love God love others

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.

With the incredible power
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. 

Come, children of God,
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?

We will now hear a song: You are Mine. Please remain seated.

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[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/

This morning in baptising E, we acknowledged that she is a precious child of God, known and loved by God. Each time we baptise I am also reminded that God also loves me, and I hope each of you are reminded that you are also loved, that you are also precious to God.  All people are loved by God, warts and all.

This passage from the letter of John, not only tells us that we love because God first loved us, but that we are to love one another and that whoever loves God must also love others, because if we don’t love others, we can’t love God.

Compare this to the behaviour of the leaders in the reading from the prophet Jeremiah. Jeremiah spoke the word of God to the people of Judah. He spoke God’s words of judgement, and God’s words of hope. The section we heard this morning records the judgement of the bad shepherds.

Kings in that part of the world were often called shepherds, they were to care for the people as a shepherd cared for his sheep. But these were not good shepherds, they did not care for the people, they did not keep the people safe.

God saw that the people were lost, they were being taken to Babylon by force, the leaders were not taking notice of God.

About 300 years before Jeremiah, the people of God did not have kings, and they asked the prophet Samuel for a king. God told Samuel to warn the people what life would be like with a king:

If you have a king, this is how he will treat you.
He will force your sons to join his army.
Your daughters will be forced to make perfume or do his cooking.

The king will take your best fields and your slaves and your donkeys
He will also take a tenth of your grain and grapes
and a tenth of your sheep and goats.

 … and you will finally cry out for the Lord to save you from the king you wanted. But the Lord won’t answer your prayers.

And the people said: “We want to be like other nations. We want a king to rule us and lead us in battle.”[i]

Thinking about these two passages this morning, I thought about the different kinds of leaders we have in the world and in our lives.

There are leaders who care for people and leaders who care only for themselves

There are leaders who unite and leaders who divide

There are leaders who take for themselves and leaders who share resources.

Today is the last Sunday in the church year, Christ the King Sunday. Next Sunday we begin Advent, 4 weeks of preparing for the birth of Jesus.

Christ the King Sunday celebrates the all-embracing authority of Christ as King and Lord of all things. It is a relatively new celebration in the life of the church, first being celebrated in 1925. [ii]

Proclaiming Christ as King means that nothing else and no one else can claim our ultimate loyalty and devotion. ^[iii]  

Remember the picture book, Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare discussing how much they love each other. [iv]

Do you think God loves you to the river, or the moon?

Remember the words I spoke to E just before the water was poured on her head?

E,
for you Jesus Christ has come,
has lived, has suffered;
for you he endured the agony of Gethsemane
and the darkness of Calvary;
for you he uttered the cry, ‘It is accomplished!’
For you he triumphed over death;
for you he prays at God’s right hand;
for you,
even before you were born.
In baptism, the word of the apostle is confirmed:
‘We love, because God first loved us’

We love because God first loved us. and God showed that love in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

Jesus, the one who is named King today,
not a King who enjoys displaying his power,
but a king of love,
of compassion,
of generosity.

A good Shepherd,
one who keeps the flock together,
who protects,
who nurtures
who forgives.

God is love,
and those who live in love
live in union with God
and God lives in union with them.
There is no fear in love;
perfect love drives out all fear.

We love because God first loved us.
The command that Christ has given us is this:
whoever loves God must love others also.

I wonder what the love of God looks like in your life?

Who or what do you fear?

How do you love others as God loves you?

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[i] 1 Samuel 8

[ii] http://www.churchyear.net/ctksunday.html

[iii] Monica https://revgalblogpals.org/2016/11/15/revised-common-lectionary-who-reigns-edition/#comments

[iv] Guess How Much I love You by Sam McBratney

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