, it’s an illustration taken way too far out of this passage. I realize that. But he says, you’ve got to break down those barriers. And praise God, I did. All right, it became my wife. Connect with the lowly flute players, please.

Now, here’s the thing. Flute players aren’t lowly. I get it. I understand. But there are people in your mind you think, well, I don’t know. They just wouldn’t fit at our dinner party this week, right? That’s the person I want on your list, number four. I want that person, that fourth person, number two, to have that inclusion in your circle and say, I wouldn’t normally include them. I don’t even really know them. And you don’t know them because you don’t include them. So let’s include them and put them on your list and say, I’m going to include that person.

And again, the problem will be, bottom of verse number 16, is conceit. I mean, if you stay in your circles, God is making a commentary about your heart. Branch out. Pull someone in you wouldn’t normally pull in. That unlikely inclusion into your circle. Okay? Broaden your circle.

Now again, you may be saying, well, I don’t know if that’s what that passage is really saying. You know, I understand. There is a context of, well, let’s build the parameter first. The context is Christian fellowship here. We’ll see this throughout all three verses. But there was this need that people had as the preachers and the Christians traveled about to not—because it wasn’t only for the super rich—could utilize the hotel system back there. And that was tough, as you know, from the Christmas story. But the bottom line is most people, if they were from out of town and traveling through, they would need a place to stay and people have to open up their homes to them. And I recognize that that may have been a part of this, the stranger in your home.

But since, you know, probably the people that we’re dealing with here in our congregation that we’re talking about, they don’t need a place to stay. But we do need to—let’s go to the second part of this—include them in our homes. Because phileoxenos is the word for hospitality, which means opening up my home. And there’s a parallel word, which we know this is in view because of the motivation under that bizarre statement in verse 2, is entertaining. By doing so, entertaining strangers, that love for outsiders, have entertained angels without knowing it. We’ll get into that in a second, but let’s deal with that issue of opening up our home. Because either way, it’s an uncomfortable thing.

What I’m saying is, I want to bring those people into the place in which I live. Now, for some of you, you’re going, oh, I love to do that. I love it. I do that all the time. You’re the exception. Most of us don’t naturally say, let’s have more people over this week, honey. I mean, that’s not where most of us live. We’ve got to clean the house, and who knows, and we don’t have the right stuff. Okay, that’s where most of us live, unfortunately.

And the Bible says, stop, break down that wall. And let’s get real specific. Let’s bring people in to where we live. And some of you have not done that for years in your house. And perhaps it’s because you’ve been burned when you’ve done it. That’s why this point started with the word risk. It will feel like a risk. But you need to bring people in.

I often talk about church being chairs side by side on the weekends. And sometime during the week, we need Christians with chairs face to face. You’ve heard me say that? Let’s up it one more level. Let’s have something in your life where you own the chairs that people are sitting on. See what I’m saying? They’re chairs in your house, okay? And let’s just see that as another layer of godly virtue, which, by the way, is not extra credit here. It’s a command going out to the whole church and saying, God expects me to have the rear ends of people in my church, in my home, in chairs that I own, sitting in my living space, okay? And let’s just make that part of our quest to be godly people, reflecting the biblical requirement of godliness.

Let’s open up our houses to people. Let’s bring people in, the brothers and sisters in Christ, into our home. Wow. Why would I want to do that? Well, it says to do it, for one, and it is the pattern of the church. Okay, it is how the church functioned.

Well, that’s because churches met in homes. No. Let’s look at an example when they didn’t. Acts chapter 2. Here’s a good example of a time where the church did not meet in a home, and yet they were always meeting in homes. Okay?

Acts chapter 2. Do you remember this passage? The church had just gotten started and they had a place to meet. At this point, they weren’t being persecuted quite yet and they were free to meet in the temple courts, and that’s a big space. If you’ve been to Israel with us, the size is all the same. It’s there. We’ve walked around. You fit thousands of people, and there were. There were up to 5,000 people by the first few chapters of Acts meeting there on the temple courts. Big church.

