As we continue to draw from John’s first epistle, it’s hard not to read it as a love letter of sorts. Written to a church that was suffering many pains and sorrows, John comforts the heart of the reader by making God’s love visible and tangible.

​The Apostle doesn’t stop there. This letter is also encourages and instructs the church of the task at hand. Which is to be the many faces of God. And the reason behind that is this:

It’s safe to say John doesn’t mince words. With elegant concision, he tells the church what God is so we know what God is not.

Despite what many have come to believe in our world today God is love, not hate. God is peace, not war. God is for us, not against us. God is something to be in awe of, not afraid of. God is love. Like I said last week, this isn’t an emotional feeling John is talking about, but a redemptive action that God takes for us and all of creation (c.f. 1 John 3:18).
 
John is also very purposeful in describing God’s love, using a particular word repeatedly. He doesn’t use the Greek word “eros” which is a kind of physical love. Nor does he use “philos” which is like friendship or fellowship kind of love. Instead, John chose to use an old colorless, rarely used Greek word called “agape” which the young church grabbed hold of and gave it a rich meaning.
 
Agape is a self-sacrificing love that gives without expecting anything in return. It’s an unconditional, infinite kind of love that resides in the very heart of God’s grace. Agape perfectly encapsulates redemptive love  like that which was made manifest in Jesus whom God sent to us “so that we might live through him” (1 John 4:9b)
 
God is agape. Jesus died for us as an act of agape. So if this is the action God took out of great love for us, what does that say about the way we are called to live?
 
God is love. And calls us to be the same. For the only way we will truly know God in the most authentic sense is by allowing divine love to flow through us. This is how God becomes visible and tangible and meaningful in the world.

​Love begins with God and continues through Christ, who passes it along to us to share with everyone around us. If we say we love God, then love must be the action we take. For those who abide in God must also abide in God’s love (c.f. 1 John 4:12-16)

Love has many faces. You, me, and everyone in the space between.

Just as Jesus was the visible presence of agape, we can be the same through acts of compassion, mercy, kindness, and grace.

​Whenever we sit with someone who is going through a hard time, we become the face of God’s love. The same is true whenever we open our heart or hands to someone in need. Or stand up to injustices, or forgive someone. When we lift a person up who people have put down or offer help and healing to those the world has hurt and harmed, God is revealed through us.
 
John said it like this, “No one has ever seen God but if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12)  

To know the God of love, then, is to live agape like Jesus did when he gave himself away freely and liberally to everyone he met. As Brennan Manning argued in his wonderful book The Ragamuffin Gospel, “God is love. Jesus is God. If Jesus stopped loving, he would stop being God.”
 
So let me say it again, love has many faces. Some are black, some are white. Some wear red hats, others blue ties. Some live across the street, others in a country you’d struggle to find on a map.

But towards each person we must make love our highest priority if for no other reason than to open the eyes of the world to see the face of God when it might otherwise feel absent.
 
Like we learned last week, we can’t make that happen with words and speech. Only in truth and action which is agape, the unconditional, all-inclusive love of God. This is the single most important message the church is called to proclaim. We are the Body of Christ. Or so we are supposed to be.
 
Because here’s the thing: we can’t love God and hate our neighbor at the same time. Love and hate do not mix. It’s that simple. John couldn’t have been any more clear in his letter when he writes, “those who do not love their brother and sister whom they can see, cannot love God who they cannot see.”
 
Or to say it differently, we can’t call ourselves Christians and continue to promote wars that kill people and destroy communities. We can’t allow injustice and poverty to hamper anyone from thriving. As Christ showed with his own life, God was willing to risk it all for agape. But are we willing to do the same?
 
Love has many faces, but it also has many challenges.

It is a risky endeavor. One that asks us to become visible and vulnerable. Many of us have been hurt by love in the past. We’ve had our hearts broken or taken advantage of. The wounds cut deep, I get that. I’ve been there.

