A Love that covers all Sins
Arvi and Aarav (our grandchildren) are happier children in the past week. One of the reasons for their extra joy for the past week has been the presence of Neville and Supriya (our son and daughter in law) at our home. But I am sure that their pet dog Bowie contributes much more to their joy. They just love Bowie.
Leslie (my wife) on the other hand is not a dog lover. She has always vetoed any idea that anyone had about keeping a pet in our home. The children have tried their best in the past to make Leslie agree to keep a pet at home with absolutely no success. But she has come to accept Bowie as part of our home now to the extent that she even does not get upset when Bowie jumps around on the bed. I am sure all of you have guessed it by now, it is the love that she has for Neville, and now extended to include Supriya that makes her accept something that she has opposed in the past. It is this transformation in Leslie that led me to today’s sermon topic. I have titled the sermon A Love that covers all sins.
In 1 Peter 4:8, Peter exhorts us : And above all things have fervent love for one another, for “love will cover a multitude of sins.” (NKJV). This verse is a very loaded verse. I see three things that we learn from in this verse.
1. The first highlight of this verse is a Love that is above all things. If we look at 1 Peter 4:7 we will notice that he is talking about “being serious and watchful in our prayers”. And then immediately he shifts focus and starts the next verse with “above all things”. May Bible scholars argue that this could be interpreted as a command to hold love even above praying. A study of Paul and the teachings of Jesus himself will convince us that this is actually true. Jesus put love right at the top when He answers the pharisees’ question about the greatest commandment. In Mathew 22:36-40 He goes to explain love as the greatest of all commandments. He goes to the extent of saying that love is the fulfilment of all laws and prophesies. Paul confirms this in several passages. In 1 Corinthians 13:13 he passionately declares that “the greatest of all is love”. And he was comparing love with other Christian virtues including tongues, prophesy, knowledge, faith (a faith that can move mountains) , charity to the extent of giving away everything you have , even self-sacrifice, to the extent of giving your body to be burned. He says all this is nothing if we don’t have love. He confirms this further in Colossians 3:14 “But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection” Here Paul is putting love above virtues like mercy, kindness, humility, meekness, patience, bearing with each other, forgiveness etc. In Romans 13:8-10 Paul affirms this further by saying that love is the fulfilment of all the laws, and love is the only debt that we owe to each other. You get the point. There is a clear argument in the Bible to put love above all things. Yes all things.
2. The second highlight of the verse 1 Peter 4:8 is the Fervent nature of love : Peter is not talking about just love. He is talking about Fervent love. To understand the real meaning of the word fervent in this context, it is good for us to do a Greek word study. The Greek word used here for fervent is is ??te??? (ektenes), meaning "earnest," "stretched," or "intense." This word implies a deep, sincere, and consistent kind of love that is continuous and goes beyond mere affection. We actually see this word used to describe Jesus’s prayer in the garden of Gethsemane. Luke 22:44 – "And being in agony, He prayed more earnestly (ektenesteron), and His sweat became like great drops of blood falling down to the ground." In this verse, a related form of the word, ektenesteron (the comparative form), describes the intensity of Jesus’ prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane, indicating a deeply earnest, fervent prayer under extreme distress. This is the same word that is used to describe the prayer of the church for Peter in the book of Acts. Acts 12:5 – "So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest (ektenes) prayer for him was made to God by the church." Here, ektenes is used to describe the intense and continuous prayer offered by the church on behalf of Peter. This context highlights a fervent, all-consuming type of prayer. This is the term that Paul uses in his address to King Agrippa , later in the book of Acts, to describe the devotion that the Isreal’s tribes had for YHWH. Acts 26:7 – "The promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly (ektenes) serve God day and night." Here, the tribes of Israel are described as serving God "earnestly" or "intensely" (ektenes) as they await the fulfillment of God’s promise, conveying a sense of committed, unrelenting devotion. So the love that Peter talks about in 1 Peter 4:8 is not simple love. It is a fervent love , earnest love, consistent love, sincere love, intense love.
3. The third highlight of the verse 1 Peter 4:8 is A love that covers all sins. We live in an imperfect world. We are imperfect. So we mess up things. Even in the most loving relationships, be it between spouses, or between parents and children or siblings or church members, there will always be problems that crop up. A young couple got into their first fight after their wedding. They could not find a solution and they decided to go back to the priest who presided over their wedding. They confronted the priest and asked him. “Pastor, when you married us, you said marriages are made in heaven. Then why did we get into a fight?”. The priest was dumbfounded by the question for a moment and then answered slowly. “Children, I did say that marriages are made in heaven. Indeed, they are. But what I probably missed telling you is that Thunder and lightning are also made in heaven.” You get the point. No relationship is without its share of arguments , fights or conflicts . From my experience I can guarantee that such conflicts and friction are never resolved by theological discussions on the roles of husbands and wives, or parents and children. There is only one thing that will come in handy at that time. LOVE. The type of love that covers all sins. This is the love that Jesus demonstrated on the cross. When He took away our sins, past present and future. A love that covers all sins.
