Download Love DOES Bear All Things - Ann Arbor Free Methodist Church

Advent – Love Does
Bear All Things
A Sermon by Pastor R. D. Johnson
Preached at the Ann Arbor, MI Free Methodist Church
Scripture Text:
I Corinthians 13:7a
December 4, 2011
Sermon #0279
Last week we compared Mohammed with Jesus in the realm of truth and saw how superior
the Truth claims of Jesus were over the claims of Mohammad and his religion of Islam. We
learned how and why love can rejoice in the Truth. As in the story of the Emperor’s New
Clothes, the truth is clear to those with childlike faith and honesty, to those who are looking
for truth for truth’s sake and not to be able to use it for their own gain.
The Joy of Christmas is in its clear and simple truth.
Today, the second week of Advent, the week of Love, we again look to I Corinthians 13 and
see that Love bears all things. (I Corinthians 13:7a)
[Kids moment – Present “love bag”
Have you ever seen: Mary Poppins? Do you know Hermione Granger? (from Harry Potter)
What do Mary Poppins, Hermione Granger and Santa Clause have in common? A magic bag
In most video games the players have a bag like this, called a ‘bag of holding’ it allows your
character to carry around much more stuff than would be humanly possible to carry.
The gift this morning is a bag that no matter what you put into it, it will never be full!
All the money in the world could be put into this bag and it would NEVER over flow!
It’s not a magical bag but a practical bag because it is not made to carry money or other stuff
you want to keep. It is instead a bag that you put all the stuff you don’t like into.
I call it the ‘love bag’ or the ‘bag of forgiveness’
Did you know the Bible says that ‘Love bears all things’? It means that love puts up with all
things or more accurately, Love Forgives all things.
Your heart is like a bag, you fill it with everything that people do – say to you. If you keep
filling it with negative things, it will eventually spill out in ways that will make you behave
badly. But what if you could make your heart like this ‘forgiveness bag’?
Then your love for others would be like Jesus’ love for you. It would be able to take
everything people throw at you, but not overflow. Forgiveness cuts a hole in the bottom so
that you don’t have to continue to carry the hurts around, and you will be able to love people]
The Teachings of the Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama was born to a noble family in the Himalayan foothills, on the border of
northern India and southern Nepal. He was an only child and heir to rule over the Shakya
clan, a small but prosperous region of the kingdom. His name means “every wish fulfilled.”
He was raised in the absence of all negative things – poor, sickness and death
When he was a young man (teens or early 20s perhaps) he convinced his father to allow him
out of his privileged palace. While he was out on several occasions with a chaperone, he
witnessed what has become known as the 4 signs – Old Age, Sickness, Death and Ascetic
(renouncing the world to find enlightenment) living. Moved by the suffering he saw, he
renounced his privileged position and left his family to live the life of an Ascetic monk.
He found the whether or not he worried about loss, loss was inevitable as change was
inevitable. With change came fear. And with fear came dukkha. This word has no direct
equivalent in English. It is most commonly translated as “suffering,” like the kind of
suffering that Siddhartha saw outside the palace. Dukkha also refers to something more
thoroughgoing and can also be translated as “pervasive dissatisfaction” or a sense of things
“being off center,” “out of kilter,” or “awry.” Sometimes it is translated as “stress.”
He tried Asceticism but gave it up for the ‘Middle-Path’ of moderation. Then one day he sat
under a fig tree and remained there meditating until he believed he was enlightened. This is
when he became the Buddha, in fact, Buddha translates into “an awakened one.”
4-truths
1) Dukkha
2) The cause of suffering is desire
3) Suffering can be ended – through wisdom – understanding – meditation
4) the way – the 8-fold path
8-fold path Wisdom
(1) Right View, (2) Right Resolve
Morality
(3) Right Speech, (4) Right Action, (5) Right Livelihood
Meditation (6) Right Effort, (7) Right Mindfulness, (8) Right Meditation
No outside intercessor is required to reach this salvation. Indeed the gauntlet is thrown down
for you to work out your own salvation.
