Today we continue our message series: “For Me To Live Is Christ.”  In Philippians there is a passage (1:21) that says: “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.”  Let’s think about that.  Help me out with the blanks...  FOR ME TO LIVE IS CHRIST.  Therefore, FOR ME TO DIE IS GAIN.  If I live for Christ, then dying for me will be “gain.”  If I am in Christ through faith, dying brings eternal life!  But what if we didn’t have Christ?  FOR ME TO LIVE IS ____.  Put something else in the blank.  Fun?  Hockey?  Golf?  Hobbies?  Family?  Job?  Parties?  Then make the logical jump.  FOR ME TO DIE IS ___.  It would have to be “SCARY,” wouldn’t it?

Christ lived and died and rose for us, and so He linked us with his life! We have life now!  So we don’t need to worry about the future.  And now, we live for Him! He compels us with his love to regard life differently, even our daily tasks, and to regard people differently…

You know them… they are the ones who make your life miserable.  Without them, life would go smoother.  They are the people who complain and argue.  They are the ones who don’t hold up their end of the bargain.  They are the bullies.  They are the ones who keep you from getting your tasks done.  Difficult spouses, disrespectful kids, an uncaring boss, and troublesome neighbours.  Life would sure be easier without them, wouldn’t it?

Last week we encouraged each other to approach life with this motto:  “Let This Task be Lived for You, Jesus.”  Sometimes it seems like we could live our task for Christ better if we were away from all those people distracting us or dragging us down, doesn’t it?  But have you considered this?  THEY may be your task for Christ!  Sometimes we can get so busy with our tasks that we push past another part of our calling – people.

Paul came to understand that new calling God had given him.  He had once been very vindictive.  Like a terrorist, he felt his cause was more important than individual people – in fact they were the target of his anger.  He felt his task was to be judge and jury over others.  He thought his calling was to get rid of people who threatened his way of life.  But God loved Paul.  After knocking him off his horse, He showed him he was working against God, not for God.  You and I are often as self-absorbed as Paul was.  We are driven by our cause, thinking it is what makes our life meaningful, when in reality it puts us on the same road to hell that Paul was on.

Then Jesus unfolded this great plan for Paul – a plan that at its center put Jesus on the cross to die for murderers like Paul, a plan that led him to believe in Jesus, a plan that turned Paul’s life right around.  What a difference it made!  This former opponent of Jesus now couldn’t imagine life without Him!  God does that to you, too!  He comes with power in his Word to bring you to your knees in repentance and lifts you to heights you could never have imagined!

What does Love look like now?  The love of Christ transforms a person.   Read Text.  Jesus died and rose again to free us from the prison of sin and guilt – but NOT so we could run free to live like the rest of the world again!  Not so we could continue living for ourselves!  But so we could live for Christ!  Jesus went to the full extent of love – giving up life itself – not only for us, but for all people –everyone we meet!  Paul understood that his life wasn’t about himself.  It was about Jesus.  He wasn’t living it for Paul.  He was living it for Jesus.

That changed his daily relationships.  “From now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view.”  Why did Paul care differently about people now?  Christ’s love compelled him.  People looked different to him now!  This former murderer now had a passion to share Jesus’ love with anyone God put in front of him.  No longer did he favour political or economic status: high standing vs. low, slave vs. free – they were individuals important to him because they are important to Jesus!  No longer did he favour age distinctions: child vs. adult.  No longer did he categorize ethnic differences: Jew vs. Gentile.  Those labels mean nothing to a person’s worth before God.  They are all people for whom Christ died.  People God put in Paul’s life – people he no longer sees as the world does, but as his way to honour God by the way he responds to them. 

Friends, it is time for us to see people differently!  Souls whom God loves!  For Me To Live is Christ – In My Relationships.  Before we came to faith in Christ, we regarded Him with a “worldly point of view.”  Now in faith, we no longer do.  So let’s not regard people with a worldly point of view, either!  God has given you a calling to live for Christ in your daily relationships!  God has called you to love people.  What does that love look like?  There are countless ways in which all of you react with people God loves in this world!

