Now is the Time

https://www.podbean.com/media/share/pb-qjcsd-166c675

The world is throwing around a whole lot cruelty, violence, division, and hatred.  If ever there was a time for love, it would be now.  While we want to respond to what the world is offering in a similar way, Jesus calls us to respond differently.  Now is the time for us to live into this calling of love.  The sermon is based on 1 John 4:7-21.

Here is the manuscript for this week’s Sermon:

Christianity in America has had a unique history.  There haven’t been persecutions like many other parts of the world – not that I’m complaining about that.  We haven’t had martyrs for the faith here – again, not complaining.  In fact, for a good portion of America’s history, Christianity has had a favored and a privileged position in this country.  You might remember the Blue Laws in which everything was closed on Sundays.  Many of the movements of the past, like Temperance, Abolition of Slavery, Civil Rights, and other movements all found a home in the church.

Christianity in this country has taken on many different forms.  We’ve done the whole Christendom thing, or some variation of it. Christendom is this weird twisting of Christianity with state power.

We’ve tried cultural Christianity, which is more about family background, the social pressure of being Christian in order to do business or to fit into social circles rather than actually believing and practicing the faith.

We’ve tried a version of Christianity that focused on scaring people, using fear and force. The Puritans were really good at that.

We’re tried a compartmentalized Christianity – where some thought we only need to practice the supposed niceness of Jesus on Sunday mornings, and then set it aside and practice the ways of the world the other 6 1/2 days.

And now we have yet another version of Christianity asserting itself – one interested in imposing its beliefs on others, supposed all for everyone else’s own good.

None of these forms of Christianity have lasted.  Why?  Real simple – Where’s Jesus?  Jesus and his way seem to be missing in all of these forms.  Instead, most of these things seem more interested in creating some kind of moral code, rather than encountering Jesus, hearing his Good News and being transformed by him.

1 John reminds us that everything starts from God loving us first.  It’s only possible to love God, or our neighbor, or anyone else for that matter, because God loved us first.  God knows us and loves us.  I can’t emphasize this enough – God finds us lovable, even when we have trouble loving ourselves.  Where is that message in Christendom, or cultural Christianity, or fear-based Christianity, or compartmentalized Christianity, or Christian Nationalism?  I don’t know about you, but I need a Christianity that actually proclaims a transformative Good News and is based on love.

This past week I heard a pastor talk about God’s love.  This pastor said that all our hatred towards others, our lack of love, our anger, our fear, and more – all of these things are just outward expressions of the difficulty we have with loving ourselves.  We need the Good News that God loves us, because we can’t do it ourselves.

So what is this love that 1 John talks about.  It is divine love.  It is God’s act of will.  We’re not talking about emotions, or sappy feelings.  We’re talking about love as a force to be reckoned with, something that cannot be stopped.  God’s love is a stubborn love.  Humanity has spent eons fighting God and God’s ways, rejecting God, and saying one thing and then doing the opposite.  And in spite of all of that and more, God stubbornly persists in loving humanity.  If that’s not Good news, I don’t know what is!

If ever there was a time for Christians to practice the loving way of Jesus – this would be it. Now is the time.

So what does it mean to follow Jesus and his way? Jesus’ way rejects violence and the use of force – even towards our enemies.  His way rejects manipulation and threats.  Where is there love in any of these things?  Remember, God loved us first, so that we can love others.  Jesus’ way is invitational and welcoming.  His way is rooted in love.  Jesus’ way doesn’t see others who are different as threats, but rather as representing a wider swath of the image of God.  That is rooted in love.

Jesus’ way rejects the idea of the ends justify the means. We hear him reject this belief system over and over again in the Gospels. Why?  Because the ends justify the means isn’t based on love.  The ends justify the means is far more concerned with being right and winning than with loving people.  Love is the ends and the means.

Jesus’ way is about loving others and seeing their humanity regardless of how they respond. To serve and love and care about the well-being of the other, even if they intend to cause harm, suffering, or worse.  This is what the radical love of Jesus is all about, because only love transforms people.  God is willing to go to great extremes to show his love for us – Jesus was willingly arrested, beaten, dehumanized, and executed with humanity’s hands, and in spite of that, Jesus still loved us.  It’s a love that thankfully isn’t fair, isn’t rational, and isn’t based on what we deserve.

Now is the time for Christians to see how they are loved by Christ. To hear him speaking to us about how he loves each one of us in spite of everything. To feel him grab each one of us by the arm to pull us up over and over again.

To see him there in the midst of horribleness so that we know we are not alone. To feel him abide within each of us in order to be set free from how we want to respond to the world.  To be released of all of it and instead be filled with love, mercy, grace, forgiveness. So that our eyes are able to see the image of God in ourselves and in others.  To embrace the hope that is promised to us.  To live this love in the world.  To love our neighbors and our enemies.  To be an instrument of God’s transformative love.

Now is the time to respond to God’s love for each one of us.  And to do it together, not alone.  Not to set it aside because the world throws violence, force, anger, fear, and more at us and we want to respond in kind. Now is the time to follow a better path. Now is the time to love our enemies. Now is the time to see the image of God in those who refuse to see it in us. Now is the time to be peacemakers with those who insist on violence, revenge, and force. Now is the time to invite people into this way, especially when it seems like there is no choice in the matter. Now is the time to say “no” when others demand our allegiance to ways of abuse, cruelty, the ends justify the means, and more. Now is the time to live the transformative love we have been given.

Now is the time. Because God loved us first we don’t love others only when it’s convenient and easy and the other person is lovable.  The Good News is that God’s love is stubborn and will not be stopped.  God’s love persists when times are most difficult, and it looks hopeless.  God’s love show’s up when we feel most alone. When it seems like all is lost. When we want to toss Jesus and his ways aside.  He comes storming in and grabs hold of us anyway.  When we fool ourselves into believing that someone else has a more realistic way to deal with the world, with enemies, and with life, Jesus comes to us, looks us in the eye and tells us that he loves us and invites us to come and follow him.  He doesn’t promise it will be easy.  But it will transform us in ways we can’t even fathom.  And we will know love unlike any we have ever known.

God’s love persists.

Now is the time to live the hope we have been given. Now is the time to see the Image of God amongst us and in us. Now is the time to give undeserved mercy and grace. Now is the time to embrace the radical hope that Christ offers. Now is the time to for love.  Now is the time.