Easter 4 - Jubilate (Mother's Day) May 8, 2022
1 John 3:1-3
Rejoicing in the Father's Love
v.1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Dear friends in Christ, stories abound of amazing acts of love of parents toward their children. Parents who would do anything--go to any lengths--to help their child who is in need. There are examples of amazing feats of strength--such as a mother literally lifting up a vehicle under which her child lay trapped. There are examples of dedicated perseverance, such as the single parent who works three jobs simply to put enough food on the table and provide a safe place for their child to live. There are stories of families putting careers and financial gain aside so that the mother may stay home with their children. All these stories and so many more (like getting up 12 times in one night to calm a scared child) are beautiful examples of parental love for children.
As wonderful as these examples are, yet they pale in comparison to the great love that God has shown for us. The word that John uses in our text to tell of the Father's love that has been given to us is "agape" love--a deep and abounding steadfast and sacrificial love. A love that moved Him to sacrifice His own beloved Son into torment and death--for you and me--so that we could be called children of God.
By the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for sinners like you and me--by the working of the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament--we are REBORN children of God. Not just CALLED--or NAMED--like some kind of metaphor or symbolic act--but rather a true and literal spiritual birth. As John wrote in his Gospel, Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3), "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Furthermore, as Paul writes in 2 Cor. 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." You have been reborn by water and the Word, of the Holy Spirit in Baptism--God is your Father now.
"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but what does that have to do with us now, today?" God has made you His children in order to serve Him and your neighbour. The whole purpose of John's first epistle is to write to Christians who thought that they could live any way they wished under the Gospel--hate brother and neighbour alike--and still be called children of God. But this is not what God says. As John writes later in this same letter (4:20), "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen."
If we are honest, we see ourselves reflected here. We do not love our neighbour, brother, sister, mother, father, etc. as we ought. How often we make up excuses for our unloving attitude: "They started it!" or "They hurt me badly" or any number of things. But all of these pale when brought before God's clear Word that demands that we love as we have been loved by God in Christ—that is fully and completely, without reservation—perfectly.
Therefore, our loving heavenly Father, who has called us to be His children through the waters of our Baptism not because of any innate goodness in ourselves or any good thoughts, words, or deeds we may have, but purely by His grace and mercy--He calls us to repentance--to sorrow and contrition over our sin and to trust in Him as our Father to forgive that sin for Jesus' sake.
As His beloved children, God calls us to come to Him, as any good Father calls to His children. We who are hurting, bleeding on the inside, dying, grieving, angry, and bitter, with tears in our eyes and sorrow in our hearts--we come to the Father, and the Holy Spirit leads us to confess our sins--our failures--our selfishness and hatred--and to look to Jesus to heal and forgive and restore.
The Lord points us back to our Baptism--that sacred act wherein He worked to have us reborn as His children--and He reminds us who we are in Christ Jesus--covered with His blood--recipients of His death and resurrection. The Father calls us back to a right relationship with Him--through repentance and faith. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And this promise does not come with an expiration date attached. It is not only good for the day of your Baptism--rather, this promise of God to forgive and restore those who freely confess their sins and trust in Christ--is an everlasting promise that sustains us all the days of our lives. From newly baptized--newborn Christians--to those who have lived their whole lives in Christ's comforting Word of hope.
In joy and thanksgiving, as children of the heavenly Father, we live our lives now trusting in His mercy--freely serving and loving as we have first been loved and served by Him through Christ Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
The world hates this--hates Jesus--and so hates us. They don't understand the good lives we try to live in response to this joyous good news of the Gospel. Rather, our good lives of loving service to neighbour seem strange and out of place--show the starkness of the reality of the fallenness of the world. When we stand up for truth and freedom of religion--when we hold on to God's definition of marriage, male/female, and the sanctity of human life--when we fail to compromise with the world and culture around us--often we are received with hatred and violence.
But we stand firm--as Christians--as God's children--fully confident of His love and purity. We take the world's scorn, hatred, and mockery in stride--with a smile on our face--rejoicing (the Latin term for this Sunday) in the sure and certain promises of God that have been made and given to us in His Word and Sacrament that the world cannot--ever--take from us.
Therefore, with utmost confidence, hope, and joy we continue to confess our faith to the world--just as we continue to confess our sins to the Father and receive His forgiveness for the sake of Jesus crucified and risen again--and we patiently wait. We await the Day of the Lord when we, too, shall be glorified like the risen and victorious Jesus, and see Him as He is. For dear friends, "everyone who thus hopes in [Jesus] purifies himself as [Jesus] is pure." For Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.
1 John 3:1-3
Rejoicing in the Father's Love
v.1 See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.
Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Dear friends in Christ, stories abound of amazing acts of love of parents toward their children. Parents who would do anything--go to any lengths--to help their child who is in need. There are examples of amazing feats of strength--such as a mother literally lifting up a vehicle under which her child lay trapped. There are examples of dedicated perseverance, such as the single parent who works three jobs simply to put enough food on the table and provide a safe place for their child to live. There are stories of families putting careers and financial gain aside so that the mother may stay home with their children. All these stories and so many more (like getting up 12 times in one night to calm a scared child) are beautiful examples of parental love for children.
As wonderful as these examples are, yet they pale in comparison to the great love that God has shown for us. The word that John uses in our text to tell of the Father's love that has been given to us is "agape" love--a deep and abounding steadfast and sacrificial love. A love that moved Him to sacrifice His own beloved Son into torment and death--for you and me--so that we could be called children of God.
By the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross for sinners like you and me--by the working of the Holy Spirit through Word and Sacrament--we are REBORN children of God. Not just CALLED--or NAMED--like some kind of metaphor or symbolic act--but rather a true and literal spiritual birth. As John wrote in his Gospel, Jesus said to Nicodemus (John 3), "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God...unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." Furthermore, as Paul writes in 2 Cor. 5:17, "Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, He is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." You have been reborn by water and the Word, of the Holy Spirit in Baptism--God is your Father now.
"Well, that's all fine and dandy, but what does that have to do with us now, today?" God has made you His children in order to serve Him and your neighbour. The whole purpose of John's first epistle is to write to Christians who thought that they could live any way they wished under the Gospel--hate brother and neighbour alike--and still be called children of God. But this is not what God says. As John writes later in this same letter (4:20), "If anyone says, 'I love God,' and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen."
If we are honest, we see ourselves reflected here. We do not love our neighbour, brother, sister, mother, father, etc. as we ought. How often we make up excuses for our unloving attitude: "They started it!" or "They hurt me badly" or any number of things. But all of these pale when brought before God's clear Word that demands that we love as we have been loved by God in Christ—that is fully and completely, without reservation—perfectly.
Therefore, our loving heavenly Father, who has called us to be His children through the waters of our Baptism not because of any innate goodness in ourselves or any good thoughts, words, or deeds we may have, but purely by His grace and mercy--He calls us to repentance--to sorrow and contrition over our sin and to trust in Him as our Father to forgive that sin for Jesus' sake.
As His beloved children, God calls us to come to Him, as any good Father calls to His children. We who are hurting, bleeding on the inside, dying, grieving, angry, and bitter, with tears in our eyes and sorrow in our hearts--we come to the Father, and the Holy Spirit leads us to confess our sins--our failures--our selfishness and hatred--and to look to Jesus to heal and forgive and restore.
The Lord points us back to our Baptism--that sacred act wherein He worked to have us reborn as His children--and He reminds us who we are in Christ Jesus--covered with His blood--recipients of His death and resurrection. The Father calls us back to a right relationship with Him--through repentance and faith. "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." And this promise does not come with an expiration date attached. It is not only good for the day of your Baptism--rather, this promise of God to forgive and restore those who freely confess their sins and trust in Christ--is an everlasting promise that sustains us all the days of our lives. From newly baptized--newborn Christians--to those who have lived their whole lives in Christ's comforting Word of hope.
In joy and thanksgiving, as children of the heavenly Father, we live our lives now trusting in His mercy--freely serving and loving as we have first been loved and served by Him through Christ Jesus' life, death and resurrection.
The world hates this--hates Jesus--and so hates us. They don't understand the good lives we try to live in response to this joyous good news of the Gospel. Rather, our good lives of loving service to neighbour seem strange and out of place--show the starkness of the reality of the fallenness of the world. When we stand up for truth and freedom of religion--when we hold on to God's definition of marriage, male/female, and the sanctity of human life--when we fail to compromise with the world and culture around us--often we are received with hatred and violence.
But we stand firm--as Christians--as God's children--fully confident of His love and purity. We take the world's scorn, hatred, and mockery in stride--with a smile on our face--rejoicing (the Latin term for this Sunday) in the sure and certain promises of God that have been made and given to us in His Word and Sacrament that the world cannot--ever--take from us.
Therefore, with utmost confidence, hope, and joy we continue to confess our faith to the world--just as we continue to confess our sins to the Father and receive His forgiveness for the sake of Jesus crucified and risen again--and we patiently wait. We await the Day of the Lord when we, too, shall be glorified like the risen and victorious Jesus, and see Him as He is. For dear friends, "everyone who thus hopes in [Jesus] purifies himself as [Jesus] is pure." For Alleluia! Christ the Lord is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Thanks be to God in Christ Jesus. Amen.