Sermon | 1 John 4:7-21 | "Fearless Love" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana

Sermon | 1 John 4:7-21 | "Fearless Love" by Rev. Joseph Sanford at Grace United Methodist Church in Franklin, Indiana God has always been in right relationship to us… Humanity has always been beloved by God. Why else would we have the stories of our faith? Why else would God have made the covenant and promise to make all things new and right again? Why else would we have God’s grace in and through Jesus Christ’s life, death, resurrection, and everlasting presence? It’s always been a one-sided issue, according to John. And God was willing to come stand in our confused inability to acknowledge our beloved-ness to fix our side so that we might come see the truth. We have always been beloved. Humanity has always been beloved—we just haven’t always known it. And if we’re picturing God standing with arms-crossed just angrily waiting for us to mess up so punishment can be divvied out…then we haven’t known God or our beloved-ness yet…and that’s EXACTLY why we might be standing with our own arms crossed watching other people from a place of anger and judgment. Our knowledge of God is reflected in how we live. How we live reflects our knowledge of God. So what does your head tell you about how much you know God? We haven’t always known of our beloved-ness… Maybe you’re still struggling today. Do you know that God loves you? You ARE beloved by God—Jesus’ death on the cross while we were still sinners PROVES it. even if you refuse to see it. Even if you do not understand Even if you question it Even if you resist But here we are, church, the ones who claim to be in-the-know. Does your life reflect your knowledge? Does your life reflect your beloved-ness? Does the way we live reflect the beloved-ness of others onto them? even if they refuse to see it? Even if they do not understand? Even if they question it? Even if they resist? Can your own beloved-ness be exhausted in God’s eyes? Can the beloved-ness of others be exhausted in our own eyes when you know you are beloved? The answer of course is NO…NEVER. As our Bishop says, “God loves you…and I love you…and there’s nothing you can do about it.” What if we all lived by that truth? What could we do as a family of God loving without fear? Because THAT’S what the church—the body of Jesus the Messiah—is really all about. We aren’t about memorizing rules and imposing behaviors upon each other— that doesn’t do much good in reflecting beloved-ness We are about giving of ourselves for one another because we have come to know of our beloved-ness by truly seeing and believing in our beloved-ness on display in Jesus Christ. So, beloved… Embrace your beloved-ness. Believe in the good news of God’s love revealed in Jesus Christ… Live into the fearless love which is already ours. Live into it so fully that people around you come to see it, too, through you. Live in such a way that people think, “Why would they treat me like that?” “What would possess that person to love me?” Only then can we truly witness to our faith—when we live our beloved-ness in such a way that it reveals their beloved-ness, too. THAT’s the moment where we truly become Christ-like… THAT’s the moment where we truly know and abide with God. THAT’s the moment where we become people of a FEARLESS LOVE.