I have been
told that I talk about love a lot.
This whole
passage is about love.
God’s love
for us, and our response, that is loving others.
I think it is
important that we try and get our heads around the fact that God loves us. full
stop.
Not God loves
us when we are good.
Not God loves
us when we do well in school
Not God loves
us because we don’t swear
Not God loves
us because we come to church
Not God loves
us only when we read the Bible
Not God loves
us only when we are kind.
God loves us.
full stop, or maybe
God loves us!
exclamation mark!
It is easy to
think that somehow what we do, or how we look or how we behave will change God’s
love for us; because that is how we have been raised or what we do. From an early
age many of us realised that
·
doing
well at school, or sport,
·
being
pretty or being quiet,
·
conforming
to certain values and behaviour
would mean
favourable treatment, like smiles or ice cream.
Some people
learn that love can be withheld.
But God doesn’t
work that way.
The
idea of being loved by God is amazing. For some of you it will be like a well-worn
coat, that is comfy and comforting and fits you well. For others it will uncomfortable,
like wearing a coat made for someone else. Some people struggle to accept that
God loves them, no matter what.
Sometimes I hear
people talking about loving a particular car, flower or ice cream flavour etc. when we mean, we like something very much.
God
doesn’t love us in the way that I love sleeping 😊
In
our culture, love also tends to be used in a romantic way.
God’s
love for us is not warm and fuzzy, this is love that is about relationship;
love that is sacrificial.
I
know that isn’t a popular word these days - sacrificial. And as humans, we look
for things which satisfy us – like chocolate and ice-cream – they are nice to
eat, satisfy our sweet tooth, and ask for nothing in return. God’s love isn’t like that.
Jesus
offered himself as a model for love, a love that would give up his life for his
friends. A life that showed the love of God in the way he lived. The love of
God was shown in the way Jesus treated the people no one else wanted to talk to
or be with.
Something
I read this week: “You will never look into the eyes of someone God does not
love”[i]
Jesus offers a new-old commandment,
that we should love each other.
that we should love each other.
With the incredible power
and the unfathomable depth
of God's love for us
we can
we must
love one another.
and the unfathomable depth
of God's love for us
we can
we must
love one another.
And it is in this
our love for one another
that the world will know
whom and what we worship.
our love for one another
that the world will know
whom and what we worship.
Come, children of God,
let us love one another.[ii]
let us love one another.[ii]
A
few phrases from the passage:
·
Real
love isn’t our love for God, but God’s love for us.
·
Since
God loved us this much, we must love each other.
·
We
love because God loved us first
·
The
commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!”
What
does it mean to you that God loves you?
How
do you love others as God loves you?
[i]
https://www.facebook.com/tobymac/photos/a.241173571178/10155616972486179/?type=3&theater
[ii]
Katherine Hawker, and posted on Outside the Box. http://liturgyoutside.net/
