Immanuel Lutheran Church, Springfield, IL May 10, 2015

Transcription

1 Easter 6, Series B Rev. Darrell Debowey Immanuel Lutheran Church, Springfield, IL May 10, John 5:1-8: 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he who came by water and blood Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because wthe Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. Love You Can Count On TEXT Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen. The text for today s message is the Epistle reading from First John, chapter 5. Christ is risen! INTRODUCTION Recently, several black pastors have acknowledged that the primary problem that afflicts our inner cities isn t racism, it s the breakdown of the family. Dr. Tony Evans, of The Urban Alternative said in a recent interview, Okay, the first thing we ve gotta get back to is the biblical standard that God holds us to, not the White guy, not even other Black but God holds us to and the biggest problem in Black America today is the breakdown of the family. The breakdown of the family is unraveling us as a community. When 70 percent plus of your children are being born out of wedlock and the fathers are not there to tend to them, you ve got chaos in the community. That s crime, that s unemployment and most of these kids are going to be raised in poverty. Page 1

2 But this really isn t just an inner city, black problem. Recently our Synod published a report showing that one of the major causes for the decline of the Church in North America is the breakdown of the family in general it s difficult for the Church to retain her children because of divorce, cohabitation, and single parent families. Sadly, it doesn t surprise us anymore that men recklessly father children and then abandon those children and their mothers. But what does surprise us is when a mother abuses or abandons her children. I think that s because we hold a mother s love to a higher standard. After all, a mother s womb is a child s first home. A mother s own body nourishes her child. And a mother s first instinct is to protect her children even putting her own life at risk. Because a mother s love is a love we can count on, today, we give thanks to God for mothers because of the sacrifices they make everyday for their children. What we see right now in our nation certainly isn t God s will. God s will is that the family reflect the Holy Trinity. The Holy Trinity is a unity of Persons Father, Son and Holy Spirit bound together as One in Divine Substance and Divine Love. So, the family is a unity of persons husband, wife, children bound together as one in blood and love. Because of this binding of blood and love, no matter what happens, you should always be able to go back home back to family because family love should be a love you can count on. BUT BECAUSE OF SIN, FAMILY LOVE ISN T ALWAYS PERFECT, BUT GOD S LOVE IS NO MATTER WHAT, YOU CAN ALWAYS COUNT ON GOD S LOVE, BECAUSE GOD S LOVE DEFINES LOVE. I. God s love reconciles sinners to Him through Christ. Last week I mentioned that we are all lovers of self by nature God calls that sin. And the breakdown of the family has at its root sin. And sin has one purpose, to divide and destroy to Page 2

3 divide husband from wife and parents from children. In this way, sin destroys the family, and by destroying the family, it destroys the fabric of society. But sin doesn t stop with the family. Sin divides people from people, races from races, and nations from nations it erects spiritual Berlin Walls among us walls of distrust and superstition, of hatred and racism. But the worst thing sin has done is to divide us from God and thus destroy our relationship with God. Apart from God we are a dead and lifeless people dead in trespasses and sins and sin makes us dead in love for God and our neighbor. Into this world where sin has erected walls of hatred and racism, envy and jealousy, lies and deceit, God sent His Son to be the face of true, divine love and reconciliation. Through His life lived in love for others, His death as the sacrifice for sin, and His resurrection as the seal of victory over death, Jesus showed the world what love truly is. Into this world of sin s division and destruction, God sent His Son to reconcile us with God. Though the forgiveness of sins purchased by His blood, Jesus overcame sin and brought peace between God and humanity. II. God s love creates the most important family on earth the Church. Through the blood of Jesus, God creates a new people on earth for Himself a reconciled people. The Church on earth is God s family a family of the reconciled a family that s created and bound together by Christ s blood and the Father s love. In the Bible, blood and baptism go hand in hand. Jesus said, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit (John 3:5-6). And the apostle John writes, But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin (1 John 1:7). Those who Page 3

