The Bungee Cord 9-12-23

Hello,

I was told of a sermon where the preacher was speaking on the importance of the church to be different than society. The preacher said that in a world where society seems to draw fewer and fewer lines about what is right and what is wrong, the church should stand apart from the world and clearly set right from wrong. Actually, as I hear many sermons, this seems to be a common theme. The church needs to be different than society.

I agree, at least in this one way: in the way that we show love for each other. It is what Jesus said is the mark of difference between the followers of Jesus and the world, John 13.3, :”By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” Looking carefully at this passage from the book of John, Jesus is not speaking on how his followers love those in the world (although that is certainly part of the Christian life), but rather how the followers of Jesus love each other. Jesus says that it is the love that is shared among those who bear his name that is to make the church different from the world. The world might be driven to love in many ways, but the love that is shared among Christians is driven by only one thing, Jesus Christ. 1 John 4.19: “We love because he first loved us.”

And how did Jesus first love us? Jesus loved unconditionally. There are no “if’s” when it comes to Jesus’ love. The Bible tells us that Jesus loved a shunned woman at a noon-time well, a fisherman who left everything to follow him, ten lepers who he met on the road, a short tax collector who was overcharging the people, a rich young ruler who was seeking eternal life, a woman (and probably the man) who was caught in adultery, a graveyard roamer who was out of his mind, his enemies who hung him on the cross, and on and on it goes. It was out of divine love (John 3:16) that Jesus Christ came into this world, and it was that unconditional love that Jesus loved everyone that he met.

There were no lines in the sand that one needed to cross to come near to Jesus to receive Jesus’ love, and there was no line in the sand that if you crossed going away from Jesus that would exclude you from his love.

That is different than the way the world loves. Lines are drawn, lines that often delineate right from wrong. But there are some problems with this way of loving. First, ask 10 different people where a line should be drawn, and you’ll get many different answers. On big issues and on smaller ones. Abortion, capital punishment, relationships, ecological living, white lies, military spending, clothes one wears, using foul language….. Second, everyone crosses over the lines that they draw. Sometimes those cross overs are big, and other times they are just a matter of millimeters, but when you are crossing over the edge of a cliff, it really doesn’t matter how big the cross over is.

Of course, it is easier to love the way that the world does. After all, birds of a feather flock together, and common enemies make strange bedfellows, but such love is fragile and frail. In our present world of sharp divisions and sharp words, that fragility and frailty is painfully too clear.

It is hard to love as Jesus loves. It is so hard that Jesus was put to death for such loving. But, on the other hand, the way that Jesus loves is powerful, power unmatched in all of creation. So powerful was, and is, Jesus’ love, that not even death could stop him from loving unconditionally. It is that resurrection powered love that is the fuel for those who follow Jesus. It is that love that is stoked and kindled every time Christians get together. It is that love that is a beacon of hope to the world. It is that love that makes the church stand out, and I would say that it is that love that works like a magnet, drawing all people….including you and me, my friends and my enemies, people who think like me and people who don’t, people who act like me and people who don’t, people who follow my understanding of proper rules and people who do not….

So, if you’re looking for rules to follow, there’s plenty of places in the world to go, but if you’re looking for love, divine love, to hold you and guide you through life no matter what…..well, that is what the church is all about.

Have a great week.

God’s grace and peace, (ggap)

Pastor Jerry Nuernberger

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