But you know what? The big church got together also as people opened up their homes. Look at verse 44 just to get some context. They had everything in common. It doesn’t mean they all had the same hobbies, but they all shared that common commitment to Christ. Verse 45, they were selling their possessions and goods, and they gave to anyone as he had need. That’s the first point. We’ve already covered it. Let’s move on to the next one.

Every day, they continued to meet in the temple courts. That’s where they had quote-unquote church. That’s a schedule most of us wouldn’t tolerate, but they were meeting every day at church. Hard on the pastors, hard on the people, but they were doing it because they were just motivated about this thing called the Christian life.

But look where else church spilled out into. Middle of verse 46. And they broke bread in their homes, which, by the way, is not communion, if you think it is, because Paul makes that clear. You take communion when you’re gathered together and assembled as a church. And it makes it clear in the next phrase. And they ate together, talking about meal here, took their meals together, with glad and sincere hearts, a different setting. It’s a different context. It’s a casual context. It’s in someone’s home. It’s meeting over dinner.

I know Bobby challenged you to take someone out to dinner and out to lunch or whatever. That’s one thing to sit on the border where someone else owns the chairs and fellowship, and it’s great, but this is pushing us further here. Get them in chairs that you own in your home and put them in a different environment here and see what God does with that level.

Well, here’s one thing you might do to our church. Verse 47 says, the people were praising God and they were enjoying the favor of all the people because they couldn’t mistake these people are committed to one another. What an amazing group of people. Man, they love each other. And the Lord, here’s the great and most encouraging statement, added to their number daily those who were being saved. New Christians were pouring into this.

Now, here’s the thing. You’ve got to see this again from God’s perspective. A lot of us say, well, we’re all about good doctrine and all that and we spend all our energy on Bible study. We don’t have energy to entertain in our houses. Come on. Isn’t that extra credit?

Here’s the deal. When God is looking for places to put His new converts and to bring people into the family of God—because that’s really what it’s all about. Haven’t we said that? Fill up the bus. When the bus is full, God’s going to bring us home. Get our work done and go home. That’s what the Christian life’s all about. So we’re trying to see people join this thing called the Christian life. That’s what it’s all about.

Here’s the deal. God is looking for places to have that happen. And just like you, if you were to look for a place that’s going to watch your child for the day, you’re not just looking to make sure they’ve got a first aid kit. That’s important. Not just looking to make sure they’ve got a bathroom they can use. That’s important. You’re not just looking at, is there a fence around the yard? That’s important. That’s all, if you will, in this illustration, good doctrine.

Aren’t you also concerned that the caregiver is actually taking an interest in your child? Don’t you care that the caregiver is nice and loving and accepting and embracing and wants to play with your child? All that’s important. That’s the other side of this, and it’s not superfluous to God.

God is looking to put new converts somewhere. I want Him to look down from heaven and see Compass Bible Church and say, that’s a great place for me to see people won to Christ and pour those people here. Because when the job is done, praise God, we get to go home.

So let’s get at it, and let’s recognize the challenge for you and I is to say, what are we going to do to create that environment here? Well, the Bible makes it clear. It’s really easy. You don’t have to wonder what to do. Get your house, open it up, bring those people. You’ve got four people on a list already. Send out the card, pick a date. Oh, it’s busy. It’s holiday time. Whatever. This is more important. And bring them into your home and have that opportunity for God to do what He’s going to do. That would be unique. That would be exciting. That would be distinctive.

What about that motivation there in the bottom of verse 2? Well, it’s a good question. For by so doing—what is that? Entertaining strangers—some people have entertained angels without knowing it.

Now, before you start saying, well, that’s great. We’re going to invite people over tonight to our home because one of them might be non-human, and that’ll be interesting. So I’m going to do this. Thanks for this great biblical motivation.

Okay. Understand this, if you will, as best we can in context, that angels—well, let’s just think of this logically for a second. They don’t need dinner. They’re not going, I need a taco salad. Where am I going to have a taco? I need to go to earth and get some hot dogs. They don’t need that. They don’t need a place to stay tonight. Spiritual, non-corporeal spirit beings that were created and watched the creation of the world, who hang out with God, they don’t need an invite for dinner.

