Our love for one another

 

“Do not be astonished,
brothers and sisters, that the
world hates you. We know that
we have passed from death
to life because we love one
another.”
1st John 3: 13-14

This passage, written by the author of 1st John, is one of the most striking statements found in all of scripture. It’s an idea that we often just pass by and really don’t even think about. He is telling us that we should not be astonished that the world hates us. Wow … the world hates us. I guess that it’s easy to lose touch of that thought in a world that is filled with hatred, and violence and distrust at so many things.

What was happening when these words were written is complex. Early Christians were hated by many. They refused to worship the emperor, and many people were understandably afraid to be associated with them. They believed in one God, not many gods, which was just plain odd to most people. Believe in one god? That’s ridiculous. That’s dangerous.

So the author of this beautiful work reminded the earliest Christians that they shouldn’t be surprised that people hate them. Theyshouldn’t be surprised that others would try to discourage them from being followers of Jesus.

And what he shares with them, and with us, is that we have nothing to fear, because we know that we have been saved. And one way that we can know this is because of our love for one another. Even today, living here on the beautiful North Shore, we can sense that everything about our lives is changed because of our love for one another.

The word “love” is found 52 times in 1st John, which is remarkable because the whole book is only a couple of pages long. According to this remarkable writing, love is something that is found at the very center of our lives. It is at the crux of our existence. Actually, that’s a great way to say it because the word “crux” is the Latin word for “cross.” For Christians, love is centered in self-sacrifice. It is centered in the cross.

The love our author is speaking of is what God is in his essence. And it is this love that we are called on to show to one another. It is even a love that we share with those who hate us. It is the love of Christ.

Theauthor of this beautiful book is asking us to ask ourselves, “Do we have this love toward our brothers and sisters?” And he asks us this for a reason. To him, this is the test of whether or not we are the children of God.

He reminds us because there were Christians in his day, and there are those today, who proclaim that the real problem for us is ignorance, and that we simply need to understand God better. And what he shares with us, in response, is that a lack of a special knowledge about God is not our real problem. Our problem is sinfulness, because sinfulness is a sure sign that the love of God is not living in our hearts. Our problem is our lack of love for one another.

After pointing this out, he shares some great news. We can come to know love, and we can come to love one another, through the astonishing love of Jesus for us.

He tells us, “We know love
by this, that he laid down his
life for us, and we ought to lay
down our lives for one another.”

Thatkind of ties us together doesn’t it? If I’m willing to give my life for you, and you are willing to give your life for me, we have a bond that connects us unlike anything else that we will ever experience in this life.

Our author shares this with us because we have work to do! Thislove needs to be shared with those in our community. He asks, “How does
God’s love abide in anyone who
has the world’s goods and sees a
brother or sister in need and yet
refuses help?”

The answer, of course, is that it can’t.

Thatis a high standard for us to live up to. According to Scripture, if we don’t share what we have with others, it doesn’t just make us callous or unsympathetic or mean or cheap. It means that God’s love isn’t living within us. I don’t know about you, but when I read 1st John it tears my heart out, because I have failed this test of love over and over again in my life. It’s remarkable, isn’t it, how the Bible comforts and inspires and encourages us, and then challenges us, all at the same time?

We are called to action, not simply in words, but in how we love one another. Jesus died for every one of us. That’s how we know what true love is, and we are called to love the same.

Each month a member of the
Cook County Ministerium
will offer Spiritual Reflections.
For June, our contributor is
Tom Murray of the Lutsen
Evangelical Lutheran Church.