Feb.
11, 2000 Loving
By Faith (St. Valentines Sunday.)
Ruth 1
By Ronald E.
George Jr. at the Fayetteville Baptist Church
How can
we "demolish" those things that once blew us away? With Christ
living out His very life through ours, that's how. By his power we can give
ourselves away again and again and again.
And we won't fear the outcome. We
won't even feel slighted when we don't get the same treatment in return.
Servants, remember, don't "keep score." Dale Galloway tells a story
in "Dream a New Dream" that beautifully illustrates this
point.
“ Little
Chad was a shy, quiet young fella. One
day he came home and told his mother, he'd like to make a valentine for
everyone in his class. Her heart
sank. She thought, "I wish
he wouldn't do that!" because she had watched the children when they
walked home from school. Her Chad
was always behind them. They
laughed and hung on to each other and talked to each other.
But Chad was never included. Nevertheless, she decided she would go
along with her son. So she
purchased the paper and glue and crayons.
For three whole weeks, night after night, Chad painstakingly made
thirty-five valentines.
Valentine's
Day dawned, and Chad was beside himself with excitement! He carefully stacked them up, put them in a bag, and bolted
out the door. His mom decided to
bake him his favorite cookies and serve them up warm and nice with a cool
glass of milk when he came home from school.
She just knew he would be disappointed -- maybe that would ease the
pain a little. It hurt her to
think that he wouldn't get many valentines -- maybe none at all.
That
afternoon she had the cookies and milk on the table. When she heard the
children outside she looked out the window. Sure enough here they came,
laughing and having the best time. And, as always, there was Chad in the rear. He walked a little faster than usual. She fully expected him to burst into tears as soon as he got
inside. His arms were empty, she
noticed, and when the door opened she choked back the tears.
"Mommy
has some warm cookies and milk for you."
But
he hardly heard her words. He
just marched right on by, his face aglow, and all he could say was: "Not
a one -- not a one."
Her
heart sank.
And
then he added, "I didn't forget a one, not a single one!"
So it
is when God is in control of the servant's mind.
We realize as never before that life's greatest joy is to give His love
away -- a thought that brings to mind the saying:
It
isn't a song until it's sung.
It
isn't a bell until it's rung.
It
isn't love until it's given away!”
Today’s message is the heart of Christianity.
It is loving by faith. To
be Christian and not to love as the Bible describes is like a body without a
heart. It is lifeless.
The Bible says that God is love and that He loves us.
But do we love him and are we love ourselves?
How do we know that God is love and that he loves us?
We know by his actions towards us.
For God so loved… that
He gave… His only begotten
Son… that whosever believeth in
him should not die, but have everlasting life, John 3:16.
How do we know that we love God and that we love others?
Without the relationship we have with one another and with the Lord our
lives would become lifeless. Put
some love into your life and some action behind your words.
The purpose of this message is to show that we love
God and one another by Faith, and to show why it is imperative to develop
significant relationships between God and others.
Scripture Text:
Ruth 1:8 (KJS) And Naomi said
unto her two daughters in law, Go, return each to her mother's house: the
LORD deal kindly with you, as ye have dealt with the dead, and with me. 9
The LORD grant you that ye may find rest, each [of you] in the house of her
husband. Then she kissed them; and they lifted up their voice, and wept. 10
And they said unto her, Surely we will return with thee unto thy people. 11
And Naomi said, Turn again, my daughters: why will ye go with me? [are]
there yet [any more] sons in my womb, that they may be your husbands? \12
Turn again, my daughters, go [your way]; for I am too old to have an
husband. If I should say, I have hope, [if] I should have an husband also to
night, and should also bear sons; 13 Would ye tarry for them till they were
grown? would ye stay for them from having husbands? nay, my daughters; for
it grieveth me much for your sakes that the hand of the LORD is gone out
against me. 14 And they lifted up their voice, and wept again: and Orpah
kissed her mother in law; but Ruth clave unto her. 15 And she said, Behold,
thy sister in law is gone back unto her people, and unto her gods: return
thou after thy sister in law. 16 And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave
thee, [or] to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I
will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people [shall be] my
people, and thy God my God: 17 Where thou diest, will I die, and there will
I be buried: the LORD do so to me, and more also, [if ought] but death part
thee and me. 18 When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with
her, then she left speaking unto her.
The facts of True Friendship. (loving by faith)
1.
Death
and Disappointment. You will face death
and disappointment. Ruth
had to overcome her feelings toward Naomi and Naomi’s God who seemingly had
failed to give to them what they needed since they had lost their only source
of support. All the men had died
and now they were destitute in a barren land.
