Sermon: "Knowing, Loving, Pleasing"
How many of you like going to weddings? Let’s say someone’s getting married – not an immediate family member, not your best friend - and you receive your invitation in the mail… do you get excited, or do you think “Oh, no, not another wedding!”
Because when you stop and think about it, there’s a number of good things about weddings, and a number of things that aren’t all that great.
What do you like about weddings?
For some of you ladies it might be an opportunity to buy a new dress, and if you buy a new dress I’ve come to understand that this means that you have to also buy new shoes. I’m not sure why that is, but apparently It’s some kind of law. And so a wedding might be a good thing if it gives you a reason to buy a new outfit.
Another good thing about a wedding is the good food that you get to eat at the reception…and along those same lines, I’ve had a really good time at lots of receptions, sitting and talking and laughing with friends. If you ever have a chance to sit with Pastor Ray and his wife Darlyss at a wedding reception, make sure you do it, because they’re a hoot. If I’m at a wedding and Ray and Darlyss are there, when I walk into the reception I’m going to find out where they’re sitting, because that’s where I’m going to sit, cause I know it’s going to be a good time.
New outfit, good food, good times. A number of reasons to look forward to a wedding.
How about some not so good things that come to mind?
I’m always leery when it comes to the dismissal, especially when the bride and groom walk back the aisle, dismissing the people row by row.
I don’t care much for this is because of the awkwardness that surrounds the encounter with the bride and groom…especially if you don’t know the bride all that well. Do you hug the bride? Do you hug the groom, or just shake his hand? Do you say anything, and if so, what do you say to the bride other than “You look very beautiful”.
On top of this everybody sitting behind you is watching every move you make, so that if you go this way to hug the bride and she goes the same way and you clunk heads, then it’s quite embarrassing.
Always leery of the dismissal, and for this reason, I always try to sit near the back.
Another thing I don’t like is the eternal wait that sometimes occurs between the end of the wedding and the arrival of the wedding party at the reception. As funny as Ray and Darlyss are, one can only expect so much out of them.
And finally, one other thing that I don’t think people much care for is when the officiating minister goes on and on, turning a happy occasion into a sore subject for years to come.
I try to be realistic when I’m doing a wedding for somebody…I’d like to think that the couple is hanging on every word I’m saying, but I know that there minds have to be racing while they’re standing up there in front of everybody.
And so I try to keep the meditation to around 5 minutes or so…and so I’ve got to use that time wisely. And while the first 4 minutes of the meditation may vary from couple to couple, my final comments to the bride and groom are always the same, no matter who they are.
As you’re wrapping up, you want to challenge them to put Jesus at the center of their individual lives, so that He will be at the center of their marriage, so that they can come to experience all the blessings that come from a godly marriage.
So I leave them with what I consider to be 3 basic steps, that, if they will follow, will serve them well in the days ahead.
I simply challenge them to get to know Jesus more and more. And that by doing so they will grow to love Jesus more and more. And because they have grown to love Jesus, they will long to please Jesus, more and more.
A simple 3 step formula, first knowing which leads to loving which leads to pleasing.
It’s these three steps that we’re going to be talking about this morning, because even though there’s no wedding taking place here, these 3 steps apply to all of us, and many of us are “putting the cart before the horse” – we’re getting the order messed up, trying to please Jesus without really knowing Him or loving Him, and it only leads to frustration.
There are a lot of Christians today who would say that they want to please Jesus, but they don’t long to please Jesus. And so sometimes they do, sometimes they don’t, because they’ve been putting the cart before the horse.
We need to understand the importance of doing this thing right…first getting to know Jesus, and as we get to know Jesus – really know Him - we find ourselves growing to love Him, and because we love Him – really love Him – we find ourselves longing to please Him. Not wanting to please Him. Longing to please Him.
And isn’t this where we’d all like to be? Think about what your life would be like if pleasing Jesus was the single most important thing in your life? You’d be making good choices, and reaping the benefits of those wise choices. Your relationships would improve. Instead of focusing on what you don’t have, and being miserable because of it, you’d be fully content with all you do have.
So we’re going to talk about these three steps this morning, so that when you leave here, you can get started on putting things in the right order…so that longing to please Jesus will become more and more a desire of your heart.
