Sharing God's Love . . .

            Quick!  What’s the most important aspect of being a Christian?

            It’s sharing God’s love.  We share God’s love with those around us.  We share God’s love in response to God’s profound love for each of us.  Our foundational text of scripture this weekend is 1 John 4: 7-16.  In this passage, the writer underscores the importance of responding to God’s love, when he writes, poignantly, “Beloved, since God loves us so much, we also ought to love one another.”  (v. 11)

            The elder, who is writing 1 John, goes further by describing how discipleship is informed as a response to God’s love for us:  “Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  ..No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.”  (vv. 7, 12)

            As disciples of Christ, we respond to God’s love for us in three distinct ways:

1.      Love God.  We love God when we worship and pray.  We also love God when we seek to grow closer to God through Bible study; spending time with God in personal prayer and reflection; and worshipping as a community of faith, especially through celebrating the Sacrament of Holy Communion.

2.      Love Neighbors.   Typically, when we think about loving our neighbors, we focus on helping those who have needs.  And, it is vitally important for Christians to help those with physical, mental, and psychological needs.  In his only words about how God will judge us, Jesus focuses on whether we have cared for our neighbors.  It is those who have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the naked, cared for the sick, and visited those in prison, who will be saved and welcomed into God's Heavenly Reign. 

But, loving our neighbors also includes sharing the Gospel—literally, the Good News—that God loves us so much that Jesus came to show us how to live.  Even in his death on the Cross, Jesus was still showing humans how to live.  Of course, sometimes the best way to share the Gospel is by simply living the Gospel and caring for the physical, mental, and psychological needs of our neighbors.  At other times, sharing the Good News—that is, to say, loving our neighbors—includes inviting them to come with us to church and to experience the genuine love of a community of faith.

3.      Love Creation.  Sometimes Christians forget that responding to God’s love for us includes caring for the Earth.  We learn from Genesis : 26-30 that humans are special because we are created in God’s own image, the imago Dei.   Historically, Christians have assumed that to be created in God’s own image conferred great privilege upon humans above the rest of God’s Good Creation.  That is wrong.  Actually, the imago Dei comes with great responsibility.  God has entrusted us to be good stewards or caretakers of the rest of God’s Good Creation.  So, part of sharing God’s love is loving God’s Creation by being good stewards and taking care of it.

Meriden United Methodist Church, the church that I serve as Pastor, has the following vision statement: 

 

 “Sharing God’s love with our community and into the world community.” 

 

  This Sunday (June 1st), we will be exploring precisely what that means for us as a community of faith.  What does it mean to share God’s love.  Everyone is welcome to join in with us in this exploration.  Our church is located at the corner of Main and Dawson Streets in Meriden, Kansas.  We have two worship services, which are both now on Sunday:

Ø  Our classic service starts on at 10 am on Sunday mornings.

Ø  Our contemporary service starts at 6 pm on Sunday evenings.

Everyone is welcome and accepted because God loves us all.