January 14, 2001 - LESSON: 1 John 4:18 NRSV

SERMON TITLE: The Love Factor

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INTRODUCTION:

  1. In a story by Kristen R. Morsy, a boy named John asked to name the strongest bond in the world.
    1. John thought and thought. He said to himself,
      1. "If my brother the sailor were to guess this riddle,
        1. he would say the strongest bond in the world is the horizon.
        2. It joins the sky and sea together and gives us our place in the world.
      2. If my brother the farmer were to guess this riddle,
        1. he would say the strongest bond in the world is the rainbow.
        2. It joins the rain and sun together so that the crops can grow.
      3. But I guess the strongest bond in the world is the bond of love. Not even death can destroy it." (1)
    2. God so loved the world that he gave.
    3. Jesus so loved the world that he gave.
  2. Love is the antidote for much that ails us, attacks us, or seeks to subvert or destroy us.

MAIN BODY:

  1. If the strongest bond is the bond of love, why do we fear.
    1. Fear can control.
    2. Fear can cripple.

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      3. ILLUSTRATION

        Call him Joe, he was getting older
        He stopped driving on the freeway because he was scared.
        Because he was scared he stopped driving on the state highways.
        Because he was afraid, he would not go far at all.
        He was being crushed into a small package by his fear.
        His wife was understandingly frustrated.


      ILLUSTRATION:

      1. At the beginning of this new year and new millennium, What are you most afraid of, what do you fear the most?
        1. Are we afraid that our families are disintegrating and we're helpless to stop it?
        2. Are we afraid of losing our jobs, of being "downsized" or of simply not making enough to make ends meet?
        3. Are we afraid of being robbed, of someone taking away things we have worked so hard for?
        4. Are we afraid of the computer age?
        5. Are we afraid that our children will be corrupted by education, society, culture?
        6. Are we afraid of sickness, of cancer or AIDS?
        7. Are we afraid of death, our own or that of a loved one?
    1. At the root of these fears is the fear of loss.
      1. Every fear we have is grounded in the knowledge that we have something or someone to lose.
        1. I can lose the job, the family, the house, my money to the robber, my records in a computer crash, my freedom, motherhood, health - life itself.
        2. It is all at stake.
        3. Rejection and loss are the basis of our fears.

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    2. Christ offers us the ultimate perspective of God's kingdom
    3. From that eternal perspective, we will all realize that being faithful to Christ wherever we meet him in this life is much more important than the fear of rejection and loss.
    4. Those fears that
      1. drive us to cling to what we eventually must lose;
      2. keep us from saying what must be said;
      3. keep us from going where we must go;
      4. keep us from doing what needs to be done;
      5. keep us from being who we need to be.
  1. What is the antidote for the fear which so easily besets us?
    1. John was asked to name the strongest bond of all.
      1. But I guess the strongest bond in the world is the bond of love.
      2. Not even death can destroy it." (2)
  2. The bond of love
    1. There is no fear in love
      1. Fear has to do with punishment.
        1. Anticipated punishment from the state.
          1. The criminal fears
          2. He or she has broken the law.

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        2. Anticipated punishment from God.
          1. The unrepentant sinner fears.
          2. The ultimate fate of the unrepentant sinner decreed by God
    2. Perfect love casts out all fear.
      1. If I love my God I have nothing to fear for the future.
      2. If I love myself I have nothing to fear from myself or with myself.
      3. If I love my spouse I have nothing to fear from my marriage.
      4. If I love my children, I have nothing to fear for their future.
      5. If I love my enemy, I have nothing to fear in the relationship.
    3. There is no fear in love.
      1. Perfect love casts out all fear.
        1. Love gives us the capacity to conquer fear.
        2. Love offers the ability to control fear.
        3. Love offers the power to constrain fear.
    4. Jesus knew rejection and loss yet he did not allow his fear to inhibit his relationship with God nor the fulfillment of his purpose for the world, for you and me.
      1. Jesus had a perfect love for his heavenly father.
      2. Jesus had a perfect love for his family, his friends, as well as his enemies.
    5. Imagine what the world would be like with a Christian church that was unafraid of losing
      1. losing worldly praise and esteem,
      2. losing as well as its possessions, its buildings, its stained glass,
      3. losing its tax-exempt status,
      4. losing its politically protected position,
      5. losing its freedom to assemble!

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    6. What would you have?
  3. Sometimes we are so busy trying to solve our own problems that we forget to listen to the One who has the solutions.
    1. Kathleen Norris in Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, writes;
      1. Fear is not a bad place to start a spiritual journey.
      2. If you know what makes you afraid, you can see more clearly that the way out is through the fear. (3)

CONCLUSION:

  1. An old maxim: We can't always choose what is going to happen to us in life, but we can always choose how we're going to respond to what has happened in life.
    1. In the words of Kierkegaard, "If it doesn't kill you, it'll make you stronger."
    2. We can't always choose what is going to happen to us.
    3. We can choose how we are going to respond.
  2. The writer of 1 John knew this in the very intimacy of his being.
    1. He knew the fear that traveled with him and the other twelve right through the resurrection.
    2. But he also knew love, a deep and abiding love with the one who gave his live in love for him.
    3. And that is the reason that he can write as he does.
    4. Is it no wonder that he offers us an antidote from the crippling and binding chains of fear.
    5. He offers us the loving way to freedom.
  3. It is our choice, your's and mine alone.

    1. Cricket, 8 April 1981, Quoted in Homiletics, April 28, 1991, 1 John 4:7-12, The Bonds of Love

    2. Cricket, 8 April 1981, Quoted in Homiletics, April 28, 1991, 1 John 4:7-12, The Bonds of Love

    3. Kathleen Norris in Dakota: A Spiritual Geography, cited in Christianity Today, June 15, 1998, 59.

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