Dear Friends
I write this with an aching heart. For many
weeks a message has weighed heavily on my heart: In view of God’s great love,
grace and mercy lavished upon us, we are compelled both by His love, and by
Scripture, to conduct ourselves in love toward one another. In recent weeks I
have begun to hear this same message going out from several other pulpits and
platforms. It has grown more and more pressing in me as we approach a day set
aside for celebrating God’s most profound act of love towards a humanity that
had thoroughly offended against His holiness – His gift of love given simply for the sake of
reconciling us to Himself.
- This week three people died in a mall shooting in Portland.
- This week a friend’s sister was starting a normal day at work, and in an unexpected moment, flat-lined for nine minutes before emergency personnel were miraculously able to bring her back. She now lies in a critical care unit of a hospital, having come close to slipping into eternity.
- Today, twenty young children and six adults have been killed in a school shooting in Connecticut.
- This week dozens of people lost friends and loved ones - never to get to say goodbye one last time; never to get to take back lacerating words spoken in anger; never to get to speak words of appreciation and love one more time.
This mortal life is but a brief flicker on
the screen of all eternity. Eternity is but a breath, a step away. Just one moment,
and we find ourselves standing before the eternal God who lavished His love on
us when we did not deserve it. I imagine myself standing before Him, trying to
explain why it was so necessary and important to disregard His injunction to
love one another, and instead hold on to offenses, judgments, criticism and
hostility towards others. There would be no words! If I cannot justify this before
Him then, I can most certainly not justify it – to Him, myself or anyone else –
now! How dare we fly in the face of His love and Word, and offend Him so!
Of all the prayers that Jesus could have
prayed for us, His followers, right before His death, He presented this request
before the Father: “I pray… that all of
them may be one, Father, just as You are in me and I am in You… that they may
be one as We are one… May they be brought to complete unity…”
The Apostle John, “Apostle of Love”, picks
up this theme in 1 John, and writes these words in a letter in which he
repeatedly appeals to us as “beloved children”:
If we walk in the light, as He is
in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his
Son, purifies us from all sin… Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates
his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light,
and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother
is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he
is going, because the darkness has blinded him… How great is the love the
Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! … We
should love one another... Anyone who does not love remains in death… Let us
not love one another with words or tongue but with actions and in truth… This
is His command: to believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and to love
one another… Let us love one another, for love comes from God. Whoever does not
love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed His love
among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live
through Him… since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another…
Throughout Scripture we are urged over and
over to show the same love, grace and mercy toward one another, that God has
showered on us. To disregard these words, is to respond to God’s love and
sacrifice with our contempt – and to remove ourselves out from under His
blessing.
In fact, John tells us in this same book that holding on to hate towards one another is the same as murder! When we hate others, we are no better than the mall and school shooters!
In fact, John tells us in this same book that holding on to hate towards one another is the same as murder! When we hate others, we are no better than the mall and school shooters!
Among many other passages, consider the
following:
Do away with… the pointing finger
and malicious talk (Isaiah 58:9).
See to it… that no bitter root
grows up to cause trouble and defile many (Hebrews 12:15).
Do not let any unwholesome talk
come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up
according to their needs that it may benefit those who listen. And do not
grieve the Holy Spirit… Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and
slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one
another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you… live a life
of love, just as Christ loved us... (Ephesians 4:29 – 5:2).
Rid yourselves of all such things
as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips…
clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and
patience... forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another.
Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these, put on love, which binds
them all together in perfect unity (Colossians 3:8 – 14).
Above all, love each other deeply,
because love covers over a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8).
The only thing that counts is faith
expressing itself through love (Galatians 5:6).
How good and how pleasant it is
when brothers live together in unity… for there the Lord commands His blessing
(Ps. 133).
Brothers and sisters in Christ; family of
God; friends… I plead with you: We have only this one life through which to
live out the love of Jesus. All too soon, it will be snatched away. Every word
we speak to and about others; every action we take and decision we make, leaves
a legacy in the lives of others – and a lasting deposit in eternity. Can we
surrender our hearts and wills to the One who loves us perfectly and
completely? Can we release His giving, forgiving love to spill from our lives
into the lives of others? Can we commit ourselves to NOT leave a legacy of
offense and bitterness in the world, but instead a legacy of love?
This is the will of God and the prayer of
Jesus concerning us!
“Precious
Holy Spirit, help us to not grieve You with our attitudes, words and deeds!
Transform our seared and calloused hearts into hearts tenderized by and filled
with the love of Jesus. Give us generosity of spirit, and grace and mercy for
people in our lives who are Your own treasured possession. Forgive us for
desiring grace and mercy for ourselves, yet speaking and executing judgment on
others. We surrender our wills, lay down our lives, and open our hearts to Your
transformational power at work in and through us. Father, as we consider Your
great gift of love to us in Jesus Christ this Christmas season, we ask that
Your love will be birthed anew in our own lives, and released through us, into lives
around us. For the sake and honor of Your all-surpassing Name, we submit ourselves to Your Word and Your Lordship.”