But like John writes, “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear” (1 John 4:18a).
 
If God is love, then anyone made in God’s image can embrace, share, and thrive in agape. Through Christ Jesus, God’s love came to us in the flesh to show us what that means.

With the Holy Spirit that has been given to us, agape flows through us so we can fearlessly and faithfully embrace our call: to love God, love others, and serve both.
 
To quote Curry one last time, “The way of love will show us the right thing to do, every single time. It is our moral and spiritual grounding – and a place of rest – amid the chaos that is often part of life. It’s how we stay decent in indecent times.”
 
Agape doesn’t require us to be perfect or worthy. Just willing. As God’s love was made perfect in Jesus, so too has Jesus made you perfect, completely worthy in spite of your flaws. God loves you as you are, not as you should be. 
 
Jesus showed the world how God loves beyond fidelity and infidelity, beyond worthiness and unworthiness, in our state of grace and in our state of disgrace.

​Whatever you have done or left undone, it’s impossible for God not to love you!  God is love. And you are loved…no matter what.
 
The world is starving for this good news. There are too many broken hearts and darkened souls among us. They have allowed hatred and fear to dictate the conversation. Violence and greed have become acceptable norms.
 
Jesus calls out into the world to share the gospel by being the very face of it. He sends us to bring the good news to life in all the ways we live into our belovedness. So why are we still sitting here?

From love we were made in the image of God. And for love we are sent to be the face of God in this sacred space we call Anamesa.
 
Love is the way. Love is the reason. Love is our purpose.  Our highest priority.

Love has many faces. But is one of them yours?
 

 
 
 
Work Cited
Bartlett, David L. And Barbara Brown Taylor, eds. Feasting on the Word Year B, vol. 2. (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008).
Curry, Michael. Love is the Way. (New York: Penguin, 2020).
Manning, Brennan. The Ragamuffin Gospel. (New York: Random House, 1990).

Furthermore, ravens, who excel as problem solvers, demonstrate Jesus’s call for us to approach life’s challenges with love and empathy, looking out for one another despite differences.

Ravens also have a crazy memory and keen sense of facial recognition. Remembering people who are kind to them and who aren’t. Similarly, Jesus promises to remember acts of kindness and injustice, especially when it comes “the least of these.” 

​Moreover, ravens possess remarkable communication skills, reminiscent of Jesus’s commission for His followers to go and spread the good news to everyone everywhere. 

Yes, their early morning cries can be a nuisance, and their scavenging habits may seem thoughtless, but perhaps that’s how they make a joyful noise unto the Lord and trust God for their daily bread.

This echoes the sentiment of St Francis, who frequently preached to the birds, to remind them of their inherent worth. He said, “Do you realize that by your very existence, you are inherently giving glory to God? So just be who you are.”

I think we all could use this reminder. And a great place to start is by following the example of the raven by making our home in the cross of Christ. 

Looking back now, I realized how right he was. He wasn’t trying to set me up for failure. He was simply reminding me to keep the gospel message simple so everyone could understand. Other than talking about God and Jesus, every message really does boil down to just a few things: love, grace, forgiveness, and service.

There have been weeks when I’ve had trouble finding new ways to speak about these things. Yet, the more time I spend in Anamesa, the more I realize there’s no point in talking the talk, if I’m not going to walk the walk. I have to embody God’s love and live it out in every aspect of my life.

As difficult as that can be, I have to live it out in every space, every day, over and over and over again. So, I might sound repetitive… because that’s the point.
 
The more we live out our faith, the more natural it becomes to be faithful to God’s loving grace and forgiveness. And to become a servant of Christ, who inspired John to write this letter to a young and struggling church.

It’s a beautiful masterpiece on God’s love. A simple blueprint on how to let God’s love manifest through us. Today, John offers us this:

Again, this letter is credited to John the Apostle, who was a fisherman by trade. Given his profession and the area from which he came, John probably wasn’t very educated. Yet, he possessed a deep understanding of Jesus’ teaching, which helped him produce an even deeper theology for us to unpack.  
 
