February 3, 2019, Epiphany IV

In the church we often speak about love. It is often a command.

 Moses wrote, Deut. 6:4 “Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”

 And Lev. 19:18 “love your neighbor as yourself.”

 Jesus said, Mat. 5:44 “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”

 St. Paul wrote Eph 5:25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”

 Then St. Paul described what love is like in I Cor. 13. “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

In daily conversation the word “love” has many different meanings. For example, often it just means “to like very much.” As in “I like oranges but I love apples.” And there are other meanings which we need not talk of this morning.

In the Bible the word “love” is often an action verb rather than just a feeling. In other words, it is the feeling of love put into action. I love my neighbor; therefore I do good things for him.

In the Bible both the feeling and the action are based on a relationship between the two people. Love is a bond, a promise, a commitment. Therefore it is a duty, a responsibility.

As a feeling, the opposite of love is hate. As a relationship, the opposite of love is indifference or unconcern with no connection or no responsibility. That is why you can hate someone that you love. You can love a person, but hate their actions. A father loves his son but hates his bad behavior. You can love a person and be angry. Or, perhaps, because you love someone and care for them you get upset and angry.

St Paul wrote, 13:1 “If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” When a father bawls out his son in love, it may sound to the son like a “resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” I once heard a Japanese expression, “A nagging father is a good father.”

But how often are our words and expressions without love or concern? How often are we loveless and so our words are only “a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal?” How often do the Words of God seem to be nagging us all the time? Do we feel oppressed with all the house rules that God gives us, especially those words that tell us to love those we hate? Last October Prof. Eguchi of the Tokyo Lutheran Seminary who is on the Luther Research Committee preached at our church about Martin Luther. The Professor said that as a young man, Luther hated God. Luther felt his sin and feared the punishment of God. And yet he knew that he could never escape the bond of love that God had for him. And then Luther discovered the forgiveness of sins. He realized that the love of God was so strong that Jesus died on the cross for him. When Luther discovered that love, the burden of sin, the fear of death, and the hatred toward God was removed. In that forgiveness, in that love of God, Luther’s life was changed. And that is the same change we all have when we know God’s love for us. And then we live the love as St. Paul described in First Corinthians Chapter Thirteen.

We all know the passage, John 3:16. “God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Today is our annual congregation meeting. We will discuss our evangelism plans for this year. Maybe John 3:16 can give us guidance. Just as God loved the world, we do, too. We love our neighbor, we love our enemy, we love our family and so there is a bond of responsibility to the people of this world. And how do we show that? God put his love in to action by sending his Son Jesus to save the world. We put our love in to action by bringing his Son Jesus into the world around us so that the people we love can be saved. That is the mission of our church.

We pray that the Holy Spirit will give us guidance and wisdom and strength and peace as we live in the bond of Christ’s love.

Amen.

Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church

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