born of God

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 lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 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. 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. 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. We love because he first loved us. Those who say, “I love God,” and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.  (1 John 4:7-21, NRSV)

Anyone who loves is born of God.

But doesn’t everyone love?

I mean everyone loves something. Most of us love ourselves. I know sometimes we don’t, but for the most part we all love ourselves. And sometimes we love things so much that we will do anything to keep them from changing, or to save them from the changes that have happened. Which really isn’t possible.

I know as a parent I wanted my girls to stop growing and be “daddy’s little girls” forever. Which they will be, but they will all grow up and change. But I love them, as most parents love their children.

So how is it we define love here? Because God is love and those of us who love are born of God and those of us who don’t love do not know God.

And all of us have moments of not loving.

What I think the author of this letter is getting at is, God is love all the time. There is an underlying tone of love in everything God does, and those of us who seek after God’s heart must strive to have an underlying tone of love in everything we do. Not looking out for ourselves, but always the other.

We all will fall short and not be loving all the time, but God lives in us and can help us to look to Him and error on the side of grace and love.

friends

As the Father has loved me, so I have 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. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.  “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another. (John 15:9-17, NRSV)

I do not call you servants, but I have called you friends. You did not choose me, but I chose you.

We were chosen by Jesus, not to be His servant, to serve Him, but to be His friend and serve the world. And there is no greater love, than to lay down your life for your friend. Jesus did this for us, while we were still far off from Him. Deserving to be cast aside, our lot was taken from us by Jesus who gave up His life for all of us.

And yet, He is not our master and we His slaves, we are His friends.

So go into the world sharing His love, and bearing fruit to help others see the love that God has for them.

Love your neighbor as yourself

One of the scribes came near and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well, he asked him, “Which commandment is the first of all?” Jesus answered, “The first is, ‘Hear, O Israel: the Lord our God, the Lord is one; you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” Then the scribe said to him, “You are right, Teacher; you have truly said that ‘he is one, and besides him there is no other’; and ‘to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the strength,’ and ‘to love one’s neighbor as oneself,’—this is much more important than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” When Jesus saw that he answered wisely, he said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” After that no one dared to ask him any question. (Mark 12:28-34, NRSV)

Love God and love your neighbor.

Nothing is greater than these.

God comes first. In everything, you must love God, with all of your heart, soul, and mind. With everything that makes up your being.

Then love those around you as you love yourself. Meaning look out for them and think of them first.

So God, others, then yourself.

That simple. Yet also that hard!

one another

When he had gone out, Jesus said, “Now the Son of Man has been glorified, and God has been glorified in him. If God has been glorified in him, God will also glorify him in himself and will glorify him at once. Little children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you, ‘Where I am going, you cannot come.’ I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:31-35, NRSV)

Just as I loved you, so you should love one another. Jesus told His disciples after He, their master and teacher, humbled himself by washing their feet, the job of a slave.

Jesus humbled himself and told us to do the same, “a new commandment I give you, Love one another.”

And by this the world will know whose we are, when we love one another.

If you show love for others, the world will know you are a disciple of Jesus!

Joy

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth.
Worship the LORD with gladness;
come into his presence with singing.
Know that the LORD is God.
It is he that made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise.
Give thanks to him, bless his name.
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.
(Psalm 100, NRSV)

This is a great passage of scripture because it takes away the excuses of those who say they can’t sing!

We are to make a joyful noise to the Lord!

It doesn’t say a beautiful, or pretty, or good sounding noise. It says a joyful noise.

As my pastor use to say, “If you sing well, sing loud because God likes to hear a beautiful sound. And if you don’t sing well, wing even louder, because really likes a joyful noise!”

So sing and be joyful, because God has given you love!

gather

I will surely gather all of you, O Jacob,
I will gather the survivors of Israel;
I will set them together
like sheep in a fold,
like a flock in its pasture;
it will resound with people.
The one who breaks out will go up before them;
they will break through and pass the gate,
going out by it.
Their king will pass on before them,
the LORD at their head.
(Micah 2:12-13, NRSV)

God has promised to gather us together.

He will bring the sheep together in the fold.

He will gather us and protect us and give us everything we need.

It is promised.

raise up

Woe to the shepherds who destroy and scatter the sheep of my pasture! says the LORD. Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, concerning the shepherds who shepherd my people: It is you who have scattered my flock, and have driven them away, and you have not attended to them. So I will attend to you for your evil doings, says the LORD. Then I myself will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the lands where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will raise up shepherds over them who will shepherd them, and they shall not fear any longer, or be dismayed, nor shall any be missing, says the LORD. (Jeremiah 23:1-4, NRSV)

God will raise up shepherds to take the place of those who lead the sheep astray.

