Living Loved
God showed how much he loved us by sending his only son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. (Jn. 4:9-10)
Not everyone in Jesus’ world gave him a warm welcome; not everyone received him with grace. And many didn’t just ignore him, they flat-out rejected him. Isaiah prophesied Jesus’ reception like this: “He was despised and rejected by men.” (Isa. 53:3) And John summarized the rejection of Jesus with these words: “He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.” (John 1:10-11)
How did Christ endure treatment like that? At any point he could have said, “You know what? I quit. I’ve had enough.” So, why didn’t he? What kept him from giving up? I wonder if Lee Ielpi understands the answer. Lee is a retired New York City firefighter. He gave twenty-six years to the city. But on September 11, 2001, the twenty (20) year anniversary of which we remembered just a few weeks ago, he gave much more. He gave his son. Jonathan Ielpi was a fireman as well. When the Twin Towers fell, Jonathan was there.
Firefighters, like most first-responders, are a loyal bunch – when one of their own dies in the line of duty, the body is left where it came to rest until a firefighter who knows the person can come and quite literally pick the body up. Lee made the discovery of his son’s body his personal mission. He dug daily with dozens of others at the sixteen-acre graveyard that was once the twin towers. One Tuesday, December 11, three months after the disaster, his son was found. And Lee was there to carry him out.
You see, Lee didn’t give up. The father didn’t quit. He refused to turn and leave. Why? Because his love for his son was greater than the pain of the search. And can’t the same be said about Jesus? Why didn’t he quit? Because the love for his children was greater than the pain of the journey to the cross. Jesus has come to pull us out. Our world had collapsed, and that’s why he came. We were dead – dead to sin. That’s why he came. He loves you. That’s why he came.
And that’s why he endured the distance between us. That’s why he endured the resistance from us. Why? Because “love endures all things.” (1 Cor. 13:7) And that’s why he went the final step of the incarnation: “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Cor. 5:21)
Why did Jesus do that? There’s only one answer. And that answer has one word. Love. And that love of Christ “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.” (1 Cor. 13:7)
Think about that for a moment. Drink from that for a moment. Drink deeply. Don’t just sip at it, or nip from it. It’s time to take a gulp. It’s time to let his love cover everything in your life. All the secrets. All the hurts. All the hours of evil, and minutes of worry. The years you peddled prejudice and pride? His love will cover that. Every promise broken, drug taken and penny stolen. Every cross word, cuss word and harsh word. His love covers all things.
So let it. Discover, along with the psalmist, that “He … loads me with love and mercy.” (Ps. 103:4). Picture a giant dump truck full of love, and there you are behind it. God lifts the bed until the love starts to slide. Slowly at first, then down, down, down until you are hidden, buried, covered in his love. “Hey, where are you?” someone asks. “In here, covered in love.”
Let his love cover all things. Do it for his sake – to the glory of his name. Do it for your sake – for the peace of your heart. And do it for their sake – for the people in your life. Let his love fall on you so yours can fall on them.
But what do you do when you’re low on love? Do you try to conjure it up by the sheer force of will? As if there’s inside us a brewery of affection that lacks only a piece of wood or a hotter fire. We poke at it and stoke it with resolve.
For instance, what’s our typical strategy for treating a troubled relationship? To try harder. “My spouse needs my forgiveness? I don’t know how, but I’m going to give it.” “I don’t care how much it hurts; I’m going to be nice to that bum.” “I’m supposed to love my neighbor? Okay. By golly, I will.” So we try. Teeth clinched. Jaw firm. It’s as if we’re going to love if it kills us. And it may do just that.
Could it be that we’re missing a step? Could it be that the first step of love is not toward them but toward him? Could it be that the secret to loving is receiving? Could it be that you give love by first receiving? “We love each other as a result of his loving us first.” (1 John 4:19)
Do you want to be more loving? Begin by accepting your place as a dearly loved child. “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us.” (Eph. 5:1-2)
Do you want to learn to forgive? Then consider how you’ve been forgiven. “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ, God forgave you.” (Eph. 4:32)
Finding it hard to put others first? Think of the way Christ put you first. “Though he was God, he did not demand and cling to his rights as God.” (Phil. 2:6)
Need more patience? Drink from the patience of God. “The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.” (2 Pet. 3:9) Or, is generosity an elusive virtue? Then consider how generous God has been with you. “But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Rom. 5:8). Having trouble putting up with ungrateful relatives or cranky neighbors? God puts up with you when you act the same way. “He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35)
Can’t we love like this? Not without God’s help we can’t. If we haven’t received these things ourselves, how can we give them to others? Apart from God, “the heart is deceitful above all things.” (Jer. 17:9) A marriage-saving love is not within us. A friendship-preserving devotion can’t be found in our hearts. We need help from an outside source. A transfusion. Would we love as God loves? Then we start by receiving God’s love.
We’ve all been guilty of skipping this step. “Love each other!” we tell each other in church. “Be patient, kind, forgiving,” we urge. But instructing people to love without telling them they’re loved is like telling them to write a check without our making a deposit in their accounts. So, it’s no wonder why so many relationships are overdrawn. Hearts have insufficient love.
The apostle John models the right sequence. He makes a deposit before he tells us to write the check. First the deposit: “God showed how much he loved us by sending his only son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”(Jn. 4:9-10) And then, having made such an outrageous, eye-opening deposit, John calls on you and me to pull out the checkbook: “Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.” (John 4:11)
Maybe the secret to loving is living loved. Many people tell us to love. But only God gives us the power to do so.
Grace,
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