Are We Any Different?

We find ourselves in chapter 13 of the gospel of John. Before we get to the main passage for the message this morning I'd like to start with verse 3 of chapter 13.

John 13:3

³Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;

Jesus is with his disciples, probably in the upper room, they seemed to have met their often, and He is about to reveal the events that will lead Him to His death on the cross, which as we know, will result the in the salvation of all who would simply believe.

We know this passage better as the "Last Supper". We often take part in a ritual, as a church, that reminds us of this very night in which Christ explained the mystery of our union with Him, in the washing His disciples' feet.

A profound act of humility and servant hood. A concept of church we hardly see anymore. It's like a lost art. We've traded it for comfortable cushioned pew chairs, potlucks, smiles and handshakes.

I don't know about you, but I'm tired of playing church, it's time to become the church.

And in this passage, Jesus is leaving a legacy for us as disciples.

It's a legacy that functions outside of the normal behavior of this world. It's not something you understand or learn from a 12 step program. It's not a concept that comes by meditation and self-realization... It's not even something that's guaranteed to be noticed of a Christian.

Infact, it's so rare that so many are not familiar with it... so much that even the church has forgotten their greatest legacy of all. Love.

And we can have not part of this love, outside of Jesus Christ.

John 13:34,35

³⁴"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. ³⁵By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

This is the mark of a disciple. This is what makes the distinction.

So what makes us any different? Love.

Did you know???

> > >A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

> > >A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

> > >A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue.

> > >A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.

> > >A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

> > >A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

> > >A snail can sleep for three years.

> > >An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

> > >Butterflies taste with their feet.

> > >February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full

moon.

> > >If the population of China walked past you, in single file, the line

would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

> > >If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an

average of 6 months waiting at red lights.

> > >It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

> > >

> > >Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

> > >

> > >No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or

purple.

> > >

> > >On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament

building is an American flag.

> > >

> > >Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears

never stop growing.

> > >

> > >Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

> > >

> > >The Bible does not say there were three wise men; it only says there

were three gifts.

> > >

> > >The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube

and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

> > >

> > >The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every

letter of the alphabet.

> > >

> > >There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.

> > >

> > >There are more chickens than people in the world.

> > >

> > >Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

> > >

> > >Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

> > >

> > >Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks;

otherwise it will digest itself.

> > >

> > >And there's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables Vitamins.

Baruch Ata Adonai Elohenu, Melech Ha-olam, borie pre haga fen, Amen.

Corinthians 13:1-3

¹If I speak in the tongues^[1] of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ²If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. ³If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames,^[2] but have not love, I gain nothing.

I can know how play guitar and sing my heart out, but if I do not have love...

I can hold a PHD in physics or be a walking dictionary, but...

I can bring in food for the food pantry, good stuff too, not just the left of cans of succotash and creamed corn that I don't care for, but actually went out to the store and got some really nice name brand food for the pantry, but...

I can go visit the elderly and the hurting in hospitals, I can remodel the church offices, lay drywall and wire the whole place, I can put new tile in the foyer and paint the walls and fix up the church sign on the road, but...

I can come to church every week, come and kneel these alters, I can tithe 10%, 20% and even 50%, but...

I can serve on the board, staff, prayer chain, worship team, youth ministry, children's, but...

I can even preach a sermon on the topic,

What makes us any different?

There are plenty of non-Christians that can do all those things or even fake them really well... the unfortunate thing is that I know too many Christians who can too.

What makes us any different?

It saddens my heart to see so many lost people who know so many Christians who see nothing different about them.

It's no wonder we've lost an entire generation... we told them there hair was too long, their music was of the devil and if they smoked and drank, they were headed straight for hell. We became too pre-occupied with the disputeable issues in life and neglected to simply love on them.

Instead we judged them against our own self-righteousness and that is why they have the potential of going to hell... not because they listened to rock and roll or had an abortion, but because we failed to love them.

God loves the repented just as much as He loves the un-repented anyway.

People know when there doing wrong.

Have you ever heard the saying, "It's not necessary to state the obvious?" Man that's annoying sometimes when people do that. It's true though, sometimes that not our job. Who's job is it to convict anyway?

I was so blessed to have been a part of an opportunity to be noticed, as different. Our young adult group contributed to the financial assistance of a homeless couple not to long ago. We gave them money for a place to stay for one night and after we had finished praying for them, they said, we knew there was something different about you guys from the moment we saw you sitting there. We knew you were Christians... Disciples of Christ.

If you think your going to make a real spiritual difference with your money, but you don't take time to love the people that you're giving to, then keep your money, it's of no eternal value. God doesn't want our money. He wants our hearts instead.

God doesn't want our talents, He wants our time, spent with Him in intimate relationship. He longs for that mystical union with us, where we become a part of Him and He becomes a literal part of our very being, seated at the core of hearts.

Jesus wants to wash your feet. He wants to clean you up.

Don't bring your righteous deeds to him...

Isaiah 64:6a
All of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;.

... instead bring Him your heart, so that he can fill you with His amazing love, that everyone will know, you are a Christ follower.

Will you let God love on His people, though you?

How else will they know?

Have you asked yourself... what makes me any different?

Have you been playing the Christian Game lately. Is it like sherades? Are you playing the part when it's not in your heart?

Oh, some of us don't even realize it. It's not that we've done it on purpose. We've just forgotten our legacy, and it's not about the great hymns of the church....

We've forgotten our legacy, and it's not in hundred thousand dollar steeples that you can't eat.

It's in the love of Jesus Christ, and if the world cannot see the difference in us...

then they never will.