A 40 Day Experience Sermon by C. Gene Wilkes

A 40 Day Experience – Extreme Love: The Greatest Commandment Contribution by: C. Gene Wilkes Price: $3.95

Extreme sports have begun to get a lot of air time. Riding bicycles down the side of a mountain, skateboarding on handrails, launching motorcycles 30 feet into the air only to let go of them while flying through an arena—these, among others, are called extreme sports. Rock climbers, skateboarders, surfers, and skiers are getting into the extreme action. These “sports” are extreme because they push the limits of what normal people would do in the activity. They are also extreme because only a few are willing to try such feats. And, if you notice, most who do these sports are under the age of 30. Why? Few who do this live beyond 30! Just kidding. [Show video clip or show an image from an extreme sport event to illustrate.]

Let me give you something more extreme than any sport you can imagine. It’s not a sport. You do not need to make sure you have medical insurance before you begin, nor do you need to build a ramp in your backyard to learn to do this. It is the most extreme reality you could experience. It is the truth that God loves you.

No matter who you are, no matter where you have been, and no matter what you’ve done, God loves you. God loves you with no strings attached and no boundaries. He has only one requirement of you—that you love Him with all your being.

Let’s settle some things about God.

God is one (Mark 12:29).

Based on Jesus, God’s only Son, you can know that God is one. We live in a world that accepts all religions are the same. We live in a culture that is open to whatever personal expressions of God people believe in. Jesus, however, came to make one thing clear: There is only one true God. Jesus affirmed what God had revealed about Himself many centuries before to Israel. (Read Deut. 6:4-9.) When asked by the religious professionals of His day what was the greatest commandment or requirement of God, Jesus answered by quoting this same revelation from God. “Listen, Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is One.”

One God defines our faith. One God defines how we are to live our lives. One God defines that there are none greater than He is.

Not everyone is able to trust God is the only God. In World magazine, interviewer Larry King said:

I can’t make that leap that a lot of people around me have made into belief that there’s some judge somewhere. . . .I’ve always searched. But as someone said, “Did you ever sit down and read the Bible cover to cover?” The answer’s no, because I don’t know who wrote it. I’m too in my head to be into faith. Faith is a wonderful thing. I envy people who have it. I just can’t make the leap.

I remember as a kid, my father died when I was young, and that was unexplainable to me. The God of the Old Testament, I didn’t like things he did. “Abraham, sacrifice your son.” That always bothered me as a kid. I remember thinking, Why would he do that to Abraham? As a test? So I said to myself, I don't know. I just don’t know. That’s still true to this day.

Whether or not you are like Larry, God is still one, and God is the one true God. That’s too extreme for some, but it is still the truth. To trust Jesus and His words is to “leap” in extreme faith into the arms of God.

God is love (1 John 4:6).

The second truth Jesus taught about God is that God is love. He did not say that God loves but that God is the essence of love. God is extreme love. The proof of His love for you is in Jesus’ life, His death on the cross, and His resurrection from the dead. That extreme love is what changes people’s hearts.

Albert Tomei is a justice of the New York State Supreme Court. A young defendant was convicted in Judge Tomei’s court of gunning down another person execution style. The murderer had a bad record, was no stranger to the system, and only stared in anger as the jury returned its guilty verdict.

The victim’s family had attended every day of the two-week trial. On the day of sentencing, the victim’s mother and grandmother addressed the court. When they spoke, neither addressed the jury. Both spoke directly to the murderer. They both forgave him.

“You broke the Golden Rule—loving God with all your heart, soul, and mind. You broke the law—loving your neighbor as yourself. I am your neighbor,” the older of the two women told him, “so you have my address. If you want to write, I’ll write you back. I sat in this trial for two weeks, and for the last sixteen months I tried to hate you. But you know what? I could not hate you. I feel sorry for you because you made a wrong choice.”

Judge Tomei writes: “For the first time since the trial began, the defendant’s eyes lost their laser force and appeared to surrender to a life force that only a mother can generate: nurturing, unconditional love. After the grandmother finished, I looked at the defendant. His head was hanging low. There was no more swagger, no more stare. The destructive and evil forces within him collapsed helplessly before this remarkable display of humaneness.”

God’s unconditional love can change the heart of a murderer. It can change your heart if you will bow your head and receive His love.

God requires only that you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30).

Jesus taught a third thing about God: God requires only that you love Him with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. God gave all of Himself to you in Jesus. Jesus loved you with His whole being, and He laid down His life for you on the cross. God wants you to love Him in the same way. You are made up of a heart (the place of your passions), a soul (your eternal being and the seat of your emotions), a mind (the place of your thoughts and reasoning), and body (the place of your physical strength). God wants you to love Him with your whole being. By doing so you return God’s “whole being” love toward you in Jesus Christ.

The enemy will try and prevent you from loving God. One way he does this is by reminding you of your inability to love well.

Rich Mullins once wrote, “I’ve been in and out of all kinds of things—like self-deprecation, self-interest, ego trips, alcohol, and other addictions. I’ve failed many times to avoid those kinds of temptations. But that’s not what the devil was really interested in. What he was trying to do is make me feel apart from God.” . . . The devil tries to destroy our faith through our sin.  He whispers, “See, you are a failure. God could never love you. You have sinned your way out of His love. You promised you would never sin again, and you did. You let God down, and He is angry with you. It is best if you just run away.’ ”

Don’t run away. God who is the only true God loves you and wants you to love Him. No matter what you have done, no matter where you are from, God loves you. Accept His love today.

C. Gene Wilkes is the pastor of Legacy Drive Baptist Church in Plano, Texas. He is the author of Jesus on Leadership: Becomming a Servant Leader, My Identity in Christ, and With All My Soul: God's Design for Spiritual Wellness, A Fit 4 Continuing Study.

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