The fifth-century Buddhist teacher Buddhoghosa calls morality and meditation the two “legs”
upon which wisdom leading to liberation stand. Morality is the foundation for meditation and
meditation is the foundation for wisdom. Each builds on the other and you can't get to
wisdom without the other two. [This then is very subjective wisdom!] In Buddhist thought
there is no right or wrong. But rather the ‘wise’ things to do given the circumstances.
Although the Buddha's teachings were preserved through oral recitation and first written
down hundreds of years after his death, they are considered credible and accurate.
The Sufferings of the Christ
Jesus was born the supposed illegitimate son of a middle class carpenter in a cave in a small
country town called Bethlehem. Jesus’ mother was Mary, his father was the God of the
Universe. When Jesus was only 8 days old, He was taken to the Temple where a man named
Simeon took the baby Jesus in his arms and blessed God saying, “Lord, now you are letting
your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation
that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles,
and for glory to your people Israel.” And his father and his mother marveled at what was
said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, “Behold, this child
is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a
sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be
revealed.” (Luke 2:29-35)
Jesus is believed by most Buddhists to be one of the ‘enlightened ones’ or a Buddha. But if
this is the case and as such would clearly – according to their religious beliefs – have ended
his suffering, why does Jesus suffer so much?
 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer,
he thus fulfilled. – Acts 3:18
 and [Jesus] said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the
third day rise from the dead, – Luke 24:46
 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and
suffer many things – Matthew 16:21
 So Jesus also suffered outside the gate in order to sanctify the people through his
own blood. – Hebrews 13:12
 So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of
Christ, … – I Peter 5:1
 For it was fitting that he, for whom and by whom all things exist, in bringing many
sons to glory, should make the founder of their salvation perfect through suffering.
– Hebrews 2:10
And Jesus did not suffer lightly or in such a way as to be able to shrug off the pain as an
‘enlightened’ Buddhist would claim to be able to.
Jesus cried over Lazarus, stressed enough to sweat blood, and cried out “My God, My God,
why have you forsaken me?” He did this because Love bears all things!
And His Love and obedient suffering DID accomplish the salvation of those who accept and
follow Him JUST as He intended!
He did not suffer in vain. The Dukkha (suffering) that the Buddha noticed was caused by sin
(according to Jesus) but it was not ended by Jesus’ wisdom, understanding and meditation.
Jesus conquered Death by dying for all of us and we are delivered from suffering by Grace!
The Teacher of Love
Karma motivates a Buddhist the way Love motivates a Christian.
A Buddhist seeks ‘good Karma’ by ending suffering through understanding & meditation.
A Christian learns obedience to God and grows in Love through suffering.
Which is the right path? Comparing the two:
 Position
Hinduism -> Buddhism
Noble (prince) Siddhartha
 Privilage
Left his comfortable palace
Experienced Suffering
Tested by Mara under a tree
 Provision
‘Discovered’ Truth
Works self-salvation
Living testimony
 Accomplished?
DID NOT END SUFFERING
Dead
Judaism -> Christianity
Prince of Peace Jesus
Left Heaven
Experienced Suffering
Tempted by the Devil in the Wilderness
“I am the Truth”
Grace Jesus-salvation
Dying and resurrection Testimony
DEFEATED SIN & DEATH FOREVER
Living and reigning forever
A Buddhist can not understand Love because their goal is to end suffering – which they
can’t do, whereas a Christian accepts suffering, bearing all things, because their goal is to
bring Love, that is Jesus Christ to all people – because He can and will ultimately end
Suffering for all who follow Him to the glory of God.
Siddhartha Gautama, the one they call ‘the Buddha’ can not help you, if fact he said he
couldn’t – you are on your own.
But the Love of Jesus blesses you and keeps you, gives you peace and life forever without
suffering (after this shadow of a life passes) & NOTHING can take that protection from you.
Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or
persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, "For your sake
we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered." No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that
neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor
powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. – Romans 8:35-39
[Love bears ALL things – Communion]