And you might be saying, well, wait a minute. And if you’re a real Sunday school grad, Lot and Abraham—weren’t they having meals with these angels? Remember the context there, though. We’re confirming the Abrahamic covenant, and we’re destroying the cities of the plains, an entire group of people. And the angelic hosts went out to warn Lot and Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities of the plain, and we were confirming the covenant that would start the whole thing called the Bible, basically. Those are big deals. That’s really not the day-to-day work of the church.

So I doubt that there’s an angelic visitor that needs a place to come and announce some huge catastrophic, you know, a revelatory act of God in your living room. Okay? It’s probably not what’s in view here.

What do we know from Hebrews about angelic beings? Okay, here’s the play on words, if you will. I’m going to set this up from context. What did we learn? I know this is 25 years ago when we started Hebrews, but chapter 1—you remember chapter 1? Hebrews chapter 1—we had this whole comparison of Christ against angels. And we tried to see that Christ, the writer of Hebrews says, is better than angels. Do you remember how that chapter ended? If not, look at it. Hebrews chapter 1, verse number 14. We gave a summary definition of what angelic beings are up to, okay?

And here’s the statement about the spiritual, non-corporeal, non-physical beings called angels. Verse 14, Hebrews 1. It says, are not—and it was a rhetorical question, but the answer is built into the question—are not all angels ministering spirits? That’s an important word. Ministering spirits sent to serve—if we didn’t get the word ministering, there’s the word serve—those who will inherit salvation.

That’s the last reference that we’ve had here to understanding angels and their service or their purpose in the book of Hebrews. Now he says, hey, you might obey the Scripture and bring people into your home, people maybe you don’t even know well. You’re going to entertain them in your own, you know, you can entertain an angel without knowing it, okay? Some have done that.

Are we talking about spiritual, non-corporeal beings that are looking for a place to lodge tonight? No, no, no, no, no. That’s not what we’re talking about. We’re talking about—there’s a play on words here now—people that might serve that role.

Well, yeah, that’s a stretch, that’s a leap. No, it’s not. The word angelos, the Greek word that’s transliterated “angel” into English—did you know that “angel” is just a Greek word? The baseball team, the Angel, that’s a Greek word. Angelos, just transliterated letter by letter over. It has a meaning, though.

And in your Bibles, the word angelos in the Greek New Testament is translated “angel” sometimes, just transliterated over as these spirit beings. But that same exact word is also applied to human beings, and that not infrequently. It’s in the Bible several places. John the Baptist, for instance, is repeatedly called an angelos, a messenger. And that’s why you didn’t notice that, because it’s translated in English, “messenger.” But was he some non-human being? No. We know all about his origins. We know his parents. We know how he was conceived and his mom was infertile and we knew the whole story. Not non-human, but he’s called a messenger.

John’s friends that he sends to talk to Christ are called angelos. Jesus calls His disciples angelos. The pastors in Revelation 2 and 3 that preach to the churches are called the angelos. This word is applied to human beings, but it’s applied to human beings who serve, who minister, who do something good, who bring blessing to other people. That’s what the angelos do.

Now, check this out again with all those balls in the air. Look at bottom of verse 2 again. Some, by doing this—doing what? Opening up their home, entertaining people—have entertained angelos without even knowing it. They didn’t intend to do it.

Why would you obey this verse? Because you want to be a blessing to people, right? The Bible says you may do that with that intention, but the bottom line will be in Scripture that those people will end up ministering to you or other people, and you didn’t even intend that.

When you open up your home for people to come over and have this different context than church for there to be edification to take place, you’re doing it, hopefully, to edify them. The Bible says you may host angelos without even knowing it. I mean, that’s what people have done in the past. It wasn’t their intention, but that’s what happened. They may be there to minister to you.

Has that ever happened? You brought someone over to minister to you, and it ended up ministering to them, and they ended up ministering to you? Or how about this? This happened to me not too long ago. Someone opened up their house and allowed me and some other couples to come to their home. Well, because of the chaos of the night, I didn’t get much time with the host, but there were relationships happening there where I was blessed by those people.

