How Far Will You Go in Loving Others?

We've all had a very busy week, haven't we? Getting ready for the days of Unleavened Bread is like nothing else. You get to know your house so well. My wife and I have been missing this little piece of a vacuum cleaner, and when we finished cleaning, actually, my wife did a lot of the cleaning, she said, you know what? It's not in the house. I said, I'm sure we'll find it someday. She said, no, we won't.

It's been a busy time getting ready for the night to be much observed. How many of you contributed food or your home or something to the night to be much observed? Getting ready for that. In a work week, on a work day.

Getting ready for the Passover. How many of you served at one of the Holy Days Passover, first day of Unleavened Bread? How many of you are working and serving? You see, it's a very busy time, and yet, time marches on, doesn't it? And here we are already at the service of the first Holy Day of Unleavened Bread. Kind of feel in sync, don't we? House is clean, thought we'd never get that done.

We made it to Passover on time. Everything went well. We made it through the night to be much observed. The cake didn't fall on the floor. The food didn't burn. We actually had a great time. All those different friends and people that we didn't necessarily know or think, well, I wonder how we'll all get along.

Everybody got along great. Whoo! We're doing well. Been thinking about getting sent out of our lives. Here we are today, cleaned up and ready. So how are you doing as a Christian? Ask yourself, me, how are we doing individually as Christians? You have to say, not too bad. Not too bad. Pretty good, maybe. We're keeping God's Holy Days. Just gave an offering. We're keeping the Sabbath. We're tithing. Not eating unclean meats. Hopefully we're not eating leavened bread yet. Hopefully those mistakes come later. Not on the first day. So what's the score? Turn with me over to Luke 18. Let's see what our score is. Let's see how we're doing.

Luke 18, verse 22. This individual was telling Jesus Christ essentially the same thing. He says, you know, I'm doing all of these things and I'm feeling pretty good about it. Is there anything else? And so when Jesus heard these things, He said to Him, you still lack one thing. Okay, one thing, brethren. What is it? Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor and you will have treasure in heaven and come and follow Me.

But when He heard this, He became very sorrowful, for He was very rich. Now I applaud the fact that you and I have come a long way in our life. But have we come all the way? Have we come all the way? And if God says to us, okay, next step, sell all you have and give to the poor and be rich in heaven, then how are we doing? With that question in mind, how would we rate ourselves?

A good question for us would be, what would you give up? What would you be willing to give up to show love for others? We do love others. We have feelings of love for one another. But what would we give up in order to show love for others? Others, not just your family others, not just your friends others, not just those you like and those you know others. But Jesus told him to go sell all he had and give it to poor people.

He wasn't associated with those. Those weren't His people. Those weren't His class. Those weren't people He knew. He couldn't do that. Oscar and Emily were profiteers. They made profit on opportunities. They made profit in business. Oscar and Emily were doing great. They had a very fine home.

They had a good way of life. They were within the social elite. They were well connected with people in politics and in government. They were rich comrades of the German elite in the 1930s. Oscar's company employed many people to work. These people were a little different than Oscar. They weren't Germanic. They weren't of His status. They were hard workers. They were honest. They really performed well. And you didn't have to pay Him a whole lot. It helped Him become wealthy, along with His wife, Emily. And in time, this company found itself just up the road from a death camp at Auschwitz.

Here we begin to see a different group of people that needed compassion, a different group of people that needed help. The workers in His company were making Him money, and they were easy to obtain. And all of a sudden, they had become very easy to get rid of.

What would a person do in a situation like that? You know, this feast is about putting things away, isn't it? Putting sin out of our life, putting leaven out of our homes, and replacing them with something different. Replacing them with love, righteousness, as God performs through us, all by His help, good deeds that are performed with the help of God. It's kind of a curious thing. The choir just sang a couple of beautiful numbers, and they were singing those to glory God. But in even doing that, before services, they were back there praying to God to help them to do something that would be meaning and fitting in praising Him. It's like those who do special music, those who prepare, those who set up the hall, whatever we do, those who speak, we're always on our knees. Help me! I guarantee you, some of the men who come up for the prayers are praying to God before they come up to the prayers. Help me pray to you. It kind of sounds curious, doesn't it? And yet, we need God's help at every step of the way, and that's really what this week is about. Without God, we would die spiritually and physically. We need this bread. We need this bread of life. And even our serving God and honoring God comes with God's assistance in His help. We keep the feast, but do we want to do what this feast pictures? I think every one of us would say, yes, I do, but we'd be like Paul saying, that which I want to do, that I don't do. And there's the struggle, isn't it? It is difficult to march out of Egypt without looking back, without wanting some of the old things and the old nature that we had before. How much do we want to do that? How much do we want to love as God loves? How much do we want to really be like Jesus Christ? And we know what He went through. As we observed the Passover a couple of nights ago, we were reminded of all that He went through. And so, how far are you willing to go in loving others? The title of the sermon today is, How Far Will You Go in Loving Others? A little bit? A little bit more? A medium amount? A moderate amount? A balanced amount? Overboard? How far are you willing to go in loving others? I guess we could begin with this question. What's your net worth? What is your net worth? Why don't you write that on a piece of paper and pass it forward?

