Lenten Midweek III

Lenten Midweek III: “Abiding in the Love of God”

March 26, 2025

Text: 1 John 4:11-16

            When our Lord Jesus commands us, as He does in our Holy Gospel this evening, “that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another” (John 13:34; ESV), He is not primarily concerned that we have warm and fuzzy feelings toward each other.  It would be ideal if we did.  We will in heaven, and in the Resurrection.  But such feelings are not love.  They are really just a symptom of love, and in this fallen flesh, and in this fallen world, those feelings come and go.  Love is something much deeper, sturdier, more concrete than mere feelings.  In his first Epistle, St. John has been unpacking for us what this means, what love is.  And tonight, he gives us at least three facets of the answer.

            John says this is love: To abide in, to be immersed in the God who is love in His essence.  That is, really, to be baptized.  To be tucked into the saving work of Christ, united to His flesh, His death, His resurrection, clothed, covered, in His righteousness.  To be tucked into the mystery of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  To receive the (1) Spirit of the (2) God who sent His (3) Son to be the Savior of the world.  In receiving this Spirit, we come to know and believe (faith) the love that God has for us, and we abide in it.  And abiding in that love, we abide in God Himself… we’re immersed in Him… and He abides in us.  That is the primary and most profound point: Love is to abide in the God who is Love.  And to be filled with Him.

            Then John says this is love: To see and testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Savior of the world.  To confess that Jesus is the Son of God (this is another dig against Cerinthus and his false teaching, by the way).  In other words, to confess the mystery of the incarnation, that this Man, Jesus of Nazareth, is God Himself, and that the Father has given Him for us and for our salvation.  This confession is the result of our immersion in the love of God, and His filling us with Himself.  It is what the Spirit we have received, does in us.

            And finally, John says this is love: To (as Jesus commands) love one another.  To love our fellow Christians, our brothers and sisters in Christ.  And to love the neighbor God puts next to us.  The love of God fills us, and then spills over in us.  It envelopes our neighbor.  And John tells us that in so loving one another, we are actually loving God, and we are loving with the very love of God.  It is very much related to Matthew 25, and whatever you’ve done to the least of these.  We can’t see God.  But we can see each other.  John will make a big point of this in our text next week.  So if we want to love God, we have to do it by loving those He made in His image.  That is, other human beings.  And, again, this isn’t just about having warm and fuzzy feelings toward them.  No, if we’re loving with the love of God, what does that look like?  It looks like decision.  As the Father decided to love us.  It looks like declaration.  As the Father declared that we are His beloved.  And it looks like self-sacrificial action.  The giving of the Son.  The cross.  Look at your neighbor and decide to love him, an act of your will.  Declare that he is now the object of your love, as God so declares of each one of us.  And then, sacrifice.  Give of yourself.  Give yourself up for the sake of your neighbor, to provide for his needs and promote his good. 

            So, to summarize, John says this is love: To abide in God, to confess Him, and to love your fellow Christians.  Okay.  But what does that look like on the ground? 

            As a congregation, and in our individual and family lives, it means centering all that we do, and all that we’re about, in Christ, and around His gifts to us in Word and Sacrament.  Because that is where we’re immersed in God’s love… in God Himself… where we abide in God, and God abides in us.  Baptism.  Scripture.  Preaching.  Holy Absolution.  The Supper of our Lord’s body and blood.  That is where God pours out His love and His Spirit upon us.  We can only give what we’ve been given.  We can only love if we’re immersed in love, and filled with love.  So, that means getting to Church, as often as you can.  That means bringing your family to Church.  That means reading the Bible.  Studying the Bible (Bible class).  And praying.  Parents, it means teaching your children.  Here, teaching them how to listen quietly and participate, from the very earliest age.  It means Sunday School.  Catechism class.  At home, it means Bible stories, devotions, family prayers.  Center your day around Christ and His gifts.  Center your whole life around Christ and His gifts.  Get rid of anything incompatible with Christ and His gifts (that is repentance).  (My wife often says, “If you can’t tell your mom about it, you probably shouldn’t do it.”  We could also say, “If you can’t ask God to bless it, you probably shouldn’t do it.”  Get rid of it.)  Tie everything else into Christ and His gifts.  Receive everything as a gift of His love.  Even suffering, when it comes.  Trusting that He is doing it for your good.  Just, receive.  God is the Giver.  You, always be the receiver.  Live a receptive life.  Live a thankful life.  Be loved. 

