God Is . . . 1 John 4:7-12. 12/22/24.
God Is . . .
1 John 4:7-12
December 22, 2024
Rev. Dr. Rhonda Blevins
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.
______
Dearest Jimmy,
No words could ever express the great unhappiness I’ve felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you’ll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you!
Yours forever,
Marie
P.S. And congratulations on winning the state lottery.
On this, the fourth Sunday in the season of Advent, our focus turns toward “love,” as we light the Advent Candle of love.
It seems to me that “love” is one of the most hackneyed yet misunderstood concepts in the world.
I submit to you Exhibit A: “Marie’s” letter to “Jimmy.” “I love you, I love you, I love you!” she tells the poor chap. But was her interest in being with Jimmy because of love? It doesn’t seem so! Her postscript offers a glimpse into her true motive: greed! Hopefully Jimmy knows how to read between the lines!
Greed isn’t the only thing we might confuse for authentic love. Some people mistake infatuation for love. Others mistake codependency for love, losing themselves in someone or something. Possessiveness and control can masquerade as love, but they lack the freedom and mutual respect true love requires. Even acts done out of obligation or people-pleasing can seem like love, yet they are often rooted in fear rather than genuine care.
Authentic love—God love—as described in 1 John 4:7-12 is S-A-F-E:
Sacrifice: Love gives without expecting anything in return.
Action: Love is demonstrated through deeds, not just words.
Freedom: Love allows the other to flourish without manipulation or control.
Enduring: Love persists regardless of circumstances or challenges.
This S-A-F-E love is a dominant attribute of that which we call “God.” That’s why the Apostle John could say, in as clear terms as possible: “God is love.”
Now, I want you think about this statement, “God is love.” This phrase is thrown around quite a bit, and because of that, maybe it’s lost its impact on contemporary hearers. But this language was revolutionary at the time it was written. In John’s time, as well as in ours, God was seen as a lot of things, but love?
To help us understand, let’s consider some dominant views of the nature of God—views that understand God as something other than “love.”
A helpful framework for this is a theory of human development created by psychologist and researcher Clare Graves, a contemporary of Abraham Maslow (of the “hierarchy of needs” fame). Graves’ work became known as Spiral Dynamics and adapted by one of the world’s great contemporary philosophers, Ken Wilbur, in his “integral” theory. In these adaptations of Graves’ theory, humans mature, cognitively and psychologically, along a predictable pattern. The understanding of “God” develops in predictable patterns as well. Here's what Gravesian theory suggests about the theological development of humans:
· God is magic. We all begin with a magical understanding of God. I remember confusing God and Santa Claus, for instance.
· God is power. As we grow, we transcend and include the previous worldviews. We include “God is magic” and move toward “God is power”—an omnipotent, Zeus-like force that reigns with ultimate strength and might.
· God is judge. This is the God of “law and order.” This is a God who demands that humans conform to cultural norms and fall in line with social hierarchies. A whole lot of people you know are in this stratum—as well as the majority of Christian churches in America. Maybe you’ve been a part of this kind of church. I certainly have! I’ve been there, done that, got that diploma hanging on a wall in my office!
· God is prosperity. Once people grow beyond the “God is judge” view, they may give up on the idea of God entirely. Others begin to believe that God is all about individual prosperity. You can tell if a church is hanging out in this stratum by looking at what kind of car the preacher drives. The preacher will epitomize this “Prosperity Gospel” by driving the most expensive luxury cars . . . often having several luxury automobiles. Or here’s another example of the “Prosperity God”—back in 2001 the number one bestselling nonfiction book was this little book called The Prayer of Jabez, about a little-known prayer from the Bible which includes this line: “Bless me indeed, and enlarge my territory.” (1 Chron 4:10) The movie The Secret made popular the idea of “the law of attraction,” the idea that we can manifest abundance with the power of positive thinking, which was also the title of a book by Norman Vincent Peale.
· God is love. Transcending and including all of these worldviews, some individuals begin to understand God’s dominant attribute like the Apostle John did: “God is love.” This God is less about rules and more about love, compassion, and unity. This God is less concerned with personal prosperity, and more concerned with the thriving of all people. Churches who hold this idea of the nature of God are more interested in serving others, benevolence, and in social justice issues than in evangelism or conversion of people lest they be condemned to hell by the “God as judge.” People at this level tend to be less judgmental of those who don’t conform to social norms. However, people at this stage can’t seem to shake the judging of “judgy” people! There’s still a sense of “othering” at this stage of human development. Folks at this stage tend to look down on those who have not arrived at this stage. Their internal dialogue might be something like this: “‘God is love, and I’m better than you for recognizing this.’”
· God is here. Perhaps more revolutionary, even, than “God is love,” is the idea that “God is here.” The dominant view of God in the Apostle John’s day, as well as in ours, is that God is transcendent—“out there” somewhere. So if you’re wondering what any of this discussion has to do with Advent or Christmas, here it is: when we celebrate the birth of the Christ child every Christmas—the incarnation—we are celebrating the immanence of God . . . Emmanuel . . . God with us. Here’s how the Apostle John says this: “God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.” (1 John 4:9) God’s presence isn’t only “out there” it’s “right here” as well. Transcending and including the previous phase, the revolutionary idea that God is love AND God is here . . . it’s a powerful, countercultural idea. And it might be the starting place for the transformation of the world.
A little story that helps us understand these two revolutionary ideas:
One time a father wanted to teach his son the lesson of God’s great goodness. He took him to the top of a high hill and pointed northward over Scotland, southward over England, eastward over the ocean, westward over hill and valley, and then sweeping his arm around the whole circling horizon, he said, “Johnny, my boy, God’s love is as big as all that.” “Why, Father,” the boy replied with sparkling eyes, “then we must be right in the middle of it.”
Friends, this boy has it right. You and I live and move and have our very being right in the middle of God’s love. In a world in which scarcity mentality is pervasive, the idea that can counter the brutality of scarcity thinking is the idea of living right in the middle of a love more profound that we can imagine. The birth of the Christ child reminds us each year that God is here. And because God is here, the power of God’s love is accessible to us at all times in all places, even in, maybe especially in, the broken places.
It's easy to see the broken places in our world—places desperate for the power of God’s love to break through. But what about the broken places in your life? Those tender, fragile places . . . God’s love radiates into our hearts through those vulnerable places. In the words of Leonard Cohen:
There is a crack, a crack in everything—
That's how the light gets in.
This Advent season, let the light of God’s love shine into all the broken places in the world, but especially in your life. God’s love is a love that can break the chains of fear, overcome hatred, and restore hope in the midst of despair.
And as the light of God’s love gets in through all the broken places, let us remember that we can—we must reflect this Divine love in all that we say and do. So love boldly, forgive freely, and give generously, knowing that in doing so, God’s love is perfected in us.
God is love. God is here. Now, go live like you believe it!