What is your net worth? Okay, send it in. It's like the old super easy tax form. For those of you who haven't filed yet, it's only two questions. How much did you make? Well, it's one question. One instruction. Send it in.

That's what Jesus told the man. What are you worth? What's your net worth? Okay, give it away. Give it to someone else. Would you use your life savings to show love to someone else? Wow, this is extreme. This preacher is really going to get in my wallet. We're not careful here. Is that even a realistic question? Let's go over to Luke chapter 10 and verse 37 and learn from a young lady who at the right time did this very thing. Luke 10 and verse 37. Would you give your life savings to someone to whom you're not related? Maybe you would to your kids and your grandkids and your will, or to your spouse, but to someone that you're not even related to, would you do that? Luke 10 verse 37 says, Now as it happened, as they went, that he entered a certain village. Jesus goes to the village, and a certain woman named Martha welcomed them into her house, and she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard his word. So here we have Mary. You can't say there's a really strong connection at this point. But from another account in Matthew 26 and verse 6, you don't have to turn there, but it says, When Jesus was in Bethany, at the house of Simon the leper, a woman came to him having an alabaster flask of very costly, fragrant oil, and she poured it on his head as he sat at the table. Now these little flasks of oil typically were the life savings of a woman, because the oil or the perfume was so rare, it was so expensive, that a tiny little sealed bottle could be purchased from the far east for what would approximate the life savings of an individual. And you wouldn't have to worry about hauling money or gold around. You wouldn't have to worry about robbers and thieves. You wouldn't have to worry about transporting this as a woman or putting it in a bank and wondering if the bank's going to go under. All you had to have was a little tiny jar, a little tiny sealed thing that was worth an amazing amount of money, and you could hide it. You could stick it on your person. You could put it underground. You could do almost anything you want with it. In John 12, verse 2, Martha served, as the story continues, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with him. And then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spike-nerd. Very costly oil of spike-nerd. She anointed the feet of Jesus, wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. So here we see one, perhaps two, ladies. Using what could well have been their tucked away savings could be all that they had. And doing an act of love, which they were inspired to do, I believe, but nevertheless not regretting it, and doing so for somebody they were not related to. Is love an immediate response, as it was in the case of these two ladies, or is it a calculation that we do? Well, here's a situation I probably ought to help. I really ought to help. But do I have to? Do I need to? Do I really want to? Do I have the time to?

And then you start kind of talking yourself out of it, or working it in, or maybe finding someone else to do it for you, figuring out it's someone else's responsibility. These ladies didn't do that! They didn't say, this man isn't my problem.

A good example is Peter.

Are we forced to love? Sometimes we are. The Bible says I have to love. Okay, I have to love you. I want to, but I have to love you. Or do we do it willingly? The Scriptures say, God loves a cheerful giver, one who gives and serves cheerfully. How does Peter fit into that? We remember Peter, and we kind of critically say, well, he was impetuous and he was spontaneous, and at the Passover, Jesus said, Peter, I'm going to wash your feet. Well, why didn't Peter want Christ to wash his feet? Well, it wasn't fitting. It wasn't proper. And he said, Lord, no, you are the master. You're the teacher. You're the Son of God. You're never going to wash my feet. This, I just, that's not right. So Jesus says, well, if I don't wash your feet, you have no part of me. Well, I want to be part of you. He just retorts right back, so you can wash my hands, my head, you know, whatever you want to wash. Now, Peter is trying to think and do what was right. In John 13, 37, Jesus had said, you know, I'm going to go away and you can't follow me. And Peter said, Lord, why can I not follow you now? I will lay down my life for your sake. Now, there's love and commitment from a man. He didn't go, let me get back to you next Monday. I got something I got to think about. Why can't I follow you now? No, he just said, why can't I follow you now? I would give my life for your sake. That's an immediate, uncalculated, didn't have to go away and say, well, what should I do? What should I feel? What should I think? Maybe I'll get to be in charge if he goes away. How will this work out for me?

