“Beloved, let us love one
another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows
God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was
revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we
might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he
loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved,
since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever
seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in
us.
By this we know that we abide in him
and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do
testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides
in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we
have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in
love abide in God, and God abides in them. Love has been perfected among us in
this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so
are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out
fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached
perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, ‘I love
God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love
a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not
seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love
their brothers and sisters also.”
I John 4:7-21
The tomb is empty! The Lord is
Risen! The chocolate eggs have been
eaten, and the Easter bunnies and baskets and bonnets stored away for another
year. While the liturgical season of
Easter goes on for several more weeks, for many, the celebration of Easter is
over. Where do we go from here?
The author of the passage above, which we will read on April 29, would
answer our question in two ways. First,
we are to confess that Jesus is the Son of God.
And secondly, we are to “believe the love that God has for us” – a love
God demonstrated by sending Jesus – and to act on that love by showing love to
others. The two are inseparable. Our love for others is what makes our talk of
resurrection believable. Conversely, our
lack of love for others makes our talk of resurrection unbelievable – which may
in part explain why so many churches are empty. If others cannot see love in our actions, as
far as they are concerned, Jesus might just as well still be in the tomb. If others cannot feel our love, they will not
hear anything we may have to say; as Emerson wrote, “your actions speak so
loudly I can’t hear what you’re saying.”
“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides
in them.” If we “abide in love”, then
love is the default setting in our lives.
We live in love as a fish lives in water. Of course, this is easier said than done, and
some individuals are very difficult to love.
Nobody abides in love perfectly, but if we have truly embraced the
message of the resurrection, our lives are directed toward love. We will get off track from time to time, but
the more deeply the reality of the resurrection has become a part of us, the
more quickly we can course correct and get back on the path of love.
The passage makes an interesting connection between love and fear: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love
casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not
reached perfection in love.” While the
author is speaking about fear of punishment from God, these words are also true
in our relationship with other people. As children, we may have loved our parents
and yet at the same time feared their anger when we messed up. But as adults, we cannot fully love someone
whom we fear, and we will not fear someone we truly love.
“Perfect love casts out fear.” I
believe this is God’s message for us in our day. All day long, we are surrounded by messages
of fear, from the news media, from politicians, from preachers who should know
better, but have lost their way. “Be
afraid!” the news media tells us. “Vote
for me, and I’ll protect you from…(fill in the blank)”, politicians promise. Fewer and fewer politicians, of either party,
at any level of government, offer any kind of positive vision for the country
or promise to do anything to make society better. In these days, politicians mostly campaign
on the basis of threats, on the basis of fear – “vote for me, or else the other
party will take away……” and you can fill in the blank. And we respond, because fear makes us easy to
manipulate. In the 1930’s and 1940’s,
fear of “the other” – Jews, ethnic minorities such as Romani (gypsies), socialists,
disabled persons, LGBT persons, among many others – led Germany and the countries it controlled to execute
millions of their own citizens. After
World War II, in an interview in his cell during the Nuremberg trials, Herman
Goering told his interviewer that “voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is
easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the
pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works
the same way in any country.” In any country, including our own. Truly, to borrow a quote from the movie Dune,
“fear is the mind-killer.”
“Perfect love casts out fear.” To
abide in love is not to be a bliss-ninny.
We do need to be aware of our surroundings. Jesus told his disciples, on their first
mission, “I am sending you out as sheep among wolves, so be as wise as serpents
and as innocent as doves.” (Matt 10:16)
But, even as we are aware of our surroundings, we do not have to be
intimidated by our surroundings. We do
not need to cower in fear of our surroundings. If we abide in love, we will see our
surroundings through a lens of love, not a lens of fear.
After the crucifixion, the disciples met behind locked doors, for fear of
the religious authorities. According to
John’s gospel (John 20:19-31), it was not until after Jesus appeared to the
disciples – twice! – that the disciples left their locked room.
The tomb could not hold Jesus. The
locked room ultimately could not hold the disciples. Jesus calls us out of the tombs and locked
rooms created by our fears, and into the warm light of His love. While the celebration of Easter is behind us,
the work of Easter – abiding in love – never ends. Love is the gift of the resurrection to
us. Love is what will make the resurrection
real to our neighbors.
See you in church –
Pastor Dave
No comments:
Post a Comment