I can see a wonderful opportunity in this text to use the metaphor
of "the descent of love" into the our ordinary lives. The author of
1 John addresses Christian love not as a Spiritual ascent, but
rather as an incarnational reality that address the bare facts of
physical existance. Oscar Romero seems like a wonderful illustration
of this "descent of love," as he journeyed from a life of study and
prayer to a life of prayer through solidarity with those whose needs
cried out to God from the streets of El Salvadore.
Date: 5/4/2003
Time: 7:19:10 PM
Comment
"Love" in this text seems to be removed from an emotion or feeling.
It is a commandment, an action. We don't have the option as people
of faith.
Tom from MO
If it was easy to love as Jesus loved, would it have had to be a
commandment? No, he does not command us to eat 3 meals a day, to
sleep at night, etc., those are easy for us--but to love as he loves
me????? WV Toni
Question: Which approach do you prefer:
Do we regard the two conditions of our hearts in v. 19-21 as an
either/or regarding the condemnation of our hearts leading to dual
conditions of the human spirit for us to consider based on either
our acts of love or lack of love;
or are these verses regarded as a logical progression from receiving
assurance when our hearts condemn us because we act in love, and
therefore because of the removal of that condemnation having a
boldness before God?
RevRick in SoGa
"Love in Action" has a nice ring to it for a sermon title. I intend
to read beginning with the first verse of the third chapter which
actually began last weeks lectionary text because I preached on the
Luke passage last Sunday. A tie to Mothers Day is that our ancestery
includes a trillion mothers from the time of Christ. Obviously, not
all would be Christian mothers, but it does impact our thoughts when
we contemplate the dynamics of the love in action that Jesus set
into motion. Some have discovered that kind of love through mothers.
However if our task is the bring the world to Christ more of us
mothers and fathers must become the spiritual nurturers of non
Christian families. Does the modern church still have a passion for
love in action?
I am working with the title, "A Reader's Digest Version of the Ten
Commandments." Obviously, John boils down the commandments to two
key points, just as Jesus did: love of God, and love of neighbor. My
fear in preaching such familiar themes is that everyone will nod
their heads and agree that we ought to love God and neighbor.
Therefore, I will probably do more illustration than exegesis. So,
I'm looking for stories about love of God and love of neighbor.
Anybody got any good ones? -Dale in Chattanooga
I was struck by connection of 1 John 3:16 and Gospel of John
3:16-17. We know love by this (1 John) -- God so loved the World
(John) He laid down His life for us (1 John) -- He gave his only Son
(John)
And we ought to lay down our lives for one another (1 John) so that
everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal
life (John)
Let us love, not in word or speech but in truth and action (1 John)
--...God did not send His Son ... to condem...but to save (John)
Pastor Sandy Texan
Dale in Chattanooga The Mother's day stories here on DPS are good
and both would work well, for a sermon that ties mom, God and love
together. Nancy-Wi
I left off my handle (TN Mack) on "Love in Action" contribution. I
would like to add one more comment. The Cross as a symbol presents a
good graphic and metaphor in descibing love in action. The verticle
member of the cross reminds us of our reaching up to God as God
reaches down to us with the message of agape love that is both
transciendent and immanent. The horizontal member reminds us of the
need to share God's love with our brothers and sisters who surround
us in life. Also implied is the need for a balance. The cross is
planted in the earth as reminder of our connection to the world
reality of living in the flesh. When we lose that connection, we can
become so mystical that we lose our connection with the present
reality (example cults like Jim Jones and those mystics who
committed suicide when the Hale-Bob comet passed by the earth). The
top of the cross reminds us of our connectedness with God. When we
do away with all piety, we shrink back to earth and become too
humanistic in our thinking. Each end of the horizontal should remind
us of the need to hold hands with our brothers and sisters all along
our Christian walk to hold one another up. The alternative is to
remove oneself from society and seek to be an island unto oneself.
OK - Greek scholars - is it "agape" or "filio"
sally in ga
Sounds like agape.
Sally
I prefer "festival of the Christian home" to "Mothers Day." I think
this text is a good illustration in and of itself of what a
Christian home is.
We lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters *in Christ*. It
is not necessarily a nuclear family but a church family. That way
all can participate whether or not they had good mothers, or whether
or not they ever had children, or even if they had children who died
... or all those things that I think about when I think about how to
preach on the 2nd Sunday in May.
Sally in GA
Sally - for the record, it's agape.
DD in CA
It is agape, but it is not a universal unconditional love, its focus
is on the community of believers, the people of God and their loving
relationship with one another. This is not the same love that is
reflected in the two great commandments which seems to originate
from below, from us to God and one another; itis a love from above
which is expressed in the Crucified One and manifests itself in the
new community.
tom in ga
I must say I prefer to keep the name "Mother's Day". The love of a
mother is a wonderful thing. Certainly, some people had terrible
mothers who did not love them. Others have not had children, or did
have children who died. But these situations should not cause us to
abandon a celebration of the love a mother, or of the many persons
who have also shown us that love, including males as well as
females. Help a survivor of a bad mother to see that God's plans
call for a mother to love her children, and calls us to forgive
those who do not, and to learn what "not to do" from their example.
Help those who have not had children to not feel "put down" by the
church, but to celebrate the ways we can all share God's love with
each other. Help those who have lost children to feel loved and
comforted and cared for. We can still do all of this in the context
of Mother's Day. We also need to keep Father's Day as well. Anthony
in VA
Stories for I John text? Love is a Verb (my sermon title)
I haven't recovered the source, but recall a story I read a few
years ago that impacted me deeply. Some of the details are murky. If
anyone knows this story and can supply the source or correct
details, be my guest.