While John writes of grace, forgiveness, and service - his entire message is grounded in one thing: God’s redemptive love made manifest in the world through Jesus Christ.

For John, redemptive love is the highest form of love out there because it has the power to both redeem us and transform us. Being close to Jesus, John saw how love can help people. It can heal us, lift us up, and liberate us when nothing else will. Which is exactly why I make love the centerpiece of every message, even if it means repeating myself over and over again.
 
But we can’t just talk about love inside church; we got to go out in the world and live it as if it’s the most amazing thing ever created. If the words of our heart don’t match the actions of our hands, then what good is that love?
 
In our reading today, John reminds us of three things. First, God’s love isn’t an emotional feeling but an action. It’s the kind of action that sets everything else into motion.
 
We know God loves us by the things God does for us. As John states, “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.” God’s love is sacrificial. It’s an action that proves just how far God is willing to go for us.
 
Second, the love that God has given us through Christ Jesus ought to be the same love we offer - in the many ways “we lay down our lives for one another.” 
 
Does this mean taking a bullet for someone? Yes, love could mean that. But it doesn’t have to be so dangerous or heroic either. Some of the best ways we can show love is through ordinary, everyday acts of kindness.
 
The effort you give to prepare a meal for someone. The way you share the road with strangers on your way to work. Or how you handle a struggling student, or a temperamental employee.

​Like Jesus taught us with his own life, when we put others first, or make time for them, we lay down our lives.
 
Third, this can’t be done with word or speech. But with truth and action. John said, “when you see a brother or sister in need, have pity and help them.” It’s truly that simple. So why do we struggle to embrace it?

 
This is a great challenge for both the church and her congregation. When we close our hearts to others, we close our hearts to God. Denying a person’s plea for mercy or grace is the same as denying Christ himself. When we shut people out, or toss them aside, or ignore them altogether we are doing the same to God who dwells in all of us.
 
To say we love God is admirable and commendable, but it doesn’t mean jack if we don’t show the same to one another.
 
How can we claim to love God if we can’t even “like” the people who look or vote differently than us? To believe in Christ means to believe Christ saves us by making us like Himself. If we are going to claim Christ’s name, then our heart must be the same as his in all the ways we love God, love others, and serve both.
 
And so it is, in his name, we must make love great again. This isn’t a suggestion. It’s an emphatic charge for all of us. “Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness before God.”
 
Jesus said it like this when he spoke directly on divine judgement. “What you do to the least of these, you also do to me.” This has nothing to do about having the right belief or doctrine. It’s not even about having faith in him per se, but how we live out our faith like he did - sharing our heart and resources with those in need.
 
We aren’t judged by the size of our church or the number of souls we win over for God. But Jesus made it abundantly clear that we’ll be judged on how many lives we feed and clothe and care for. John inspires the church to practice real love the way Christ Jesus showed us. This is the only way we will know we’re living truly in God’s reality.
 
As we traverse the sacred space between heart and hands, we are called to act – especially towards the poor and marginalized. We must elevate poverty, stand up against the injustices, and walk humbly so all people can thrive in God’s Kingdom.
 
The words of our heart must build bridges, not walls; embrace peace, not war; offer forgiveness and hospitality, hope and care to all people, especially the least of these our brothers and sisters.

As children of God, we possess all the power of Christ to make love great again. So what’s stopping us?
 
That old minister was right, there are only a few things we can talk about. But there are endless ways to be the heart and hands of Christ, offering God’s love to those in need.

This will take great patience towards ourselves and others. And be very repetitive in our actions and loving gestures. But remember, it’s in practicing God’s love with one another that Christ comes alive in our communities, bringing healing and transformation to whatever space we’re in.
 
So, my challenge to you this week is simply this: go make love great again. Whether it is with a spouse or partner, your child or co-worker, a neighbor or stranger, a friend or foe go and make God’s love manifest through you in the greatest ways you are able.

