Abide – Love
Welcome. Welcome to Abide, this time, this space that we get to hold together and meditate on the word of God and the presence of God. And, to meditate is not some super spiritual word. You know, we meditate on a lot of things all day long. Sometimes we meditate on a song we been singing over and over. Meditation just means to chew on over and over. Many of us meditate on our own thoughts, our own stream of consciousness. Maybe we meditate on what someone said over and over. Sometimes we meditate on negative things, sometimes it's positive, but this time of meditation and of prayer is to chew on the word of God, the presence of God, and allow it to wash over us over and over in these 30 minutes.
And meditating in truth will in turn change us and transform us in the inside, and then out into the world. So that is what this time is about. And if you come into this prayer time, [in] a peaceful manner, in a hurried manner, in a tired manner, just know that all of these ways of being belong and that Jesus invites us into this space with him.
We are in a series on Christian virtues and today we have the privilege of meditating on the virtue of love.
So we will trust the Spirit and the word and the presence of Jesus to develop this virtue in us [in] this time. So just begin to get settled wherever you are, sitting, standing, walking. Begin to notice your beautiful body settling, the body, the muscles, allowing your form to begin to quiet and to grow still. To notice our breath as we breathe in and we breathe out. Let's begin to become aware of our surroundings and where we are, whether we're in a comfortable seat or looking at some beautiful scenery out a window, or even sitting in traffic, just become aware that you are encircled in the love of God, in the action of God, in the presence of God. Beneath you, where your feet are, above you, beside you, and within you. Just be reminded of this encircling presence.
And this presence that we are becoming more and more aware of as we grow more still and quiet is a presence of love. 1 Corinthians says “Love is patient. Love is kind. It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud. It does not dishonour others. It is not self-seeking. It is not easily angered. It keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil. It rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.” This is the love of God. This is the presence that is encircling each and everyone of us afresh today.
Let us begin to bring forth gratitude to God now together. And we’re going to ponder just some small gestures of love that have been given or received in the last few days. So whether these gestures of love have come out of you toward another, or have been given to you from someone else. These are all coming from God, through you or through someone else. It's a cyclical thing, love, that it's given and received, given and received, it has a flow to it. And so let's just spend some time allowing the Holy Spirit to help us to see where these small gestures came to us in the last few days. And some examples might be just someone being patient with you, or listening to you, or hugging you. Someone giving you a smile. Maybe you were able to speak a word over someone. Maybe you were able to open a door for someone. So just become more aware of these gestures of love that are flowing in and out of your life, and I'll give you a minute to do that.
Beautiful. We’re just practicing becoming more and more aware of the action and the virtue of love already at work in our life. And so now I think we're ready to move into the passage we'll focus on today which is 1 John 4:7-12. And 1 John is a little book, it's only five chapters. But I notice that the word ‘abide’ is in this little book 24 times and the word ‘love’ is in it 46 times, so I think this was the passage for today. My desire for myself and for you [is] to stay connected and abiding in Christ, and that through that we might practice this virtue of love, and so the author of 1 John is going to encourage us in this virtue. And so let's just open our hearts and our minds and our whole beings to the reading of this word. And I'm going to read it through twice.
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows 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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and he sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows 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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and he sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
Listen for the leading of the Spirit.
I think I'd like to just start by realizing that this love, this virtue of love that we're meditating on is not the kind of love that the world talks about or even we talk about often. You know “I love being outside” or “I love cooking in the kitchen” or “I love watching the stars.” That kind of love is a preference, and it's an emotion, and it's a feeling and it's something I like. The kind of love that is being described here in 1 John that God is inviting us into is a state of the will, a choice. It's not something that is produced because of a feeling or an emotion, but it's a choice. And so I just encourage us to move away from the word ‘love’ and all of the cozy feelings that we can all get around that word. Because the love that we're speaking about will need to be cultivated and will need to be practiced, and this virtue of love is an action that we will bring into spaces that don't naturally bring about feelings or the desires of love, if you know what I mean. So that's where we're headed.