John 21, 7, Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, look, it's the Lord. Say after the resurrection, look, it's the Lord. Peter says, you know, well, let me think. Give me a few minutes. Give me a couple hours. Let me figure out what to do. No, that wasn't Peter. Peter immediately said, well, this is what happened. Now, when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he had removed it and he plunged into the sea. I'm not even sure he knew what he was going to do. Probably wasn't a smooth move. Maybe he didn't know how to swim, especially putting on garments and jumping into the sea. But you see, what was in Peter's mind and what was in Peter's heart was to not calculate love, but to perform it. Irrespective of personal, I don't know, consequences, but certainly not what one might benefit from personally. Would you get involved? Would you show love? Would you perform an act of love in a matter of considerable inconvenience? Considerable inconvenience. Distasteful circumstances. I mean, really, really unpleasant. Would you get involved if it prevented you from performing your duties in this seven-day feast? If you couldn't even come to services, couldn't participate in the night to be much observed, it would knock you out of the first Holy Day, even if you were doing something. It would knock you out of being with brethren the whole rest of the weekend. You would have to miss the last Holy Day in order to do this particularly nasty, unpleasant task.

It would cost you something. You would have expense in doing it. It would inconvenience your family. It would embarrass your family and your friends. It would put you at personal risk, maybe even be considered by some to be being a traitor. It would put you at professional risk. You could lose your job. You could lose your standing in the community. You could lose your ability to provide for your household. Would you do something like that? These are the kind of acts of love that people have done in the past. Joseph of Arimathea, a town also called Rama, was a member of the great council of the Sanhedrin, which was the legal court of the Jews. Joseph was a man of the greatest respectability. He was from the tribe of Benjamin, where Rama is located. But he lived in Jerusalem most of the time because he worked with the Sanhedrin. He was a council member, a member of the Sanhedrin, Pharisee, Sadducee, and the scribes that were there. He had had a long, terrible day on the day of Passover. Sanhedrin had been convened early that morning. The tribunal had convicted Jesus Christ. I'm not sure that he was there. There was a 70- or 70-some member council, and it only had to have 23 to have a quorum. He probably wasn't invited to that early morning meeting. But it had been a long day, and it had a shocking finale. About three o'clock when Jesus of Nazareth finally died through crucifixion. About four o'clock on this busy day of the Jews doing their Passover observance and the various things that they had to complete on Passover Day, perhaps some of them had not even gotten to them because of this crucifixion, because all that was going on. You can imagine what it's like for you to prepare for the Passover and the night to be much observed, the Holy Day, and all that went on in Jewish custom back then. It had been a very busy day for Joseph, but about four o'clock he went up to Pilate and dealt with some unfinished business. In Matthew 27, verse 57, it says, Now when evening had come, there came a rich man from Arimathea named Joseph, who himself had also become a disciple of Jesus. John explains to us some of the background of Joseph and how he was related to the Sanhedrin, how respected he was. But this man went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. And then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him. This is a body that was unclaimed. Remember, the disciples essentially ran away. There was nobody there interceding with the Romans. The Jews had wanted him dead before sunset and down off of that crucifix. There's no plans or preparation made for any burial. That was just some unfinished business.

And then Pilate commanded the body to be given to him, and when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a linen cloth. Now here's...it's bad enough that you remember the Sanhedrin, and you go to Pilate, and now you get the one that the Sanhedrin had passed, or part of them had passed a death sentence on, and now you're claiming this. You're going to touch a body. It says in Numbers 19 verse 11, He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean for seven days. That knocked him out of the feast right there.

Going on in verse 60, and he laid it in his new tomb. This is a tomb for his family. And he took Jesus' body because he was hurrying before the sunset, and he laid it in his own new tomb, which he had hewn out of rock, or perhaps had had hewn by someone else out of rock. It was a major thing back then. These tombs were family mausoleums, where the body was laid in the front, and it was allowed to decay with a stone over it, and then some period of time later, the bones were collected, rolled together, and inserted in a back part of the tomb, so the individual was joined with his father's, with his lineage. And then it made room for another family member. But this is a brand new tomb. And then he rolled a large stone against the door of the tomb and departed. And Mary Magdalene was there, and the other Mary sitting opposite the tomb.

Joseph had the help of another man. He didn't do this all by himself, it turns out. Who do you think helped him? Peter? John, the disciple, who loved him and loved other disciples. You remember that during the arrest the evening before that Mark, who was not a disciple but was there, had been grabbed by his clothing, by his tunic, and he ran away while they held the tunic, naked. That's how eager they were to get out of there. And the next day Peter would deny Christ three times because of the potential danger that was involved. And yet here we see Joseph and Mary, Mary Magdalene.

