There's an old song that says "Love makes the world go ?round" - and there's probably more truth in that statement than the songwriter ever imagined. Those words were penned at a time when "free love" was the equivalent of "free sex." When "Make love, not war" signs were as common as Mr. Smiley faces are today.

I don't want to exagerate and say that in the 1950's and before, man had the art and meaning of love down perfectly - but let me say this: After the 1960's we've messed up the concept of love so badly, it is hardly recognizable when held next to the picture of love that's given to us by God - coincidentally, the Author and Perfector of love.

Love is the deepest emotion humans are capable of. (ill) Philosopher John Locke once described the 4 basic needs of man this way. (1) Something to do. (2) Something to dream. (3) Something to believe in. (4) Someone to love.

T/S: The need to be loved and to give love drives us. The proof of that is in the lengths that we will go to in order to be loved.

(ill) I read about a man determined to win the love and affection of a woman who refused to talk talk to him. He decided that the way to her heart was through the amil, so he wrote her a love letter and mailed it ?. Every day! Six days a week she received a love leetter.

She still didn't respond, so he upped his output to three letter s a day. Can you imagine receiving 21 love letters a week? Can you imagine writing 21 love letters a week? All told, he wrote over 700 love letters.

And she wound up marrying the mail carrier.

T/S; I'll bet every one of us has some moments in our past that we would like to stay hidden in the depths of our forgetfulness - moments lived in the name of love. Times that we acted foolishly, or unwisely. Times that we made idiots out of ourselves and embarrassed ourselves. Times that hurt us and saddened us. All in the pursuit of - love.

Over the next few months, together we will be looking at some of the key relationships in our lives. We'll talk about parenting - that vital relationship between children and their mothers and fathers.

We'll talk about developing and deepening our spiritual relationships - especially with God. We'll look at our relationship as a disciple of Jesus.

And for most of this month, we'll talk about the relationship between a husband and wife - the marriage relationship. Whether you are single, married, divorced or widowed - there is a lot that we can learn and grow from by examining the Bible's teachings on marriage.

Because God has given us some clear guidelines on how He wants us to conduct these essential relationships in our lives. Christianity's uniqueness is found in the fact that at the core, our faith is about relationships. Jesus' Great Command was about relationships: "Love God. Love others as yourself." Christianity is not just an exercise in "going to church," it is as relevant and practical as friendship and marriage and compassion for others.

T/S; here's the rub - before we can really delve into what God says about these relationships in our lives, we must open an umbrella over all these subjects. An umbrella that covers every relationship you will ever enter into. An umbrella that you have to have a Biblical understanding of - before you attempt to look at how the Bible impacts your relationships. That umbrella is love.

Paul said

This morning I want to paint a picture of what it means to love. I want to do this using Jesus' words, because Our Lord used just the right moment to tell just the right story, so that we could have a clear contrast: This is what it looks like to love God's way vs. this is what it looks like to love the world's way.

At the heart of this message, and what will be foundational for much of what we talk about in the next weeks and months, is this basic truth: We cannot give what we have not received! I've heard sermons, and you've heard sermons that exhorted us to love our neighbor. But what's often left unspoken is How do I love that neighbor whose personality is like a porcipine? Love your husbands and wives, sacrificially and submissively! How? - when they are inattentive and unloving?

Max Lucado calls it the 7:47 Principle. Look at verse 47 with mee.

There is an woman whose name we do not know. Some have speculated that this was none other than Mary Magdalene, but in truth we cannot be certain. What we can be certain about is what she does. Comes to a high society party, despite the fact that she was neither high society NOR invited. Aand then shee makes a scene.

Don't we love it when someone around us makes a scene? That's why when our children are small and cry and scream at the grocery checkout, it makes us squirm. That's why when our children get to be teenagers, they don't want anyone to know who we are, afraid that we'll embarrass them! Listen, I get nervous when I'm next to somebody whose kid is throwing the temper tantrum of all time.

Imagine a hooker in a skintight dress crashing your Sunday School party and kissing the teacher's feet. Now, you've got the picture.

This woman, whose past everybody at the party was knowledgable about. This woman, whose dignity was in the dust that she sought to wipe from Jesus' feet. This woman, whose value and worth was totally riding on how Jesus would respond. And His response? Was to say She can love like this, because she has received love like this.

We have a most holy God. He is perfect love. He is perfect kindness. He is perfect justice. He has never and will never make a mistake. Not one. And His nature is so pure and so perfect, that our mistakes are offensive.

• Our lies offend His sense of truth.
• Our lust offends His sense of love.
• Our apathy offends His sense of compassion.
• Our oppression offends His sense of justice.

We are the hooker in the skintight dress. With no standing, because each of us, in our own way, has failed Him and offended Him. The Bible says that if you cannot make that crucial admission, then you are a lair, and the truth is not in you. Because very person has sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.

God took the first step. He gave us a Savior so that throughout all eternity, there would be a Living Proof that God loves each of us. That woman who washed Jesus' feet with her tears could do nothing less, because she had tasted of thee Living Water of Christ's love. In her forgiveness, received from Jesus in the name of God the Father's love for her, she had to love back. Which is exactly what God commands us to do.

We cannot talk about "How to love?" without making the first step receiving God's love. Our ability to love others is proportional to our ability to accept love from God.

If your marriage is in need of repair, you need to know that you do not have the capacity to love that man or love that woman, the way that you need to, by yourself.

If your child is rebellious or strong-willed and your patience is stretched thin, you cannot love that child the way that you need to, by yourself.