Go and be so bold and generous with your heart, that you can’t help but feel the power of Christ pulsate through your hands.
 
The more you do it, the easier it is to offer grace to those who need it, forgiveness to those who don’t deserve it, mercy to those who ask for it, and patience to those who lack it.

More importantly, with God’s love leading the way you can serve one another as if you’re serving Christ himself.
 
Just as we know God loves us by the things God does for us, may others come to know their place in God’s heart by the way we share our heart with them.
 
 
 


​
Work Cited:
Adapted from The Luck of Us All. March 17, 2019 (accessed on 04/19/2024).
Bartlett, David L., Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008.

“See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called Children of God, and that is who we are.”

Could there be a greater declaration in scripture? God chose to love and adopt us, and to make us heirs to an incredible inheritance. It has nothing to do with having the right family name or the right social status. Only that we exist.
 
Now, I was born a Macdonald – the last of four distinctively different children. I didn’t choose this family, or the order of which I came. None of us do.
 
But I did get to choose to be a part of someone else’s. I distinctly remember the day I ask Kathleen’s father for his blessing to marry her. He said, “It would be an honor to call you my son.”  This was a choice we both made. For him to become my father and I his son. I count my blessings that I got to belong to these two loving families. Both set a great foundation for us to start a family of our own.
 
Some of us are blood related. Others are joined through marriage, adoption, foster care, or tribe. But John reveals a new kind of family. One where God has redefined and reclassified us all with a new birth certificate and a new name: Children of God. Whether you’re an only child or one-of-nine like Kathleen, it was out of deep, unconditional love that God divinely made you a part of this heavenly family.
 
Of course, it’s one thing to know we are loved by God. But, as Josh Scott writes, “It is something totally different to trust and internalize those words, to allow them to shape our way of seeing ourselves, our neighbor, and our enemy.”
 
Jesus told his followers to love one another as God has loved them. Love, he said, will be the way that the world will know we belong to him (c.f. John 13:34-35). And it’s in the ways we love that we make Christ visible to those around us. By putting love into action, real spiritual growth and transformation begin to shape us into something new.
 ​

In his book Barking at the Choir, Father Greg Boyle tells the story of an ex-gang member who, at the age of seven, watched his mom pack up a suitcase and walk out the door. He never saw her again. After surviving two years on the streets, he was put into the system. Not long after that, a local gang adopted him as one of their own.

After serving time , the young man entered a work release program at Homeboy Industries; a place started by Fr. Boyle to help gang-members get a second chance. Having been adopted into a community built upon unconditional love and acceptance, this once violent offender no longer identified with abandonment or hatred, but as a beloved child of God. He no longer lived in the shadows of violence and retaliation, but in the light of God’s love and peace.
 
Whether you are married with children, a single parent or have never known the excruciating pains of childbirth, we all know what it’s like to be a child. Just the same, no one can escape being shaped by the environment that we were born into. It doesn’t seem fair that some get a good, safe, loving space to thrive in while others get everything but that.

Although every childhood is different, every child is the same to God. Deeply loved and divinely made.
 
We are God’s children. And as such, we ought to act like children. Jesus said, “Unless you change and become like little children you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3). He’s not talking about throwing temper tantrums or eating paste. He’s saying adopt a beginner’s mindset, like a child who is full of wonder and questions.
 
Research has shown that children are better at adapting to a newness of life. They are quick to embody the spirit of freedom that often fades with maturity. And they are more willing to be loved, often gravitating towards good relationships where that love can thrive. No wonder we should be like them.
 
With that said, even children have moments where their sense of self-worth and belonging are challenged and questioned. But as John’s words of hope and assurance remind us it doesn’t matter who we are or where we come from, we are heirs of God’s name and have all the treasures of God’s kingdom in our possession.

This gift, or our inherent value, isn’t based on performance or perfection. God loves us unconditionally simply because we exist.
 
