Responding to the Lord's Love

Sermon by Pastor Rutz, Sunday service, January 11, 2026, Agapè Church. Text: Hebrews 12:1-17; 25-29.

Introduction

How do you respond to the Lord's love when that love takes the form of discipline that troubles you? Pastor Rutz invites us to reread Hebrews 12 as a letter from a Father who loves you, and who, precisely because he loves you, shapes you, corrects you, and urges you to run all the way to the end of the race.

The reading begins at Hebrews 12:1, right after chapter 11, which gathers the heroes of faith: Abraham and so many others, known or unknown, who fought and won. They are now in the Kingdom, and (the image is striking) they are seated in the stands of the stadium. They watch you run. They call out your name. "Judith, hang on! Ruth, one more push! Watch out!" This cloud of witnesses encourages you to throw off everything that entangles you and to run with endurance the race set before you, with your eyes fixed on Jesus.

Outline of the article

1. A spiritual race that requires fixing your eyes on Jesus

Our Christian life is a race, and that race is a spiritual battle: a battle against our flesh, against our environment, against the legacies that pull us backward. Pastor Rutz reminds us of a truth she often repeats in her preaching: we are all, without exception, descendants of Adam and Eve, and the nature of sin is written into our inheritance. On top of that comes the inheritance specific to your family, your lineage, your people. If your ancestors never knew Jesus, if they made covenants with idols or offered them sacrifices, those bonds keep working until they are broken in the name of Jesus.

That is why the race is hard. It is not only you running; it is you with everything clinging to your feet. But you have a powerful weapon: the name of Jesus and his shed blood. In prayer, let the Holy Spirit show you the roots of sin, your family's and your own, repent wholeheartedly (as if those sins were your own), ask Jesus to cut those ties, and live watchfully, ready to drive out in Jesus's name anything that tries to come back.

In this fight, there is only one rule: do not take your eyes off Jesus. It is by looking at him that you receive comfort, encouragement, strength, and that your heart rejoices again. Jesus himself, for the joy set before him, endured the cross, despised the shame, and now sits at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).

2. The Father's discipline as proof of love

Starting at verse 5, the author quotes Proverbs 3:11-12: "My son, do not despise the Lord's discipline... for the Lord disciplines the one he loves, as a father the son he delights in."

Pastor Rutz asks the congregation a direct question: "Who is Jesus to you? Do you feel his love? What kind of love?" The answers come pouring in: a protector, a deep love, a love that's sometimes hard to understand but real, a God who gives peace.

Then she shares her testimony. She grew up in a Christian family, she always loved Jesus, but when people talked about "the love of Jesus," she didn't feel that rush inside her: "Oh! Jesus, love!" Her mother had been a strict mother, demanding, deeply faithful to the Word. Rutz did not feel hurt by it (it was simply her everyday life), but she came to realize over time that she barely had any memory of being wrapped in her mother's arms while being told, "My darling girl, you're adorable, you're such a good girl, I'm so happy you're my daughter." Her sisters sometimes accused her of a certain coldness.

So God told her, "Get a dog." A dog arrived, almost by miracle. And Rutz tells, with humor, how completely smitten she is with that dog: "Oh, aren't you cute! Aren't you good! You're a genius!" even when she's picking up after him. And there, she understood with her heart (not with her head) what God feels for us: "God looks at me that way, even when I'm not doing anything special. Simply because I exist."

God uses our parents, but no single parent can give a child the whole range of love a child needs on their own. Her mother passed on to her the rigor of the Word; Sharon, an American style sister in Christ, has passed on hugs and "I love you"s for no reason for seven years now. The dog taught her unconditional love. Every person God places on your path teaches you a facet of his love.

Here is the pastoral conclusion: each of us carries an image of the love we expect. But God, very often, loves us in a form we did not ask for. And because it is not the form we expected, we believe we are not loved. That is a mistake. The form of love you truly need and the form you recognize as love do not always line up. That is why God's love is so often "hard to understand, yet deep." No human love surpasses it.

3. Holiness as strength, strength as holiness

Verse 11 is blunt: no discipline seems pleasant at the time. But afterward, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace. Verse 12 continues: "Rise up. Make a straight path." Rutz insists: cutting a path where there is none means clearing stones, cutting down trees, moving forward slowly. Walking on a smoothly paved road is easy, but if that road leads to hell, however smooth it is, it still leads to hell. Even if it is narrow, even if it is steep, choose the path that leads to Jesus, and cut it out with the Holy Spirit and with brothers and sisters in the faith.

Verse 14 is central: "Pursue peace with everyone, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord." That is the key to understanding why God disciplines you: he wants you to be like him, holy, able to see him, able to walk with him as a friend.