And the point is, the person that opened up their house and had us in their home, eating all their food, messing up all their stuff, okay, by the time the night was over, they didn’t know it, but the people that they hosted that were there ended up ministering to me, see? They hosted angelos, and they didn’t even know that. I didn’t even intend that. They probably still don’t know that to this day, that because they opened up their house in that casual environment that wasn’t church with seats side by side, and it wasn’t a restaurant wondering who’s going to pay for the check, it was a time where everyone was casual, ministry took place, and then you know it. You’re providing an environment for church to happen at a different level, and it’s going to happen when you open up your home.

If that were happening in our church all the time, and people were having people over in the body of Christ, you think that would change the nature of the church? All kinds. Ministry would be taking place all the time that sometimes is unplanned and unexpected.

Don’t forget to do that. Don’t forget to practice hospitality, to open up your home to people that maybe you’re not even familiar with, because if you do that, like other people have done it, you might entertain a season of ministry, an incident of ministry you didn’t even plan on, you didn’t even know. Good enough? Not expecting non-humans at your house tonight, right? That’s not the point.

Verse 3. Okay, those are all positive. I can picture good times, happy people laughing. We’re sitting around. Hey, that’s great. This is not happy, verse 3. This seems kind of dark and gloomy, verse 3. That’s why it’s the third level of sacrifice. And if you do this, you’ll definitely be countercultural.

Remember those in prison, as if you were their fellow prisoners, right there in stocks with them. That’s how you should remember. And those who are mistreated, got people that are being mistreated, as though you yourself were the ones suffering.

Here’s a statement of empathy, a statement of compassion, a statement of sympathy, and it’s all about people that are hurting or struggling. And before you think this is like the banner verse for prison ministry, right—okay, we’ll start a prison ministry—that’s not what this is about because prison there, in context of the Hebrews, is different than prison here in Orange County. It’s a little different environment because it’s happening for a different reason.

Now, I’m not dissing prison ministry. Don’t write me emails. I’m not dissing prison ministry. I’m just saying this is not an exhortation for us to start going out and helping drug addicts and convicted wife beaters. That’s not what this passage is about. Let me prove it to you. Turn to Hebrews 10. Not that I’m opposed to that. You understand that, right? He’s so mean. He doesn’t want to help the poor wife beater. Let’s do that. But this isn’t the passage for it, okay?

Hebrews 13 is about something different, and Hebrews 10 makes that clear. Why were the people who were exposed to this first-century teaching knowing people that were in prison? Why? Here’s why. Verse 32, Hebrews 10.

Hebrews 10, verse 32. Remember those earlier days. After you received the light—this isn’t about light bulbs or photons. This is about knowing the truth of God’s message that we should trust in Jesus Christ. You’ve received the gospel. When you stood your ground in the great struggle or the great contest in the face of suffering—what’s the point? When you became a Christian and embraced Christ, you had all kinds of opposition, but you stood your ground. You didn’t give in. You stood up for it and you suffered for it.

Sometimes, verse 33, you were publicly exposed to insult and persecution. That happened. At other times, you stood side by side with those who were so treated. You sympathized, verse 34, with those in prison, and you joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property. Why were they doing that? Because you received the light. You stood your ground because you knew also—here was your motivation in your own head—that you yourselves had better and lasting possessions.

Verse 35, so do not throw away your confidence. Confidence in what? In the gospel, in the truth of God’s Word. It’ll be richly rewarded. You need to persevere so that when you—here’s a good phrase to bracket—have done the will of God. That’s why they were being thrown in prison. That’s why their property was being confiscated. That’s why they were being maltreated, poorly treated, because they were doing the will of God. But, you know, hang in there because when you do it, you’ll receive what He’s promised.

Why were people in jail in the first century that people knew that were getting the letter from the writer of Hebrews? Because they were standing up for what was right and they were suffering for it.

Here’s a parallel passage to put in the margin, 1 Peter 4. Same thing. Verses 13 through 16 gives you the context, but he says, I don’t want you to suffer as a meddler or a thief or a troublemaker or a murderer, but if you suffer as a Christian, then you’re blessed. That’s the picture here as well. We’re talking about people in prison because they stood up for what was right.