God will take care of His sheep, through shepherds who will follow Him.

We do not have to fear, or be dismayed. God will take care of His flock.

lost

“Take care that you do not despise one of these little ones; for, I tell you, in heaven their angels continually see the face of my Father in heaven. What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost. (Matthew 18:10-14, NRSV)

The shepherd will come after you if you leave the flock and wander off.

He leaves the rest of the flock, on the side of the mountain, in the wilderness, to go searching for the 1 that was lost. Not because He cares more for the 1 than the 99, but He cares for all the sheep and all need to be with the flock.

So He goes searching and will risk His life to keep the sheep safe.

For one of the least of these, the savior will go to great lengths.

Promised Shepherd

th1The word of the LORD came to me: Mortal, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel: prophesy, and say to them—to the shepherds: Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, you shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fatlings; but you do not feed the sheep. You have not strengthened the weak, you have not healed the sick, you have not bound up the injured, you have not brought back the strayed, you have not sought the lost, but with force and harshness you have ruled them. So they were scattered, because there was no shepherd; and scattered, they became food for all the wild animals. My sheep were scattered, they wandered over all the mountains and on every high hill; my sheep were scattered over all the face of the earth, with no one to search or seek for them. Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: As I live, says the Lord GOD, because my sheep have become a prey, and my sheep have become food for all the wild animals, since there was no shepherd; and because my shepherds have not searched for my sheep, but the shepherds have fed themselves, and have not fed my sheep; therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the LORD: Thus says the Lord GOD, I am against the shepherds; and I will demand my sheep at their hand, and put a stop to their feeding the sheep; no longer shall the shepherds feed themselves. I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, so that they may not be food for them.  For thus says the Lord GOD: I myself will search for my sheep, and will seek them out. As shepherds seek out their flocks when they are among their scattered sheep, so I will seek out my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places to which they have been scattered on a day of clouds and thick darkness. I will bring them out from the peoples and gather them from the countries, and will bring them into their own land; and I will feed them on the mountains of Israel, by the watercourses, and in all the inhabited parts of the land. I will feed them with good pasture, and the mountain heights of Israel shall be their pasture; there they shall lie down in good grazing land, and they shall feed on rich pasture on the mountains of Israel. I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I will make them lie down, says the Lord GOD. I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them with justice. As for you, my flock, thus says the Lord GOD: I shall judge between sheep and sheep, between rams and goats:  Is it not enough for you to feed on the good pasture, but you must tread down with your feet the rest of your pasture? When you drink of clear water, must you foul the rest with your feet? And must my sheep eat what you have trodden with your feet, and drink what you have fouled with your feet? Therefore, thus says the Lord GOD to them: I myself will judge between the fat sheep and the lean sheep. Because you pushed with flank and shoulder, and butted at all the weak animals with your horns until you scattered them far and wide, I will save my flock, and they shall no longer be ravaged; and I will judge between sheep and sheep. I will set up over them one shepherd, my servant David, and he shall feed them: he shall feed them and be their shepherd. And I, the LORD, will be their God, and my servant David shall be prince among them; I, the LORD, have spoken. I will make with them a covenant of peace and banish wild animals from the land, so that they may live in the wild and sleep in the woods securely. I will make them and the region around my hill a blessing; and I will send down the showers in their season; they shall be showers of blessing. The trees of the field shall yield their fruit, and the earth shall yield its increase. They shall be secure on their soil; and they shall know that I am the LORD, when I break the bars of their yoke, and save them from the hands of those who enslaved them. They shall no more be plunder for the nations, nor shall the animals of the land devour them; they shall live in safety, and no one shall make them afraid. I will provide for them a splendid vegetation so that they shall no more be consumed with hunger in the land, and no longer suffer the insults of the nations. They shall know that I, the LORD their God, am with them, and that they, the house of Israel, are my people, says the Lord GOD. You are my sheep, the sheep of my pasture and I am your God, says the Lord GOD. (Ezekiel 34, NRSV)

Shepherds should feed the sheep, but shepherds are human and sometimes get caught up in their own needs. They seek to satisfy themselves rather than take care of those who are in need of their care.

But God has promised to send His shepherd which will care for His people and for His flock.

God’s shepherd will not look out for himself, but will always follow where God leads and do what God wants to be done.