It happened to be another member of the Sanhedrin that helped out, believe it or not.

Another Pharisee in this case, Nicodemus. Early in Christ's ministry, the Sanhedrin had seen the miracles that Christ was doing and they wanted him dealt with.

And this individual, Joseph, had brought up to the Sanhedrin, hey, we should hear people before we just annihilate them, to which they verbally attacked him. But Nicodemus would eventually become a follower. He would visit Jesus at night. And in John 19, verse 13, we read, And Nicodemus, who first came to Jesus at night, he also came, at the same time when Jesus was being buried, and bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds. A hundred pounds. How do you transport aloes and herbs, maybe on a cart, or maybe you hire someone and you bring these things along? In verse 30, And then they took the body of Jesus, and they bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.

Mary would spend that Friday preparing some other things to add to the burial after the last Holy Day, or after the Holy Day, I should say, ended, after the Sabbath ended, during the Holy Days, is what I'm trying to say. But anyway, these two men and these two women were examples of something that Jesus taught. What did Jesus teach us? Let's go back to Luke 9 and verse 23. Luke 9 and verse 23. Even without God's Holy Spirit, these individuals were trying to follow with what Jesus had taught.

And Jesus said to them all, If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself. That's really what these individuals all were showing. They were denying themselves. They were not putting themselves first, in other words. Oh, I can't go there. I'm a member of the San Adrian. Oh, I can't go there. I might get in trouble. Oh, I can't do that. The family would be upset. We've got a foreigner in the tomb. I can't do that. That costs a lot of money. I have to buy things. I'd have to transport things. I can't do that. The Sabbath is about to come. I can't touch him. I wouldn't be able to participate in the Holy Days. What would my friends and relatives and family think? And on and on and on, you see. If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily. There's something that needs to be died to. And it's the old self. And follow me. You know, Christianity in the process of salvation is not a one-way event. It's not something Jesus did for us. That's not what Christianity is. It's a following him. He set the example in verse 24. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it. If you want to perpetuate your own life, it's not going anywhere in the long run. But whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world and he himself is destroyed or lost? For whoever is ashamed of me and my words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when he comes in his own glory, and in his fathers, and of the holy angels. So the concept is you're either Christ-like and you're doing what he's doing, or if you're on the other side and playing games but trying to work out your own thing, you're not going to be part of it. You're not going to be part of the family and the rewards of the family. And in this week of Unleavened Bread, we really have to do some choosing, don't we?

What did Jesus Christ give his life for? Well, he gave it for the sins of humanity. He gave his life for strangers, pretty much all strangers at that time. He didn't know anybody who lived after him, for sure. He hadn't been born yet. Didn't know you and me. Didn't know all the people that have lived and died and will live in the future. Pretty much for strangers. Pretty much for enemies, if you think about it. He gave his life for those who didn't like God, worked against righteousness. All of us, before our calling, and sometimes after our calling, we work against God in his way.

He died for people that were so poor, they were starving spiritually. He died for people that were so weak, they were dying physically and spiritually. And they had no life in them. You know, we all, the clock is ticking, if you haven't figured this out yet. The clock is ticking. You and I, with every breath, are one breath closer to dying, and after we die, that's it. That's it. There's nothing more that we, of and by ourselves, can do or participate in. We're over.

And that's what he died for. Those heading for the grave, those heading towards decomposition, those who had nothing to give, is what Jesus died for. In Luke 14, verse 11, a few pages forward, then he was at a dinner, and, you know, Jesus Christ had this manner of just cutting right to the chase, as they say.

Cutting right to the issue. And he told the person who had invited him to this meal, this banquet, When you give a dinner or a supper, do not ask your friends, your brothers, your relatives, nor rich neighbors, lest they invite you back, and you be repaid.

But when you give a feast, invite the poor, the maimed, the lame, the blind. In other words, this is what God has done. The poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind is who he has invited to the kingdom of God. And you will be blessed because they cannot repay you, for you shall be repaid at the resurrection of the just. There's a principle here. God does not do anything for people who favor Him because we can't favor God.

Everything is God's. What could we possibly do for God? And so why should we not have the same mentality that God has? And so it was not out of character for Jesus to say to the man, Go sell all you have and give it to the poor. Because that's what God does. Jesus Christ came and gave all that He had and gave it to the poor. It's more typical for you and me to invite relatives and friends. For those of whom we have a connection, and there's nothing wrong with that, imbalance.

You should love others as much as you love yourself. There's a time for all things we find in Ecclesiastes. But really, when we think about our human state, we have more of a tendency to involve and serve and give to those whom we have a stake, to whom we have a relationship, some sort of give and take relationship. Again, there's not a whole lot that's wrong with that.