Now, the Orange County Sheriff’s facility where we detain people is not filled with people that stood up for what was right at work, right? They’re not people that stood up for righteousness somewhere. That’s why this isn’t about a prison ministry. I know a lot of people love to use this verse for prison ministry. That’s not what we’re talking about.

If the jail is not filled with people today that have stood up for Christ, although maybe occasionally it might happen, okay, and it may happen in increasing measure in the future, we’ve got to look for people that fit that profile. Who is suffering because they’ve done the right thing? That’s a proper application of Hebrews chapter 13, verse 3. Who has been maltreated because they’ve done the right thing? Who, not because of an act of their own, is suffering? They’ve had this put upon them, not because they were caught for shoplifting or selling cocaine. They’re in trouble because they’re just living their Christian life, and they hit trouble. That’s the audience.

So number three on your outline. This is going to demand another name. We need to get emotionally involved in someone’s trial. And by trial I don’t mean because they’ve broken the civil laws of Orange County. I’m talking about someone who’s going through a trial just because they’re a Christian, just because they’re living a righteous life in an unrighteous world, and they’re struggling.

Okay, this demands a fifth name. Five names. That’s why the notes were so important this morning. You got three names under number one. You got one name, an unlikely inclusion to your family dinner this week—that’s number four. Here’s number five, the fifth name on your outline.

This is going to be someone that you know that comes to mind right now who’s in my congregation, my church, and I know they’re hurting right now. They’re struggling. And it’s not because they did something wrong. It’s just because they were living their Christian life and this bad thing happened to them. Do you have a fifth name? I’ll wait. You can write that down. There’s a name right there. Who is that?

And if you’re going, I don’t know anybody that’s suffering in the church, okay, then write this name down: dale@compasschurch.org. That’s a name? No, that’s someone’s email address. Write Pastor Dale this week and get on our email list for those who are hurting in our church, and you’ll get an email every week of people in our congregation who are supposed to be your brothers and sisters in Christ that for no cause of their own are suffering some ill in their life, and you can then put this point to work.

If you’re so insulated that all your friends are having a dandy time in life, right, no suffering in your little world, then we’ll introduce you to some people that need your intervention. And you can pick one or two of those people on that list, and you’ll get it every week, okay? Just tell Dale on the subject line, put me on the care prayer email list, and you will get that every week of people in your family, in your local congregation that need some people to walk through, emotionally walk through their trial with them.

But most of us put a name down. You didn’t need any help, right? You know somebody in the church? You know some brother or sister here that shares your commitment to this congregation and to Christ that’s hurting? Well, we need to get emotionally involved in their struggle.

Romans 12—I told you to fold the corner down. One last time, we’ll look at a parallel passage here. Paul writes the Romans and says something that’s very similar for us about sympathy, empathy, compassion. He says in verse 15, Romans chapter 12, verse 15, rejoice with those who rejoice—and that’s no problem, right? It is a little bit, but you know what? That’s fun. Here’s the hard part. And mourn with those who mourn. That’s a little harder.

I like to be positive, right? I stay away from the bad news and the hurting people. And there are people, by the way, who do that in the name of God. You know that, right? They don’t want any negative influences in their life. Then, dude, you have no clue what the Christian life’s all about, okay? Because Jesus was exactly the opposite, a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief.

Rejoice with those who rejoice, no problem. Mourn with those who mourn. Have you done that lately? You’re doing fine, but there’s someone you know in your church that isn’t, and you’re willing to hurt with them. Or are you like some people that you’re so myopic about your own hurt, you’ve got no time for anybody else’s hurt?

It’s amazing what God will do when you’re willing to emotionally get involved in someone else’s trial. If you’re willing to do that, God changes things even about your own perspective of your own hurts. Well, my hurts are bigger than anybody else’s. I don’t know about that. But I’ll tell you what, your view of your own trials changes when you’re willing to get involved in someone else’s.

It’s risky as well. You could have put this word on there too—risk—because it sometimes is not reciprocated. We’ve all experienced that.