Can you love another even when you don’t get what you want and things
don’t go your way? When
problems come will you still be there? When
people die and desert you? When
things don’t go your way will you still be there with your friend and your
God? The inevitable will come to all.
Death, disease, and disappointments will come to all relationship
without exception. Even in our
relationship with the Lord we may feel that He has let us down.
But, we know that even in those things he hasn’t.
Have you ever been disappointed in life?
Then you know exactly how it feels.
These disappointments are apart of the facts of life and friendship.
How did you deal with them? How
will you in the future?
2.
Despair and Departure.
Some will despair and depart from those they love.
Can you continue to love another when others are leaving and it seems
there is no hope? As rats jump
from a sinking ship will you too leave me?
John 6:66 From that
[time] many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 67 Then
said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Have you ever left or had someone to
leave you? Orpah left Naomi in
her greatest hour of need. She also departed from serving the God that Naomi served.
Naomi had reached one of the darkest hours of her life.
Death and disappointment will separate those who truly love from those
who have a form of love that is empty. Will
you leave the Lord also?
3.
Decision
and Decisiveness.
How will you decide when the time comes?
How have you decided? Would
you change your mind? When we are
married we decide ahead of time that we will love for better or for worse.
Orpah decided to return to her homeland and her gods, but Ruth, the
Moabite, decides to commit herself to Naomi and turns from going home to join
with her. Why did Ruth turn to follow Naomi?
She loved by faith. She
believed in Naomi and her God. Ruth
loved Naomi’s God by faith, so that her very existence would depend upon his
provision. Ruth was relentless and determined to stay with Naomi and her God.
Ruth loved by Faith. She
loved Naomi’s God without seeing him and she committed herself to Him. The
one true God that Ruth worshipped was her choice of gods.
Her love was her decision to stay with them.
Ruth loved by faith in her mother in-law that even though Naomi could
not provide another husband for her she believed in her not for what Naomi
could give, but because of whom she was.
Love is a decision. How
have you decided? Naomi had to
decide to accept her condition and her daughter in-laws love.
4.
Declaration
and Demonstration.
Declare your commitment to the person and to the Lord, then demonstrate
that you mean it by giving them your life.
The marriage vows say for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in
sickness, in health, till death do us part.
Then you will begin to experience the true meaning of love and
friendship. Have you ever
declared your love for another? Have
you ever demonstrated that declaration? What about your relationship with the Lord?
What we call Valentine's Day was
at one time the Feast of St. Valentine. It was a religious holiday. They would
be especially shocked at the use of cupid since he was a character from pagan
mythology. For Christians in the past this holiday it was a day to remember
and celebrate the life and death of a Christian martyr.
According to church tradition St. Valentine was a priest
near Rome in about the year 270 A.D. At that time the Roman Emperor was
imprisoning Christians for not worshipping the Roman gods. During this
persecution Valentine was arrested. Some say he was arrested because he was
performing Christian marriages, but others say it was for helping Christians
escape prison.
During the trial they asked Valentine what he thought of
the Roman gods Jupiter and Mercury. Of course Valentine said they were false
gods and that the God that Jesus called Father was the only true God. So the
Romans threw him in prison for insulting the gods.
While in prison Valentine
continued to minister. He witnessed to the guards. One of the guards was a
good man who had adopted a blind girl. He asked Valentine if his God could
help his daughter. Valentine prayed and the girl was given her sight. The
guard and his whole family, 46 people, believed in Jesus and were baptized.
Because these people had come to know Jesus, Valentine praised God right there
in his prison cell. When the emperor heard about this he was furious that
Valentine was still making converts even in prison, so he had Valentine
beheaded.
Valentine knew that he
might get caught in his Christian activities. He knew that if he told the
court the truth about the Roman gods that he would be thrown in prison. And he
knew that if he continued to witness to Christ in the prison he would make his
captors angry. But he continued, because he loved the Lord and his fellow
humans. He was willing to risk his life to free the prisoners and spread the
Good News of Jesus Christ to those who needed to hear it.
“Ye call Me Master and obey me not, Ye call Me Light
and see me not, Ye call Me way and follow me not Ye call Me Life and desire me
not, Ye call Me wise and acknowledge me not, Ye call Me fair and love me not,
Ye call Me rich and ask me not, Ye call Me eternal and seek me not, Ye call Me
gracious and trust me not, Ye call Me Noble and serve me not, Ye call Me
mighty and honor me not, Ye call Me just and fear me not, If I condemn you,
blame me not.” Resource,
July/August, 1990