Still Crazy After All These Years"

By John Stallings

Seldom does an individual take one giant step from a life of virtue & goodness into a life of sin & corruption.

An individual begins their journey into sin by taking little steps into the shaded areas, areas tinted & colored just a bit, almost unnoticed by those around them.

Then one day, hardly aware that they have made the journey, they find themselves firmly entangled in a life of sin. We see that same kind of journey pictured again & again in scripture.

SAMSON

In the book of Judges we read about Samson. Almost everybody knows his story. Samson was a man of God. From birth to manhood, his life was dedicated to God. He started the morning with God. He spent the day with God. He ended his day with God.But then gradually, Samson started flirting with evil. And little by little, evil came into his life. And then, in Judges 16:20 we read one of the most startling verses in all the Bible. It says that --the Lord had departed from Samson, & Samson didn’t realize it.

Sad, isn’t it? Samson had become so deeply enmeshed in sin that God couldn’t stand to stay around any more. So God left him. And Samson, once a great man of God, was so insensitive to the presence of God, that when God left, Samson didn’t even know it.

SAUL

That was true of King Saul, too. The sun comes up on his life & we see a cloudless sky, a beautiful beginning for Saul. He is a man whom God loves, & who loves God.But gradually, he turns his back on God, & the storm clouds begin to collect. Finally, he can’t see the sun anymore because God has left him. And the Bible says that Saul ended up slinking off to the witch of Endor, seeking help from the powers of evil because those were the forces that were now controlling his life. He had to visit “hell” to try to learn what heaven would no longer tell him.

It isn’t the giant step from virtue into corruption that we need to fear. It’s the little steps that ultimately lead us away from God.

EPHESUS

It must have happened that way in the church in Ephesus. In Rev. 2:1-5, as Jesus looked at that church, He saw many positive things. Listen;

"These are the words of Him who holds the 7 stars in his right hand & walks among the 7 golden lampstands: `I know your deeds, your hard work & your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked men, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, & have found them false. You have persevered & have endured hardships for my name, & have not grown weary.’"

Isn’t that a great description of a church? We’d be proud to have Jesus say something like that about us wouldn’t we? But Jesus doesn’t stop there. He goes on in vs. 4, "Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken your first love." Forsaking their first love didn’t happen in one giant step. It wasn’t that just one day they decided not to love God any more. It was a gradual thing. For a while their love for God was so great & so infectious that people were drawn into their fellowship. Great sermons were preached, & wonderful things were happening.

These folk were known far & wide for their steadfast faithfulness, even in the face of persecution. But then, people who used to pray a lot gradually stopped praying. People who may have been giving a lot gradually stopped giving. People who used to witness to the lost gradually stopped witnessing. Finally Jesus looks at this church, and says, "This I have against you. You have forsaken your first love." In other words, you’ve lost it. Let’s look at 3 aspects;

I. WHAT IS FIRST LOVE?

First love is Crazy Love.We generally say, and rightly so that we may not have the same kind of love we had when we first fell in love with our spouses, but we have something deeper, more wonderful. I agree wholeheartedly but I hope you’ll indulge me for a moment while I reminisce about those days of “first love.”

Do you recall tree-lined streets, & long summer evenings when you and your betrothed would walk along holding hands & dreaming of the future together?Did you go into a café and split a sandwich because you just weren’t all that hungry? Did you envision living in a little cottage built for two in your “blue heaven” somewhere? When practical questions arose concerning money, you answered it in what seemed a most logical way; "We’ll live on love."

This is crazy love. That’s the way first love is, isn’t it? It loves the object of its affection without reservation. It is being totally head over heels in love. No one whose experienced first love will deny that the birds sang sweeter and the whole world took on a “rosy hue.”

Now what is "first love" in God’s eyes? It is the love that first brought you to God. It is the love that you experienced when you saw the cross as it really was. It was when you realized that the blood of Jesus Christ was shed for your sin & you were overwhelmed with His amazing love. So you became a child of God, & you experienced His forgiveness. That’s first love.First love looks at mountains of troubles & sees them as hills. First love looks at rivers of grief & worry that may arise in life & says, "That’s nothing. God & I together can swim through that."First love looks at stumbling blocks & sees them as stepping stones that prove the power of God. First love cries out, "Just give us a mountain to climb. Give us a river to swim. Give us something to do to prove the greatness of God’s love & how powerful He really is."

That’s first love. But first love is vulnerable. It needs to be protected. It needs to be reinforced. First love stretches out its arms & rolls up its sleeves to help others who’re hurting. First love isn’t selfish but rather it gives itself totally & completely.