We’ll begin, of course, with the first step, which is…
1. GETTING TO KNOW JESUS
Guys, you know how it works…can’t you remember as a young man…your eyes falling upon a young lady that you thought was pretty nice looking? You played in out in your mind…what it would like to have her as you girl…the things you would laugh about and the great times you would have together. You imagined different things you could and would do, things that would please her and make her happy.
Then you got to know her. And while she may have been attractive on the outside, you came to see that she wasn’t all that nice.
Sometimes the reverse is true…you know that girl that didn’t get a second glance…until you got to know her, and suddenly you found her very attractive.
The knowing is where it begins, so if we’re going to see whether or not Jesus is someone we can love, we first need to get to know Him. And exactly 3 weeks ago we talked about how we can get to know Jesus…we said it takes place by going to God’s Word.
One of my favorite passages of Scripture, one that drew me to God when I was a very young Christian - and didn’t really know Him at all - is found in Psalm 103. It’s a very descriptive passage, and it went a long way towards helping me to begin to know and then love God.
Psalm 103:8-12 The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.
I remember reading this and thinking, “This is good.” God is good. I can approach this God, I don’t need to shy away in spite of the things I ‘ve done. I know my heart and the evil that can come out of there, and it helps me to know that He is gracious, that He is compassionate, that He is slow to anger and rich in love. I need Him to be all those things, because of who I am.
And so this passage has been one that I’ve gone to time and time again, read and re-read. Thought about. Clung to. With a desire to know more.
Another passage from God’s Word that get to the heart of this matter of knowing Jesus.
In Matthew 16, we see that Jesus is gathered with His disciples, and He gets the conversation started by throwing out a question:
Matthew 16:13b “Who do the people say the Son of Man is?
By this time Jesus has performed amazing miracles, healed the sick, when he speaks people marvel at His words. The word is out that there is someone in the land who is no ordinary man. “Who do the people say that I am?” Jesus asks this small group of men.
Matthew 16:14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”
Try to put yourself back in that time period…the rumors and speculation is rampant regarding who it really is that is doing all these remarkable things. From the answers that Jesus is given, everyone seems to be convinced that Jesus is a prophet who lived earlier, died, and come back to life. Now listen to what Jesus says next:
Matthew 16:15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say that I am?”
Do you see how this question that Jesus asks gets right to the heart of this whole question of knowing Him?
Jesus says to his disciples, “Okay, you have seen what you have needed to see and have heard what you have needed to hear. You know what others are saying…BUT…what about you? Who do you say that I am?”
He asks the same question to me, and He asks the same question to you.
You live in the United States, there’s Bibles all over the place. Churches in every town. You’ve seen and read and you’ve heard all that there is to see, read and hear. You know what others are saying about Jesus. You’ve heard what the pastors of this church are saying about Jesus. You’ve heard the evangelists through the years…Pat Kelly and Tom Harmon and Adrien Dupree…you’ve heard what they say and think about Jesus.
BUT…what about you? Who do you say that He is?
Do you know Him well enough to give the answer that Peter gave…
Matthew 16:16b “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
Do you know Him this well? Do you know Him well enough to say, “Jesus, I love reading about your encounter with that women you met by the well in Samaria…and I love the story you told about the two men who prayed, one with price, one with humility. I love reading about that day when – with the sinners hanging on your every word, and the religious leaders grumbling about your every word – you told those 3 stories, the ones about the lost sheep, and the lost coin, and the lost son.”
Have you gotten to know Him well enough to understand that He never promised that pain and suffering would not occur in our lives…that the promise He made was to be there to hold us and comfort us when pain and suffering comes.
Do you know this Jesus? Because if you don’t, I don’t know how you could possibly love Him. Or even begin to know what it is to have this deep longing to please Him, day after day…even moment by moment.
If you would have to admit that you don’t have this longing to please Him, and if you would have to admit that you’d like to, but you don’t really love Him, then pour yourself into getting to know Him.
Because I believe with all my heart that if you do, you will find yourself drawn to Him; you will find yourself…
2. GROWING TO LOVE JESUS
You’ve gotten to know Him…there still is much to learn, much more to know…but you know enough to feel yourself drawn to Him. You have gone beyond simply reading about Him, to the point where you are not talking to Him…naturally, freely.
Where once you were unsure of how to pray – what to say, how to say it – you know enough to know that prayer is simply talking to Jesus like you talk to anyone else, only with more reverence.
