May 6, 2012
That Love Stuff Again
- 1 John 4:7-21
- Dr. Teri Thomas
Last month my only child celebrated his 30th birthday.
I still remember when we couldn’t trust anyone over thirty!
I wish I could say I remember every minute I spent with him the last 30 years.
Unfortunately, I have forgotten many of the details.
But there is one moment I will never forget.
The moment when the doctor handed him to me and I held him for the first time.
That moment is engraved in my mind and on my heart forever.
I remember the awe I felt as I counted his tiny fingers and toes.
I remember the thrill of kissing that head full of thick dark hair.
I remember the love that swelled up inside of me.
I was 27 years old.
I wasn’t naive. I knew about love, but I had never felt love like that before.
What was it that made me love him so much?
He didn’t even have a name yet.
He had done nothing, except breathe.
I’d been carrying him for a pretty miserable 9 months
during which he had caused nausea, weight gain, bloating, heart burn and more discomfort.
He couldn’t talk to me.
He couldn’t do any errands for me.
He couldn’t even smile.
But I loved him.
I had no idea what he would do with his life.
I loved him not for what he did,
not for what he would do, but simply for who he was.
He was mine. He was my child.
In that moment on April 12, 1982 I loved him
and I have loved him every moment since.
When he learned to laugh and smile and hug I loved him.
When he wet the bed or threw his food all over the floor I loved him.
When he got good grades in school I loved him.
And when he got suspended from school I loved him.
When he remembered my birthday I loved him.
When he forgot mother’s day I loved him.
I think I learned more about God from my son
than he ever learned from me.
Being a parent gave me a glimpse into the love of God.
There are obviously many ways for us to glimpse God’s love—
you don’t have to be a parent to see God and understand God’s love,
but for me, personally, holding a baby does it every time.
When I look into the face of a child and experience the rush of awe and wonder,
I can only imagine what God experiences looking at us.
God loves us, because we are children of God.
On days when we make Him proud,
on days when we do everything wrong,
on days we fail to live up to even the most basic Christian expectations.
God loves us still. Despite it all. Through it all.
We belong to God.
Unfortunately, many of us were taught
that God would love us if and when we changed.
Deep down inside we believe we have to do something to earn God’s love.
We have to go to church,
or read the Bible,
or change something in our life if we want God to love us.
But actually, according to scripture,
God loves us so that we can change.
What empowers change,
what makes us want to change,
is the experience of that generous love.
For too many people the Christian faith has become moralistic.
God will love us if we do this, follow that, change this, stop that.
It puts all the responsibility on us.
Want to be saved? Fix yourself. Clean up your act. Get it together. Straighten up.
Well you know we can never succeed at that.
We will never be holy enough
pure enough
refined enough
loving enough.
But that doesn’t stop God from loving us.
God doesn’t love us because we are worthy. God loves us first.
It’s the response to that gushing love that is meant to spring up in us
spring up to help us love others
to help us love ourselves
to help us be the people God wants us to be
to help us grow and change.
In this morning’s reading from Acts
Philip is sent to the wilderness where he encounters an Ethiopian eunuch.
This foreigner is clearly curious
he is not well educated in the Jewish faith.
He is not a believer.
He is not one of God’s chosen.
So this guy is a real outsider.
Sexually, nationally, racially, religiously, he is an outsider.
So Philip teaches him and tells him about Jesus.
And when they come to some water the man asks-
What is to keep me from being baptized?
What is to keep me from being marked as a child of God?
What is to keep me from being claimed as God’s chosen?
What is to keep God from welcoming me and loving me?
Well, gee, Philip responds.
it doesn’t matter where you come from
it doesn’t matter where you have been or what you have done
your job makes no difference
your race is irrelevant
your sexuality is immaterial.
The teachings of Jesus promise you a home,
a place to worship,
a community with which to learn,
a people to love and who will love you,
because you are a child of God and you are loved.
When we are born and gently placed in the loving arms of God,
all God sees is love.
And love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and endures all things.
Love never fails.
We do. A lot.
But God’s love never fails.
Thanks be to God. Amen.