David and Jonathan had a friendship that was give and take. Jesus and John the Apostle seemed to have a special friendship as well. Though they didn't exclude others. Some relationships, I think, are based on sharpening each other's iron, encouraging, helping, assisting. And that's a wonderful thing that we can do for each other. But it's part of human nature to have an empirical self, my empire, and to think that we're just benevolent by serving ourself through serving our empire.

That is, I have my congregation, I have my family, I have my city, you know, Phoenix is my city. I don't care about Toledo. I don't care how your ball team's doing up there. Or wherever Schilling is these days, I don't even know. But we have our country. We care about America. And we can put this empirical self out quite a way and think that those whom we're serving within it, oh, I'm just so benevolent here.

But really, we're kind of feathering our own bed and our own relationships, aren't we? Our own neighbors and our neighborhood. Yes, I'm helping my neighbors keep our neighborhood clean and keep it safe from predators so that my house is clean, property values stay up. I'm helping my spouse, my wife, my kids, my grandkids, and keeping us. But you see, it kind of has a kickback, doesn't it? What about those who are not in that group? Leviticus 19, verse 33, the God of the Old Testament makes a very, very interesting statement.

Very interesting statement. Considering that this is Jesus Christ, in a sense, in advance, He's telling people to be like Him. Leviticus 19, verse 33 says, And if a stranger, like Jesus Christ was a stranger, dwells with you in your land, you shall not mistreat Him like we did Jesus Christ. Now, this happened many years, many centuries before He came. Verse 34, The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love Him as yourself.

For you are strangers in the land of Egypt. He's picturing sin, human nature. He says, I am the Lord your God. What this passage really brings us down to in these days of Unleavened Bread is we are happily escaping sin, as we are happily escaping our old Egypt and rejoicing over that, we have to remember that there are others whom we don't know who are not part of us, that are making the same trek, that will follow us.

A stranger, if you look up the word in the Hebrew, stranger, also sometimes termed alien, was a foreigner living in a community without relatives, without property. Imagine that. A foreigner living in your community has no relatives there, usually without property. They were sometimes people fleeing from famine who found themselves into a foreign land because they had to go there to stay alive.

Or sometimes they were war refugees. There were a lot of battles being fought here and there, and families would escape, and they would find themselves strangers in a foreign land. God loves strangers, and you were once one of them, and I was once one of them. We are to love strangers. In Deuteronomy 10, verse 19, It says, For the Lord your God is a God of gods and a Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. No partiality. He administers, verse 18, justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing.

See, this doing, this serving, this giving of oneself for someone you don't know, someone who cannot even not only repay you, but doesn't even fit in your circle, in your sphere. He's not from your lineage, he's not from your religion, he's not from your area. He probably doesn't speak your language, at least not very well. God loves these individuals, and he loves giving them food and clothing. Therefore, love the stranger, for you are strangers in the land of Egypt. We are to remember this day, that not only are we to be putting eleven out of our homes, but we are to be putting the selfishness of our sin and our empirical self out, and reaching out to others just as we were once without identity.

Oscar and Emily, they saw a problem back there in Poland. They saw a big problem, but it wasn't their problem. After all, it wasn't a local problem. All of Europe had been sucked into a nasty war, and Oscar and Emily were on the right side of it. Their government had all the power. They were associated with the rich and the elite. They were actually able to make a lot more money because of the needs of the Third Reich, things that could be manufactured for it, etc. This problem wasn't theirs. They had a good life. They had a lot more potential, even, during the war than they had before. There was a system, and that system had laws and regulations. During warfare, there were special laws and regulations that the whole culture was abiding by and working by. These were reinforced by various police and military personnel. It was working, and they fit in with that. After all, it was war.

But Oscar and Emily saw a situation for a people that were not theirs, something that to get involved with would cost them their reputation, could cost them all that they owned, could cost them losing the status, the power, all the money, all the opportunity to provide for their children and grandchildren and their own needs. Yet they saw this problem, and they dedicated themselves to saving the Jewish employees of the Schindler factory. Now that was, one might say, a nice little move he did. He and his wife. That was nice. It was within their power to do so.

But what you don't realize, he spent his fortune doing that. It cost him millions of dollars in payoffs to the German Reich. It cost him everything he had, and the man died penniless. He died a popper because of what he did, to make someone else's problem his problem when someone needed to be loved. God loved the strangers, and strangers could observe the Passover. Strangers could do offerings. We find that back in Numbers 9, verse 14, and Leviticus 17, verse 8. God let those people in. He let them, even though they weren't his, if they showed a desire, they were welcome.