PAUL

Paul is an amazing example of that first love. I hope the expression “crazy love” doesn’t offend you. If it does, I challenge you to listen to Paul’s words. Paul recognized that he owed everything to God. Again & again he said, "I am the chiefest of sinners. I don’t even deserve to be called an apostle." He was always very much aware of who he was & what he had done. And he is overwhelmed that God could love someone like him.And when he thinks about that he calls himself a "debtor" to God & a debtor to the Jews & to the Greeks & to the barbarians. In other words, because he had been so greatly loved by God, he owed it to God to share that indescribable love with others.

That wonderful first love caused Paul to write these amazing words in Romans 9:1-3. "I speak the truth in Christ - I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit - I have great sorrow & unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed & cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race."

Do you hear the heartbeat? Do you hear what he is saying? Is this not Crazy love?" Paul is so much in love with Christ, & consequently in love with his brothers & sisters, that he was willing to be cursed & go to hell himself, if it would mean that they would be saved.

MOSES

Moses prayed the same kind of prayer in the wilderness, after the people had rebelled against God. We read these words in Exodus 32:31-32. "So Moses went back to the Lord & said, `Oh, what a great sin these people have committed! They have made themselves gods of gold. But now, please forgive their sin - but if not, then blot me out of the book you have written.’"In other words, Moses was saying his love for God was so great & his love for the people was so deep that he was willing to offer himself in their place. "Blot me out, but forgive them."

That’s the quintessence of first love… crazy love.

II. HOW DO YOU LOSE SOMETHING AS WONDERFUL AS FIRST LOVE?

I would think that we would take very good care of it, & never take a chance on losing it. But we can lose it. Sometimes it just disappears, vanishes, and goes away. But how does that happen? Let me offer some suggestions.

In the 24th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew Jesus is talking about the end of time, & here is what He says in vs. 12, "Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of many will grow cold."Did you hear that? That is the way sin works. Not by taking giant steps from virtue to corruption, just little steps. And as wickedness increases, this once wonderful, warm, unselfish, vibrant love in your life begins to grow cold like an ember that is all alone, no longer a part of the fire. And soon it will die.

Scripture often uses the marriage relationship as an illustration. Two people meet & fall in love. They spend precious time with each other, talking to one another, sharing their hopes & dreams. And when they’re apart, they’re thinking about each other, wishing they were together again.Their love just seems to grow & mushroom. Then one day they become husband & wife. They build a cocoon of love around themselves & they say, "We will always be together. And life will be so wonderful."

But there are jobs to go to, appointments to be kept, stresses to be dealt with, arguments & problems & family feuds & fusses. All of these things pull on us, until soon the demands become so overwhelming that the love relationship begins to suffer. Then one day you look across the table at each other & you think, "That’s not the person I married. You’re a stranger. I don’t know you anymore." What’s happened is that your love has been starved. It didn’t receive the daily nourishment it needed to grow healthy & strong. Then words like, “I deserve better than this” are spoken.

Since I don’t buy secular CDs, every now & then I will listen to a love song or two on radio or the Internet. If you’re “old school” like me some of these songs can just tear your heart out. One song I like is “What’s forever for?” One line in the song asks, "Doesn’t anybody ever stay together anymore?" Looking at the divorce rate, it’s a valid question, isn’t it?

That’s kind of the way it was in Ephesus. So many good things on their resume’ & yet they had lost their first love. The honeymoon is definitely over.

Years ago I developed a persistent headache that wouldn’t go away. I ended up in a doctor’s office and after taking my blood pressure he informed me I was on the verge of a stroke. He reminded me that physically speaking, high blood pressure was the “silent killer” and my body was not being silent, it was screaming at me.

Lost Love is the "silent killer" of relationships.

III. HOW DO YOU FIND A LOVE THAT IS LOST?

In Rev. 2:5 Jesus gives us a prescription that is very simple & very direct. "Here is what you need to do," Jesus says, "Remember the height from which you have fallen!"

Whatever you and I lose is always wherever we left it. You lose your car keys or your glasses. Guess where they are? They are where you left them. Wherever you had them last, if you can remember where that was, you’ll find them there. And it is that way with your love for God, too. If you have lost it, guess where it is. It is wherever you left it.

Forgive me for pointing out the obvious but have you ever noticed that you usually find a lost article in the absolute last place you look? Jesus is saying that if you have lost it then remember where you had it last, go back & find it again.

Where was the last time that you were touched by the power and presence of the living God? We know God hasn’t moved, & He is waiting for His child to come back, to become reacquainted with Him.

