Minister's Message - May 2012

Making God’s Love Visible

"Little children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it." (1 John 3:18)

How do you like being addressed as "little children"? Many times the way a speaker addresses his audience is a clue of what is coming. "Ladies and gentlemen" gives one the feeling that a formal speech is coming.

"Friends" is a signal of a different kind of speech, maybe a bit more folksy and intimate. "Brethren" is a sign, especially when women are present, that we are about to hear some sort of sermon that may be out of touch with reality. The apostle addresses us as "little children" and then he appeals to our mature judgment. These words express a certain tenderness and affection, as a father would have for his children. He is reminding us of Jesus' words when he said that it is as little children that we enter the kingdom of God. He is going to talk about the greatest theme in the world -- what God is and the kind of people we are meant to be. He is going to deal with the very heart and center of the Christian life.

"God is love." John is the only writer in the whole Bible who said it. This is the central theme of our Christian faith. The same writer who tells us that God is love is the one who wrote that "God so loved the world that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16a). There are many religions that have
something to say about this love, but there is only one that says that this love became visible in the life and death of a human being who was the perfect reflection of the Father in heaven. John begins this epistle by declaring how this love became visible: "We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life – this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it..." (1:1-2a).

John declares that this love of God was made visible in Jesus Christ. Yes, visible. Love became visible as Jesus walked the village streets preaching good news to the poor, visible in the healing of lepers, visible in the casting out of demons, visible in feeding the hungry, and visible in his acceptance of the outcast and the downtrodden. This visibility reached its climax in the most intense manner -- the champion of the poor, the friend of sinners, the giver of life is crucified on Calvary. The love of God through Jesus Christ became visible. It was only after John looked back upon the life of Jesus that was lived out so visibly before him that he could say, "God is love."

We read in the Gospels that Jesus often attracted multitudes, even of thousands. Why did he draw such crowds -- because a loving, caring, generous person always draws a crowd. Jesus showed his compassion for them by feeding the hungry, healing the sick, casting out demons, comforting the sorrowful, befriending the outcast, and preaching the good news of God's love to the poor.

A loving, caring, and generous church always draws a crowd. People do not come to church because of what we say, but because of what we do. People do not come because of words and speech, but they come because of truth and action. A non-growing church needs to ask itself if it has a genuine, all-consuming passion and concern for people. It could be that the church is not making a difference in people's lives. So why should they come and support it? They have better places to go and more important things to do.

How easy it is to lose our God given passion. Before a congregation realizes it, proper polity and procedure become more important than people, care and preservation of buildings crowd out opportunities for ministry and the care of souls, and soon such a church finds itself interested in just a select group of people, mainly those just like themselves. Jesus drew a crowd because he loved the people. The church will draw a crowd if it has compassion and love for the people -- all people.

Prescription: Read the rest of 1 John 3, pray about it & get engaged in it.

Dr. Bob