How do we treat people unknown to us? Those without an historical connection, those without property, without membership, without ties? Do we just stick to our own? I'm not saying there's anything wrong with having special relationships. Some of us in this room go back many years. Some of us are new friends. Some of us are yet to be friends. And there's a time and a place for all of that. Certainly there's some responsibility that each of us play towards having friends. The Bible even tells us that.

Jesus Christ set us an example, Mark 10, verse 41. Mark 10, verse 41.

Let's start in verse 42.

Jesus Christ died for many. He died for all of those who would eventually repent. His blood covers all of those who seek repentance and forgiveness. So we need to be slave to all. Even as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve and to give his life for a ransom for many. For many. It was such a fabulous gift that with God's Spirit and God's help, in the end, when all are finally resurrected into his kingdom, I doubt God will lose very many humans off this planet historically who didn't want to make the trip, who really didn't want to go his way when they really had the chance and the opportunity.

But loving others is a sacrifice, and Jesus Christ paid the ultimate sacrifice. He loved, he served, he healed. And the response was that Satan and his agents went after him. He became a target. He was ridiculed. In a purple robe, he was beaten about and batted about. You know, killers often bat about their victims. They like to mess with them. You see cats with mice. They don't just go over and eat the mice. I like to play with the mice a little bit. That soften mumble a little. Often happens with big cats, too, over in Africa. They like to mess with the animals a little bit.

I don't know if you've ever seen killer whales eat seals, but they don't just eat the seal. They grab the seal and hit the top of the water, coming up full speed, and throw the seal up into the air. And then, bat the seal and he hits the ground. Mess him around a little bit, for quite a little bit. So it is, you know? We were over in Africa and saw a wildebeest, and he was dining on a...

I'm sorry, the wildebeest was being dined on by a hyena. Get this right. The hyena wasn't very thoughtful because the wildebeest was still standing there while the hyena was having dinner. These are terrible things. And so it was the Romans' form of crucifixion. They didn't just kill a man. Okay, put a bullet in him. No. They like to take two to three days with that process, get some mileage out of it, do it on a public highway, maybe to crossroads.

So you can get a lot of impact on the public. Let them know not to do certain deeds. They didn't care, you see. That's typical of humans. We really don't care about others. Here's a question. How much effort do humans expend in trying to love others? You know, I was trying to think about this this morning. How much effort does humanity spend in trying to love others? And how much effort do we expend in trying to hurt others? When you compare those two, you'd have to say that the scales tip heavily in favor of us devising ways to hurt people as a human race.

And what is... how many dollars does a government pay for its military might? And the creation of military things that hurt and destroy and blow up and explode at all heights and depths through water and air and underground and on top of ground and... Electromagnetic and laser and... who knows all the things that people come up with and the money that goes into that.

What's the Christian counterpart of a lawyer? You've got lawyers, they're employed to go after and get from somebody. What's the Christian counterpart of a lawyer? What's the loving counterpart of a lawyer? Is there somebody you can go hire to go help you serve someone, help them, love them?

I don't know what they would be called. I'm not sure there is such a thing that you pay hundreds of dollars an hour and a third of all you give. I'll give you a third of everything I'm about to give if you'll help me give it and serve somebody. And you think of... I'd like to sign up for that. It'd probably work pretty well. I don't think that probably would fly, though. What inventions have been created to help a person serve others? Usually an invention is how to save me effort, save me expense, have these inventions.

Oh, this works well, and I like that, and I'll use that, and I'll buy that. But what inventions? Okay, here's the inventions that have been made for one person to serve and help another person. What electronic mechanical airspace technologies were devised to serve... strangers? Foreigners? Enemies? Does the U.S. have the War Department over here and then the Love Department, the Serve Department? And over here we're developing billions of dollars in technology in how we can serve and help our enemies. I don't mean to get this down to any country, but we're just used to that.

What percentage of our national budgets as the human race go to assisting enemies? See it on your taxes. The EAF, Enemy Assistance Fund. Would you like to donate to the EAF? Jesus Christ said, this is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you. And how did He love us? He went all the way, didn't He? He didn't limit it.

He didn't say, well, I'll go this far. He went all the way. See this in context of the God family in John 15, verse 9. As the Father loved me, I also have loved you. How did the Father love us? I think you know the answer to that. And Jesus Christ has loved us just as He did. And then He says, abide in my love.

We are to be linked with that and part of it. If you keep my commandments, the commandments are to love one another, you will abide in my love, just as I kept my Father's commandments, which were to love one another and abide in His love. And these things I have spoken to you that my joy may remain in you and that your joy may be full. This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you, in the same manner that I have loved you.

