1 John 4:11-21

love.  what amazing topic.  what a profound lifestyle.  what a way to miss the point!

the most important thought that i still have lingering from yesterday’s sermon is how easy it is to miss the point.  language is so significant.  how we define the words in the bible can completely change the meaning of the text.  we need careful study and interpretation.  and the cool thing is that it can be done!

two words, if improperly defined, can undercut this entire passage…but if properly defined can revolutionize our lives.  the first is the word ought.

john writes in verse eleven, “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”   the way i was raised, when my parents said that i ought to do something, it meant it was optional…a choice…a good idea that i was free to use or reject as i saw fit.  you ought to clean your room or cut your hair or do your homework or help mom with the dishes or stop calling your little brother names.  it might have been implied that it was something that i had to do, but as long as they included the word ought, it was still optional.

not so in the greek world.  in the mind of john, the word opheilomen (in greek) means “to owe money or a debt that is due”.  the love that we are to show to each other is not optional.  it is a debt that is owed.  the right translation totally changes the command from optional to imperative…essential…urgent…a must.

the other word is agape.  selfless, sacrificial, unconditional action given in the best interest of another person…not earned, or deserved, or merited in any way…with no expectation of anything in return.  it is a choice…a deliberate action of the will…not a feeling…not an emotion…the example of jesus on the cross.

that’s the kind of love we “owe” to each other.

1 John 4:1-10

wow.  what a great text!

i realize that i departed from looking at the details of this passage.  but the more i studied, the more obvious it became to me that sometimes we can miss the big picture if we focus too much on the details of the smaller pictures.  i hope that makes sense…

it’s not that the smaller pictures of this text are not important.  quite the contrary.  they are huge and incredibly important ingredients to understanding right doctrine.

• don’t believe every spirit.
• test the spirits.
• false prophets are everywhere.
• we can recognize the spirit of god.
• the spirit of antichrist is everywhere…then and now.
• we (children of god) have overcome antichrist.
• the spirit of god lives in us.
• the spirit in me is greater than the spirit of antichrist.
• we can listen to the spirit of antichrist or the truth of the apostles.  our choice.
• real love comes from god.
• real love can only come from one born of god.
• no love, no god.
• know love, know god.
• god showed us what real love is.
• jesus is real love.
• real love is defined by the atonement.

lots of details in this passage.  in spite of that, there is one consistent message: it’s all about jesus.  jesus is life.  jesus is love.  jesus is real.  jesus is the atonement.  jesus is the answer.  jesus is the remedy.  is this true for you?

1 John 3:11-18

so… the heart of this week’s text is found in verses 16-18:

This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.  If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him?  Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.

if there is one thing people think they know about, it’s love.  we love stuff.  cars, dogs, enchiladas, television shows, over-stuffed chairs, electronic gadgets, football teams, air conditioning, chocolate chip cookies.  we love this stuff, right?   we know all about love, right?

could it be that our understanding of love is so warped, so shaped, so twisted by culture’s definitions that we just can’t see it for what it is?  this is love:  jesus laying down his life for us.  that’s what love is.  love is not a feeling.  love is not an impulse.  love is not an expression.  love is not an urge.  love is not a sensation.  love is selfless action taken in the best interest of another person.  love is doing what another person needs.  period.

as long as you have the stuff of life (the world’s possessions…breath and energy), you can love people.  you can disregard your own selfish interests and seek the higher good for another.  you can do it any time, any place, to anyone.

all you need is a little splangkna.  (compassion that moves to action)

• is this your view of love?  why or why not?
• is this too black and white?
• are you a hater or a lover?
• what would life a north point really be like if we started loving each other with laying-it-down-jesus-style kind of love?