So the author writes: “Dear friends, let us love one another for love comes from God.” So I think we know this, that this virtue doesn't just, this is what was in the very beginning, before the world was created, this intimacy, this love, that is of the Trinity. And we are made in his image and love is then able to be born in us and it comes from God to us.
And so, as we learn to understand and unpack love for ourselves and our lives, I'd love for us to start with something easy like: Who is easy for you to love right now in your life? Who is someone that comes to mind is just ‘I love that person, I love being around them’, who comes to mind? And many times we can easily think of these people because of the way these people make us feel, or that we like the same things, or we feel understood by that person, we feel connection. And this is a gift, such a gift that God gives us in these sorts of friendships and connections. But there are also those who are challenging for us to love. And so I give you a moment now to think on those, maybe one or two that are challenging for you to love right now. And maybe talk to God about why. Why is it challenging to love them?
God is so on time with these virtues in my life, as just in the last week, two individuals that I just love so much, but it's complicated love, have been a challenge for me this week. I just haven't felt loved by them, or I've been frustrated, or feel unseen or not heard or not understood, all these things and when this happens, my sort of desire to bring forth this virtue of love gets cut off and I step back. And this cyclical love that we were practicing in our gratitude practice of giving and receiving love can get cut off in me. And so this is the very place where the virtue of love is gently and tenderly walking in the midst of you and this person or these persons. But, because if the Scriptures say that love comes from God, and that because we know God, we are able to love, then this is possible.
I just want you to take a moment to just allow God to tenderly sit with you in these relationships that are hard, hard to practice the virtue of love over and over and over again. Allow him to hear you, to see you, to love you in this, as it is for me, a complicated relationship.
1 John continues by showing us that love is not just a feeling or an emotion, that it's a choice and that it's an action. And so God acts this love out. 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. This is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. God made a choice to love us, forever and always.
I'm not sure how he continues to have this deep, deep well of love for each one and all of humanity, but he does, he has it. And so I wonder if God can help us and expand our abilities to love in these hard spaces. I wonder if God can give us gestures, words and ways of showing love in these more challenging situations and relationships.
It says in verse 12: “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” So this is a task, and a privilege, and a journey, and an adventure to cultivate the virtue of love. One that's not just cozy, but it's a choice. One that will not come from us, but will come from God, because we will run dry, and we will need God's continual well of love.
My final pondering for us today is when you think of the life of Jesus, and when you ponder his gestures, his actions, his words. What is his love like? How does he act? How does he live? How does he love? So I'm going to just give you a moment to, once again, allow the Spirit to hover over a scene of the scriptures. A moment where Jesus is in conversation or in relationship and see how he loves.
Jesus is our teacher in this area and our guide. He will also empower us to live in him and through him in our circumstances and conditions and relationships. And so as you ponder his way of love, let us also now seek the Spirit for what gesture or small thing can we do or continue to do in these relationships that are the most challenging for us right now. What would a small baby step or bringing this virtue of love out into the atmosphere and into our environment. Let us listen to the Spirit's leading on what that gesture could be today.
God, thank you for this challenging and yet beautiful word that we are able to meditate and chew on today. It's truth. Thank you that your presence is patient, it's kind. Doesn't envy or boast, it's not proud. Your presence never dishonours others and it's not self-seeking. It’s not easily angered. Your presence keeps no record of our wrongs. You do not delight in evil but rejoice with truth. This love that you give always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and never fails. So God, you are our wellspring of this virtue of love and we’re so thankful that you love like this, and that you love us like this. So this is actually step one is to meditate on your love for us, so that we can then extend this out to the easy-to-love, but more so you're challenging us and calling us to practice this action, this virtue of love, into those most challenging relationships today. And so God go before us. Give us eyes to see, ears to hear, and hearts that are ready and willing to have gestures of love flow out of us.
Thank you for your encircling and loving presence that will continue with us now into the rest of our day. Go in peace, my friends, to love.
