The Love of God: Part 1 Rev. Terri Hill Traditional 09/07/08 Exodus 34:5-7 Nehemiah 9:16-21, 32 Psalm 136:1-9 Hosea 11:1-9 Luke 15:11-24 Romans 5:5-8; 8:37-39 1 John 4:7-19 Revelation 1:4-8 I ve been preaching sermons now for twenty-eight years and I am going to do something this morning that I have never done before. I have no idea how it will be received but I am hoping and praying for the best, and resting on a promise in Isaiah that God s word never returns void. Sermons for me are usually a three step process. Step one: what does the Bible say? I read it to you before I say anything else. Everything that follows the reading of the scripture must be grounded in it. Step two: what does it mean? What is the truth that is communicated in the actual words? You probably do the same thing when you are reading the Bible or in your Disciple Class. You read the actual words and then you look up and say what does that mean? Step two! Step three: how do I (we) apply the truth of the scripture to our lives? That as they say is where the rubber meets the road, where the word of God takes on life and breath here and now in our daily lives. Some preachers spend a lot of time in their sermons on steps one and two. They are teachers and they aim to get us thoroughly versed in what the Bible says and what the Bible means. They bless our lives. We learn a lot from them. Many people really love sermons strong on steps one and two. Other preachers spend a little time on step one and two and a lot of time on step three. Their primary concern is to get the truths of God actually lived out in homes, marriages, workplaces, neighborhoods, and the world. These sermons come from a strongly held belief that it is not so much what you know in your head that makes the biggest difference but what you actually live and put into practice. 1
I am of the latter type. I believe Bible studies are where you should learn what the Bible says and means and sermons are where you should be inspired to put it into practice. One of the downsides of my approach is a lot of people don t go to Bible studies. They don t learn much about what the Bible says and means. That is one of the reasons John and I push classes so much. Learning is really vital to discipleship. So usually I do steps one and two in my sermon preparation time, sometimes hours and hours of research, but you all get step three. Today I m doing something different. I have two weeks in a row with you to convince you or reaffirm in your soul that God is a loving God. So I am doing a part one and part two sermon and I need you all to promise that barring a hurricane or hospitalization or some big reason why, you will be back for part two. Promise? Okay, because this morning you are going to get a Bible study on part one, what does the Bible say about the love of God. Get out your Bibles, or the pew Bibles in front of you. We are going to go through a series of scripture passages to see and hear what the Bible says about God being a loving God. Ready? Exodus 34:5-7. Moses is getting the second set of tablets after he has thrown the first set down in anger and broken them. He is back up on Mt. Sinai and God appears and speaks, The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, "The LORD." 6 The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." God has described himself named himself The Lord and described himself as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and forgiving. Nehemiah 9:16-21, 32 more of the story. How did the people react to the steadfast love of the Lord? How does the relationship continue? The LORD descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name, "The LORD." 6 The LORD passed before him, and proclaimed, "The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, yet by no means clearing the guilty, but visiting the iniquity of the parents upon the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation." 2
"Now therefore, our God-- the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love-- do not treat lightly all the hardship that has come upon us, upon our kings, our officials, our priests, our prophets, our ancestors, and all your people, since the time of the kings of Assyria until today. This is a consistent theme. God loves. People rebel. God keeps loving. As verse 32 says the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love. Psalms. Here I could read you the top six psalms about the love of God that I found in my research, but I ll just share one. This one is a group participation reading. Psalm 136:1-9, which I will read and you will read, the way it was most likely done about two thousand five hundred years ago in Hebrew in the Temple of Solomon. I am going to read a line and then point to you and you will read the second part of each verse. I think you will get the hang of this quite quickly! Starting with verse 1. Ready? O give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. 2 O give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. 3 O give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever; 4 who alone does great wonders, for his steadfast love endures forever; 5 who by understanding made the heavens, for his steadfast love endures forever; 6 who spread out the earth on the waters, for his steadfast love endures forever; 7 who made the great lights, for his steadfast love endures forever; 8 the sun to rule over the day, for his steadfast love endures forever; 9 the moon and stars to rule over the night, for his steadfast love endures forever; What would you say is the main point of Psalm 136? His steadfast love endures forever! Let s move over to Hosea 11. An incredible story of love and betrayal, heartbreak and commitment, shake your head in amazement kind of steadfast love no matter what. A very brief summary of the plot: Hosea marries a woman named Gomer; I know not a great name. Very few daughters these days are named Gomer and no wonder. She is to put it delicately a promiscuous woman as one commentary puts it. She gives birth to some children, some of whom are Hosea's, some of whom are not. She leaves him. At one point she is up for sale in the town square. Not once, but several times Hosea hears God say Go get her back and he does, even to the point of public humiliation when he buys back his own wife in the town square. What is the point of this humiliating, heart-breaking story? God says that is exactly how he feels with his beloved Israel. Let s read what God has to say about this Hosea 11:1-9 3