Let me give you one example, and it’s not to focus on the non-reciprocation, but let’s at least look at how David in the Psalms—last passage I’ll turn you to—in Psalm 35 expressed what it means to sympathize emotionally with someone’s pain. It affects their life in a real practical, tangible way.

And David had experienced this virtue, and when someone was hurting, he got involved in their hurt, and he walked through it with them. It’s a sad context because Psalm 35 is really all about the fact that a lot of people that David sympathized with ended up stabbing him in the back and didn’t reciprocate his good. That’s why in verse 12, by the way, he says, they repaid me evil for good, and that hurt his soul. My soul was forlorn. It hurt.

But look at the expression of his compassion and gives us some meat and some directive here in how to do it. He shows us how to do it. Verse 13, yet when these people who didn’t reciprocate, when they were ill, look what David says. He says, I put on sackcloth, and that’s the clothes of mourning, right? And I humbled myself with, here’s a surprise, fasting.

Now wait a minute. It wasn’t your trial. No, it wasn’t my trial. But you got sick, and I was so walking through that with you that I was willing to take off, in David’s case, his royal robes, and put on the clothes of the mourner and come to you and skip my meals and care about you. That’s big.

Look at the next phrase here. He says, when my prayers returned to me unanswered, when God didn’t restore your health, verse 14, then I went about in mourning as though for my friend—more than that, here’s our theme this morning—or my brother.

Because I guarantee if you got a call this afternoon from your biological sibling and your biological sibling said, hey, I just found out I got cancer. I just found out just now. That would affect you. Wouldn’t it affect you? Be like, oh, really? Wow. Hurt. I don’t know that you’re going to head out for lunch right after that call. Okay? It’s going to affect you.

And the Bible says that your relationships with your friends in the body of Christ ought to have that same kind of impact. We’ve got to have that kind of commitment and care for each other, that when you find out one of these people on your list is hurting, it affects you greatly. He said in the middle of verse 14, I bowed my head in grief as though weeping for my—not just my brother—but my mother. That’s how badly I hurt over your pain.

Unfortunately, they didn’t reciprocate, but David says, I did that.

Let’s pick a few things out of here real quick. First of all, you’ve got to identify the person. We’ve already done that, I hope. And if not, if you’ve got a clean slate of hurting people, we’ll provide the list for you. Then we’ve got to do this. Look at one thing there in the middle of verse 13. You’ve got to pray for them. When my prayers returned to me unanswered. David prayed for people that he knew that were hurting, ill, suffering unjustly. That’s where we start with this one. Take that one name you wrote down and say, I’m committed to pray for that person every day during their trial. That might bring you from the happy land in your prayer time to the, oh, this really hurts. That’s what God is asking for. Sympathy, emotional involvement in someone’s hurt.

Next thing you’ve got to do, and I would suggest, look at verse 13. David did it. He was willing to deprive himself of food in the midst of people suffering. I’m just saying this: you should have some negative deprivation. This is not some kind of ascetic practice. I’m not talking about being a monk whipping your back. I’m talking about the fact that you’re willing to have your meals displaced, if it need be, to care for that person, that I’m going to put your needs so above mine that I’m not out planning my fun day or my fun evening. I’m willing to focus on your hurt tonight because you’re not out wondering which restaurant you’re going to. You’re laid up in bed or you’re struggling over a divorce or you’re hurting over financial collapse, and I’m going to walk through this with you. I’m willing to set my fun aside for you.

And then lastly here in this text, I know that David, I mean, if you read the rest of the Psalm, is spending face time with these people. He’s face to face with them. And Paul illustrates this, a great passage, 2 Corinthians 7. He says, when he was downcast and harassed, when he was fearful, he said, God who comforts the downcast comforted us, he says, with the sending of Titus. Okay, face-to-face contact.

What can you do to get with that person that you wrote that name down, face to face with tomorrow, Tuesday night, where you’re going to say, I just want to spend time with you. I want to be here as a comfort to you if I can. And if you can’t, like the example I just gave you in 2 Corinthians 7, send someone. Send an emissary. Who can go to that person that’s hurting and spend time with them? If you’re so busy you can’t do that, make sure someone does. Face time is important. Get emotionally involved in someone’s trial.