REPENT

Secondly, Jesus tells us how to do it. He said, "Repent and do the things you did at first." That word, "repent," is a greatly neglected Biblical word. When John the Baptist started to preach, the first word out of his mouth was the word "repent." When Jesus sent the 70 out 2 by 2, the first word out of their mouths was "repent."Go back & read the prophets. Every time they stood before the rebellious nation of Israel, they spoke with the authority of God & they commanded the people to repent. Many of them got their neck stretched for saying it.

It’s a strong word, & has lots of implications. When you repent you look at your sin & you see how ugly & horrible it is. And you don’t try to deny it. You don’t blame it on someone or something else. It is your burden. You made it, & you face the reality of it. Finally, you come with no pretense before God & say, "God, I can’t carry it. It’s too heavy for me." And God says, "Welcome home, my child." And He reaches down & lifts the burden & begins to carry it for you. That’s when healing takes place & that’s when love is restored.

Over the years in our travels out west we’ve seen some ghost towns. There is something about a ghost town that’s eerie. As you walk the streets you can almost hear the echoes of the past. The buildings stand empty as mute reminders of life that is gone.With every passing season more buildings collapse, more weeds grow up, more animals take over the ruins where a thriving town once stood. A ghost town is the testimony that nature abhors a vacuum. Once something has been emptied, destruction & death follow, unless the void is filled.

In the parable of the empty house, Jesus tells us that it is not enough for a man to be freed from the power of Satan. His life must be filled with the Spirit of God or Satan will take hold of him again. Like the ghost town, if a person is not filled with new life in Christ, he will be filled with something else, & the end result is death & decay.That is why the words of Jesus are so thrilling,

"I am come that you might have life, & that you might have it more abundantly."

DEADLY DANGER OF DRIFTING

Hebrews 2:1-3 speaks of drifting away from the truth. This is excellent allegory as regards losing
our first love.

Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip. Heb.2:1

The Message and other good Bible translations –translate the word slip to-“drift or drift-away.” Now we’re talking about “super-excellent” allegory are we not?

This tendency for us to just “slip-slide” around is almost as common as breathing for humanity.

I've shared this before but I think it fits well right here. I was raised in Florida. I went through Junior High School in Daytona Beach. Once in a while we’d go to the beach, but because my mother was afraid one of us would show a small amount of skin, or maybe see skin, we’d get down the beach away from other people. I remember one year mom tripped and tore a hole in the elbow of her bathing suit.

Anyway, here were the rules for the Stallings kids at the beach; we could get in the water & play but every few minutes we had to get out of the water and reposition ourselves back near the car. Because the ocean is the ocean, everything is constantly in the state of flux, so when you get in ocean water, whether it’s in a boat or just swimming , - you drift. There’s a relentless pull or undertow, even though most of the time it’s ever so subtle. My father parked the car a certain place on the beach & it was our reference point. Without realizing it, because of the drift, in a very short time we could be so far down the beach we could barely see the car.

We have to set some serious reference points for ourselves as regards our devotional time and our time with God and His people or we’ll just drift away. We’ll lose our first love.

PETER, DO YOU LOVE ME?

Jesus asked Peter: “Do you love me?”… “Do you truly love me more than…? Love is a lifestyle that flows from a filled heart. In many cases, our hearts have been “weighed” and have been found “wanting.” God has examined the corners of our lives and “called our bluffs” by saying, “I know your deeds…you are neither hot nor cold…and it is making me ill.”

The One who has loved us fully, with a completeness that’s beyond comprehension, has asked for our love back in return. His love has removed our sin from us as far as the east is from the west so that we can live without fear of the consequences as we stay yielded to Him. This CRAZY LOVE has come at a great cost…the price of His only Son. And yet He has still given it wholeheartedly.

The question is: How will we respond to it? Will we joyfully live a life of reciprocating His love, or will we redefine, simplify and reduce love to something smaller- something that costs far less- and return that to Him, in the name of love?

When we do this, we’re following the patterns of the Pharisees, who “loved to be seen by men” and “honored God with their lips” but whose “hearts were far from Him.”

God wants all of us, not just parts that are easy to give. Yet too often we withhold from Him the very things He must have in order to continue to set us free to be who He created us to be. When we come to Him, we ask for His best but when it comes time for giving love back, too often He gets our leftovers. I don’t know if there is anything more painful to a lover than to receive a gift that is missing the heart.

It would be easy to miss the entire point of all this and assume that God just wants us to try harder... to do more, to prove our love for Him with good works. However, the sum of a multitude of deeds can never equal love, yet the smallest piece of genuine love can produce infinite deeds. This is what He desires from us.

As you and I face the future, let’s pray for a larger heart. One that desires Him above all else- that genuinely loves Him - and that will overflow into a life of tangible love to those God loves.

When this happens, we’ll be experiencing the joy of our salvation.

There’s nothing more fulfilling in the Universe.

Blessings,

John