| 5-13-07: Love Trumps Fear: 1 John 4 |
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This week's sermon is taken from 1 John 4 as we continue to study some of the "love passages" in the New Testament. This "love letters" series brings us to Number 3, the sermon's entitled "Love Trumps Fear" as we explore St. John's contention that God's love, in community, overcomes fear. It’s probably safe to say that fear is the most devastating emotion, at least it’s the most paralyzing. Fear turns every moment to dread, it destroys spontaneity and pleasure, it robs life of its basic meaning. Anyone who was raised afraid, always or often nervous about what someone would say or do, knows that it had a life-long impact on them. Conversely, those who were raised in a loving family, even if there were problems, tend to have a resilience in the face of threats. As we continue our study of biblical passages about love, we find the Apostle John telling us that “(perfect) love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18). Again, John is using the term “agape” which really refers to the love force of the Holy Spirit, direct love from God. John’s simple assurance in 1 John 4 is that those who’ve confessed Jesus as the Son of God live in love and will not be punished on the day of judgment. So our eternity is set, we don’t have to worry about God’s condemnation. I think that’s comforting, reassuring to know that we are secure for all of the future in the life after this life. That reassurance still leaves us with a bit of apprehension about life on the earthbound side of eternity. Fear about money, health, aging, relationships, taxes and other peoples’ opinions, to name several. We’re all subject to this. John alludes to an answer to this: love your brother. In his long life experience, John has concluded that it’s essential to love God but it’s not enough – we also have to love one another. Again, the teaching is clear, we’re not called to live as solo-Christians. A powerful side point to this, John tells us that if we hate a brother, we’re out of God’s will, we’re a liar: we cannot be in love relationship to God and, at the same time, hate a brother. The next step, the real stretch, is to love that brother. We can only do that if we honestly get to know that brother or sister. I don’t think we can genuinely love somebody we don’t know and getting to know someone means knowing them as they know themselves, as they really are, not as we imagine them to be. There are some issues about this, sometimes this task is complicated by personal issues, but it forces us to put aside our egos and move forward into God-centered relationships. God calls us to love the unlovely and unlovable and to do so is to employ the spirit love of agape. It’s giving respect to people, finding out their stories, finding out what makes them tick. It’s easy to love the lovable and lovely folks, that doesn’t demand a stretch. But even the ones who seem hard to love have something to contribute and that’s what makes a community and the love of brothers and sisters in the community is the foundation of confidence, what sets us free from fear. Knowing that we’re not alone in this and knowing that we’re not negatively judged – that’s what makes the difference. Imagine the skinny grade school kid who’s afraid of a bully. His whole life changes when he discovers he’s got a bigger guy who stands beside him. God did not choose to give us all the answers, we’ll get those when we see Him face to face (1 Corinthians 13:12). God chose to come down and stand beside us through whatever we’re afraid of – that’s the incarnation. Now God gives us the power to stand beside each other in loving support – that’s agape. “And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God love his brother also” (1 John 4:21). |