Greater love is no one than this than to lay down one's life for his friends. And it's not unreasonable for a person to love and serve someone in a life-threatening way. You are my friends if you do whatever I command you. Verse 16, You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain. This isn't a one-time deal. This isn't a, okay, I did something good. No, your fruit would remain. The works, the fruits, would be there. Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He may give you. And whatever you ask the Father would be according to the will of the Father.

These things I command you that you love one another. So caring about any and everyone is the mindset of the God family. It points it out very clearly to us. Do you have that mindset? And how far will you go with that? Matthew 25, verse 34, says, For I was hungry and you gave me food. Oh yeah, he's coming to that. I know that scripture.

I've heard that before. Hungry and you gave me food. I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you took me in. I was naked and you cloaked me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me. How far and to what extreme did these people go? These sheep?

That he said, come into the kingdom because you've done... How far did they go in doing those things? Doesn't sound like those things are really deep, does it? How far did they go in loving others? You know, they gave in small ways, really, compared to what Jesus Christ did. But notice some aspects of the deeds that are stated here. It's important to notice these things. First of all, who did they serve? In every case, they were the poor and strangers.

People who didn't have clothing, people who didn't have food, people who didn't have drink. Strangers, people in prison, and people in... I don't know... home hospitals, people who were sick, people who were infirm probably couldn't get out. So they were poor and they were strangers. And what did they give? They gave the essentials for life. They gave food, they gave water, they gave clothing, they gave shelter, and they gave companionship. They visited in prison and they came in sickness. Those were the things of life that all were very important. What was the source of their awareness?

What's the source of their awareness? Well, outgoing concern could only be the source of the awareness for all those things. How many of you here today are in the hospital sick? Well, nobody. But we don't see who are sick in the hospital, do we? How many of you are in prison today? Well, duh! We're all here. So, you see, outgoing concern would be required in order to even find that out.

Who in the room here today is thirsty? If you just look around, can you tell who's thirsty? Who's hungry? Can you tell who's hungry? How do you know the person sitting right over there is sneaking food? No. Sipping on a water bottle. How do you know you haven't eaten so much for lunch? You're just, Oh, I can't eat anymore. How do you know? You can't tell when people are thirsty or hungry, can you? How many of you are naked? Well, some things are obvious. But, you know, naked can also infer, didn't we see that article of clothing last week, the week before, the week before, the week before, the week before, the week before?

That may be your only sort, you know, the only thing you have to wear. Maybe a lack of clothing. All the needs are invisible, you see. I'd like to tell you about Willis. Willis is an African teenager. He's almost as tall as I am. He's quite a good-looking fella. He always has a smile on his face. He's a strong man, secure, sure of himself, just everything you'd want in a teenager. And Willis will be there helping and serving and giving, and you can just enjoy spending time around Willis. If you ask Willis a question like, if you cared, he'd say, Willis, tell me about your family.

Well, my family all died of AIDS. I'm an orphan. Don't know my parents, never knew my mom, my dad. I'm just an orphan. Oh, sorry to hear about that. If you cared alone a little bit more, you might say, Willis, where do you live? Well, I don't have a place to live. I don't have a bed. I don't have a house. But he's here helping and serving and smiling. But Willis, when did you eat last?

I heard somebody ask him. When did you eat last? It's three o'clock in the afternoon. It's been working all day, helping, serving for free. When did you eat last? Last night? Last night? There's a family that gives me dinner every night, about seven o'clock, and that's my only meal, every day, day after day. You know, it takes somebody who cares to find out about Willis.

Willis, where? I know she's wearing green shorts again today. You like green shorts? No, that's my school uniform. The green shorts are my school uniform. That's all I have to wear. We don't always perceive very much about others unless we have an interest in others. Who around you has needs? What are their needs? What are their wishes? What are their desires? You know, God doesn't just know your needs.

Jesus said, you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children. How much more does your Heavenly Father know how to give good gifts to you? I have little things in my life that, you know, I like this or I like that, but, you know, they're unreachable, they're unattainable.

And then God just smiles on you and gives it to you, lets you enjoy it or see it or do it or whatever. You think, well, wow! I didn't even ask for that. Never brought it up. And what does it have to do with the big scheme of things anyway?

Well, nothing. God just thought, well, I know you probably like this, so here, have this. Just like a parent might hear a child say something and then one day, you know, boom! There it is! Ah! Wow! Can we do that for each other? Is it only just the life-threatening needs that someone has? Or can we... what are they like? What can I do for that? Boom! This may be something trivial, physical, but don't we like that too? Shouldn't we love one another as we love ourselves?

