Readings: Psalm 22:25-31, Acts 8:26-40, John 15:1-8, 1 John 4:7-21
Preached at First Presbyterian Church, Baldwin, NY, May 6th,2012
A printable PDF file can be found here
Everything I know about growing plants could be written on the back of a postage stamp. I claim zero experience in the green finger department. But this much I know. Nothing grows by coercion. Things only grow through nurture. If you plant tomatoes you cannot go out in the garden and terrify them into maturity. “Now come on little Tommy Tomato plant. Grow up or I'll give you a such a thrashing that you'll never even be able to say the word fertilizer'. You have to tend plants, carefully and gently.
Spiritual growth is no different. Fear can not produce spiritually mature believers. The only fertile ground for true spiritual growth is the love of God. 1 John 4:18-19 tells us“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. We love because He first loved us.”
The last few weeks we have been following a series on John's first letter that has taken us through the themes of sin, forgiveness and love. Last week we were considering the great legacy of love that has been passed on to us .We affirmed that love is a great mystery which opens us to amazing possibilities. In chapter four John takes us further. He gives us the famous phrase 'God is love'.
One of the amazing things about the life of Jesus was how He never acted out of fear but always out of love. That is not to say that Jesus was never afraid. In the Garden of Gethsemane He prays that He may be spared from the pain and agony He would face at the Cross. There's nothing wrong in being afraid. It's part of what makes us human. But being afraid and living in fear are different things.
There are two kinds of fear.
The first is best described as 'Honor' or 'Respect', the second as 'Dread'.
When the Book of Proverbs tells us 'Fear the Lord' the intention is not for us go through the whole of our lives being afraid of what God may do to us if God finds out what we are really like. The fear we are to have towards God is by the way of honor and respect. That was the kind of fear that Jesus had towards His Father. He refused to do anything or be anything that didn't represent the love of God. His whole ministry was built upon respect for and trust in what the love of God could do.
The opposite of respectful fear, the unhealthy, negative kind of fear that John tells us to have nothing to do with, is best described as dread. John writes “Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment”. Dread is the fear that has to do with punishment. Fear of punishment can never help us build a mature relationship with God or with each other. Jesus lived fearlessly because His life was centered in the loving heart of God.
He didn't care what people thought about Him. He was totally secure in His relationship with His Father God. He didn't have to gain favor with people or use people to get where He wanted to be. He was right where He wanted to be, in the will of God. He was able to act in complete freedom and without dread because He knew Himself a child of God. Both at His baptism and on the mountain of Transfiguration He found His identity in His Father's claim on His life “This is my beloved Son”.
What might it take for us to live lives defined by fearless love?
How can we apply these words about 'perfect love casting out fear' to our own lives?
In 1895 a lady called Clara Scott had a hymn published called “Open my eyes”.
Open my eyes, that I may see, glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key, that shall unclasp and set me free.
Only through having a clear picture of God, ourselves and each other can we unlock the mystery of fearless love. Or to put it another way...
We need to:
Redefine how we see the Divine,
Remember the claim of God's name
Reach out to others as sisters and brothers!.
Let us explore those themes a little more!
1. We need a clear picture of God … redefine how see the Divine
What are we afraid of that prevents us from letting the love of God enfold us and envelope us? Our fears can come from an irrational picture of God. Even with my lack of gardening skills I recognize that nothing grows by coercion. Growth takes place through nurture. The first picture the Bible gives us of God is as the Creator. The second picture is the Gardener. As you read New Testament the images Jesus uses are often nurture related. Sowing seeds. Vines and branches. Seeds and Weeds. Springtime and Harvest.
Many of us have picked up on negative images of God. A tyrannical father. A mean dictator. An uncaring judge. A strict disciplinarian. A God of hell-fire whose greatest delight is to punish unrepentant sinners with eternal torment. A warped policeman on high. A God of disapproval. Unapproachable. Unrelenting. Irrational. Making rules we can never keep. A Scary God.
Many times I have had people say to me,'Oh, I wouldn't want to set foot in church, probably make the roof cave in or cause the place to be struck by lightning'. A God who toys with people, who is a despot, a blue meanie, a dark disturbing brooding figure from our worst nightmares. I have heard people describe to me the god they don't believe in and found myself thinking that I don't believe in that kind of god either!
If ever those negative images of God start creeping in on you, read this passage from 1 John and see how many times life affirming love is mentioned. ' This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.' 'We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.' 'There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.'
In order to leave fearless lives we need to put our faith, not in a God we dread, but one whom we have the utmost respect for and seek to honor in the way we live our lives.
2. We need a clear picture of ourselves... remember the claim of God's name
Verse 19 reminds us 'We love because He first loved us.' Our capacity for loving others comes from the security of knowing that we ourselves are loved by God. Every Sunday following our confession of faith we celebrate that through the grace and love of Jesus Christ God claims us as God's own. There is nothing we have to do or can do to be God's children other than thankfully accept our salvation as the huge, undeserved , unwarranted gift that it is. 'Jesus loves me, this I know, For the Bible tells me so'.
“ If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”
In order to live fearless lives we must claim our baptismal heritage as beloved sons and daughters of a God who calls us by name and desires only the utmost best for our lives.
3. We need a clear picture of each other... reach out to others as sisters and brothers
The final verse we read this morning reminds us that the love of God isn't just about us. True, Jesus loves us, but He calls us to share that love with each other. 'Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.'
John is keen to point out that unless love is also transforming the way we see each other, then God's Spirit is not truly at work in our lives. We are called to see each other as God sees us, as people God sent Jesus to die for, as people God loves, as people, who, like us, are marred by our sins, but nevertheless have all the potential that being human gives us.
In order to live fearless lives we must treat others how we would like them to treat us. Grant them all the respect and honor that we ourselves receive from God.
There's a whole lot of teaching that John packed into these verses we've been looking at this morning.
So let me finish with a quick review.
We can't grow spiritually by coercion but only by love. And the greatest source of love in all creation is the love of God, that we see demonstrated in Jesus Christ and which impacts our lives through the action of the Holy Spirit.
In order to live fearlessly we need to;
1. Have a clear picture of the nature of God, redefine how see the Divine.
2. Have a clear picture of ourselves, remember the claim of God's name.
3. Have a clear picture of each other, reach out to others as sisters and brothers.
May God help us, through the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to live lives of fearless love that truly reflect the light of Jesus Christ. AMEN!
Rev Adrian J. Pratt B.D.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment