Do me a favor, please.
Read this text:
1 John 4.7-12
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love
is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and
knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know
God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed
among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the
world so that we might live through him. 10 In this
is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our
sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we
also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever
seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us,
and his love is perfected in us.
Did you read it? Good.
Now, answer this question: How have you been loved
by God?
My assumption is answering that question wasn’t too
difficult, yea? Okay, I have another question. When
was a time you were God’s love for someone?
Maybe this one was a bit more difficult, but I bet
you answered it with some ease.
Now, re-read the text:
1 John 4.7-12
7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is
from God; everyone who loves is born of God and
knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know
God, for God is love. 9 God’s love was revealed
among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the
world so that we might live through him. 10 In this
is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us
and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our
sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we
also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever
seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us,
and his love is perfected in us.
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You, beloved child, have a story to tell. What you
did by answering those two questions was exactly
what our youth did this past Sunday when they were
asked to preach. They simply spoke from the heart
about how they encountered the love of God on their
mission trip. All of them mentioned how by entering
into a relationship with the children of the
reservation they were able to see the face of
Christ. It wasn’t in worship or in a bible study, or
even in a church. Rather, they felt the love of God
when they were playing, reading, and eating with the
community of Martin, South Dakota.
They offered words in a simple sermon.
Loving one’s neighbor need not be a production or an
extravagant experience like a worship service with a
rock band or a large community event. Telling your
story about the ways you’ve encountered God’s love
need not include words like Christology or
sanctification. Rather, what both need is you.
Sunday made me wonder, how have we complicated this
loving our neighbor thing? How have we removed the
relationship part of mission from the life of our
church?
Of course, this ultimately made me wonder, in what
ways are we preventing ourselves from encountering
the transformational love of our Triune God?
Sunday was simple. Loving God is simple. Now it is
up to us to keep it simple, silly!
[Adam Quine, pastor at First Presbyterian Church
in Lincoln]
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