Usually, when we talk about the Love Chapter, we’re speaking about 1 Corinthians, Chapter 13. You know, the one that includes “Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful” and so on. The one that was read at our wedding, and maybe at yours.
But today, we get the OTHER Love Chapter. 1 John, the conclusion of Chapter 4. “God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” The one that has been sung through the decades to various tunes. Years ago, it was the one that started out “Beloved, let us love one another,” and then more recently “Praise Him, Praise Him, all you little children, God is Love, God is Love.” There’s a lot of love in these 15 verses – some form of the verb “love” occurs 27 times, plus a couple of Beloveds, just for fun.
I think the author was a masterful writer. I’m pretty sure all that repetition of “Love” wasn’t laziness or lack of creativity. No – I’m pretty sure that by the time one heard that recited a few times, “LOVE” would be stuck in one’s head, exactly the refrain we need. Love filling our hearts and minds, until we can no longer hold it in. For we are the only way the love of God in Jesus Christ is getting into this world. Let me say that again:
WE ARE THE ONLY WAY THE LOVE OF GOD IN JESUS CHRIST IS GETTING INTO THIS WORLD.
- It’s not getting into the world through the media. The media is dominated by negativity – trust me, I was part of it for 15 years.
- It’s not getting into the world from politicians. Our elections are dominated by people on both sides building themselves up and tearing the other down, trying to pull you to their side.
- It’s not getting into the world through seminars, social media, schools – let’s cut to the chase. The only way God’s love is getting into the world is through us.
Grace-filled love. Unexpected love. Joyful love. Playful love. Quiet, sit-beside-you-when-you’re-in-pain love. Tough love. Messy love. The love of a community – being beloved to each other. That’s the kind of love we practice here. And that’s the kind of love our world needs…
Desperately.
Oh, we’re not experts at it. Me, you. Any of us. Remember, GOD is LOVE. Not you and me. We’re trainees. Put on this earth for some unknown number of years to practice getting good enough at love that those we meet might get a reflection of the love that is God. SERIOUSLY. It says so right there in verse 12: No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love IS PERFECTED in us.
Ok, just one of the places our English translation falls short. The Greek word for perfected is teleioō (te-lie-AH-ō), which means being completed, becoming mature, reaching a goal in us. I’m still a work in progress. You too. We mess up. We need forgiveness. And we learn something about love in the messing up, forgiving and being forgiven.
And loving isn’t something you can learn by sitting back and watching. There’s no online class in LOVE 101. You can’t stand back and wait until you’re 7, or 14, or 60 and jump in, having seen it all, heard it all and experienced it all. Like anything else worth doing, loving means getting your feet wet, your heart broken, your mind twisted around a time or two. Scary? Yep. Painful. That too. But without putting our hearts out there – we miss it. Experiencing authentic, unconditional love.
The same goes for congregations. Even congregations as a whole have to practice at love. Remember last week, I said this letter – maybe this sermon of First John – was written to a group of Christians who were broken, hurting. Some of their group had a difference of opinion and walked away. And schisms are painful. And they make it hard to trust and love again. The author was urging their community forward:
- Love is going to break you.
- Love is going to make you want to retreat in your shell like a turtle, protecting those soft, vulnerable parts of yourself.
- Those families broke away. Let’s just take care of our own.
- That outreach project should have worked, but it didn’t and it was costly – let’s not do that again.
- The kids we’re trying to serve? They’re not coming. Let’s scrap it.
But retreating, timid love isn’t what the author calls for.
“Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness BOLDNESS on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. Boldness! Imagine that. Loving with Courage, Confidence. What does that look like for the church?
It looks like freedom to try innovative ways to love our neighbors. In Michigan, Faith Lutheran Church heard from local Lutheran Social Services representatives that young adult refugees in the foster system would end up homeless on their 18th birthday due to lack of funding to continue their services. They began by converting the parsonage into housing. Eventually, it grew into Michigan Refugee Hope, an answer to Christ’s mandate to welcome the stranger.
It looks like confidence to proclaim the gospel in deeds. In Chicago, in Northampton, Mass., in Baltimore, and other cities, churches serve a meal weekly, building community and responding to the hunger in their midst. They don’t give a thought about whether those participating ever attend a Sunday morning service, but that they are feeding the hungry, creating community, meeting the neighbors.
And it looks like boldness for Edmonds Lutheran Church near Seattle to partner with an organization to provide affordable housing, using land the church has not developed. The congregation determined that housing is the biggest challenge for people in its community. Sitting on unused property, to them, was not the best stewardship of their resources.
In each case, pastors and congregations knew there might be challenges. What if people didn’t come to the meal, or what if they were overwhelmed? Building affordable housing sometimes results in pushback from neighbors. Some church members might not approve of refugee housing on the church campus.
And that’s where we reach the final verses of Chapter 4: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear.”
There WILL be speedbumps when we try to love our neighbors. There’s safety inside our own walls. There’s control, and limits. But that’s not where we’re meant to stay. It takes boldness and fearlessness to say, individually, and as a congregation, and in whatever groups we bring together “What would we do if we could not fail? What would we do if money, history, volunteers, space, -- whatever obstacle we fear – wasn’t an issue? Where is God calling us to go next?
Because God IS calling us. The world needs the love that God has given us to share. Desperately.
Amen.
Children's Sermon
What does it mean to be BOLD?
Brave, Courageous, Confident, Daring
How about Fearful?
Scared, Afraid, Timid, Shy
Can you be Afraid and Bold at the same time?
So, when I was 5, my older brothers had a go cart. And I wanted to ride it. It looked fun, but it was also noisy and fast. And it only had one seat! So I asked my brothers if I could drive it. So, they let me. And so, I pushed down the gas pedal, and it roared down the dirt road. And I felt very brave. But then the end of the dirt road was coming, and I didn’t know how to stop. So, before I could be scared, I ended up across the road, down the ditch, and then crashed against the upper part of the ditch. I didn’t get hurt though! And even though I was brave and bold, I was also scared!
Does God ever want you to be bold?
Maybe you see a new student sitting alone. They don’t have a friend to play with or eat lunch with. You could be fearful and say “I don’t know them.” Or you could be bold and say (Can I sit by you? Would you like to come and sit with us? Would you like to join our game?)
Or you see someone you know crying. You could leave them alone, or you could be bold and say (What’s wrong? What do you need? Are you hurt?)
Sometimes, showing God’s love means doing something different. Sometimes you need to be bold. God tells us in today’s lesson that we can show love, because God loved us first. Loved us so much that God sent Jesus. And we can be brave and courageous when we share God’s love. We can love Boldly!
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