When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son. 2 The more I called them, the more they went from me; they kept sacrificing to the Baals, and offering incense to idols. 3 Yet it was I who taught Ephraim to walk, I took them up in my arms; but they did not know that I healed them. 4 I led them with cords of human kindness, with bands of love. I was to them like those who lift infants to their cheeks. I bent down to them and fed them. 5 They shall return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria shall be their king, because they have refused to return to me. 6 The sword rages in their cities, it consumes their oracle-priests, and devours because of their schemes. 7 My people are bent on turning away from me. To the Most High they call, but he does not raise them up at all. 8 How can I give you up, Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. 9 I will not execute my fierce anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and no mortal, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath. This for me is the most amazing portrait of the love of God in the entire Old Testament. Unbelievably forgiving, passionately in love with his people, unlike human beings in his ability to love fiercely and forever no matter what. But let s move on we have several more to go in our Bible study this morning. Another story. This one from Jesus in painting an incredible picture of the nature of our loving God. Luke 15:11-24. And however tempting it is as I read to focus on the brothers, I want to ask you to listen this time just for what this story says about the father. It s a long reading but a great story. Then Jesus said, "There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me the share of the property that will belong to me.' So he divided his property between them. 13 A few days later the younger son gathered all he had and traveled to a distant country, and there he squandered his property in dissolute living. 14 When he had spent everything, a severe famine took place throughout that country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed the pigs. 16 He would gladly have filled himself with the pods that the pigs were eating; and no one gave him anything. 17 But when he came to himself he said, 'How many of my father's hired hands have bread enough and to spare, but here I am dying of hunger! 18 I will get up and go to my father, and I will say to him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; treat me like one of your hired hands."' 20 So he set off and went to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion; he ran and put his arms around him and kissed him. 21 Then the son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you; I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' 22 But the father said to his slaves, 'Quickly, bring out a robe-- the best one-- and put it on him; put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 And get the fatted calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate; 24 for this son 4
of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found!' And they began to celebrate. This is the same God from Old to New Testament. Slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. Merciful, forgiving, keeping covenant relationship on his side even when broken from the other side. A loving father. Romans 5:5-8. These are the verses you hear in the ritual of holy communion when we receive the words of forgiveness. How do we know that we are forgiven by God? Really, how do we know? This is how, and hope does not disappoint us, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us. 6 For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. 7 Indeed, rarely will anyone die for a righteous person-- though perhaps for a good person someone might actually dare to die. 8 But God proves his love for us in that while we still were sinners Christ died for us. He proved it to us by dying for us, giving his own life to save ours. Another from Romans 8:37-39 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor rulers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. Paul just pours out everything he can think of that might separate us from the love of God. What can separate us? NOTHING! Absolutely nothing! That s how powerful the love of God is. Let s keep going. An incredible passage of scripture 1John 4. We are going to come back to 1John many times through this whole sermon series. In fact if you want to do a personal study on love in the Bible I suggest you concentrate on 1John. I learned recently that it was John Wesley s favorite book of the Bible, the one he quoted from more frequently than any other book of the Bible. Now there is a lot in these verses but today we are listening for one thing, what does it say about the nature of God? What does it say about the love of God? 1John 4:7-19. Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, 5
for God is love. 9 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. 10 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. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. Love is from God. God is love. God s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only son. Beloved, since God loved us so much. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God. We love because he first loved us. It cannot be said any more directly than 1John says it. God is love. God loves first. God loves last. God loves in between. God proves his love. God reveals his love. God is love. Last one, Revelation 1:4-8. At the end of time when God is fully revealed and Jesus is seen by all for who and what he is, what will that look like and who will we see God to be? John to the seven churches that are in Asia: Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood, 6 and made us to be a kingdom, priests serving his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. The Almighty. The one who loves us and freed us from our sins by his blood. From beginning to end, Genesis to Revelation, he is the Almighty God with glory and power who describes himself as we read in Exodus as merciful, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, and forgiving. 6
Shown in Nehemiah to be the great and mighty and awesome God, keeping covenant and steadfast love. Heard from in Psalms with the phrase repeated so many times it is intended to be so deep in our souls that we know it by heart, we hear it when we are not even thinking about it, we sing it, we dream it. It s buried deep in our unconscious. What s the phrase? His steadfast love endures forever. His steadfast love endures forever! Hosea. God is so passionately in love with his people that no matter how terribly they betray him he just cannot let go of them. He won t execute his hurt and anger. He won t come in wrath. His compassion grows warm and tender. Luke. The loving, waiting, forgiving, celebrating the lost being found father. The God Jesus revealed in his stories, his teachings, his very life of reaching out to and loving the lost. Romans. A God who proves he loves by sacrificing himself. A God who will not allow anything, anything to separate him from his love for us. 1John. A God who is love. Who loves first, last, and always. us. Revelation. A God who will one day be revealed to everyone as a God who loves What does the Bible say about God? About the nature of God? Can we agree just from these eight books of the Bible, although I could read you a whole lot more, that God is a loving God?? Is that what the Bible says? Yes! So what does it mean? How can it impact your life? Your heart, your selfunderstanding, your daily reality? Come next week to hear the rest! 7