All You Need Is Love: Sermon 1 John 4:7-21

Who is God and what is God like? Humans have pondered that question since their creation. Today our idea of who God is or what God looks like is based on artistic renditions in paintings and Hollywood’s idea of what God is. We all know the depictions of God that we see on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel and in numerous other paintings. We remember the booming voice heard in the movie The Ten Commandments, there also have been other depictions, George Burns played God in a couple of movies back in the 80s and recently Morgan Freeman played God in a movie called Bruce Almighty. There are also many descriptions of God in the Bible, from God walking in the garden with Adam and Eve, to the burning bush, to Jesus who became God as a human being. The Bible does say that we as humans were made in His image and therefore we can take some idea of what God may look like.

There are many scholars and theologians that study God but have no idea what God really is. I am about to embark on a new journey at Vanderbilt. I am excited to being my studies and learn all I can about God, Christianity, and what it takes to be a minister. However, I already know all the theology that I will ever need and it is something that we have already touched on here. God is love.

The Greeks have several words for love. There is brotherly love which is philos, which is where they get the name for Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. There is eros, which is romantic love and there is agape, that is the unconditional love that God gives to us and we should give to God. I want today talk about that theme and to talk a little bit about the different parts of God’s love; that God’s love is accepting, forgiving, supporting, and freeing.

First, God’s love is accepting. We are accepted into God’s fold, through the sacrifice of his Son. None of us deserves that gift, but God loved us before we were born. He gave us the gift and all we must do is take it. That gives us an example to live by. Just as God is accepting of us, so we should be accepting of our brothers and sisters. John says in his letter “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says ‘I love God’, yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command; Whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Who are our brothers and sisters? Look around you. Anyone and everyone you see, no matter, their race, age, cultural background, are our brothers and sisters and we are commanded to love them as we love ourselves. When we are accepting of others then we become a little more Christ-like and that, I believe is the goal of a Christian life. Jesus ate and hung out with sinners, tax collectors, drunkards, prostitutes, and other people with not so good reputations. When he was asked why he did this, we replied that he was not here to heal the well but the sick. Jesus wanted to be with those he knew needed his love and grace and those who were willing to accept it. We, as Christians must also get in there with our hands and get dirty. We must be accepting of those who may not be the highest caliber, just as Christ is accepting of us.

God’s love is also forgiving. The main theme of the Gospels is that God sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice, for us, although we do not deserve it. Jesus is God in the flesh, he walked among us on the earth, he faced all the same problems and issues that we face not because he had to, but because we wanted to walk a mile in our shoes. When it was all said and done, through his death and resurrection we are forgiven. The only was that could have been done is for Jesus to suffer one of the most painful, humiliating, horrible deaths that mankind has created. The word excruciating comes from the type of pain felt while being crucified. It was so horrible and painful that they have to make up a new word for it and while he was suffering this death he was thinking for us, above all. God knew that he could not lower his standards, so in the ultimate act of forgiveness, Christ became sin for us and God poured out his wrath on him in our place.

If Christ did that for us, when we shouldn’t we do it for each other? Forgiveness is the real “F” word and it is something that is demanded of us by God. What does God’s word have to say about it?

Matthew 6:14-15 “For if you forgive men when they sin against you, you’re heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

Matthew 18:21-23 “Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?" Jesus answered, "I tell you, not seven times, but seven times seven.

Mark 11:25 “And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive him, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.”

Luke 6:37 “Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven”

Luke 17:3 “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him.”

Ephesians 4:32 “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

And that is just a small sample of what God’s word says about forgiveness. God knows that holding grudges not only affects your soul but also your body. I have heard it said that holding a grudge is like drinking poison yourself and then waiting for someone else to die. God forgave us; he has given us the most priceless gift in history. Shouldn’t we then follow in his actions and forgive those who we have fought with. Forgive those who have done wrong to you. Let go of that pain and that burden. Forgive.

God’s love is also supporting. It lifts us up when we are down; it gives us hope eternal no matter what comes our way. God has a plan for each of our lives and he sees us through the hard times and the hard times teaches us and prepares us for the future. God has also given us the greatest support network; the church. Alcoholics Anonymous is a successful rehab organization and one reason why it is successful is because there is a group of people there helping each other through their struggles. In order for the church to be successful we must be there for our church family. Love is the most powerful gift that God bestowed upon us and it is the one thing that unites us all. We should also have an accountability partner. I encourage all of you to get an accountability partner. This is a person who will pray for you and someone you can pray for. You share your secrets and your heartfelt desires with this person. If you are struggling with a particular problem they can help you with it. Jesus had twelve apostles. They followed him everywhere and went with him throughout his ministry, but Christ also had a small group that the really trusted and leaned upon. We remember that during the transfiguration that Jesus brought Peter, James, and John with him, he also took them while he prayed in Gethsemane. Jesus knew the importance of having a close support network.

Finally, God’s love is freeing. Paul says in his letter to the Romans that though we were slaves to sin we have been set free from sin. Christ said in the Gospel of John that whoever the Son sets free is free indeed. If we are free why are there so many Christians that act like they have not been set free? They walk around with what seems to be 4 50lbs sacks of corn on their back, struggling to make it through the day. Why? Because still hold on to their sin even though it has been forgiven. The book of Hebrews says that God “will forgive [our] sins and will remember [our] sins no more”. Many times we tend to receive the forgiveness but forget the forgetting. Whatever you have done, the very second that you receive Christ’s grace your sins are forgotten by God. Even afterwards if you confess your sin to God, then it is forgiven and forgotten. If God has forgotten about it, why haven’t you? Too many times do we hold on to past transgressions when we should just drop them. Take them to the foot of the cross and then leave them there. There is a contemporary Christian song that says that your sins are on the ocean floor forgotten forever. Stop being weighted down by sin you have already confessed and been forgiven of. Receive the freeing power of God’s love and live in joy and peace.

All of these things are aspects of God’s love and we can continue with descriptions and adjectives about the love of God. There is something else; it is something that I have touched on in each of the four aspects of God’s love. Love from is steadfast. God is everlasting, God in Jesus described himself has “the Alpha and the Omega” the beginning and the end, and so we have the assurance that despite all we have done as a species and as a culture that God, who is love, remains steadfast. But if God is love and he gave this love to humanity, then why is there so much hate in the world? I feel it is because although God’s love is everlasting, omnipotent, omnipresent; receiving that love is a choice and with that reception comes a responsibility. And if we choose the love, then we have to choose the whole package. God’s love is not ala carte or a buffet, we cannot say “well I love you God and I love you Jesus and I love my friends and family, but I’m not going to love someone who I don’t like. I will love the church, but if you let someone in that I don’t like, then I will take my love and my financial support elsewhere. It is easy to love those who are underdogs but it is hard to love those who we argue with, it is hard to love those who hate us or spit in our face. And maybe just maybe by expressing genuine love we can help those people see the genuine truth. I am not saying that we have to agree with them, but if we are to love God we must also love all of God’s children. If we choose the love of God then we must take the whole thing. We must strive to love everyone, to love those who look, act, and even love differently. We must continue the love if God’s love is to become complete in us.

Pure love, agape, comes from God. It is not created by humans but it is a gift from God. We have discussed four aspects of that love; accepting, forgiving, supporting, and freeing. When we accept God’s grace, we are forgiven for our sins, we find support with God’s work, and are set free from burdens. That is what God does for us. We must also, be accepting of other people, we must forgive those who do us harm, and we must support each other as Christians. If we do this and remain in God’s love and on His path then we are free indeed.