Listen here.
Welcome to
Devotions for Worship where we meditate on the appointed Scripture readings for
the upcoming Sunday. I am Pastor Eric Tritten from Gloria Dei Lutheran Church
in Hudson, OH.
Thank you for
being with me today.
This coming
Sunday, the 4th of Easter, is Good Shepherd Sunday. A major theme
for Good Shepherd Sunday is that Jesus laid down His life for us. In 1 John 3,
the apostle John speaks to the church from his state of old age, and he wants
us to know that Jesus laid down His life – and that becomes a model for us.
Jesus saved us by laying down His life, and He also showed us what it looks
like when we love one another and live in the forgiveness He won for us.
The Reading: (1 Jn. 3:16-24 ESV)
16 By this we know
love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brothers. 17 But if anyone has the world's goods and sees his
brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God's love abide in
him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed
and in truth.
19
By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before
him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our
heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not
condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and whatever we ask we
receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus
Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 Whoever
keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that
he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Comments
John
says, “By this we know love ….” We know love because Jesus laid down His life
for us. This is what love does – it puts another person over us, it makes
another person someone more important than ourselves. Love acts on behalf of
someone else to do good for them.
Jesus
showed love by bearing our sins to the cross and laying down His life to
release us from sins curse and consequence. What are we willing to bear, to
risk, to do for the sake of love for God or for our neighbor? Because John is
clear, love acts. Love does. It sees a brother or sister in need and does
something about it. Love is not talk it is action.
One
of my brothers is in the Army and he gave me a coffee cup that says on its
side, “Facta, non verba!” Latin for, “Deeds, not words!” In a world where love
is often seen as sentiment and poetry, we need a bit more, “Facta, non verba!”
Or as Elvis might have said, “A little less talk, and a lot more action.”
I
need to be very clear about this. God does not require acts of love from us to
prove ourselves to Him or to make us worthy of His love – that’s another
mistake we make about love, that someone has to be worthy to be loved. We love
because we have been loved. We know what love is because Jesus has loved us so
marvelously and sacrificially. How can we keep something so magnificent to
ourselves? It is incumbent on us to share that love with others – but we don’t
just do this by telling people about how much God loves them. We show them. We
love them, whether they are worthy or not, because God loves them.
And,
yes, loving our neighbor does give us confidence before God, but it is not
confidence of our worth or greatness. It makes us confident that we have indeed
been loved, that we know what love is, because we model it in our lives. We realize,
“Wow! I am loving others because God loved me! How great is that!?” Otherwise,
our own hearts justly condemn us.
So
God has given us a new commandment. It appears to be two commands, but in truth
it is one commandment. His command is to believe in Jesus and love one another.
When we believe in Jesus we experience the love of God, and the love of God
moves us to love one another.
Meditate
on this today: Jesus loves us. We have experienced what real love is because He
laid down His life for us. The world needs to know that kind of love, too, so
God calls us to love one another – not just with words, but with action.
Prayers
Lord Jesus, we
know love because You laid down Your life for us and rescued us from sin and
death. You did not love us with mere words, but you loved us with action,
giving up You life to save us. Thank You! Please forgive us for not loving
others as You have loved us. Please forgive us for not showing the world this
incredible love You have poured out on us. Help us to fulfill God’s command to
believe in You and love one another. Let You love move us, change us, fill us,
and overflow from us so that we love others in Your name. Amen.
Memory Verse: 1 John 3:23 - And this is His commandment,
that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ / and love one another,
just as He has commanded us. (1 Jn. 3:23 ESV)
Thank you so much
for using Devotions for Worship, I pray that our time together has blessed you
and given you something to meditate on – some reminder of God’s grace to rattle
around in your brain – for the rest of the day.
Would you do me a
favor? If you got something out of this devotional time, would you like and/or
share it on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever you do social media? That would help
me get the word out, and hopefully help these devotions be a blessing to others.
God bless you!
Social Media Post:
Devotions for
Worship: 1 John 3:16-24 - https://soundcloud.com/pastor-tritten/april-20-1-john-3-16-24
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