“God is love.” – 1 John 4:8
I personally cannot think of any other bible verse that is more misused & abused then this one. Yes, it’s certainly true that God is love. But, in our sin, we confuse God’s love with our human kind of love & it’s not the same.
God’s love is the cross – period.
Even though God does take care of us & sustain us in all things, these acts, in & of themselves, are not God’s love but mere derivatives of it. The key verse we need to keep in mind here is Rm. 5:8 – “but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
In other words, as Luther once advised when asked on how to read scripture, we should “start with the cross” when it comes to God’s love.
But, in our sin, we do not. We erroneously assume we know what love is & then we going rooting around in the bible for texts we think back us up. We do this because we think that we’re capable, through our interpretation of the text, of deciding for ourselves what qualifies as God-endorsed love.
Case-in-point: I was driving to Bethany earlier than normal last Sunday for the council meeting & turned on the radio during the drive. It just happened that the station I was tuned to was broadcasting the Lutheran service from a local congregation. The reading was also from 1 John 3 & the use of the term “love” was, of course, prominent. So the preacher jumped all over it.
He said: “This is what it is all about.” We, Christians have to make the kingdom real, right here & now, by what we do. He then proceed to tell his listeners in very specific detail what God’s love entailed today. Not surprisingly, it mirrored in exactly the social & ideological agenda of his favored political party. The cross was mentioned only in passing as a motivational example for us (“see, Jesus gave it his all for you, so you need to give your all doing these things for Him, if you’re a real Christian!”).
For good measure, just in case you missed his not-so-subtle point, that your relationship with God, and thus your salvation, hinged on your performance, he made sure to let you know that if you did or supported anything against his preferred agenda, you had no love in you; certainly not God’s love. In fact, he made sure to let you know you are a “hater”.
Ugh!
Jesus didn’t die so you could have yet another political agenda to follow!
He died for you because His love for you is real; its pure & undefiled by sin.
What I mean by that is, because of the mess sinners like you & I have made of this place & our lives, God had every right in the world to simply, like Pilate, wash His hands of us & leave us to our fate yet He chose not to purely because He loves us more than anything else.
In short, Jesus had nothing personally to gain from going to the cross.
We, on the other hand, always have a “dog in the hunt”, as they say.
In fact, it’s often truly a travesty when we use love as sinners.
Indeed, this is so true that our language does not even have a word for God’s love. But the ancient Greek language of the NT does. That word is “agape” which may be translated as “undeserved” or “unmerited love”.
So how then are we to understand how this difference plays out in life?
In a conversation I had many years ago with my friend Pastor Mark Anderson, he explained the difference by telling me this story: He told a story about a family that moved in across the street from some friends of His. On the very first day the newly arrived husband invited his friends over for coffee. The next week they were invited again, this time for dinner. In fact, they were so friendly that the new neighbor went out of his way to wave & smile across each time he saw Mark’s friends.
So far, so good.
That is until one day when this new fellow approached Marl’s friend & asked him if he needed any help with insurance. Mark’s friend said no, he was taken care of in that area. The new neighbor smiled & went home. Mark said that it was the last time his friend ever heard from him again.
In other word the new neighbor’s love was conditioned on gain for himself.
My friends, God’s love for you is not conditional. The cross proves this.
Given this fact, it’s important for you to know that the Pastor I heard last week was wrong; dead wrong. The truth is, even if God gets little or nothing done through you. He loves you regardless. His love isn’t conditional based upon your performance for Him. What this means is you are totally free.
As Jesus promised: “Whom the Son sets free is free indeed.” (John 8:36)
Yes, you are free now – no strings attached.
You see, the love of God isn’t an end in itself. He doesn’t use it for other purposes.
He doesn’t love you in order to use you to transform the world or change you or improve you.
If God accomplishes nothing with you or through you, He loves you still & always will.
Truly, God even loves His lost children – His sheep who’ve strayed from His fold – that are now wandering away from Him as much as He loves those who, like you, have come home (to the Church).
But this isn’t all.
God’s love is also not an emotion or a feeling. It is not a responsive love that’s attracted to only to the bright & beautiful and repelled by the dull & ugly. Remarkably, it actually seeks out the unlovable & loves them. In this regard, it’s just like the cross because it doesn’t calculate or count the cost.
What this means for you is Godly love is now possible for you because of the cross. Because your eternal future is certain in Christ, you too “no longer have a dog in the hunt” so your love can now be poured outward, in the glorious freedom that is yours as a child of God, just like Jesus’ was, in stewardship of creation & care for the neighbor as you choose & see best.
My friends in Christ, hear now the Lord’s Good News of love for you today: The love of God in Jesus, poured out to you His beloved, isn’t conditional.
No, it’s an end in itself. God loves you now & forever – that’s it; period.
As such, you His sheep, are free to love whether it does anything or not.
Now may the peace of God that passes all understanding keep your hearts & minds in Christ Jesus our Lord – Amen.
Bethany Lutheran Church, Covington MI 