But here’s the thing, we exist for a purpose. Even if God’s love doesn’t come with terms or conditions there is an expectation that we live out our inheritance in the manor by which it was given to us with steadfast and unwavering love. We are God’s children now, and it’s time to start acting as such.
 
Just as Jesus gave of himself with sacrificial love, so too must we be willing to do the same in all the ways we love God, love others, and serve both. I know how demanding and challenging this can be especially in our self-consuming, self-serving world. But if Christ’s church isn’t going to do his work, who will?
 
In its most basic terms, to be followers of Christ means to continue what he began as the incarnation of God’s love. This is not to say we won’t grapple with temptation and sin, or endure the guilt and shame that often comes with it.

​It just means we have to make a conscious choice to belong to this heavenly family, abiding in Christ as he abides in God. For “Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.” That is God’s will for us.
 
As long as the world walks away from God, the world will remain blind. It lacks the faith, or trust, that God loves them unconditionally. 
 
Sadly, it’s a lack of faith and trust that keeps others from recognizing or understanding their inherent worth, muchless ours. As history has demonstrated, this often leads to rejection, alienation, and even violent hostility.
 
Being a part of God’s family doesn’t mean we won’t suffer or experience hardships in life. Hell, not even Jesus could escape it. Let’s not forget John wrote this letter of encouragement to a young church experiencing persecution and internal strife. He reminds them of the life beyond this temporal realm where we experience full communion with God for eternity. That’s why it’s called the good news!
 
As Michael Toy notes, “When we find ourselves longing for better days, when we find ourselves in the bleak despair that the world is marred beyond all repair, there is yet hope.”
 
Our faith, our trust clings to this truth that in Christ, God came to be with us to name us and claim us.

With Christ, we are the beloved. God’s children. And through Christ, God has given the world the eternal treasures of heaven. Our job is to be like Christ, the incarnate presence of God’s redeeming and unwavering love.
 
When our focus is on emulating him, we are less likely to be tempted or stray from God.

When we embrace God’s will like he did, we can overcome hardships like he did.
 
When we walk as he walked, love as he loved, serve as he served, we become one with him and with God. Divine heirs of a truly divine gift.
 
We are God’s beloved, deeply loved and divinely made. Go now and live as such.
  
 
 
Works Cited
Bartlett, David L., Barbara Brown Taylor. Feasting on the Word, Year B, Vol. 2. Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2008.
Boyle, Gregory. Barking at the Choir: The Power of Radical Kindship. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2017. 
Scott, Josh. Sunday’s Coming, April 14, 2024 (accessed 04.11.2024). www.christiancentury.org
Toy, Michael. Another Way. April 8, 2024 (accessed 04.12.2024). www.episcopalchurch.org

Like a heavy cloud pressing down, it steals our light, and robs us of hope and joy. Sometimes it causes us to question or doubt our faith, and often leaves us feeling as if God has just left us to fumble in the darkness.

Tomorrow we will witness a total eclipse, where darkness will momentarily overtake the light. It’s a beautiful reminder that even when it seems like the light has vanished in our life—it’s simply obscured. The light is there. It’s always been there, shining since the beginning of time.

No matter how thick any darkness may seem, I hope you are able to remember that it can never extinguish the light. This is what the Apostle John had to say about it in his First Epistle,  1 John 1:1-2:2

If you were to ask me, I believe this wonderful epistle speaks directly to anyone’s heart, offering hope and solace in a time of darkness.

Penned in the late first century, John’s words have echoed throughout the ages as he encourages a young, Christian community to live in the light of Christ. And to do so faithfully amidst the persecution and internal strife they were facing.
​
Today, churches across America going through a dark period. People no longer look to us as a beacon of light or a safe harbor to find rest. We mourn as churches shutter due to lack of member support. While others split and divide themselves apart for one political extreme or another.

Yet, as the shadows of despair threaten to engulf us, John urges us onward. And does so on the basis of this one foundational truth, “God is light, and in God, there is no darkness at all.”

