SCRIPTURE: 1 John 3: 16-24
TEXT: 16We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. THEME: Live love in a way that makes a good difference in other people’s lives. INTRODUCTION Do you remember the “Live Aloha” bumper sticker? I once observed that those who had them on their cars wanted everyone to aloha them without them showing any aloha in the way they drove. We want people to aloha us, without our having to aloha anyone. Aloha is one sided when we live it like that. But do you remember where the “Live Aloha” bumper sticker came from? It started in 1993, by a group of three people (Mike McCartney, Constance Hassell and Robbie Alm) who were frustrated at how government was dealing with local issues affecting our state. They wanted reform. They gathered a wide and diverse group of 40 people to discuss what to do. They “concluded that Hawai‘i needed its people to take much more responsibility in their own lives for what Hawai‘i was and what it could become. The group knew what they were up against: the crushing burdens of day-to-day modern living—traffic, cost of living, drugs and violence, the break-up of families and so on. They also faced the sense of helplessness that grows in those who believe that they are powerless to change the way things are and that their individual acts are of no consequence.” Hawaiicommunityfoundation.org 2006 Annual Report They advocated to: Ask Hawai‘i’s people to undertake certain basic actions in their daily lives. • These actions would encourage sharing and caring, and would build community.• There would be a common set of actions so that everyone could gather strength and a sense of community from seeing each other participate. • The actions would be easy to do regardless of where people lived, what they did, or how much money or power they believed they possessed. • The group would provide a rallying point, a symbol and a call to action, to bring people together. While this group does not presume to define aloha, they believe the spirit of Aloha to include respect for others, for the land, and all that surrounds us, … SCRIPTURE To change the political structure by loving each other. If they needed a scripture to give credence to the truth of what they proposed, it could have been from 1 John. “Don’t just talk about being loved, love.” Christ’s never stopped loving us, even to the point where Government and Religious officials wanted him killed. God’s love inspires us to see what we can do to help. As children of God, we are part of God’s family business. Hanaied, our place in the family is secured, our confident in our relationship with God will not change, no matter what we do. We’re related, we are a part of each other. So, we can be unafraid to take action, to make mistakes, to take a risk, to live by faith, and to trust in God. 1 John is encouraging us to take our being loved by God to go out and love others. Simple to understand, but hard to do and a lot more profound than we think. APPLICATION God loves us completely and profoundly in Jesus. God calls us, adopts us, accepts us, forgives us and is gracious with us. How do we live, God’s love for us, with others? 1 John says to obey the commandments. This is how we get a feel for living in God’s ways. We try it God’s way, in our living of them. We obey, make mistakes, make accommodations, we make modifications, we learn the truth of God’s ways to the point where we don’t have to obey the commandments because they apart of the way we live, innately, as part of who we are. 1 John reassures us of our relationship with God by reminding us that we are children, who are growing, learning, not perfect, becoming, (vs18) and as being beloved (vs. 21) we live as part of a family where there is grace, love, forgiveness, patience and hope. Live Aloha’s suggestion could also be a good start of where to begin to live out our love for God with others.
CONCLUSION Live Aloha and 1 John gives us two reasons to living in loving ways. My friend was asking if they should take the vaccination shot for COVID. If I had finished this sermon, I would have told them, “What is the most loving thing that you could do, (for yourself, for your family, for your community and the people you work with, in regards to getting the vaccination shot?” I am feeling a little nostalgic today, I’m drawing on the role call scene on Hill Street Blues, where they have the morning briefings before they are sent out into the community. The Sarge tell them to “get out there and do it, and be safe”. Maybe I’m mixing in a Nike’s commercial in with this but it this how the author of 1 John would have wanted it. “Don’t over think love. It is simple enough to understand, just get out there and do it, and be safe.”
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