I wanted to thank you for all of your prayers for my niece, Katie. As you can see on the screen, she is healthy and happy. I absolutely adore her! When I get to see her, I am always looking at her- scrutinizing her in fact. I always want to see if she reminds me of anyone. Does she look like me? Or my brother? We’ve decided that she has Nicole’s eyebrows, my brother’s mouth and my coloring. Sometimes, she doesn’t look like anybody. She is just Katie. But I am watching her. Well, we’ll come back tot hat concept in a minute. Our text today is 1 John 4: 7-12. Hear the Word of God.

It is a rather straight forward text. God loves us so we ought to love others. So, God loves us. He sent His Son into the world that we might live through Him. God loved us before we responded. He loved us so that we might LIVE through Him. Life eternal is a big deal and we know that we have eternal life in the death of Jesus. But as a covenantal people, who believe in the kingdom of Heaven on earth, we are offered a different life. Day to day living. We can experience the presence of Jesus here today before we get to eternity.

We know that from our text that this is love. God sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for us. John is concerned with love in ACTION, rather than abstract love. This text is written to address the Greek concept of deity which is abstract in character. They would refer to "light" or "spirit" but the Old Testament Jewish understanding of God is a personal, living, active God who is involved in our lives. I think today that many Christians, an especially Presbyterians- who value education so much- struggle with this head knowledge that is comforting but not utilized in our day to day struggles and decisions. But God’s active love shown in the sacrifice of Jesus is the crux of our faith.

Even non-Christians will know John 3:16. For God so loved the world…This love is a radical, life-changing, perspective-changing truth that should completely turn upside what the world says.

So we know that we are loved by God so we ought to love one another. This echoes the command to be obedient- by loving- we’ve have seen earlier in this book in chapters 2 and 3. From the text, we see that loves comes from God and it is made complete. From the text, we see that "everyone who loves is born of God." We are born to a new perspective, a new reality and a new purpose. From the text, we see that who ever does not love, does not know God.

My friend told me once that the measure of how we love God is taken by how much we love the one we love least. OUCH. We are called to love the unlovable because God has loved the unlovable in us. We are called to love the unknown because they are God’s people. We are called to love those whom we already love but to love them better to the glory of God. We are called to LOVE. I am going to ask us to take a moment of silence to pray that God will soften our hearts towards those who are difficult to love and to draw to our attention who we might better love. Let us pray…

My question for us today is two-fold. How would our lives tangibly be changed if we really were motivated by God’s love for us to love one another? I believe that when we remove the obstacles in our lives that prevent us form really loving such as fear, apathy, and anger; we will live a happier and healthier life. When we draw closer to God because we know that we are being faithful, we will be encouraged that God is using us for His good purposes. How would this world change if we decided right now that we were going to love one another? People would be blessed. They would feel a part of this community of faith. When people see God in our actions, then they will ultimately understand God a bit more. When they understand God, I believe that God will bring them to faith. That is what we want- to make disciples of all people.

I can tell you that the world is watching us today. They are watching to see who we follow and what we do. We can have our theology straight but head knowledge does not motivate. Love in action does.

As I was thinking about the love that we have been shown- where Jesus laid down His life for us, I was thinking about the people in our lives that do that daily. I know that we could list off our examples to each other. Firefighters put the lives of others before them every day when they go to work. They run into burning buildings when everyone else is running out. Firefighters do everything they can to save people.

As you know, I am always looking as how theology and everyday life intersect. A movie called Ladder 49 shows us some of the themes about laying down your life for others. CLIP (This clip shows a firefighter running into a burning building and throwing himself onto a girl to protect her from the explosion. Later, she gives him a medal for saving her life.) This firefighter ran onto the building to save a young girl who he did not know. His actions supported his determination to do what was required of him.

Yes, the world is watching. When the world looks to the firefighters, they see bravery, commitment, and obedience to lay down their lives for another. When I look to Katie, I see my grandpa, and my brother and I hope to one day see Jesus. What does the world see when they look to us?

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God and everyone who loves knows God and is born of God.