Reflections on "The Power of Love" I John 4: 7-13; I Samuel 18: 1-5

Okay, I really enjoyed the opening illustration.  It was fun to tell the story in the sermon, and it was fun to be reminded of the great time I had in SLC during the Clergy Renewal time (thanks again to Karl and his family for hosting me).  It was also very powerful to feel the mood in the sanctuary when the switch went from laughing at the story to "God loves you."  That silence suggested that it is probably something we need to hear more frequently.

The sermon would have been stronger, I think, if I had skipped the last point and instead spent more time preaching and giving examples about how to live our lives in the confidence of God's love.  It might also have been helpful to note that humility needs to be a part of that as well given that some in our world claim God's love in a proprietary sense that leads to exclusion of others or worse.

“the Power of Love” November 20, 2011; Christ the King; I John  4: 7-13; I Samuel 18: 1-5

Introduction: One of the really fun and interesting conversations I had while on clergy renewal took place with my friend Karl late one night at his home in Salt Lake City.

He and I not only have a shared history of playing soccer and living together in college, but we share several things in common in our own lives now: he has served as a Presbyterian elder; I am a Presbyterian minister. He coaches soccer; I referee soccer. He has two daughters in high school; I have two daughters in high school (plus and extra one in Jr. High). His oldest daughter has a boyfriend (at least in June); my daughters have boyfriends (at least some days!). He is in great shape and runs triathlons; I...well, we do not share everything in common. My point is that we can talk about stuff in the past or present and have a common worldview.

Long after his wife and kids had gone to bed, we were having one of those conversations where you can solve the problems of the world.

At some point, we began talking about what it was like raising daughters. We talked about the importance of figuring out how to make your daughter feel loved so that she does not seek love from the wrong types of guys (two fathers talking late, mind you). Karl begins to make the point quite forcefully that a father must not only love his daughter, but actually show it in front of the boyfriend. He tells me, “you have to hug your daughter in front of the boyfriend.” At this point, I'm thinking who I do in that regard. When's the last time I hugged my daughter in front of a boyfriend? I see the wisdom of his comment and begin to nod my head. As I begin to file the comment away under the category of modeling your love for your daughter so that she can gain confidence, Karl asks, "You know why it is so important for the boyfriend to see that you love your daughter?" Before I can respond with a comment about building confidence, he goes on, "Because the boyfriend has to know you love her so much that you'll come after him if he does anything to hurt her!" Thus the late night conversation turns to plotting like vigilantes against the boys who will date our daughters.
Move 1: We need to know that God loves us.

Let me move that from the general to the particular. You need to know that God love you.

a. not a new thought.

1. Hear it this morning as a strong reminder.
2. God loves you.
3. Do not hear it and shrug it off or dismiss it or think it's for someone else.
4. God loves you and that ought to be life-giving and life-changing.

b. what is the greatest love described in the biblical texts, outside of God's love for us?

1. Many would argue the love between Jonathan and David.

2. Jonathan, King Saul's son, and David, the shepherd boy brought in to be part of King Saul's court.

3. They define their love for each other in the covenant they make that binds them to each other.

4. The covenant goes like this: when Jonathan is in a position of power as King Saul's son, he will love, protect, look after David; in return, when David rises to power, he will love, protect, look after Jonathan.

5.The one in power commits to loving the one who is not in power and then one day the roles are reversed.

b. The Hebrew word for that covenant is also used to describe God's love for us.

1. But here's a major difference.
2. God knows that God will always be in a position of power relative to humanity. God will always be called on to love, protect, look after us.

3. we will never be in a position of power relative to God.
4. It's a one-sided covenant from the get-go.
5. And still God chooses to love us. To send Christ to live among us. To send Christ to die for us.
   d. If you want to know how much you are worth, do not look at your bank account, or your report card, or you job evaluation. Look to the cross to see how much value God has placed on you.

Move 2: We respond to God's love in how we live our own lives.

a. Back to the covenant between David and Jonathan.

1. David is a shepherd boy from the country who finds himself in the king's court.
2. Admittedly, David had courage and some ability as evidenced by his killing of Goliath.
3. But, now he finds himself in the shadow of King Saul
4. David ought to be afraid of of what King Saul can do to him.
5. The logical thing for David to do is run back to the the fields and look after the sheep.
6. Instead, David sticks around Saul's court; becomes a warrior;p continually avoids King Saul's wrath and plots to bring him down.
   c. How can David do this?
   1. In no small part, it is because of his covenant with Jonathan.
   2. IN very concrete ways, Jonathan will protect him.
   3. But more than that, I suspect that just knowing that Jonathan has his back, that Jonathan is looking after him, just knowing that, gives David the freedom and courage to act and grow into the leader God desires him to be..
   d. When we lay claim to God's love for us, it frees us to act with confidence and grow into the person God calls us to be.
   1. We spend to much time acting out of our uncertainties and our need to prove ourselves.
   2. how differently might we live our lives if we were not desperately trying to prove ourselves.
   3. Or if we acted out of self-confidence that did not need power, or prestige or control to make us feel good about ourselves?
   4. I suspect that many of the issues in our world today – both big and small – would become non-issues if people were not trying to prove themselves at the expense of others.

Not only does God love you, but you do not have to prove your worth, God has already done that for you.

Move 3: We also respond in how we love others.

a. I John

1. One of the letters to the early church.

2. Most letters of the early church have a common theme that the author is trying to get across.
3. Peter's letters – ethical living; those who follow Christ should live ethically.
4. Paul's letter – lots of doctrine stuff, but I think we could even ay that Paul's generally is writing about how the followers of Christ work out living in community.
   b. IN John's letters, John summarizes what it means to follow Christ in one word – love.
   
   
   5. not the noun “love,” as in some thing we have.
   
   
   6.  but the verb love, as in, “Since God loved us so much, we ought to love others.”

b. Christ models for us what it means to love.

1. If we want to know how to love best, we need only look to the how Christ lived.
2. On Christ the King Sunday when we acknowledge Christ sovereign reign over all the world, we recognize that Christ's royal manner defies the way most kings we know live.
3. A king at his best may feel some minor sense of obligation to the people in his kingdom;
4. Christ the king loves his the people of his kingdom so much, he dies for us.
5. Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "Rings and jewels are not gifts but apologies for gifts. The only true gift is a portion of yourself.” Ralph Waldo Emerson; quoted in Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections On and Off the Court, John Wooden with Steve Jamison (11)

6. Jesus gives us more than a portion of himself, he gives all of himself on the cross.

100. Season of gift-giving.

1. Look for the perfect gift.

2. the only perfect gift is Christ's gift of himself.

3. how do we give the gift of ourselves?

4. Or as John might pose the question: “How do we love others?”

conclusion: What is the best gift a father could offer his daughter – to love her.

God has already given that gift to you.