Weekly Sermon

"Abiding in God" : May 25, 2003

The Reverend Anne Benefield

John 15:9-13; I John 4:7-21

Before we read the beautiful words of I John, I would like to tell you a little bit about the historical and communal context. The community was shaken by a mutiny, one in which some of the insiders left (2:18-19). John's goal in writing this letter was to keep the remaining church together.

According to a commentary in Homiletics Magazine, "This communal anxiety shapes this passage in the fourth chapter. The love that is described is neither love of stranger nor of the outcast-it is a love for those who are part of the Johannine church. This is a text not to be misunderstood as some general "love of neighbor" ethic; rather, it is a test that serves to underline the quality of relationships within the church. "One cannot be certain of the details, of course, but in light of the mutiny of part of the community, it is as if John is drawing his church back to the fundamentals of their faith in order to steady them for the coming judgment. Regardless, I John 4:7-21 is an exquisitely lovely passage about God's love for the believer and the love that believers should have for one another." [Commentary, I John 4:7-21, Homiletics Online, 5/21/2000] I John 4:7-21 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love.

God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only son into the world so that we might live through him. In this love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.

Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brother or sister, 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. Prayer: Loving God, We are your people; we ask to dwell in you. Show us your perfect love and free us from our fears. Open our hearts to your Word this morning. In the name of Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.

I think I should begin by telling you that in the Guinness Book of World Records, the shortest sermon ever preached is listed. John Albrecht, an Episcopal priest in Michigan, gave it. He stood in his pulpit to preach, paused, and said, "Love!" He then sat down. Some of his parishioners said it was the best sermon he ever preached. I'm afraid that this morning, you are not going to be blessed with such a concise message, although it is surely true that a one-word summary of the passage would be "love." From beginning to end, love is the theme. Notice how it even begins with the greeting, "Beloved." God's love has transformed his people into the beloved and calls them to follow his lead, loving each other as God loves them. God's love is a deep abiding love to be shared among God's people. Although we may have differences, as John's community had differences, the love between us strengthens us to accept our differences and continue together.

John is not talking about just going through the motions. In the spring of 1924, Jack Sundine was a four-year-old boy, standing in line with his father inside the White House, waiting to meet President Calvin Coolidge. As they neared him, Jack noticed that President Coolidge said something to each visitor as they shook hands. Soon, the thrilling moment arrived. Jack put his small hand into the President's. The President said words Jack will always remember: "Move along." God's love isn't like that-it does just move us along. It transforms us. Notice how John writes that no one has seen God, but if we love God, God lives in us. God is visible in us through our love for each other. This is not a sentimental love. It is a love that can give heroic power.

In his book Let Me Tell You a Story, Tony Campolo tells about a new recruit who went to Paris Island hoping to become a marine. "He was one of those young men who seemed to be a bit out of step with the norm, and he easily became the subject of ridicule for those who enjoy picking on off beat people. "In the particular barracks to which this young marine was assigned, there was an extremely high level of meanness. The other young men did everything they could to make a joke of the new recruit and to humiliate him. One day, someone came up with the bright idea that they could scare the daylights out of this young marine by dropping a disarmed hand grenade onto the floor and pretending it was about to go off. Everyone else knew about this and they were all ready to get a big laugh. "The hand grenade was thrown into the middle of the floor, and the warning was yelled, 'It's a live grenade, it's a live grenade! It's about to explode!' "They fully expected the young man would get hysterical and perhaps jump out a window. Instead, the young marine fell on the grenade, hugged it to his stomach, and yelled to the other men in the barracks, 'Run for your lives! Run for your lives! You'll be killed if you don't!' "The other marines froze in stillness and shame. They realized that the one they had scorned was the one ready to lay down his life for them. And so it was with Jesus." [Tony Campolo, Let Me Tell You a Story: Life Lessons from Unexpected Places and Unlikely People, (Nashville: Word Publishing, 2000), 21]

But how do we as Christians find the courage to love each other that much? It is only through the gift of the Spirit of Jesus Christ. On our own, we couldn't be that loving. In the Spirit we experience Christ's presence right here with us. It is an interesting thing, but several times a week someone will come to my mind seemingly out of the blue. Inevitably, I will find out later that right when I thought of them, they were going through a crisis. I have long since stopped trying to explain it or even understand it. I just stop what I'm doing and pray for that person. It doesn't happen for every crisis, but it happens enough that I don't question it, I just pray. I'm convinced that at that moment of crisis, the Spirit awakens in me thoughts and prayers for the one who is in trouble. Our passage says, "By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit." But what does it mean to abide in God?

I read a powerful story about what it means by Reverend Timothy Forbess. He wrote about the experience saying, "On a vacation trip to Williamsburg, Virginia, to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary, Roy and Karen Pike from Columbus, Ohio, slammed into a tractor-trailer parked along the shoulder of the road, and were killed instantly. Their three sons, aged 20, 17, and 16, were left behind to open anniversary cards and sympathy cards the same day, to turn roses sent for celebration into memorial flowers, to take their first steps into adulthood by selecting caskets and burial space for their parents. Yet, 17-year-old Kevin Pike, who handled all the burial arrangements for his parents, testified before the memorial service how he was experiencing God amidst the tragedy. 'Right now,' he confessed, 'I see God as my shelf; everything on it has been moved around, changed or broken and I know that it is always going to be different and changing, more now than ever before. But the shelf that I can put everything on hasn't changed. God is still the same.' God is our shelf that we can put our lives upon, and no matter how rearranged it becomes, God will sustain us." [Timothy Forbess, "Rearranging God's Shelf")

On this Memorial weekend, we remember those who laid down their lives for us. They left families and friends behind whose shelves in God were painfully rearranged. Those who died were heroes. Those who lost them were heroes, too. When we think about those sacrifices, we recognize that many of us have never been in a situation where we had to make the choice of laying down our lives. We feel more like spectators than participants in those real-life dramas. We feel a distance from those situations, but I wonder if we are so distant from life and death choices. Without realizing it, I think we may be laying down our lives for all kinds of things. The only way to insure that we are laying down our lives for the right things is to abide in God. Let me give some examples of what I am talking about. Some people are laying down their high-powered careers to raise children. They have given up a life of status and money, for a life of caring, cooking, and washing. Some people are laying down their spare time, entertainment and recreation time, to volunteer to help the needy who can't ever repay them. They have given up a life of concerts and sports events for a life of feeding the homeless, visiting the prisoners, and helping the helpless. Some physicians are laying down a practice and comfortable life in the suburbs for a life spent traveling the world to treat the sick living in third-world poverty. Some lawyers are laying down a lucrative litigation career for a life spent defending the poor and marginalized. Some scientist are laying down the financial rewards of a career in business to work for the government helping to set fair standards. But some people are laying down their lives for the almighty dollar, or the earthly palace, or the body "to die for." If we abide in love, we abide in God and the decisions we make will embody the agape love of our Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.