Sermon Tone Analysis

Today, we lit another candle on the Advent wreath-Love.

We have been going through each of the themes of the wreath each Sunday.

We had Hope, Peace, Joy and today Love.

Love is probably a topic all of us are familiar with, at least a little right?

We fall in love.

We are looking for love.

We are in love with our spouse, we love our family.

As it said, we fall out of love.

We love our neighbor, we have even heard the golden rule love your neighbor as yourself.

Love is this intense desire or affection toward someone.

Although we are the ones that posses that feeling, that emotion, that attraction toward something, unless we somehow do something to express it-do some outward act, love isn’t realized or made complete.

In other words, let’s say someone has a deep affection toward another person, that emotion is tied up in themselves, within their heart or mind, and unless they do something outward to express it in words, or actions, that emotion only remains in them, and the target of their affection never knows about it.

Hollywood makes movie after movie about this.

The hero has a silent love for the girl, and he doesn’t express it for whatever reason like fear of rejection, or social barriers.

Throughout the movie, he does show it in small ways t but the target of His affection doesn’t notice and it isn’t until he finally gets the courage to make the grand gesture and then she notices and they live Happily ever after.

Today’s passage does not address that situation.

That is just to get us thinking about love.

Today’s passage talks about God’s love.

This passage is a defining passage, it is not necessarily an exhorting passage.

In other words, John is telling us what God’s love is and what that means rather than telling us to love God.

A proper definition of God’s love produces in us, right views of love and is expressed in our love for others

SO lets turn to the book of 1 John chapter 4., starting at verse 7. Before I begin let me start with a word of prayer.

Prayer

Scripture Reading

John says,

Is that right?

Is everyone who loves, born of God?

For instance, all across the planet are people that are in love.

They love one another, they love their fellow man.

Some are married, some give to charity.

Does that mean they are born of God?

What about people who love, but are atheists?

Is this saying they are born of God?

We must use caution when looking at that statement.

Sometimes people elevate a statement, like that without really examining how that fits into the whole of the scripture, and see if that is indeed what John is saying.

This is an example of three most important rules of Bible study.

And you have heard me say this before the most important rules in Biblical interpretation is the same rules that are important in Real Estate.

Location, Location and Location.

We can’t just take that verse, standing alone and say Everyone who loves knows God.

Then form some kind of universal doctrine that holds love up as the supreme virtue and decide the key to knowing God is love.

That is just not true.

There are all kinds of people who love.

Killers who love.

Idolators who love, thieves who love.

People who deny Jesus and love are they somehow children of God?

Practically and a little less extreme-does someone like Bill Gates’s extravagant generosity somehow mean that he loves God?

And how would that compare to someone who like Mother Teresa who although she dedicated her life to the care of others, her service was small in comparison with the billions that Mr Gates is capable of giving.

Does his love of God somehow exceed her love?

Love in itself does not produce or guarantee that someone knows God.

You can love others and not know God.

So why is this so confusing, well John is making a point.

He is making a point he started much earlier in the letter.

The truth about love that John is teaching goes only one way.

Someone who knows God will love others, but it doesn’t go the other way.

Love for others does not produce in us love for God.

It is like this all thumbs are fingers.

Or every thumb is a finger, but not evrey finger is a thumb.

There are those in the darkness and there are those in the light.

The ones in the light are the same as those that are born of God.

Those in the darkness are not born of God.The people in dark still love, but they love in the dark.

They live in the kingdom of darkness, and everything they do even the good things are still in the dark.

Unless you know God, unless you step into the light the love that you have, or the good that you do is still somewhat tainted.

This is a trick the enemy uses to fool people into thinking that they are ok and not in the dark.

Hey look you are doing good, you must know God.

Look this is an old truth look at Is 64:6.

All our righteous acts are like filthy rags.

When the people in the dark do good, like give to charity or love their fellow man, that is good, that’s great people are helped, but unless they know God-their righteous acts, in God’s eyes are still like filthy rags, and the devil is telling them you are alright, look at the good you are doing.

We just finished the blessing tree at Church, we had an opportunity to bless 11 families, with gifts.

But, what is the difference between us and toys for tots?

Is there a difference?

Yes there is difference between us and toys for tots.

And I’m not saying that toys for tots is not good, it is it is great, and I am sure that many people volunteering giving, and involved do know Jesus, they do.

but it is still very different.

The love that we demonstrate is that our love is a result of God’s love to us. it is linked to God’s love. it is not separate it doesn’t stand alone.

The primary reason St. Luke’s exists is to glorify God.

We show up here on Sunday to worship Jesus.

We give to worship Jesus, we sing to worship Jesus.

We love others as a way to worship Jesus.

If the primary purpose was to love others John would be only talking about loving one another.

Instead I want you notice something about John’s thoughts here-When John is writing here about the love of one another, you cannot separate it from the love of God.

In this slide I highlighted loving one another in yellow, and in orange I highlighted the love of God.

Go through your Bible with pencil or a highlighter and highlight love of God in one color or with a circle and highlight love one another in another color.

You cannot take one thought apart from the other-they are weaved together if I pull on one thread the other thread comes with it.

In fact the majority of the passage is not even about loving one another, it is mostly about God loving us.

John is saying that we cannot show love to one another, without first knowing the Love of God.

Before we can show love we must first KNOW God and the Love he has for us.

This is how God showed HIS love among us-He sent His one and only son.

God showed His love to us through sending his son Jesus into the world.

God has made himself know in the world.

We can all agree on that, even people who are not particularly religious, may even agree with this a bit.

You can look outside and at the sky , you can see a newborn, the flowers, the trees, and say yeah there is a God right?

That shows us that there is a God, but that just isn’t enough to show us that he loves us.

It is like the romance in a love story where the hero doesn’t fully show the one he is courting His love directly.

We can look at the sky and at nature and say there is a God, but this does not show you personally that God loves YOU just by looking at nature.

But John writes this is how God showed His love among us.-

He sent His one and only son-.

This is now a personal display of God’s love for us personally- God loves US.

He loves US beyond all that we can imagine.

He loves us with a perfect love.

And a love like that had to be demonstrated.