Forming Community by Loving One Another
Text: 1 John 3:16-24
Aldersgate
I.
Batter’s box of
Christian faith contained in today’s lessons
a.
Baseball season is here! Don’t you just love it!
b.
Such a fascinating game
i.
Who’s the most
important player?
1.
pitcher
2.
catcher
3.
fielder
ii.
No, the
batter.
iii.
Can’t play the
game if the batter’s not in the batter’s box
c.
The batter’s box of Christian faith is loving one
another
i.
That’s where we
have to stand in order to begin
ii.
It’s not as easy
as it sounds
1.
not a matter of saying that were in the batter’s box
2.
can’t just stand there, you have to swing
II.
“Little
children, let us not love in word and speech, but in deed and truth.”
a.
Great words, familiar words, but how do we do it?
i.
Two brothers who
consistently fight with each other – how do we help them love each other?
ii.
Two farmers
arguing over a property line, years of argument escalate into name calling –
how do we help them to love each other?
iii.
Two churches,
one in our northern hemisphere and one in our southern, less wealthy, less
developed, hemisphere arguing over finances – how stay in covenant and continue
to find love for each other?
iv.
Two peoples,
Palestinian and Jewish, claiming ownership rights of the same land – how do we
help to resolve the conflict?
v.
One country,
attacked by terrorists – how do we practice the love of God that’s been shared
with us and love our enemies?
b.
Clarence Jordan’s Cotton Patch version of 1 John
3:18, “My little ones, let’s not talk about love. Let’s not sing about love. Let’s put love into action and make it real.”
c.
Christian philosopher, Soren
Kirkegard pointed out that Jesus is looking for
followers, not admirers
i.
Told a parable
about a man walking the city streets
1.
saw a sign in a window that said “Pants pressed here”
2.
went home and got several pairs of pants and took
them back to the shop
3.
laid them up on the counter and clerk said, “What are you
doing?”
4.
“I brought my pants to be pressed just like your sign
said.”
5.
“Oh, you’ve got it all wrong”
a.
We don’t actually do that here.”
b.
We’re in the business of making signs.”
III.
“By this we know
love, that he laid down his life for us.”
a.
We cannot dismiss the gift of Jesus Christ
i.
Choir sang text
of 23rd Psalm
1.
We identify Jesus with the shepherd of this psalm
2.
It is Jesus who leads us and provides for us.
3.
It is Jesus who goes with us through the valley of
the shadow of death.
4.
God, known in Jesus prepares a banquet for us and
fills our life with goodness and mercy
5.
God leads us to dwell in his house forever.
6.
Even more than this, it is Jesus, the good shepherd,
who lays down his life for us.
ii.
We, however,
like foolish sheep, reject Jesus' claim.
1.
Out of weakness and fear we get carried away by our
own passions.
2.
We use our wills to satisfy our greed and
selfishness, our lusts and desires.
3.
We all do it – it’s part of our human condition as
creatures
iii.
But Jesus like
the good shepherd,
1.
does not abandon us.
2.
Rather, he searches us out
a.
Verse 6 “goodness and mercy shall follow me”
b.
actually in other places this Hebrew verb is pursues
me rather than follows me
3.
Through conscience and the witness of the church God
calls us, pursues us
4.
With grace and mercy he picks us up and forgives us.
Carrying us in his arms back home.
5.
But why? Why
does God pursue us?
a.
Out of love for us
b.
The grace and mercy offered by God in Christ is a
great blessing
c.
So great that our natural response is to commit
ourselves to the task of shepherding one another.
b.
(Repeat a) Should
not we be about the business of laying down our lives for others?
i.
Showing and
acting love, rather than talking about it?
ii.
Rudolph Bultman
1.
“active love is based on
experienced love: from [Jesus’] love for us we learn what love is.”
2.
“It is absurd [to think] that the ‘love of God
abides’ in the one who is not compassionate.”
c.
Loving others is not a matter of choice for those who
love God
i.
It’s an
imperative!
ii.
but how?
1.
Easy to go off believing
a.
that I know how to set the world right
b.
what to do about homelessness
c.
right decision about gay marriage
d.
lots of comfort in a black and white world
i.
good guys and
bad guys
ii.
angels and
demons
iii.
winners and
losers
2.
harder to stay in relationship with those who
disagree with me
a.
let’s keep talking
b.
Stay rooted and grounded in God’s love
c.
If you can’t love then at least respect the other
d.
Jesus was not about crushing his opponents
e.
Rather he challenges us with his words in Matthew
5:44-45, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you
may be children of your Father in heaven.”
IV.
When we open
ourselves to God, the love of God gives us strength to keep loving others
a.
Only with God can we fulfill the command to love one
another
b.
“Any love we show is a sign and signal that God’s
love is working in us.” (Homiletics)
i.
Proven form of
evangelism
1.
Compassionate sharing of our possessions with those
in need
2.
Letting them know that the gifts are not coming from
us, but from the love God has given to us
3.
God’s love is so great that it overflows into the
lives of others
ii.
Also seems to be
a proven form of stewardship
c.
Keep returning to this basic understanding of our
faith
i.
This teaching
about loving one another is the batter’s box of the Christian faith
ii.
(1 John
4:7) author appeals to us once more
“Brothers and sisters let us love one another”
1.
not just here at Aldersgate
2.
but in the greater community with our neighbors
a.
and who is your neighbor
i.
everyone
ii.
Jesus invites us
in the Good Samaritan story to love even our enemies
d.
In the 21st chapter of John’s gospel, we
read about another resurrection appearance
i.
Along the shores
of
ii.
Jesus establishes
who he is and that he is real, not just a ghost, by eating fish
iii.
Then he says to
Peter three times
1.
Do you love me?
2.
feed my lambs
3.
tend my sheep
4.
feed my sheep
iv.
its an
imperative for those who love Jesus
e.
When Manny’s in a slump, what’s the best remedy? –
Keep getting into the batter’s box
f.
Likewise, when
the church is losing its sense of community, what’s the best remedy?
i.
Keep getting
into the batter’s box of loving one another
ii.
Stand up to the
plate and feed God’s sheep
iii.
Continue forming
community by loving one another
iv.
Are you willing
to get into the batter’s box and begin?