If the friend who knew your deepest secret has betrayed you, and forgiveness is hard to come by, you need to know that you don't have the ability to love him or her the way you need to, by yourself.

That co-worker who makes your life miserable, and brings out the ability in you to say and think and do things that you hope no one ever knows about, and you are ashamed of. You don't have the abiility to love that person the way you need to, by yourself.

So if you are going to love the way you need to, you need to bury yourself in your Father's love. When things go terribly wrong in one of girls' lives, what they want to do is sit on Mom or Dad's lap, or let Mom and Dad hug them. They want to lose the world that is hurting them in the safety and security of unconditional love.

That's how God wants us to receive Him.

Soak in what God has to offer. It doesn't matter what you have done. It doesn't matter where you have been. Trust that He loves you. The proof is in the nailprints. And in the empty tomb.

I love that word. Extravagant. Lavish. Radical. Without strings or conditions. Completely. Above and beyond.

Extravagant leaps from the top step when you could just walk down the stairs.

Extravagant sings at the top of your voice when you could just hum under your breath.

Extravagant gives a $20 when you could give a $5.

Extravagant says "I'm sorry" instead of passing the blame.

Extravagant says "it's OK" instead of hurting back.

Extravagant is forever in a temporary world.

Extravagant is not just leaving heaven to come to earth ? it leaving heaven and coming to earth and dying. Not because you deserve to die, but because somebody else did.

From this point on, when we talk about love, I don't want us thinking or talking about degrees. Extravagant love is all or nothing. That's our problem, oftentimes, trying to get just enough God to keeep us out of hell, without being actually changed by Him.

(ill) Chuck Swindoll wrote this in his book "Improving Your Serve."

"I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please. I would like to buy just a little of the Lord. Not enough to explode my soul and disturb my sleep. Not enough to take ccontrol of my life. I just want enough to equal a warm cup of milk. Just enough to ease some of thee pain from my guilt. I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please.

I would like to find a love that is pocket-sized. Not enough to love someone different than me. Not enough to change my heart. I can only stand just enough to take to church when I have time. Just enough to equal a snooze in the sunshine. I want ecstasy, not transformation. I want the warmth of a womb, but not a new birth. I would like to purchase a pound of of the eternal in a paper sack. If it doesn't work, I would like my money back.

I would like to buy three dollars worth of God, please. I would like to hide some for a rainy day. Not enough for people to see a change in me. Not enough to impose any responsibility on me. Just enough to make people think that I'm OK.

Could I have three dollars worth of God, please?"

T/S: The picture Jesus paints is so stark in contrast that it cannot be missed. Simon the Pharisee on the one hand. A relegious leader.A man of sparkling reputation, determined to keep it that way.

And a woman of ill reputation, willing to fall on her knees and bathe Jesus's feet with her tears and hair.

Who understood the extravagance of God's love for them? The preacher or the prostitute?

Who understood that to accept that extravagant a love meant that it was necessary to givee away love that extravagantly as well? The preacher or the prostitute?

She took her most valuable possession and broke it at Jesus' feet. This was not only an act of literal humility, this was a symbolic gesture that screams for us to imitate it today. What do you have that is more valuable than loving God with all of your being? What do you have that is more valuable than loving God, irrespective of what others are doing or thinking?

Make no mistake, this story is about worship. About loving God extravagantly. But it means worship in such a new context. Not only must our adoration of God be so complete, so wholehearted, so unconditional that we break the bottles of our pride at His feet.. We break the bottles of our pre-conceeptions at His feet. We break the bottles of our comfort at His feet.

But then, we must also bring to Him and break the bottles of our prejudice. For to love God unconditionally, means to love others unconditionally. Without regard for their skin color or economic status.

It means to bring to Him and break the bottle of our unforgiveness. As we receive His extravagant mercy and love, we forfeit the right to hold grudges and harbor resentment.

It means that we bring to Him and break the bottles of our selfishness. To receive extravagant love demands that we give extravagant love. To love first, because so many around us are looking for love in all the wrong places. Hiding the pain of their search in bottles and pills. Spending their nights making love but never finding it. Living in the same houses, wearing matching rings, but never loving.

Henry david Thoreau said The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

And the answer to men's desperation is the love of Jesus. If you have tasted that love, it's time to get up and run to give it away. Extravagant love will serve, even if the prospect of serving is scary.

Extravagant love, will give generously, even if that is against your nature. (After all , it's not your nature anymore!)

Extravagant love will tell someone that Jesus made that difference in your life, even if boldness has long been lacking. Extravagant love will invite someone else to hear that extravagant love comes first from the Father, who loves us right where we are!

(ill) I have spent a fair amount of time in the waiting room of intensive care units in hospitals. Watching people ask questions like Will my husband make it? Or Will my child be OK? Or How do you live without your companion of 40 years?

The ICU is different from any other placee on earth. And the people there are different. They can't do enough for each other.. No one is rude. Race and class distinctions melt away. A person is a father first and a black man second. The garbage man loves his wife just as much as the attorney does. Each person pulls for everyone else.

In the ICU the world changes. Vanity and pretense vanish. The universe is focused on the doctor's next report. If only it will show improvement. Everyone knows that loving someone else is what life is all about.

I want to challenge you to live every day this week as if it were a waiting room. Love extravagantly. Don't hold back. If God is urging you to make a move towards someone, take a deep breath and take a step toward them.

If God is urging you to move into a position of service, steel your nerves and take a step into His ministry.

If God is urging you to move into a relationship with Him ? for the first time, or at a deeper level ? trsut Him now and take a step forward, into His love. His extravagant love.