All these are callings God has given us.  In these callings, we become, as Luther said, “the masks God wears” to show his love to others without others seeing who’s really behind it.  Just think how He did that for you!  God put into your life people who loved you with God’s love, even if you didn’t recognize it.  They are the ones who noticed your needs and worked hard to supply them.  They are the ones who were there when you skinned your knee, when someone crushed your feelings, or when you needed a job.  They are the ones who hugged you and didn’t hold your sins against you.  They were the ones God sent to make sure you felt his love.

Now, it’s your turn.  Let this be your question, your prayer: “What Does Love Look Like Now?”  Start at home.  What does love look like in your home?  Who needs you there?  Sometimes it might be a mom needing a hand with the groceries, or staying up late with a sick child, working hard to put children through school, giving up your free time to spend needed time with your wife, saying words of encouragement to your husband who has become discouraged.  Jesus is calling you in the cries of your baby or in the weariness of your spouse.

Then, at work.  What relationships does God put before you to show his love?  At your job, ask, “What does love look like now?”  Who needs me here?  It might be the one for whom you are working for.  It might mean slowing down for a moment to pay attention to someone who needs it – letting Christ be seen through your actions toward them – your empathetic listening, your helping, your sharing Jesus.  And in your neighbourhood - What does love look like now?  Who needs me here?  Your simple actions of compassion are a big deal to God.  The simple action of giving water to a child may seem like a small thing, but Jesus says, “it means something to Me.”  Our calling is fulfilled in loving the people God puts around us!

Love isn’t always easy, though.  You have to go back to the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve fell into sin to find people perfectly loving and honouring each other.  But as soon as they let selfishness creep in, the result was tension in relationships with God, and with each other.  Fulfilling our calling in relationships is not without struggle.  Think of the sleepless nights of parents, the tensions in relationships.  Even church is not always a place of peace and harmony.  Sometimes arguments over secondary things take our focus off the primary unity we share in the gospel!  On this side of heaven there is no perfection.  But Jesus has removed the condemnation and become our path to heaven.  The Holy Spirit sets us free from getting tangled thinking about ourselves selfishly. We are set free to make a difference in someone’s life.

A teacher decided to honour her high school seniors by telling them the difference they each made. She called each student to the front of the class, one at a time. First she told each of them how they had made a difference to her and the class. Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference." Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community. She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then they were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom, and report back to the class in a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said, "We're doing a class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going. Then please report back to me and tell me what happened."

Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who was a grouchy fellow. He told him he deeply admired him for being a creative genius. The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon and give him permission to put it on him. His surprised boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive placed the ribbon right above his boss’s heart. As he gave him the last extra ribbon, he said, "Would you do me a favor? Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else? The young boy who first gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school and we want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out how it affects people."

That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, "The most incredible thing happened to me today. One of the junior executives came in and told me he admired me for being a creative genius. Then he put this blue ribbon that says: "Who I Am Makes a Difference', on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to honor somebody else. As I drove home, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you.  I want to honor you. My days are really hectic and when I come home I don't pay a lot of attention to you.  Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You're a great kid and I love you!"

The startled boy started to sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through tears, "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining why I had killed myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at all. The letter is upstairs.  I don't think I need it after all."  His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. The envelope was addressed, "Mom and Dad."

The boss went back to work a changed man. He was no longer a grouch but made sure to let all his employees know that they made a difference. The junior executive helped several other young people with career planning and never forgot to let them know that they made a difference in his life...one being the boss's son.  And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson. Who you are DOES make difference!  Especially who you are in Christ!

When all seemed lost, God made a difference in your life.  He let YOU know how loved and valuable you are.  That is a difference He made for everyone!  And that is why we can no longer regard other people from a worldly point of view!  Our daily relationships are part of our calling – part of our opportunity to show God’s love to others!  Let the love God has shown you compel you to put yourself aside and live for Christ.  Go out and see the glorious purpose God has for you at home, the office, and your neighbourhood, with this question echoing in your head: What does love look like now?  Who needs me here?  How can I help them see Christ in me and experience Christ through me?  That is your calling!   Amen.