1 John 4:7-21John 15:1-8
“Beloved,let us love one another, because love is from God.” Webster’s dictionary defines love as something“profoundly tender, a passionate affection for another person, a feeling ofwarm personal attachment or deep affection, such as for a parent, child, orfriend.” Love in the English language, issuch a misused word today. How can oneword convey such a variety of meanings? Forinstance, the word “Love” is used sometimes to describe a fanciful feelingabout an object. “I just love my newgolf clubs.” “I love that dress you arewearing.” “I love that chocolate cakeyou baked.” The word “Love” is used sometimesto describe the progression of a relational a connection. “We are IN love versus, I love so and so.” The word “Love” can even be used as asoftening phrase for a voicemail grocery reminder to your spouse, “I love you, can’twait to see you tonight, and would you please pickup some coffee on the wayhome.” (Not that I’ve ever used that)
Confusedabout love yet? Well, now if that werenot enough, over the years culture has complicated the notion of love by tryingto capture it’s meaning in the lyrics of songs. Do you remember the ballad, “Can you feel the love tonight” by EltonJohn (1994)? How about “That’s the Powerof Love” by Huey Lewis and the News (1985)? Maybe you can recall, “All you need is Love” byThe Beatles (1967). These are greatsongs and great attempts to capture the nuances of love, but not one of them evenmentions the source of love. You mayhave noticed that none of these songs explicitly mention God, but the realityis, embedded in those words, God can be found, because “love is from God.”
Scriptureoffers us a bit more insight about the love than popular culture might. In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians,chapter 13, the verses describe what love is and what love is not. The following comes from a paraphrase ofscripture called The Message.
Love never gives up. Love caresmore for others than for self. Lovedoesn't want what it doesn't have. Lovedoesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelledhead, Doesn't force itself onothers, Isn't always "mefirst," Doesn't fly off thehandle, Doesn't keep score of the sinsof others, Doesn't revel when othersgrovel, Takes pleasure in theflowering of truth, Puts up withanything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
Youmay be thinking, “well, that all sounds well and good, but that kind of loveseems almost impossible Eric. How in theworld can we love like that?” Honestly,we cannot on our own, because we can do nothing apart from God. It is through God alone that we can evenattempt to love like this. It is only throughthe Holy Spirit’s work in us that we can even begin to participate in thecircle of love, which comes from God.
First,we begin to participate by forgiving, by letting go of our pettydifferences. Next, we begin by trying towalk in the shoes of our sisters and brothers, when circumstances seem towarrant walking away. We begin by acceptingour own failures, which make the failures of others seem so acceptable. We begin by forgiving when another has failedto forgive us. We begin by recognizingthat the relationship we share, this common binding in Christ, is of greaterimportance than our differences. Webegin when we begin to see the face of Christ in others, when we look beyondthat which separates us, and when we learn to abide in God’s perfect love witheach other, even when things become uncomfortable, when hanging seemsfruitless, when waiting seems like forever.
Jesussaid, “Abide in me.” (Silence) Let’s pause for a second and sit with this phrasefor a bit. “Abide in me.” (Silence) Let’s be patient and stay with this phrase andwait for its meaning to emerge. “Abidein me.” (Silence) Uncomfortable? Waiting, enduring, staying with, remaining, accepting; it is through these practices that we begin tounderstand what it means to abide; to love as God loves. Abiding is all about remaining with the other. Hanging in there when it gets tough, stayingwith the discomfort for the sake of the relationship, and waiting patiently asthe Spirit works through the other is what abiding is all about. Granted, there are some instances whereabiding with another may not be possible. Abusive, coercive, unhealthy relationships are examples where abidingmay have to take on another form. Somerelationships and connections are not best served by mutual physical presence,but abiding love can still be possible. It may be in those instances, that abiding with another may take placethrough intercessory prayer. When wepray for those with whom we cannot abide in a healthy way, we are still effectivelyparticipating in the perfect love of God. Prayer for another is loving the other.
“SinceGod loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” Let me read that again. “Since God loved us so much, we also OUGHT tolove one another.” The English word“ought”used here seems a little insufficient to capture the intent of thispiece of scripture. We may have heard “ought”used in phrases like “you ought to clean your room,” or “you ought to go backand get that third college degree,” or “you ought to have another helping ofpotatoes.” Used in this way, we hear itas more like a suggestion versus its real meaning.
OK, let’stry again. “Since God loved us so much,we also (have an obligation, a duty, and are indebted) to love oneanother. This version is not a friendlylittle “Well you ought to love each other, but its ok if you choose not to doso” kind of suggestion. NO! It is clear that we have an obligation, aduty, and we are indebted to love our sisters and brothers. Why? Inso doing, God’s love comes to completion. T
hecircle of love is complete if we can wait patiently on our sister and brother,if we can endure the imperfections of our sister and brother, and if we canstay with our sister and brother when difficulties arrive. In other words, if we can love one another, thenGod lives in us, because his love is coming to completion in us. Love, a word that despite its so manymeanings, all seems so simple when we but accept what Our Lord proclaims overand over again. Abide with me. In a song by the contemporary Christian bandThird Day, the abiding love of Christ are beautifully captured in these words,“Just to be with you, I will doanything, There's no price I would notpay. Just to be with you, I would give everything. I would give my life away.” (Lyrics from “Love Song” by Third Day) Can we love like that? Can we give ourselves away? Are we able to love as Christ loves us?
Remember . . . Love… it is more than mere words.
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