Sermon: Wednesday of Trinity 1 - 2020

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.