            Then, confess.  Confess Christ.  Confess the Christian faith.  Talk about it.  Let it be your daily life and conversation.  Of course, when people ask you, or the opportunity presents itself, be prepared to confess Christ by knowing the Creed, and knowing the Catechism.  As Peter says, always be prepared to give an answer for the hope that is within you (1 Peter 3:15).  But just as a matter of course, let your whole speech and life be ordered according to the gifts of Christ.  By habit, just make it a natural part of your inner and outer dialog.  Bless people when you meet them, or when you are parting.  Say, “God bless you.”  When good things happen, or when you hear of something wonderful, say “Thank God,” or “Praise the Lord.”  When bad things happen, or you hear of something terrible, say "Lord, have mercy,” or “Christ help us.”  And so on, and so forth.  Tell people you are praying for them.  And then do it.  Don’t be afraid.  What’s the worst that will happen.  So they make a strange face at you.  So they tell you they don’t need it, or don’t want it.  So what?  You know they do need it.  And all the authority of the living God who loves you is behind you.  So just do it. 

            Also, support the confession of others.  Support the preaching.  Give to your Church.  Give to missions.  Encourage your neighbor in his confession.  That is, help to put the courage into him by confessing with and to him, and consoling him when he suffers for it.  Do not discourage your neighbor (that is, take the courage out of him).  And pray.  Pray for his confession.  Pray for your own.  Pray for your congregation.  Pray for your pastor.  Pray for future pastors and consider supporting them tangibly and/or financially.  It’s an investment in the Kingdom that will not return to you void. 

            And here we’re really already transitioning into the third thing.  Loving one another.  Pouring out the love of Christ, first on our brothers and sisters in our own family and our own congregation, then on other Christians, then on any and every neighbor God puts in our path.  That is important, by the way, this ordering of your love.  Because, while you should love all humanity, there is something purely theoretical, and therefore safe, about such general and ambiguous love.  It doesn’t really call upon us to sacrifice or do anything concrete.  No, you are given specific people, in a specific place and time, to love with concrete and self-sacrificial actions.  You start with those closest to you, and work your way out.  Those in your own home.  Then those around you here in the pews.  Then other Christians.  Then whoever else is in need of your love, which is to say, your time, your labor, your money, your stuff.  Of course, your resources are limited, which is another reason this order is important.  You can’t do everything.  And sometimes you have to do some triage of the needs presented to you, to use your love most effectively.  But don’t use that as an excuse not to love.  And don’t use the worthiness of the person who needs your love as an excuse, either.  You aren’t worthy of God’s love.  Remember that.  Jesus didn’t come to save you because you were worthy.  He didn’t die for you because you were worthy.  He did it because He loves, and He is love.  And you are simply loving, now, with His love… with the love you’ve been given.  So that is how you are to love, too. 

            And that means, more than anything else, to extend mercy.  That is, to forgive.  “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins,” Peter says (1 Peter 4:8), quoting Solomon in Proverbs 10 (v. 12), and echoed by St. James in his letter (5:20).  So there are at least three fathers of your faith who point out that the ultimate act of love is to forgive those who sin against you.  To cover over the sins and faults and weaknesses of others.  As we pray in the Lord’s Prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.”  And that shouldn’t surprise us.  Because that is, finally, the way God pours out His love upon us.  Christ.  The giving of His own beloved Son.  Christ crucified for the forgiveness of our sins.  That is love.  That is the love with which we are loved.  That is the love with which we love. 

            “Love one another,” the Lord commands.  And here is what the means: Abide in God.  Confess Christ.  Pour out your love, concretely, on your neighbor.  There is more to say on this, and John will say it.  And so we will continue our meditation next week.  In the Name of the Father, and of the Son X, and of the Holy Spirit.  Amen.