"Holiness is strength, and strength is holiness," Pastor Rutz repeats. Human wisdom has its limits; the Bible even says that "the foolishness of God is wiser than men" (1 Corinthians 1:25). To walk straight on the Lord's path, you need his wisdom and his strength, and that requires living a holy life, meeting Jesus continually, speaking with him, being in communion with him.

And notice this well: the love of Jesus is not a love that jumps you over the difficulty. It is a love that walks with you through the difficulty. He knows the landscape waiting for you on the other side, and he leads you all the way there.

4. Do not let a root of bitterness grow

Verse 15 warns: watch that no root of bitterness springs up and troubles your life together as a community. Faith is personal (no one goes to heaven on their parents' faith), but it is never lived alone. Forgiving, loving, serving: you cannot do these alone. God places around you a specific family, a specific church, a specific society, with specific people. Some are given to you to encourage you, others so you learn to forgive, others so you learn to humbly receive help. All of them are necessary.

Saying "if this person weren't here, my life would be better" is rebelling against God, who allowed that situation because you need it. So be thankful for the family, the country, the environment you were born into.

When a small irritation arises ("this person let me down a little," "that bothers me"), quickly bring your heart back to health. "Maybe she has her reasons," "how petty of me to hold on to something so small": repent, cut the little shoot right away. Otherwise, it grows, it spreads, it hurts the faith of several people around you.

5. Do not imitate Esau: do not be indifferent toward God

Verse 16 warns against sexual immorality and against Esau's attitude, who sold his birthright for a bowl of stew (Genesis 25:29-34). The point is not that Jacob is a role model; his scheming is not. The point is spiritual: Esau despised the authority and the blessing God had given him; he was indifferent to God. Jacob, despite his questionable methods, wanted the Father's blessing with all his heart. Let's not take his methods as an example, but his hunger for God: guard God's plan and his blessing on your life as your most precious possession.

6. The unshakable Kingdom and the urgency to respond

Verse 25 picks back up: "Listen to him who is speaking." When Israel refused to listen to Moses, judgment was decisive. How much more if you refuse the voice that comes from heaven. Haggai 2:6 announces that God will shake not only the earth but also the heavens, so that only what cannot be shaken will remain.

Pastor Rutz insists: the Lord's return is near. Over the last fifty or a hundred years, the pace of the world has surged, and God's timing follows that same movement. The opportunities to repent, to serve, to obey when God signals you are opportunities to seize now, as though there might not be another.

Verse 27 confirms it: God "will shake" everything whose foundation is weak, so that only what cannot be shaken remains. We must become part of that.

Finally, verses 28-29 encourage us: "Since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire." Responding to God's love means choosing, every day, a way of life that pleases him. That love (deep, demanding, unconditional, fatherly) is already being poured out on you by God. After hearing this message, there is no room left for doubt.

Key takeaways

• The Christian race is a spiritual battle. With eyes fixed on Jesus, it is won through endurance.
• The Father's discipline is not punishment: it is proof that you are a true son, a true daughter.
• God's love sometimes takes a form you weren't expecting. Do not judge it by your own standards.
• Holiness is strength. Without it, no one will see the Lord.
• Cut off little roots of bitterness right away. They hurt far more people than just you.
• Do not imitate Esau's indifference: guard the Father's blessing as your most precious possession.

Personal application

1. What form of love were you expecting from God? In what different form has he already given it to you?
2. Is there, in you or in your family line, a root the Holy Spirit is pressing you to cut off in the name of Jesus?
3. What discipline are you going through right now? Can you reread it as a father's hand rather than as abandonment?
4. Is there a small bitterness, toward a brother, a sister, a loved one, that needs to be pulled out today, not tomorrow?
5. What opportunity (to repent, to serve, to obey) is God placing in front of you this week, one he is calling you to respond to now?

Verses cited

• Hebrews 12:1-17; 25-29
• Proverbs 3:11-12
• Haggai 2:6
• Genesis 25:29-34 (Esau and the birthright)
• 1 Corinthians 1:25

FAQ

Why does God discipline me if I'm already forgiven in Christ?

Because he wants you to be like him. Hebrews 12:10 says he shapes you so that you may share in his holiness. Discipline is not condemnation: it is the mark that you are a true child of the Father. Without holiness, no one will see the Lord (Hebrews 12:14).

I struggle to "feel" God's love. Is that a problem?

No, and Pastor Rutz testifies to that herself: for a long time, she didn't feel it inside either. God uses paths that are sometimes surprising (a person, an animal, a community) to help you understand his love with your heart, not just your head. Ask him to show you, and look around you at who he has placed on your path.

How do I cut off a root of bitterness before it grows?

As soon as you notice a small irritation or resentment, bring your heart back to health without delay. Answer inwardly, "Maybe he has his reasons," then repent of your rumination. Do not let it sit overnight. Hebrews 12:15 warns that a neglected root hurts many others, not just you.