He reminds us that when we walk in that light, with God and with one another, our joy will be complete. So you can see how this is an ongoing journey one that will take us to all different places and emotional states. The best way to navigate this trip is ride shotgun in God’s bright presence.

Again, I know from experience how quickly we can lose sight of God’s light, especially when the dark shadows of doubt and fear and depression surround us. And again, when we find ourselves in those places, our first instinct is often to believe God has left us on the side of the road.

But just as the sun doesn’t actually disappear in an eclipse, God doesn’t disappear simply because it’s too dark to see. The sun shines, even when it’s night time. So too does God’s love radiate throughout Anamesa, always finding a way into every dark space we find ourselves in. 

This past Wednesday, I had to take the dog out for her walk earlier than usual because a storm was rapidly approaching. Overhead dark clouds had already swallowed the entire sky. Yet somewhere in that gloomy canopy there was a little crack, enough for a beam of sunlight to sneak through.

As the wind kicked up and the rain began to fall, a heavenly ray of light sliced open the sky and shone upon the earth below a beacon of light that brought a sense of peace and calm to my soul.

It reminded me of something Lenard Cohen famously said. “There is a crack in everything. That’s how the light gets in.”  In other words, the things that break us actually open us to being with God.

There will be storms in life that will beat us down and crack us open. Yet in those times of despair God is with us - piercing the darkness to bring comfort and joy.

Even if we’ve given up on God or lost our faith, God continues to pursue us with steadfast love and faithfulness. God does this if for no other reason but to be in relationship with us and to make our joy complete. Which is why John encourages us to walk in the light.

A good place to start is right here, in Anamesa, and being part of a loving community who will help you cultivate a deeper relationship with God through prayer, meditation, and the study of Scripture.

As I have found in my own life, whenever I spend time in God’s presence my heart gets filled with God’s abundant light and love. So much so that it begins to spill out all over the place.

I mention this because sometimes you’re not the one suffering. Sometimes you’re not in need of God’s light, but the one God has called to radiate it - to shine brightly so others can find hope in the midst of despair.

Jesus told his disciples, “You are the light of the world.” He went on to explain that this light shouldn’t be hidden, but set out in the open where it can illuminate the entire room.

Each one of us is a candle, flickering in the night. At first it might not seem like we’re doing much. But as the flame dances and casts its warm glow, our light begins to dispel the shadows and illuminate the entire space. Whether or not you know it, God’s light is already inside you.  It’s part of your divine DNA that was given to all of creation from the get go.

As Paul reminds us in his letter to the Ephesians, “For once you were darkness, but now in the Lord, you are light.” Paul, like John, encourages this church to “Live as children of the light - for the fruit of the light is found in all that is good and right and true” (Eph. 5:8-9). Like Richard Rohr said, “Anything exposed by the light will be illuminated and anything illuminated turns into light.” (c.f. Eph 5:13–14).

When we walk in God’s light we become part of its radiance. As children of the light, Jesus tells us to shine brightly before others, “so that they may see your good works and give glory to God who is in heaven” (Matthew 5:14-16).

So let us go out and shine brightly through acts of compassion, mercy and forgiveness. Let us go and be the light that guides others through the storms, and into the safe harbor of Christ whose own light redeems us and returns us to the light of God’s love.

As John wrote, "we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:1b-2).

When we embrace and live into the light of Christ, our actions, attitudes, and words reflect his love and grace to those around us. We become beacons of hope and an agent of change in a world desperate for the goodness his light brings.

With every act of kindness, compassion, and mercy we offer His light shines brighter and brighter. Every time we welcome someone in love, or listen to their confessions without judgment we radiate His light further and further until we fill in the space between with God’s glory.

So let us not hold back from shining brightly, my friends.

Let us embrace our role as bearers of the light, and be intentional about sharing God's love with everyone we meet.

As we do, may our lives become a living testimony to the goodness and glory of God, now and forever.