17 June 2020
Text: 1 John 4:16-21
In the name of +
Jesus. Amen.
There
is a little ritual that has become popular in recent years among some Christians.
The first person says, “God is good, all
the time,” and the response is “All the time, God is good.” This is certainly a biblical theme, as God is
indeed “good.” In the Hebrew sense of
the word, “good” implies perfection. Muslims
often confess their god Allah to be good when they proclaim “Allahu Akbar.”
But
there is not much comfort for sinners in emphasizing the goodness of God.
The
great Lutheran bishop and writer Bo Giertz captured this in his novel, The Hammer
of God. As an elderly man lay on his
deathbed, he was tormented by his sins. The
youthful pastor tried to comfort the old man by saying, “But God is good.” Johannes replied, “Yes, God is good, very
good. It is just for that reason I am in
such a bad way. Pastor, you do not know
how good God has been to me. He has
sought my soul and bidden me walk the way of life. But I have not done so. He has shown me heaven’s purity, but I shall
never win it.”
The
“God is good, all the time” chant doesn’t really convey what is important about
God’s nature for us “poor, miserable sinners.”
St.
John, the apostle whom Jesus loved, teaches us a more excellent way: “We have
come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love.”
“God
is love,” dear friends. Love does not
focus on itself in order to settle grievances, or to keep score with someone
else’s lack of goodness. Love doesn’t
operate this way. Love is focused on the
beloved. Love is unconditional. Love is non-judgmental. Love seeks a way to elevate the other rather
than try to tear him down.
And
yes indeed, God is good. God is
perfect. God is just. God demands that we too be perfect, or we
deserve death and hell. This is all
true. But love finds a way to save the
beloved from his fate – even if the fate is well-deserved. “God is love,” and this is why the second
person of the Holy Trinity, our Lord Jesus Christ, condescended to take on our
mortal flesh, to breathe our poisoned air, to live in our rotting, fallen world
– in order to rescue us. He allowed Himself
to satisfy the demands of justice by dying in our place. His blood was shed for our sins, and His
righteousness is declared to be our righteousness. His Word created reality, and His absolution
at the cross offers the reality of forgiveness to all people of every time and
place.
Of
course, love does not force or compel. Love
is freely offered, and it can be freely accepted, or freely rejected. For those who reject the free gift, there is
no salvation. For those who refuse to
repent of their sins, there is no salvation. For love doesn’t work like that. But to all who receive the gift of salvation
in love, in faith, with repentant hearts – all are welcomed, even as the lover
embraces the beloved – without judgment, and without condition.
Johannes
did not need his pastor to tell him of God’s goodness, but rather of God’s
mercy, for mercy is a component of love.
True love is merciful and directed toward the beloved.
In
our fallen world, love is often talked about, but often perverted. Just look at the characters in our stories
today – especially in TV shows and movies.
Hollywood’s heroes are anti-heroes: narcissistic, self-centered,
operating according to a political agenda far removed from love. Today’s movie heroes are often sociopathic,
lacking a conscience, devoid of empathy, and in many cases, outright evil.
But,
dear friends, our God: the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is love. Christ doesn’t merely tell us that He loves
us, nor does He even simply demonstrate love – rather He is love down to the
core of His being: both human and divine.
Jesus empties Himself and takes the form of a servant in order to redeem
us. He willingly takes the hatred of his
own people, of the religious leaders, of the Judean government, and of Rome
itself. He offers Himself up as the
ultimate sacrificial Lamb for the life of the world, an oblation on the altar
of the cross, His blood covering all of us who confess His name, we who are
washed in His blood in the waters of Holy Baptism. He freely gives this redemption as a free
gift. You do not, nor can not, earn it
or pay for it. Salvation is a gift of
love.
The
Christian life, dear friends, is a response to this love, to this gift, to this
salvation that we have in Christ’s blood purely by grace. As St. John reminds us: “Whoever abides in
love abides in God, and God abides in Him.”
To abide means to remain. We
remain steadfast in the love of God through hearing the Word and receiving the
sacraments. We abide in His love by
showing love to others – not in order to earn God’s love, for love isn’t
earned, but rather given. The love of God
(who is love) is made manifest in us when we show love to our neighbor. And when we fail, as we inevitably do, our
loving and merciful Lord provides the sacrament of Holy Absolution, so that we
may rest secure in the love of God by means of His Word of love and forgiveness
spoken directly to us.
And
it is in abiding in the Lord’s love, in living in His love by being immersed in
Word and Sacrament, that “love is perfected in us,” in order that “we may have
confidence for the day of judgment.’ Our
faith is not in our works, not in how well we measure up to some ideal. Our faith is in the Word and promise of God (who
is love), that for the sake of that love, we are forgiven, and we receive this
love, mercy, and forgiveness all by grace.
And
it is by grace that we become vehicles for God’s love to others, for “because
as He is so also are we in this world.”
Since
God is love, and since we are loved by God, it is fitting that we love others. It is not fitting for one who has been loved
by God to hate his brother. “For he who
does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not
seen.”
The
Christian life is not about securing for ourselves a place in heaven, and even
then, to try for the best seat in the house by means of doing more good works
than the next guy. Salvation is already
ours as a gift. Instead, our good works
are acts of love for our neighbor without regard to what is in it for us. This selfless love, the love of Jesus, is the
kind of love we are called to as His redeemed, beloved people, dear friends.
Indeed,
let us always remember, in good times and in bad times, that “God is love, all
the time. All the time, God is love.”
Amen.
In the name of the Father
and of the + Son and of the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
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