Walking into the heart of God

 

Reflection 18^th April 2021

 

A Sunday School teacher once asked her students to talk about how they felt about their church. The students responded in the usual ways: some said something silly to get the rest of the class to laugh, while others tried to be more serious.

One of the girls was new to the class, and she felt uncomfortable about entering class discussions, so she usually never raised her hand, or volunteered an answer. That Sunday, however, she did have an answer for her Sunday School teacher, and it was unforgettable. She said that going to church was, "like walking into the heart of God."

I like that. That is a description of the church as it ought to be: "like walking into the heart of God." Of course, not every church fits that description.  We know what the church ought to be. We all know that the church is not a building, but the church is people. The church is a fellowship, a community of faith.

Our epistle lesson today was written to encourage church people to be more loving toward one another and to those in need. If we can't do that, John tells us, we've missed the very heart of the faith that Christ gave us.

The essence of Christian faith is love. That is where we begin this morning. Listen to some selected words from 1 John 3:

¹ See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God;

¹¹ For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another

¹⁸ Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.

A person reading John's words from this epistle might conclude that at the very heart of the Christian Gospel is love, and he or she would be exactly right.

I’ll say it again - The essence of Christian faith is love. Just as Christ laid down his life for us, so ought we to lay down our lives for others. That means loving all people, even those who misuse us. That means doing good to all people even those we may not approve of. Love means leaving our comfort zone from time to time for acts of extraordinary concern. The essence of Christian faith is love. That brings us to something else that is important for us to realize.

Love is our primary witness to the world. If the day comes when the Christian church is as loving as its Master, the world will be transformed and will beat a path to our door. John asks,

¹⁷ How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister^[f] in need and yet refuses help? 1 John 3:14

Love is more than just an emotion or a feeling. Love is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and imprisoned. Love is not a passive verb, but an active one. And it is the primary way we share Christ with the world.

Last week a friend gave me a book and I’ve not been able to put it down. It is called “Love is the way”. It’s written by Bishop Michael Curry (the Bishop who preached so powerfully at Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s wedding). I thoroughly recommend it.

In his book Bishop Curry draws on his experiences of growing up in Buffalo New York being surrounded by people who had left the southern states of the USA to escape the segregation there. And how he learned of God’s love from these people. And how God’s love can be transformative.

There are many wonderful stories in the book. But one struck me when we are thinking about church being "like walking into the heart of God."

Bishop Curry’s mother was a highly intelligent mathematics student. She went to study at the University of Chicago in the 1940s which was rare for a woman, let alone an African American woman. After university she lectured at another university in Ohio and there she met Bishop Curry’s father. He came from the South. While they were courting, she took Mr Curry to church – an Episcopalian church (Anglican). There were very few black people in the pews. When it came to Communion Mr Curry was hesitant as in the South it was unthinkable for a black man to share the same communion cup as a white person. But the priest welcomed everyone.

A church of love "like walking into the heart of God."

Love is a gift from God. Pure love is not an attribute of humanity, but of God. Our human nature is selfish, to strive for survival. God's nature is self-giving love. The closer we are to God, the better able we are to love others. John writes, "And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us." 1 John 3:24 That Spirit is love.

The words John wrote centuries ago are still true for us today,

²³ And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us 1 John 3:23

When the love of God truly abides in our hearts, we can look into the faces of others and see God's face.

Love is the essence of Christian faith. Love is our primary witness to the world. Love is a gift from God. We love because God first loved us. Only as we abide in God can His love abide in us. Only then will coming to church be like walking into the very heart of God.