L.O.V.E.
Rev. Dr. Michael H. Koplitz
John 3:16
John 3:16 "For God so aloved the world, that He bgave His 1conly begotten Son, that whoever dbelieves in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
What is love? Remember the days when you could go into a book store? Actually, you still can. "Books a Million" has a store in East York. Maybe the better question is when was the last time you were in a book store? Years ago or perhaps decades ago? Instead of driving to a store of brick and mortar, I get on the web and enter "amazon.com." Thousands of books right on my fingertips. So, go to amazon.com and search for the word "love." I searched, and thousands of books and other items were displayed in the search results. Love is something that humankind has been fascinated with since the beginning of our species.
There are several constants in the Universe. For example, the speed of light is constant at 186,000 miles per second. There is the one we learned in High School. Think back on that for a moment. [Pause] It was PI, remember 3.1416. I could stand here for the next hour and list the number of numeric and physical constants in God's Universe. Let us chat about one of these constants. That constant is love. God created the Universe because He wanted to love us and for us to love Him.
So, what exactly is love. Thousands of philosophers have tried to explain and define love. If it was an easy constant to define, there would not be so many books about the subject. There are twelve words for love in the Hebrew language, and in the Koine Greek of the Bible, there are 15. That might explain why it is so difficult to pin down precisely what love is. Let us try to enlighten ourselves this morning by exploring what love is, especially love for the church.
I am going to do this with you by examining each letter of the word love. The first letter is "L." This letter represents "loyalty." Jesus said that He came out of love for us. His love is always available to us. Jesus is loyal to us. In our times of darkness, it is Jesus who brings the light of God to us. He constantly reminds us that God loves us and wants the best for us. Unfortunately, it is human intervention that can block the loyalty that Jesus offers to us.
Unfortunately, many people, including Christians, do not understand that the loyalty that Jesus has for us is a two-way street. We are supposed to be loyal to Jesus. What does this loyalty look like? For you folks who are here in church today, it starts here. You are here to show your loyalty of love to Jesus. We offer prayers and songs because we want Jesus to know that we accept Him as our Savior.
After seven years, you have picked up on the fact that I do not use the words worship service. This time together is not a service. We do not come together because of some obligation. Our hearts are drawn to be with other followers of Christ. We are here at a time of thanksgiving. Instead, I use the words worship celebration. Our time together is a celebration of Christ's love for us. It is not an obligation but rather a willing expression of our loyalty to Jesus. God determines what is in our hearts by our words and actions. God can see our loyalty to Jesus when He sees us coming to church to offer our worship and thanksgiving.
The "o" is for offering. Now do not get too excited because the word offering is much more than just money. Let us be honest about tithing and offering sermons. People do not want to hear them. I know that, and you know that. We do not like being told what to do, even if it is biblical. There I said it. Unfortunately, the church operates in a materialistic world, and money allows the church building and staff to exist.
Giving a tithe to the church is just the beginning. How can you show your love for Jesus Christ? It is much more than just dropping a check or cash in the offering plate. It consists of offering you time and talents to the church. Ask yourself how much time do you give to the church. One hour on Sunday is not enough. Let me add that your offering of time to God not only includes church time but also includes your time that you spend reading and studying your Bible. How many hours a week do you spend in the word of God?
There are so many things that you can offer to God. The most significant offering that God gave to us was Jesus Christ. Jesus was born to die for us for the eradication of sin. We believe and have faith in the acts of Jesus' death and resurrection to forgive sin. That the main "thing" that God gives to us. Wow, that is one incredible offering. So what are you giving to Jesus in return? Ask yourself that question.
The "v" stands for victory. Love will triumph over everything every time. God so loved the world that He sent Jesus to victory over Satan, which sets us free from the slavery of sin. That is what the church espouses. I am sure that all of you sitting here today believe this. However, that does not mean that Satan cannot attack you personally. You don't even need Satan's attacks. Life itself is hard. However, through our love for God, any obstacle can be overcome.
Satan can only win if we let him win. Jesus blankets us with His love and grace. That is enough to fight off the forces of Satan. We will win against evil every time if we call upon Jesus' love for us. Victory is always with us. We must learn how to use God's victory.
We were taught to be individuals and to be able to stand on our own. Nothing wrong with the philosophy of being able to stand alone and survive. However, the path to victory comes easier and quicker to a person battling the woes of life with Jesus at his or her side. The Savior wants us to use His love for us to achieve victory over Satan.
The last letter is "e." E stands for eternity. The ring is used as a symbol of marriage. It is a round object that has an interesting distinction. If you look at your ring, you will notice that you can traverse the ring and return to where you started if you start at any point on the outside or the inside of the ring. Therefore, there really is no beginning nor end to the circle. It is eternal. God's love for us is an eternal constant of not only the Universe but also of Heaven.
Jesus wants each of us to join Him in Heaven when our time here is done. Our lives are a teaching and preparation ground for our eventual trip to Heaven. God is eternal, and one day each of us will become eternal spirits. We will follow the way that Jesus set out for us to return to God in Heaven.
Jesus prepares a place for each one of us and is waiting for us. He does this because of His love for us. Eternity is a state of being that God created for each of us.
So, in conclusion, God's love for us may seem complex at times. We broke it down to loyalty, offering, victory, and eternity. Yes, love is a lot more complicated than this definition. If I had the time, we could talk about this topic for hours on end. However, there is one additional feature of God's love for us that I must mention. God expects us to show each other the same level of love that He shows to us. Too many people, even in the church, do not find this act appealing. Jesus said that we must love our enemies. Yeah, that is not an easy task. Nevertheless, it is one that we must do for Jesus.
Is it so much to ask that we love each other? I did not say it is an easy task. So, yes, it is hard and sometimes feels impossible to do. However, it is necessary to receive the love we have come to expect from God. We are supposed to love the people who are a part of our Christian family. At this church, we are expected to love the people out there in the world in addition to ourselves. We are supposed to love those people who do not believe in our Christ.
When Justin Martyr was about to be executed by the Romans, the charges of being a Christian were read. The most profound one was the charge that the members of the new Christian community loved and cared for people who were not members of the community. What a foreign concept that was for the Roman leaders to fathom. Why would you love people outside your religious group? However, loving all people has been a trademark of the Christian faith.
That landmark is eroding inside and outside the church. Please don't let the love of Christ for us and each other die. I challenge you to contemplate what has been happening and reinstate the concept of love for each other. It is Christ's love shown and demonstrated by us which will keep this church together. God will always try to bless this church. For that love, God expects us to follow the example of Jesus' time on Earth. Love one another as Jesus loves each of us.