David is a great example of that. I know these things all involve sacrifice, countercultural sacrifice. Most people are hanging out with people that kind of reciprocate some good feeling in their lives. And I’m talking about not reciprocating good feelings, but really being committed, impinging on my comfort zone, hurting with those who hurt.

And if you think, wow, that just sounds hard—it is. The word in Scripture for it is sacrifice. Love is sacrifice. Love costs. And God asks you to love the people that you’re seated next to in the church.

The five names you put—I hope, if you’re a good churchgoer today, you put five names down on your worksheet—God’s got a responsibility that He’s laid on your shoulders because of Hebrews chapter 13:1–3, and He wants you to do something about it.

And if you think, wow, this is kind of going the extra mile, I know it is as it relates to other people, but when it relates to the King that you sang about this morning in the lyrics of our song, it’s not. Because to Him, it’s small beans. Why? Because that’s what His life was all about.

Christ demonstrated the ultimate sacrifice. He said, who could love like that? He laid down His life for His friends. Remember that passage? That’s the ultimate sacrifice.

I’m not getting weird on you here, but I’d like you to close your eyes for a second. I’m not going to pray, but I want you to close your eyes. Okay? Listen to this passage. Let me read an extended section here of Philippians 2.

Here’s the reason. Notice the juxtaposition of the great sacrifice of Christ laid right next to—okay, listen to this—right next to the great advantage, the wonderful benefit of us being brothers and sisters in Christ. Listen to this.

Philippians chapter 2. Paul appeals to the people and he says, hey, if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if there’s any comfort from experiencing His love, if there’s any comfort there, if you have any fellowship that comes from the Holy Spirit, if there’s any tenderness or any compassion at all, then make my joy complete by going all the way. Be like-minded, be all in, have the same love, the same commitment, the same spirit, the same purpose.

Oh, and don’t do anything out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. But in humility, consider others as better than yourselves. Each one of you should not only look to your own interests, but you also ought to look after the interests of others. Your attitude, it should be the same as that of Christ Jesus, who, being in very nature God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped, something to be hung on to. But He made Himself nothing. He emptied Himself, taking the very nature of a servant and being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and He became obedient to death. You want to talk about sacrifice? Even death on a cross.

But God loves that kind of sacrifice. It was not only redemptive for us spiritually, it was the perfect example. And God exalted Him to the highest place. And He gave Him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Let’s pray.

God, help us to recognize that this is in no way superfluous extra credit in the Christian life. It’s not some kind of shallow Sunday school lesson that we’ll leave for our children this morning. This is the core essence of biblical Christianity, to see that my life and my commitment to the brothers and sisters in Christ, if I claim good biblical doctrine, it is going to express itself in sacrificial love for those around me.

God, I’ve done my best to challenge this congregation this weekend and all three services to reach out to at least five people in their lives. God, I pray it would happen. Please make it a large percentage of people that are willing to be this morning not just hearers of the Word, not just affirming philosophical or theological statements in their minds, but people that are willing to put this into action.

God, and I pray as they do, this church would become so laden with examples of love, sacrifice, care, and concern that there isn’t a person that knows about this congregation, interacts with its people, or observes our practice that doesn’t say, wow, that place is full of Christians that love each other, care for each other, look after each other.

God, may that be the hallmark of our church because it was the essence of Your Son’s sacrifice for us, who saw the need, who willingly and humbly, without selfish ambition or vain conceit, put our interests above His own. May that be the call and the practice of our lives this week.

Thank You so much, God, for this. It’s a reminder of what we’re about to participate in right now, the great reminder of the sacrifice of Christ, of His death on a cross, the ultimate, most humiliating sacrifice.

And God, we’re worried about opening up our house or spending time with people or praying for them. God, please help us to recognize how broad and how wide and how deep and how long is the love of Christ, that we might this week begin to reflect it in a real practical way and challenge our minimal and small expressions of love to something larger.

Make that a reality for us, God, and motivate us by the cross. In Jesus’ name, amen.