A young man named Donald was working the night shift on the
reception desk at a downtown YMCA. He didn't notice two men who
entered the office intending to rob him and the cash drawer. They
beat him very badly and -- assuming he was dead, stuffed his body in
the locker room. Several hours later he was discovered -- still
miraculously alive (barely) -- and admitted to the hospital where he
clung to life -- in and out of a coma -- for months.
By God's grace, Donald began to rally -- to a full recovery, minus
the sight of one eye. He was able to give enough information that
police could indict his assailants. Months later when the case came
to trial, he requested custody of the two young men who assaulted
him. They were brothers. He vowed to help them come to know the Lord
and live accordingly. One brother did everything he could to refuse
this act of grace and eventually landed in prison for several life
terms. The other brother accepted the compassion of the man he had
almost killed. He entered into rehabilitation programs, went back to
school and on to college, and eventually graduated from medical
school to specialize in ophtalmology.
Donald was able to demonstrate the love of Christ in laying down his
life for these young men. Eventually Donald completed seminary and
was ordained.
REVMMT in Pgh, PA
This may be my last contribution to this board (although this will
only make my fourth in four years), because I'm leaving the ministry
for a temporary/permanent leave of absence.
Anyway, the one thing I thought of while reading this passage was a
line from the song, "Under Pressure," by Queen and David Bowie:
Love's such an old-fashioned word, And love dares you to care for
the people on the edge of the night, And love dares you to change
our way of caring about ourselves.
We tend to get stuck in a rut when it comes to love -- we love who
we want, the way we want, and a Bronx cheer to anyone who dares to
tell us we're wrong.
The only problem with it is, Jesus had to come along and screw
everything up. "You have heard it said... but I say...."
RevRon in OH
To Dale in Chattanooga
A man went to a barber shop to have his hair and his beard cut as
always. He started to have a good conversation with the barber who
attended him. They talked about so many things and various subjects.
Suddenly, they >touched the subject of God. >The barber said: "Look
man, I don't believe that God exists as you say." > >Why do you say
that?" asked the client. > >"Well, it's so easy, you just have to go
out in the street to >realize that God does not exist. Oh, tell me,
if God existed, would there be so many sick >people? Would there be
abandoned children? If God existed, there would be no >suffering nor
pain. I can't think of loving a God who permits all of these
things." > >The client stopped for a moment thinking, but he didn't
want to respond so as to cause an argument. The barber finished his
job and the client went out of the shop. Just after he left the
barber shop he saw a man in the street with a long hair and beard
(it seems that it had been a long time since he >had his cut and he
looked so untidy). >Then the client again entered the barber shop
and he said to the barber: > >"You know what? Barbers do not exist."
> >"How can you say they don't exist?" asked the barber. "Well I am
here and I am a barber." > >"No!" the client exclaimed. "They don't
exist because if they did there would be no people with long hair
and beard like that man who walks in the street." > >"Ah, barbers do
exist, what happens is that people do not come to me." >
>"Exactly!"- affirmed the client. "That's the point. God does
>exist, what happens is people don't go to Him and do not look for
Him. That's why there's so much pain and suffering in the world."
Pastor Roger in WV
I don't know id that helped you or not Dale but its a good storie
any way. The bible teaches us that we have not becuse we ask not.
The Lord knows our needs before we ASK. So we must ask. the Lord
wants a relationship with us and that is one way of getting it i
guess lol. But the Lord knows our hearts . For with the heart does
the mouth comfess. Are we confessing the love of God. Happy Mothers
day to all, for we all have Mothers. So this is a day we all can
rejoyce in. Pastor Roger in WV
DALE
Sorry so late. I am a late sermon writer. Here is a very personal
illistration of love of neighbor. My 15 year old daugter is a
patient at MD Anderson. She has been for 2 years. (full story to
long to share) I write from there now. She was admitted 2 weeks ago,
sicker than she had ever been. A new chemo drug had affected her
worse that the stem cell transplant did. It was horrible. One
mother; the mother of a boy who started treatment with us 2 years
ago and whose son died a year ago, kept emailing me from Louisiana.
"Do you want me to come?" I of course said "no, this will pass and
you should not have to endure this fear again". 2 days later, as I
stood at the nurses station asking about one of Kelly's medications,
in walks Ranella. The very mom who endured watching her son die in
this very place not even a year ago. She spent two days with us
doing nothing but loving us. To love thy neighbor is to not wait to
be asked to help. It is simply to help. Be there, LOVE. Causion here
though. To just help is not to boldly tell others what to do. A fine
line, but maybe an illistration you can use.
Tammy in Texas
quick clarification on my daughter. She got out of the hospital
after that struggle..ended up here again Thurs. likely to go home
Sun. Fever.
I think my sermon will focus on this text. I want to work through
the "how do we love each other" thought. I find saying I love you
comes easy for many Christians while acting lovingly is not as easy.
tammy in texas
So, why did we switch to "Festival of the Christan Home and not
"Celebration of the Christian Woman." I like spending a day focusing
on the contributions of women in the family, church, etc, whether
they are mothers or not. a very healing option in my opinion. A
Festival of the Family which springs from Mother's Day just negates
the nurturing aspect of Fatherhood and makes a riddle out of
Father's day. What becomes of Father's Day? Festival of the
Christian paycheck? Pastor Melissa near Boston
Talk about a late sermon writer - heare I am Saturday night. "Tough
Love - Reinvented" To love as Jesus loved, as Jesus commands, is
Tough love - It requires a lot. And yet we gain so much.
Thanks Tammy in Texas for the very moving story.
Reverend KJ
