I imagine many of you have had this experience. You’ve joined a church, opened yourself up to other people, invested yourself deeply in serving and giving, in outreach or missions, and perhaps church leadership. Worship was life-giving. You cared for one another every day and especially in times of trouble. This was your community, your family.
And then one day, something happens. Something goes awry, and part of the congregation leaves. There are lots of hurt feelings. The people who are gone were your friends, people you cared about like a family. And now, you’re not sure that Church will ever be the same.
I’ve been there, my friends. Many of you have been there too. I’d like to continue the story, but today, that story isn’t ours. The story comes straight out of First John, whose author is likely an elder or teacher in the JoHAN’nine community, the people who came to know Jesus because of the gospel of John. We believe the gospel of John was written at the end of the first century, so this letter followed, either later in the decade or at the beginning of the Second Century. A group of these followers split off, scholars think, because some leaders were teaching that Jesus was never human, only spirit, and the author is urging the remaining true believers to hang in there.
Hang in there. Persevere. Persist. The word the author loves is ABIDE. One of the reasons we believe the same author wrote the Gospel of John and First John is vocabulary, and ABIDE is right at the top of the list. Some form of the Greek word for ABIDE, MĒNŌ, is used 40 times in the gospel of John, and 24 times in the tiny five-chapter book of First John. While the text of First John has some components of a letter, it’s more like a complex sermon – I could read the entire book to you in 15 minutes.
But the author isn’t just telling the community to stay put. This abiding means to continue together in the love of Christ, love and faith demonstrated in action.
It’s unfortunate that our English language translation sounds so passive. We should love, have faith, abide. The original language equivalents for these words aren’t passive at all. They are love in action. Faith in action. Abide in action. Strong verbs.
However, the example the author of First John uses isn’t passive at all:
We know what true love looks like because of Jesus. He gave His life for us, and He calls us to give our lives for our brothers and sisters.
One author calls sacrificial love the most powerful idea in our culture. Putting love for our family, our friends, our faith, our country before our lives, permeates our story. We recognize those who gave the ultimate sacrifice on Memorial Day. We honor those who committed their lives to the idea of justice. Self-sacrifice even covers our literature and films: read some Shakespeare or O Henry’s short story “Gift of the Magi.” Watch the Star Trek or Star Wars movies, or think about the origin story of Superman. Even Titanic’s climactic scene is Jack giving his life for Rose.
But at the core of who we are, our faith is built on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us, and our faith story is filled with founders, prophets, apostles and other martyrs who gave their lives to follow this call.
When First John calls us to give our lives for our brothers and sisters, our neighbors, not everyone is called to be a martyr. I think the difference is intent. We should be willing to give whatever it takes to be community together.
How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth.
We’re an affluent congregation in an affluent community. This verse reads differently to me here at Trinity than it did in rural Wisconsin or Arizona, or central Chicago. We are a blessing to five core missions in the St. Louis area and throughout the world. Individually, I know many of you wrestle with how to faithfully use the “world’s goods” you have.
But one thing is true in every Christian community. The body of Christ isn’t a place for perfect people to hang out together. It is our place to practice living Christ’s love in the world every week.
What does love in action at Trinity look like?
- When someone is hurting or overwhelmed, do we allow them to bear the pain alone? Or do we sit with them and care for them?
- When someone has erred, do we ignore it or worse yet, exclude them from life in community? Or do we confront them in love and reconcile with them?
- When someone is struggling with finances or family difficulties, do we pretend not to see? Or do we quietly support them with what they need?
We love in deed and truth. How do I know? Because I’ve been on both sides of those situations at Trinity. The hurting and the healer. In my first weeks here and last week. Valued and vulnerable. I confess to you, it’s easier to give grace than receive it. But I’m working on it. You’re all awfully good teachers.
When I think about sacrificial love, I think about the people I know who care for grandparents, parents, spouses and children with significant challenges, some of them right here. When I think about sacrificial love, I see people who choose love when you’ve been hurt. Again, some of you right here. Love isn’t hearts and flowers every day. Love isn’t always easy.
Martin Luther explained that we are both sinner and saint. We can be broken and healed, and be love in action, even simultaneously.
I read an essay this week, and one line knocked the wind right out of me. “There’s no hate like Christian love.” And if that’s how some people see us, we’re seriously misguided. God’s love isn’t flowing through us.
We miss the point if we practice here, and don’t love in deed and truth out there. If we save all our giving and forgiving for Trinity folks, and don’t love that family member who is politically at odds with us. Or the obnoxious neighbor. Or the annoying classmate. If we can’t, it’s because we keep seeing love as an emotion or a passive thing, rather than love in action, with God as the origin.
Try something with me. Right now, close your eyes and picture a person you struggle to love: a relative, neighbor, colleague, whoever. Now continue with that person in your head and heart and listen:
Little children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us, for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
When we recognize that love comes from God and just passes through us to that person, we are the conduit of love. God is greater than what we could do on our own. God is the source of all love, all healing, all forgiveness. We can be love in action, even when giving love is not easy.
And here we are again, at the place where we can practice being love to one another. Where we meet at this table, and remember – laying down everything that keeps us from loving fully and abiding in Christ’s act of perfect love.
And then, fed and filled, freed and forgiven – We can be love in deed and truth. We can go out and give God’s love away.
Amen.
Children's Sermon
What does LOVE look like? How do we make love real?
In today’s Bible passage, we hear about loving people with actions, not just words. I think you may know what I mean.
If you got up for school and it was the day of a big test, and your parents said “Love You, Bye,” that would be loving you in words. But if they said, “Love you, you got this!” and handed you a lunch with your favorite foods in it and a special snack for after the test, now that would be loving you in actions. You would know they love you by what they DID.
And the other way, if your mom or dad asked you to clean up your room, and you came out a couple of hours later and said “Love you” but you hadn’t done anything, your actions wouldn’t match your words. But if you came out and said “Love You” and showed them a room that was all picked up and your bed was made, that would be love in action.
People at Trinity do a lot of love with actions. They make meals for people. They visit people who live alone. They help with worship. They care for our preschoolers and students at Lantern Hill in Mexico. And lots more!
You can think of many ways to show your love. But the main thing is that we should love people not just with words, but with actions, too.
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