Abiding in Love
“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” 1 John 4.16I’m spoilt for choice today in what to preach upon. I have scanned through the new Harry Potter and can exclusively reveal that it is about the struggle between good and evil. But you already know I am against evil.
Or following the other big media story I could preach upon the demise of the Church of England as she shatters into a thousand pieces and sinks without trace. After 500 years of wrangling over deep theology, politics and the nature of reality, she is, apparently, to flounder over what a bishop used to do in his bedroom.
But you already know I believe in an inclusive view of the Church. Remember the little verse from Edwin Markham that I quoted when I preached on the future of Christianity back in February?
They drew a circle that shut me outLove is the powerful theme of today’s epistle and at this Corpus Christi tide, we do well to remind ourselves of this axis of good which is, despite appearances sometimes, the true axis of our world.
Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout.
But love and I had the wit to win
We drew a circle that took them in
John takes the two great apostolic foundations of the Christian faith - the incarnation and the atoning death of Christ - and clothes them in love. He uproots them from the realm of pure doctrinal necessity and plants them in the fertile soil of God’s great love for us.
Listen to his words: “In this is love - not that we loved God - but that he loved us - and sent his Son - to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (v10)
And then he draws the blindingly obvious conclusion from this: “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.” (v11)
Now we might have expected him to conclude “Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love him.”
But no! Since God is love, both in essence and attitude - both in who he is and in what he does - then the fact that he is in us, through the mystical union of his Holy Spirit; this finds expression in our love for one another.
This is God’s ultimate purpose, the perfection of love as John calls it. He wants to reproduce his love in us so that we can pour out our love to others and so bring them into the circle of God’s embracing kindness.
People are often concerned that they don’t believe the right things. And it’s good to study and to expand our understanding of the faith. But John brings it all down to earth.
He presents a simple test. Is what you believe about God enabling you to love others, with kindness and good deeds? Is it leading you to a place of personal freedom?
Or is what you believe leading you deeper into self-absorption; an inability to give yourself in love to others; an underlying fear of life?
Of course it’s never quite that simple. There will always be our daily failures and inadequacy.
There will always be room for improvement. There will always be adverse circumstances and impossible people. But if our belief in, and love for God results in a practical love for others, then we will not fear God or man.
I’m sure that I’ve told you before that I have always remembered this verse in 1 John 4.17. ‘Perfect love casts out fear’. At a wedding where I was best man a pious absentee sent simply that reference in a telegram. But without checking, I quickly turned to John 4.17 and read out: “Jesus said to her, ‘You are right in saying, 'I have no husband'; for you have had five husbands, and the one you have now is not your husband. What you have said is true!’"
John urges us to believe in the evidence we see with our own eyes: our love for one another. He urges us to believe that we need have no fear. God is at work in us.
On the other hand he gives stark warning to those who would ignore the Christian’s primary mandate to love God and love others. There is no peace for the loveless heart. It is doomed to the turmoil of fear and distrust.
This first epistle of John is an open letter to the church, calling for Christian loyalty, love and understanding as they try to work out their faith. The gnostic deviations of the first century had led to various groups who seceded from the apostolic band. They often claimed that they loved God more than those they had left behind.
Although John admits debate on certain issues, he makes it clear that in one area, and one area alone, there is no room for compromise. There is nothing to debate. And this area was certainly not the authority of Scripture.
For the first 300 years the church had no canon of Scripture as we understand it today. That was to emerge from the heated discussions of the fourth century. And of course Roman Catholics and Protestants still disagree today about what is in the canon.
John makes it clear that there is only one area not for debate. He writes: “Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.” (vv 20f)
Here is one commentator on this passage
to the man out of fellowship with his brethren; to the man who nurses revenge, or spite, or contempt, or simple indifference, towards other Christians; to the man whose assumption of intellectual superiority makes him careless of others’ needs, opinions, feelings and faith, John offers no encouragement. (REO White, An Open Letter to Evangelicals, p119)It is the merciful who will know that God will be merciful to them. It is those who forgive who know that they are indeed forgiven. But there is no peace for the loveless heart.
George Bernard Shaw gave a series of lectures on the English Language in the early days of radio. He happened to mention that there were only two words in English which begin with the sound ‘sh’ although they are only spelt with a single ‘s’.
An indignant listener wrote him a letter saying there was only one word - ‘sugar’.
The listener received a simple postcard by return which said: “Madame, are you sure?”
Being too sure of too much is a dangerous thing. We must always remember that the opposite of faith is certainty, not doubt.
But being too sure of too little is also a disorienting position.
In following Christ we were never promised by our Master an easy life, or a successful life. But we were promised a life full of inner peace and unspeakable joy. And in those rare moments when this is clearest to us, we are overwhelmed by the love of God. By the assurance that we are loved and accepted, and that all will be well.
And in those multitude of more ordinary moments of everyday living with all its messiness and uncertainty, still there is a quiet music in our soul that reminds us that we are loved by the creator of the universe. He came among us in Christ; died for us; rose for us and left us this bread and wine, tangible earnests of his love.
And it is enough.
That God is for us, in all circumstances, against all enemies, in face of all needs, in answer to all accusations and despondency, is sufficient for courage, for hope, and for great endurance. (White p115)“God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.” 1 John 4.16
