7 November 2012 at Salem Lutheran Church, Gretna, LA
Text: 1 John 3:1-3
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
“See what kind of love the
Father has given to us,” dear friends, “that we should be called children of
God.”
How remarkable that we have
been adopted by the Father, by God Almighty, by the Creator and King of the
universe to be called by the name of His children: “and so we are.”
And this is even though we
are not eternally begotten of the Father, but rather born of sinful flesh from
sinful flesh. We are not His only
begotten Son in whom He is well-pleased, and in fact, we sinful son of men
crucified Him who had no sin, having murdered God’s Son in whom the Lord
delights.
And so, see indeed “what kind
of love” He has for us, a love inconceivable to us, a love that has no limits,
makes no claims, holds no wrongs, and overcomes even sin, death, and the
devil. The Lord has a love for us that
would even allow His most beloved Son to go to the cross as a ransom, a
substitutionary atonement, a sacrifice for us “poor, miserable sinners,” we who
have sinned in “thought, word, and deed” and who continue to sin every waking
moment of our lives.
The world hears this and
mocks.
What kind of a God allows His
Son to be murdered, and rather than vengeance, offers forgiveness? What kind of hypocrites are there in this
church, people who sin and then turn around asking to be forgiven? What kind of love does the Father offer when
the guilty are allowed to go free, when transgressors receive pardon, when justice
is permitted to roll over before mercy?
What kind of a God is that?
That, dear brothers and
sisters, is exactly the kind of God we
have, exactly the kind of God that liberates us from bondage, that quickens us
against death, and that emboldens us against fear. “See what kind of love the Father has given to
us.” For the world doesn’t get it at all,
the world doesn’t comprehend us by any means, because the world does not know
Him in any way!
But we know Him, dear
friends, for we have encountered Him in His Word, in His mercy, in His baptism,
and in His most holy Supper. We have
experienced Him in His promises, by His creation, through His care, and in His
love – and “we shall be like Him.”
Indeed, for the time being, we are not like Him. But we have a promise, dear brothers and
sisters, for our text says: “we shall.”
For “we shall see Him as He is.”
We shall, we shall indeed!
This is the ultimate act of
love the Father has for us. He will truly
show Himself to us in all His glory. He
will hold nothing back, and He shall make us like Him. We shall rise from the grave, we shall
conquer the universe, and we shall live forever in glory beyond what we can
imagine.
But most of all, dear
brothers and sisters, we will love as He has loved us: inconceivable to us, a
love that has no limits, makes no claims, holds no wrongs, and overcomes even
sin, death, and the devil. No matter
what this world offers – this world that does not know Him, no matter what this
world demands – this world that would crush us under foot. We have the love that the Father has given to
us, “that we should be called children of God.”
And so we are. And so we are!
And this is the love that
drives out all fear, the love that conquers all things, the love that never
ends. For this is the love grounded in
faith and hope.
“And everyone who thus hopes
in Him purifies himself as He is pure.”
Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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