This week marks our third week with 1 John, a letter written in the style and tradition of John's gospel, probably by a disciple of the gospel writer himself. These three weeks we have been told repeatedly about God's love. Perhaps the author thinks that if we hear it enough, we will finally get it, and practice the love that he is writing about.
So far, this author has taught us many things regarding God's love and the love we are to have for God and each other. First of all, there is the idea of mutual abiding. We abide in God and God abides in us-we know this by the love we feel from God and the love that we give to others. When we abide in God not only do we believe in Jesus as our Savior, but we also act on that knowledge by loving and showing compassion for all of God's people. Love is an action.
Secondly, we have learned that because God loves us, we are to be called God's children. And because of this ownership and love that God has for us, we can have confidence in our faith.
Thirdly, we learn we are only able to love because God has first loved us. Love is not something that we can do on our own, it is a gift given to us from God. We feel God's love and are then able to love others.
And lastly, we learned that God is love. Not that God feels love or that God acts in loving ways, though our God does both of those things. But, God is love. Love is God's being. Love is God's essence. Love is what God is made of. Whoever wrote 1 John feels strongly, very strongly, about who God is, who we are as children of God, and what we are to do when we feel God's love. We are to love.
Today, the writer of 1 John continues. He still wants us to get it, and so he continues to write about love. He draws a diagram for us with his words, saying that whoever loves the parent loves the child. There is a connection-a strong connection-he is saying. If you love God you will love God's children.
He continues by saying that if you love God, you will obey God. Remember, he says, loving is a commandment. It is not something that is a request from God to us. It is not an "if you feel like it." It is a command; from God to the people of Israel over and over in the Old Testament, and from Jesus to believers in John's gospel. "This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you." There it is, that connection again. Jesus loves, and so we are to love.
I remember quite a few years ago about a song that a friend told me about. It was a Christmas song recorded by Sandy Patti, and the refrain went like this: The Father gave the Son, the Son gave the Spirit, the Spirit gives us life so we can give the gift of love. And the gift goes on...
I used the song with a children's choir that Christmas season and they loved it. It was simple theology, and though some would argue about whether the Spirit comes from the Son or from the Father, the point of the song was clear. We are connected to God-Father, Son and Holy Spirit-through the gift of love. We are here because of God's love, and the gift goes on through us. It is what we were created to do-love God and neighbor. When the children sang it they could feel the connection that they had to God and to each other, and it filled them with joy. And as it says in the song, the gift went on and on and on.
It is truly important here to remember what else John's gospel tells us today. Jesus chose us. We did not choose Him, but He chose us. He chose us for love. He appointed us to bear fruit, fruit that will last. These are commands from Christ directly to us, given so that we may love one another.
Love is an interesting thing. We all know that there are many kinds of love, and most of us have felt all different kinds-love of children, love of friends, love of family, love of a romantic nature. We strive to that ideal of God's love that Paul describes so beautifully in 1 Corinthians 13, "Love is patient, love is kind..."
But, sometimes it is not easy to love. People are cruel to us, friends hurt our feelings, and there are times that we just plain don't like someone. But what Christ says to us in John's gospel is not that we have to like someone. He just says that we have to love them. Love is not just a feeling, Jesus says. Love is a choice that we make each and every day as we live our lives and encounter God's created people. You will not like everyone, but you can choose to love them.
What does that mean, to love our neighbor? Do we wish them well? Do we pray for them? Do we bite our tongue when we are hurt or angry? Do we get involved in their lives? How do we love our neighbor?
I think that the answer comes from that connection we feel from God, that chain of love that comes from the Father to the Son to the Spirit to us, the chain of love that we are to continue. God loves us and sends the Son. The Son dies and rises for us, and so we will not be alone, the Son sends (with the help of the Father) the Spirit.
In John's gospel, the Holy Spirit is called the Advocate. I think that is a wonderful term to describe how God loves us. The Spirit is our advocate, looking out for our best interests, helping us to fulfill our divine calling of love, reminding us of Christ's teachings and helping us to feel God's love.
That is what we are to do for each other. It is how we are to love each other. Look out for one another. Keep the other person's best interests in your heart. Try to see them the same way that God sees them-imagine why God created them, truly a unique being, a reflection of God's image. Remind each other of Christ' teachings. Help others to feel God's love. This is how God teaches us to love, by choosing to do these things every day, the same things that God does for us through the Advocate, the Holy Spirit.
When we look at all that the author of 1 John has shared with us in these last few weeks, we can see another chain forming. It begins with God's love. Next comes mutual abiding and obedience, then comes joy (like the joy felt by the children singing the song, aware of their part in the chain of love), and then victory by faith.
When you think about it, this connection that we have with God and each other because of God's love is not merely a chain, because chains can have an ending. The chain of love that God offers us is a chain that I like to think of as a circle, with all of the links connected. For when we help others to feel God's love they will love God, and then they, too will love God's people and act as an advocate. The circle is complete. It is perfect, unbreakable, eternal. It is the definition of divine joy, of divine love. It is a joy that can conquer the world-victory by love. May God's love so infuse our beings that the gift will go on and on and on... Amen.
Peace,
Rev. Cynthia Bacon
Minister
You may email at:
cbacon@heritagemadison.org
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