In the name of Christ Jesus, dear fellow redeemed people of God,

Perhaps you have heard this saying before: "I owe, I owe, so it's off to work I go." This clever saying reminds us that we must pay our debts. If we owe taxes, God's will is that we pay them. If we have debts, we should pay them off in a timely manner. God commands us to pay what we owe. It says, "Let no debt remain outstanding." But there is a debt that we owe continually, and we are not done making payments on it. That is the debt of love that we owe to our neighbor. This is not an option, it is an obligation, a commandment from God. God's Law says,

1. Obeying God's Commandments

God defines for us what "love" really is. It is common today for people to get the wrong idea. For many, love has become a rather selfish concept, as in "I love chocolate." God commands us to love our neighbors as ourselves. That means that we are to love others selflessly. We are to consider what is good for them, what is in their best interests.

Sometimes that means warning the wicked. If you examine our Old Testament and Gospel readings for today, you will quickly find out that God wanted Ezekiel to warn the wicked and God wants us to warn those caught in sin! In God's sight, that is part of "love one another." That's because we are attempting to save souls. James 5:20 says, "remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins." "Love one another" means warning those who are in danger of forfeiting their souls. But that is not all of it. God is the one who defines what He means by these words, "Love one another."

That is why the inspired apostle lists half of the Ten Commandments here. To "love one another" means to obey the Commandments in the Second Table of the Law. In the first seven verses of this chapter, we learn about obeying God's representatives in the government. That is part of the Fourth Commandment. We are to respect our governmental authorities, pay taxes, and submit to their authority. We should regularly pray for our representatives in the government. We thank God for those who protect and serve us! Those men who ran into the World Trade Center trying to rescue others are heroes in our midst. We ought to pray for our firemen and police officers.

The Sixth Commandment says, "Do not commit adultery." God wants everyone to respect his institution of marriage. It is a sin for a couple to just shack up, living together without being married. Fornication and marital infidelity are just two examples of sins against this Commandment. It is always sinful to have an affair with someone who is not your spouse! But that's not all! Even lust is a sin in God's sight. Don't be misled! God sees everything that we do, and he knows everything that we think. Repent of all sin before it's too late!

The Fifth Commandment says, "Do not murder." There is so much controversy today, we must be perfectly clear. It is sinful to get an abortion, because it kills a living child. It is sinful to commit suicide, because God does not give us the right to decide when we will die. He will decide that, or we are rebelling against him! It is sinful to harm your body through the abuse of alcohol or drugs. It is even sinful to harbor hateful thoughts against someone else! Repent of every sin before it is too late!

The Seventh Commandment says, "Do not steal." We all know that it's wrong to steal. But did you know that it's wrong to loaf at work, when you are on the clock? That's stealing company time. It's wrong to take what does not belong to you. It's wrong to cheat in business or industry. Repent of each sin before it is too late!

The 9th and 10th Commandments say, "Do not covet." To covet is to want something that God does not want you to have. We wouldn't even know that coveting is a sin if the Bible didn't say, "Do not covet." But it is a sin! It is sinful to covet someone else's spouse, or covet someone else's car or house. These are sinful thoughts. Repent of all sin, before it is too late! God is not joking around here! If we are not obeying God's Commandments, we are not loving one another! God says, "Love your neighbor as yourself!" Don't be selfish! Love one another... And when God says this in His Word, He most certainly means that we will do this...

2. Caring for souls

By now, we should ALL have been convicted of sin. But, if by this time, you are still not ready to admit that you are a sinner before God, then hear the Word of the Lord: "If we say that we have not sinned, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Clinging to sin is like holding on to an anchor. If you insist on hanging on to an anchor, you are eventually going to drown. If you insist on clinging to sin, you are eventually going to perish. And by clinging to sin, I mean making excuses for our sins. Making excuses for our sins is not repenting. Making excuses simply reveals that we are still clinging to those sins. Let it go! Give it up! Stop trying to show that your sins are somehow not that bad. God is not buying that line. And yet, many sinners try this. People try to excuse abortion by saying, "Well, she wasn't ready to be a mom yet." People try to excuse stealing by saying, "Well, they have so much, they aren't even going to miss this!" And even the murder has his excuse. He might say, "well, he had it coming." If you are excusing your sins, you are not repenting. And if you are not repenting, you are in trouble with God, and in danger of the fires of hell!

Repent of every sin before it is too late! I would hope and expect that every single one of you will be willing to say, "Yes, I have sinned grievously before God. I have no excuse. I was wrong." And be assured that your sins are forgiven. But, from time to time, Christians can become hardened in their sins. If and when that happens, it is our task from God to love that person enough to care, and to care enough to try to call them to repent. That is part of what it means to "love one another" - caring for souls. It is not loving to simply let him go on sinning and then perish in hell. It is loving to make the attempts to try to call an impenitent sinner to repentance. It is loving to warn those caught in sin or false doctrine. We will want to use the Word of God. We will want to do this work humbly, recognizing that we too have sinned. We will want to do this carefully, realizing that eternity is at stake. We will want to do this tactfully, so that our personalities do not overwhelm the Word of God. And we will want to do this lovingly.

"Love" is not always easy. Some might call this "tough love." But, God insists that we do this. Take another look at that Old Testament lesson. God said, If you don't warn him, I'm going to blame you! But if you warn him, and he gives you the brush off, then I'm going to blame him. Our responsibility is clear. "Love one another" means caring for souls enough to call sinners to repent. But that's not all, it means caring for souls enough to invite unchurched friends to learn about their Savior. It also means caring for souls enough to encourage a fellow member who is down in the dumps, or going through trying times. And we could go on and on... "Love one another"...

3. Because God first loved us

From time to time, that Old Adam rears up and says, "Why should I?" Well, Old Adam, here's the reply! Scripture says, "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19). God has so loved us, that we want to love him first, and others too. Romans 5:8 says, "God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." God loved us while we were still sinners. God loved us so much that he took care of our redemption. God the Father sent his Son to save us. Jesus obeyed all of God's Commandments perfectly, in our place. Jesus went to Calvary's cross and suffered the full punishment of all our sins. When he shouted, "It is finished!" it meant "Paid in full." Jesus had paid for all of our sins, and removed them. He rose from death declaring us forgiven. Whoever believes in Jesus shall not perish but have eternal life. I want to be very clear now. Do you remember all of those sins we found when going through the Law? All of those sins are gone, washed away, and paid for! You are forgiven through Christ! Believe it! You are completely forgiven! Now, that's love!

Now, how are we going to respond to this love? As believers, we will want to thank and praise our Savior, and serve and obey him. If all we think about is how others have wronged us, we'll never get around to "love one another." But if we focus on those Bible words engraved on this altar, we will want to. Those words from Galatians chapter 2 say, "He loved me, and gave himself for me." Jesus said, "By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another" (Jn 13:35). Dear friends, follow Jesus, and not your sinful impulses. Follow your Savior, not your sinful nature. Remember how the Lord loved us and gave himself for us on the cross. Then, "love one another." Dearest Lord, increase our faith, so that we love one another. Let us love our neighbors as ourselves. Let us show how thankful we are for your forgiveness. Amen.