Worship, 7 April: 'a pile of stardust'

The last in our series on 'The Four Loves.'
This week, we think of 'agape' - unconditional love. The sermon was broken up into 2 short 'dialogue' reflections and later, a summing up.

Our readings were: John 3:16-17; 1 John 4:7-21

SERMON
Let’s pray:
May the words of my mouth and the thoughts of all our hearts, be acceptable in your sight O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son….” John 3:16

‘Gather round,
I have a story to tell
of one who reached inside himself
and took a handful of love
like a pile of stardust
and said: this is for you
it is all you need
it is all you will ever need
there is enough here
to change the whole world
...take it. 

Many laughed at him
mocked him
and ignored the invitation
but some ...dared to take it
and those who did
noticed something about this love –
they found they could do 
what the gift-giver could do:
they could stand with the lost,
welcome the traveller,
eat with the hungry...
they found themselves doing 
what the man first did to them –
give something of themselves to others.
They became like the man,
offering themselves,
and, as they offered themselves,
others took the invitation,
...and many still do,
and many still trust it is enough 
to change the whole world.’ *

Love:
different kinds,
different ways,
of loving.
Over the weeks of Lent we’ve discovered the limits of ‘love’ –
well, of our English word for love...
We’ve discovered love is bigger, broader, deeper...
and in the process, we’ve also discovered at least
four different words for love within the New Testament –
Greek words:
Eros – the word describing desire and romantic love;
Philia – the word describing love of, and love for, friends;
Storge – the word describing the love of, and love for, family;
and today, our fourth word for love is:
Agape – the word for unconditional love.
It’s the love found in God loving us and not expecting anything in return...
perhaps hoping that we might respond to his love by beginning to love and to trust,
and to place our lives in his hands...
but not expecting it,
not demanding it.
Instead, God, offering his love freely,
no strings attached,
calling us ‘beloved’ even while we might blithely carry on
not responding to that invitation to love.
And, it is always an invitation –
love is not love when you’re forced to submit:
that’s oppression,
bullying,
that’s about power and control and self-seeking...
God’s love is the giving of God's self to us.

Agape – unconditional love – is not a box-ticking exercise:
do this, do that,
and you win the golden ticket.
It’s not a formula:
this action, plus this thought
equals God’s love;
nor is it a contract to sign up to in order to receive it.
God’s love just... is...
and always has been.
God’s love for the world,
for each one of us,
was already there at the beginning of time –
and will last for all eternity –
the hand always outstretched waiting to welcome us...
and, even in the waiting, still loving us.
God saying:
‘I know you, I love you, let’s spend some time with each other,
once you get to know me, I think you’ll like me –
maybe... even love me.’

God’s love is good news –
a gift best experienced when opened,
rather than left sitting in a corner gathering dust,
and yet, even if we should let that box sit unopened, still the love is offered –
God’s invitation to be loved is always there for us.

Agape –
unconditional love.
There has been, over the centuries, way too much emphasis on -
way too many depictions of -
God as the one with the big stick,
just waiting to beat us back into our place should we step out of line.
The furious Father.
The fierce and ferocious God –
who, no matter how hard we try,
no matter what we do –
is never satisfied.
The God who narrows his eyes and tells us harshly that we will never measure up:
who puts all sorts of hoops in our way
and who almost rubs his hands in glee
while waiting for us to stumble and fail.
We get a sense of this, sure, at times when we read certain Old Testament passages.
But remember, the bible is better read, not in bits, but more broadly.
It’s a collection of books put together to show
the relationship between God and human beings over millennia.
From a wee tribal God caring only for one small group of people –
the greater arc of the Bible shows us a widening of understanding
about the nature of God’s love:
it’s not just for a couple of people,
a clan,
a small nation...
By the Book of Revelation, we come to understand that God
is invested in the whole of the universe and certainly, the world.
What we get is a view of God who loves in such a way
that he will wipe every tear from every eye...
who will even become one of us –
to save us from ourselves:
to show us what unconditional love looks like when in human form.

God’s unconditional love is about restoration –
healing that broken relationship with God...
learning of God’s love, and in doing so,
actively seeking to heal the broken relationships we have with one another –
family, friends, neighbours, and with the whole great multitude of humankind.

‘For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son 
that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life...’
Wait:
‘that whoever believes in him...’
That sounds a bit conditional though, doesn’t it?
Well, that depends on how you understand the world ‘believes’ is being used here.
This is not about needing to sign up to a specific statement of theology.
A better way of understanding this is to think more along the lines of trust and acceptance.
‘For God loved the world in this way: 
he gave his one and only Son that whoever trusts that love, accepts that love, 
bonds themselves in love to him... shall not perish but have eternal life.’

It’s not a business contract, it’s a loving relationship.
Those who bond with, who trust, Jesus, are restored to the family...
while always beloved, now... ‘home’.
It’s a relationship that inspires us to learn to love unconditionally –
to love without expecting a reward of some kind.
To just get on, and love anyway.
It is a giving of oneself for another:
for God,
for our neighbour.
Just as God, in Jesus,
gave of himself
for us...
to save us,
to show us life,
to free us from the fear of never feeling we’ve measured up –
because 'perfect love casts out all fear.'
To love, is to live
and to live is to love:
John says in his first letter that:
‘no-one has ever seen God;
but if we love each other,
God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.’
Without us... God’s love is not complete –
the relationship remains broken.
Accepting, trusting, bonding with God in love restores the circle of being
and belonging with one another.

...‘For God so loved the world...’
Not a measure,
but the manner in which God loves:
unconditionally.
And the manner in which God loves is
transforming,
life-giving,
worth having,
and can restore, and heal a broken world in need of a love without limits.

‘Gather round,
I have a story to tell
of one who reached inside himself
and took a handful of love
like a pile of stardust
and said: this is for you
it is all you need
it is all you will ever need
there is enough here
to change the whole world
...take it.'

Some dared to take it –
Do we?
Amen.

*from Roddy Hamilton