4 have been washed in the waters of Holy Baptism have been washed in the blood of Jesus they are a new creation a new people unto God a new family of faith bound together by blood and love. And John writes that the most important characteristic of this family is this: 1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. Not only did Jesus bring reconciliation between God and man, He brought reconciliation among human beings divided by sin. And this reconciliation is seen by the world in the way we love one another. The most important characteristic of God s family is love for all the members of God s family Families often look alike. Children look like their parents and even husbands and wives take on each other s mannerisms and appearance. But God s family is made up from people from every walk of life, every culture, race and nationality. We look different on the outside, but on the inside, we re all the same all believers in Jesus reconciled to God, reconciled to each other and bound into one family by the blood of Jesus and the love of God. III. The Church is Where God s Love is practiced. In our Gospel reading, Jesus said, As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father s commandments and abide in his love (John 15:9-10). Reflecting these words of Jesus, John writes, 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. Page 4

5 Former district president Dave Bueltmann, when preaching at Concordia Lutheran Church s 75th Anniversary a few years ago, said, No one looks at a church that s fighting and says, I want to join that church. They want to join a church where the people love each other. God has given us His Commandments to teach us how to love how to love God and how to love our neighbor. And the most important neighbor God has given us is family this family the household of faith. Right here in the Church is where you learn to put God s love into practice right here is where you learn to love with a love that can be counted on by loving and forgiving those who have been born of God. How can we love and forgive our enemies if we can t love and forgive one another? IV. This love overcomes the world. As Jesus said, you love God by keeping His Commandments, and by keeping God s Commandments, you also love God s people that s a love that can be counted on. In this world, no family is perfect which means God is asking you to love your fellow sinners. And it isn t easy to love sinners even sinners who belong to the family of faith. Which might make you wonder why John said, And His commandments are not burdensome Because love is a natural result of faith in Christ, the commandments aren t burdensome not for the new, spiritual person that is you in Christ Jesus. This new person in Christ desires nothing more than to keep God s Commandments out of gratitude for God s grace and love. But the sinful flesh still lives in you and in your neighbor and that s what makes these Commandments a burden. But remember you are a new creation you ve been grafted onto Christ Jesus in Baptismal faith you can do all things through Christ who gives you strength! Now Paul isn t talking about Page 5

6 weight lifting here or making a big sale he speaks these words in the context of the Philippian Church s love for him and the saints through the sacrifice of their own goods. As God s family, you have God s Spirit. The Holy Spirit has attached you to Christ in faith and it is Jesus who lives in you and works through you to love one another as Jesus has loved you. Jesus works in you a love that can be counted on a love that acts in compassion, that forgives as you have been forgiven, that is willing to sacrifice for the Gospel and for the needs of others, and a love that covers a multitude of sins. This is the kind of love that overcomes the world. As John says, 4 For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world our faith. And yet, because of sin, our love can t always be counted on. In that same interview, Dr. Evans also said, when I was in seminary we went to a Bible church, a very well known famous Bible church and the deacons there let us know that this was not a place for us to come. And the subject on the marquee that particular Sunday was on love. I just found that real interesting. This is where God s Commandments ought to make us reflect on our sins and confess that we have not loved as Christ has loved us and in repentance and faith put our lives more fully into His hands. We need Christ daily in our lives because sin infects God s family like it does the rest of the world. Only Christ can forgive the loveless and through His undying love, gives us the kind of love that reflects God s love a love that can always be counted on. Conclusion. What our world needs today is a love that can be counted on not a love that changes with the whim and fancy of the world. A love that changes as the world changes isn t a love that can Page 6

7 be counted on. But a love that endures in its reflection of God s righteousness is what the world needs a love that loves God s Word and loves the people that God has created a love that s willing to suffer the loss of all even life itself for the sake of the Gospel. That s the love the world needs to break down the walls of sin that divide humanity from each other and from God. That s a love that can be counted on a love that overcomes the world because it comes from Him who has overcome the world Jesus Christ our Lord. In His Name. Amen. Page 7