Let Us Love

Introduction

A newborn arrives in a family. Not all families—especially siblings—welcome the newborn warmly. Some siblings become jealous of this new arrival, and it isn’t unusual for the older child to be aggressive toward the newcomer. Such acts have to be dealt with and corrected. Sometimes children have to be taught to love this invader. Love isn’t necessarily natural.

The church family at Park Avenue will be adding a new family soon. Steven, Tamara, and Caleb will join us in October, and we need to get ready for them. One of the ways we are doing that is through this series of sermons. Last week we noticed that division is not what God wants—and any division which occurs as a preference about preachers is certainly not what God wants. All that matters is that God is seen. Preachers are servants of God with specific functions. God is the one who gets the emphasis.

Today we are going to look at a text in 1 John. According to 1 John 2:19, there is a division within the body. A segment of the congregation has withdrawn from worship and fellowship. John addresses the congregation’s response to such division and in our text today reminds his readers of what is truly important—love. Not love in a general sense, but a love that reveals the character of God.

The Text

John writing to a fractured congregation says that love is necessary because love comes from God. God’s nature is love, and those who belong to him will love as well. In fact, love is the sign that one is from God’s family. The capacity to love comes from God, and those who know God love as well. Love is not negotiable. No one can claim to know God and fail to love. John has written in 3:10 that love and belonging to God are so closely connected that the one who does not love his brother is not a child of God. In fact, in 3:14, John writes that the person who does not love remains in spiritual death.

This element of love is so significant that to fail in this area of loving each other is to fail in salvation. At the very core of love is transformation. God loves. When one comes to God they too learn to understand this part of God’s nature. To know God is to love like God. And when one doesn’t love like God such failure demonstrates the one remains in spiritual death.

The depth of God’s love is revealed in Jesus. Sent from God, Jesus came as a full demonstration of God’s love. The uniqueness of Jesus is seen also in the uniqueness of God’s love. In 4:9, John equates love and life. The love of God brings Jesus resulting in life for us through Jesus. Spiritual death is in the absence of love; spiritual life is in the presence of love.

But to ensure that there is no mistake, the love that John is writing about is not human love. This is not the warm fuzzy feeling of love. This is not the love that comes from our attachment to someone because of similar views and friendship. This love isn’t human; it is supernatural. It is a love that gives. If you want to know this kind of love then look at Jesus hanging on a cross dying for you when you deserved death. If you want to know what this kind of love is like then look at Jesus and know that just as he gave himself for others we are now free to love in the same way. This is what John writes in 3:16—Jesus Christ laid down his life for us and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

Because of God’s deep and intense love, John encourages his readers to love in the same way with each other. While we have not seen God we can see the evidence of his presence when we love one another as he has loved us. John’s assurance is that God is present with us when we love each other.

How?

So what does this mean for us and how do we love this way? Let’s start with what is true about Park Avenue. We love each other in very human ways well. The unity we enjoy largely comes as a result of commitment to one another and to the God who brought us together. For most of us we feel a sense of belonging and family. We actually like each other as fellow human beings. John’s love is more than this but this much exists among us. And those who come to this congregation have told us that they can feel this connection and love. This is good and it is from God.

The type of love that John describes exists here as well—the sacrificing love that benefits others. From the mundane to the visible, sacrificial love exists. From the bulletin that you picked up today to those who have given time to prepare lessons in your Bible class. From those who drive our van to pick up the children to those who plan events for our children to learn how to serve. From those who prepare meals for others to those who plan our monthly meals. From those who invite others to share a meal to those who invite others to study the Bible. From those who pray at home for others to those who go to the others to pray in person. From those who provide a Parents’ Night Out to those who work the Carnival.

Sacrificial love exists in this congregation. It is this kind of love that John wants his readers to practice and to recognize. This is the kind of place that we have invited the Gaines to be a part of. This is the kind of place that we want to continue. This is part of our personality as a congregation, and it is one that we want to make sure that Steven, Tamara and Caleb experience. This kind of love is life giving.

How do we keep loving this way? We watch Jesus. We watch how he gave himself for those who were undeserving and those who wanted to understand him. We watch how he wasn’t worried about what people thought about him personally but was far more concerned about what people thought about his Father. We watch how he connected with those that no one else wanted to connect with and we do that as well. We get so absorbed in the person of Jesus that we think first about love rather than selfishness or revenge. We watch him and finally realize that the only thing that truly mattered to him was that he carried out God’s will in this world. And because of his great love we are now free to love the same way. This is the kind of place that we want to be and the place that we believe we are and the place we want the Gaines to find when they arrive.

Follow Jesus

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