Knowing what others' needs are, having opinion, isn't always reality either. You don't believe me, ask your wife. I know what she needs. Ha! Really? That'd be a surprise. You'd be a very, very perceptive, knowledgeable person. Because that's an ever-changing thing. But you know what? Bible tells us husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her. See, that puts it in a certain context, doesn't it? Love your wives in the way Christ loved the church and gave himself for her.

When you think you're doing that, remember what Paul said, 1 Corinthians 7, 33. But he who is married cares about the things of the world, how he may please his wife. Oh, so a husband needs to be trying to please his wife. The word please from the Greek means to please, to strive to please, and to accommodate oneself to the opinions, desires, and interests of others. It's part of dwelling with them according to knowledge, melding in the opinions, the desires, and the interests of another. And that's just husband and wife.

It goes out from there to children, to others, to really be loving and concerning and thoughtful. Paul said, if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he's denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever. In other words, if we have God's Holy Spirit, and we're not providing those things that those of the household, and I guess we could say the household of faith, need, then we're worse than an unbeliever because we have God's Holy Spirit, but we're not using it.

We're coming up with blocks and reasons as to why we shouldn't show love and favor. It's like John said, and this, the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest, whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. So this week during Unleavened Bread, we really, we're looking, aren't we, at two different ways. There's two mindsets. There's love, others, or love the self. Excuse me just a moment.

Two mindsets really could be shown this week. Here's one mindset, Unleavened Bread. This is a wonderful one because this person has spiritual gifts sprinkled on top. Sesame seeds and poppy seeds. And here's the other mindset, Oldy Moldy. Oldy Moldy just had his tenth birthday. In bread years, in human years, that's over a hundred. See the rubbers coming off of the styrofoam. But he's been a good prop for many years. But there you have the two mindsets.

In 1 Corinthians 13 and 4, you remember what we call this love chapter. Paul says, Love suffers long and is kind. Love does not envy. Love does not parade itself. It is not puffed up. This is not love. It's not puffed up. Remember, these two are really the same. Same amount of wheat goes into making bread that's puffed up, that goes into flat bread that's honest and genuine, just as nourishing, just as filling. But this one's all about itself and how it looks, and it's just full of hot air. And it's expanded, and it's gaseous, it's got pride. And it thinks of itself, and it wants to, you know, catch your eyes and your nose as you come into the room and say, Eat me! Choose me! I'm better, I'm bigger. But here's the nutrition just sitting over there waiting to serve. It's more convenient, takes up smaller space.

Love suffers long, it's not puffed up, it doesn't behave rudely, does not seek its own exclusively, is not provoked, thinks no evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. This is what we are to become this week, is love. Love fulfills the law. 1 John chapter 3 and verse 16. By this we know love because he laid down his life for us, and we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. That puts a priest great, doesn't it? How far should we go in loving others? We should follow Jesus Christ and lay down our lives for the brethren.

Verse 23, and this is his commandment, that we should believe on the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he gave us commandment. Now he who keeps his commandments abides in him, and he in him, and by this we know that he abides us in us by the Spirit which he has given us. You know, the world and its human nature is all about self, and the result is strife, and it's division, and it's fighting. But God is about love, and the result is about appreciation, about respect, and about growth. The Church is to grow up together by the love which every part contributes, and we are symbolized by this bread as well, collectively as the body of Christ.

Jesus said in the end time, the love of many will grow cold. And that's a terrible thing. We might ask, how far will I go? How far am I going?

Oscar Schindler died in Germany in the town of Hildesheim. He died in 1974. It was his wish to be buried in Jerusalem, Israel, instead of in Germany, because he said, my children are there. So this man felt that strongly about people that were not of his kin, not of his lineage. He was able to step over, as it were, and love strangers to the point where he considered them his children. How far has God gone in his love for us? Is there anywhere he hasn't gone? Is there any way to measure or limit it in any way?

John 3, 16 says, For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. He gave everything. Everything he had. And what are the terms of his love? Is it fairness, equality, settling of scores? The next verse, verse 17 says, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. It was a love that wasn't out to get anything, or cause anybody to have any pressure. He wanted to give. He wanted to serve. And so, brethren, as we conclude this service for the rest of Unleavened Bread, let's examine ourselves. Let's examine ourselves not by comparing ourselves with others, but let's compare ourselves with bread. With the living bread. Let's compare ourselves with the bread of life that the Father gives us through his Son. And let's get rid of oldie moldy. Let's put that out, and let's be children of our Father in Heaven and his Son, Jesus Christ.

Thank you.