But, what is this 1 Peter 4:8 kind of love that covers all sins? English language uses the word “love” in all sorts of contexts. But the Greek language in which the new testament is written distinguishes love atleast in four different forms, and uses four different terms to describe love. The book “Four Loves” by CS Lewis gives us a great insight into these four types of love.
• The first kind is “eros” . This is love that arises out of romantic passion, infatuation and sexual attraction. This word is never used in the new testament.
• The second term used for love is “storge” which stands for familial love, love between family members. Though this word is not used directly in the new testament, compound of this word is used in Rom 13:1 , 2 Timothy 3:3 and Romans 12:10.
• The third type of love is “phileo”. This is a deep intense and warm affection. Brotherly love. This is the term that is used n the new testament to describe the love Jesus had for Lazarus (John 11:3)
• The fourth type of love is the one that most of us are aware of . The “agape” love. This is the sacrificial love, a love that cares, gives and works for another person’s good, no matter how the other person may respond or treat you. This is the term that is used most in the new Testament. Some word counts indicate that this term is used as many as 116 times in the new testament. This is the love that 1 Corinthians 13 describes in detail. This is the term that is used in all places where Jesus talks about love. This is the word used in 1 Peter 4:8. Only agape love can cover all sins.
The thought of this kind of love may make us uncomfortable. Is it possible? Or is it only an ideal situation? How can we practice such love? Fortunately for us, help is available. Yes, we can practice this kind of love in all our relationships.
The first help we have is the fact we have great security in God’s love. We need to remember that our love for others is a reflection of the love God has for us. We have to understand , accept and abide in the unconditional love of God before we can have fervent love above all things. God’s love for us is affirmed in so many passages in the Bible. Let me highlight just a couple of them, as a reminder.
1. God’s love for us is unwavering and constant. Jeremiah 31:3 tells us “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”. God’s love for us is everlasting. It is not time dependent. It surpasses the dimension of time and age. A love that will never fail. And nothing can separate us from that love. Paul confirms this in Romans 8:35. There is nothing that can separate us from the everlasting love of God.
2. God’s love for us is sacrificial. The message translation of the passage Isaiah 43:3-4 says “Because I am God, your personal God, The Holy of Israel, your Savior. I paid a huge price for you: all of Egypt, with rich Cush and Seba thrown in! That’s how much you mean to me! That’s how much I love you! I’d sell off the whole world to get you back, trade the creation just for you.”. I want you to take pause and let that statement sink in. This is the creator of the universe, this is the alpha and the omega , this is great I am, who is saying that He loves us so much, that He is willing to give up his entire creation just to get us back with Him.
Understanding these two aspects of God’s love will give us the security that is needed in our relationships. When we accept, and abide in, this kind of everlasting, sacrificial love, we can be secure and nor be worried about anything else that might come in between spouses, between parents and children, between siblings, between church members, between colleagues, between neighbours. For example, Imagine the power of this level of love in the marriage relationship? Imagine a situation where spouses can truly say this to each other. That is a marriage made in heaven.
So that is the first help available to us to practice the 1 Peter 4:8 kind of love. Knowing and accepting and abiding in God’s sacrificial and everlasting love. Acknowledging that our love for each other should reflect God’s love for us.
The second help available is in the life and teachings of Jesus. We do have the earthly examples from several elders, may be even family members, our own parents etc. on how to demonstrate the 1 Peter 4:8 kind of love in relationships. But today I want to draw your attention to the message given by and the model demonstrated by Jesus Christ himself. Of course, the ultimate way Jesus demonstrated 1 Peter 4:8 kind of love, a love that covers all sins is by carrying our sins to the cross. He bled and died on the cross for us. While we all love Him for that, we worship Him for that, we thank Him for that, I am not too sure that many of us will be willing to go to that extent to demonstrate our love in earthly relationships. So, I am going to look at a more practical and prudent way of demonstrating the 1 peter 4:8 kind of love from Jesus’s life.
Often problems in relationships start because of simple things. One of such simple things is “who is greater?”. It is good to go to Jesus’ advice on his matter. Jesus’s disciples argued about who among them is the greatest (Luke 22:24). Jesus called His disciples who were fighting and gave them the Not-So-With-YOU command. Jesus said, you shall not lord over others, but instead must serve, because the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and give His life as a ransom for many. And Jesus did not just stop at giving this message. He went and modelled it in John 13:1-17. John 13:1 starts with the assertion “having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end”. Some translations say “ He showed the true extent of His love”. And how dd Jesus show them that He loved them to the end? How did He show the true extent of His love? He showed it by kneeling down and washing the feet of His disciples, including the disciple whom He knew was going to betray Him. He showed the true extent of His love by serving.
There lies the ultimate secret of how to practice the 1 Peter 4:8 type of love on earth. Serve Each other. Follow Jesus’ message and model. When we approach our earthly relationship with a serving mentality, instead of “ who is greatest” mentality, it will create a slice of heaven on earth.
So this morning, our Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us above all things with a fervent love that covers all our sins, is asking us to follow His example, and do so to each other. Let us pray that He will enable all of us to demonstrate that kind of love with each other in our families, friendships and in BBF.
Let us Pray.