And so now you’re reading and now you’re praying and now you sense His presence, and it’s a wonderful thing. And there are signs, changes that are taking place that indicate that your relationship with Him has moved to a deeper, more intimate level.
What would be some signs that would indicate that you are developing a genuine love for the Lord?
I think one sign would be a willingness to put your total trust in God. To be able to say and mean words like these…
Psalm 18:1-2 I love you, O LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge. He is my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
A good indication that you are developing a genuine love for Jesus is when you see Him and trust Him to be your refuge…your stronghold.
When trouble comes, problems at work, money problems, problems at home...how likely is it that the first thing that you will do is turn to Jesus for His protection?
For those that have gotten to know Jesus and have learned to love Him…it will be the only thing that makes sense to them. Of course I turn to Jesus.
For those who have not yet come to this point of truly loving Jesus, they will look for their own solutions, try to make in right will leaving Jesus out of the picture.
Another sign, another indication that you are developing a genuine love for the Lord would be a change in your priorities…
Psalm 73:25 Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
I read a verse like this and can suddenly feel like a failure. There are things on earth I desire…things I’d like to have and places I’d like to go and things I’d like to do.
But I think the thing we need to understand is, our relationship with Jesus is a process. I don’t say this to give us an excuse to put on the brakes…I say this so we understand how important it is that we keep going after Him – keep pursuing Him…because just as our knowledge of Him grows over time, so does our love for Him.
So I’m looking forward to that day when I can say that the earth has nothing I desire except for Him…and I hope that you are too.
One more sign…one more indication that you are growing in your love for Jesus: a heart filled with joy beyond description…
I Peter 1:8-9 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
You can hardly talk about loving Jesus without bringing our emotional side into it…sometimes when a song is played or sung, when something we read in God’s Word touches our hearts, when we think back to who we were, and what our life was like before He saved us and changed us…we are filled with a love that is beyond expression.
These things that we’re talking about here - an immediate turning to Jesus in times of trouble…a changing of priorities as Jesus becomes more important than the things we love the most…an inexpressible joy that comes when we think about all He has done for us - they are all signs of a genuine love for Jesus.
A love that will get us to where we want to wind up…where we find ourselves…
3. LONGING TO PLEASE JESUS
One more time back to our younger days, when we were attracted to someone, and after getting to know them we fell in love with them. And somthing interesting happened...for the first time in our lives, somebody else's desires came ahead of our own.
It’s works the same way with Jesus…and it’s why this process has to come in the right order. Because you can’t sustain putting Jesus desire’s ahead of your own if you don’t really love Him.
Jesus knows the order, He knows how it all falls into place, because He said…
John 14:15 If you love me you will obey what I command.
If you love me, then you will do what pleases me. He could have followed up with this by saying, if you don’t love me, there is no way you will be able to consistently live your life in such a way that is pleasing to me. Good intentions will only get you so far.
But a genuine love for Jesus will lead you to obedience because you want to, not because you have to.
Jesus said…
John 14:23 If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching.
I used to read verses like these as if they were a test…a challenge. Like Jesus is telling us to examine ourselves to determine whether or not we really love Him.
I don’t read it like this anymore, instead, I read it as if Jesus is just making a statement of fact…He’s simply telling it like it is… “If anyone loves me, he’ll obey my teaching.” He knows me. He loves me. He pleases me.
And John picked up on this as well, because he wrote these words…
I John 5:3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome…
God’s commands turn out not to be a burden for those who genuinely love Him. Rather than being a burden, we see it as an opportunity to please Him, to show our love for Him…because of all that He’s done for us.
Are there any commands of God that you find burdensome? Ladies, how about this one:
Exodus 20:17 “You shall not covet your neighbor’s house.”
Men, here’s one for you:
Colossians 3:5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed…
There are some commands of God that come easy for us, and there are some that are more of a challenge.
I can follow through on my desire to please Jesus one day, and still fall flat on my face the next. And so what I’m going to do is continue to get to know Jesus better and better, in order to love Him more and more. And as my love grows, I suspect that my longing to please Him will also grow more and more.
There is simply no way that I’m going to be able to please Him day after day - when life is hectic, when life is stressful, when life is difficult – unless I have a genuine love for Him in my heart. And I believe we’re all in the same boat here.
So I leave you with the same words that I leave with the bride and the groom before they head out into the real world…first get to know Jesus, which will allow you to grow in your love for Jesus, which will bring you to the point in your life where you long to please Jesus.