Our Epistle lesson for today from 1 John 4:16 reads, “So we have come to believe the love that God has for us. God is love.” Then verse 21 reads “whoever loves God must also love his brother.” Here ends our text.
After we receive the Lord’s Supper, we pray a prayer thanking God for this gift from the altar of our Lord’s body and blood. Then we pray that God would strengthen both our faith toward Him and our love toward one another. We want both our faith toward God and our love toward one another strengthened and preserved.
I want to talk with you today about faith and love. First, there is faith in Christ, then there is love toward one another. Faith receives God’s love toward us, then we love one another. Faith and love go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. If someone does not have faith in Christ, then there is no true love toward one another. We are not saved because of our love toward one another, rather, we are saved through faith in Christ. We pray that God would strengthen both our faith toward Him and our love toward one another.
First of all, let us talk about faith.
The rich man lacked faith in the one true God. Oh, he knew about God. He even called Abraham “father,” but he did not believe in the same God that Abraham believed in. He did not believe in the coming Savior as prophesied by Moses and the prophets. He did not believe that God’s Word has the power to bring his brothers to repentance and to faith in the forgiveness of sins. The rich man lacked saving faith in the one true God.
He is in hell because he rejected the Gospel. John 3:18 says, “He who does not believe [in the Son] is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” Then John 3:36 says that “whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” So, where there is no faith in Christ, there is no salvation. The fact that the rich man is in hell is because he rejected God’s love toward him.
This is a warning for us. Do not reject the Gospel. Rather, by God’s grace, hold on to the promises of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. In Christ, there is the gift of life and salvation.
The poor beggar, on the other hand, believed in the one true God. He believed that God would provide for him; that God will give him his daily bread even if they were crumbs. He believed in the coming Savior as prophesied by Moses and the prophets. When this poor beggar died, the angels carried him to heaven. He received salvation through faith in the one true God and in His many promise.
God’s promise of sending a Savior came true. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary. He lived a perfect life in our place. He died upon the cross as a sacrifice in our place. He paid for our sins by His precious blood. He overcame death and the devil by His resurrection. You hear this precious Gospel, and the Holy Spirit works faith within your heart. You repent of your sin not because a distance relative rises from the dead and warns you about hell. Rather, the law shows you your sin and the Gospel shows you your Savior.
Salvation is through faith in Christ. Jesus once said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life” (Jn 5:25). John 3:36 says, “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”
Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Trust in the many promises of God in Christ Jesus. Rely on the death and resurrection of Jesus as your only source of salvation.
Let us now talk about love.
The rich man not only lacked faith toward the one true God, but he also lacked love toward the poor beggar. The rich man did not give the poor beggar food and clothing. He did not bandage the poor beggar’s sores. He did not help the poor beggar. He did not care about him. The rich man lacked love toward his neighbor in need.
Our Epistle lesson for today, says, “If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen” (1 John 4:20). The rich man claims to love God, but he does not because he does not love the poor beggar. The rich man claims to love God, but this is a lie.
The rich man had no faith in the one true God. He was unrepentant. He was selfish and self-centered. Therefore, he did not love his neighbor, the poor beggar who was laid by God at the rich man’s door. Since the rich man rejected God’s love toward him, therefore, the rich man was unable to love his neighbor.
Our Epistle lesson says, “God is love. We love because God first loved us.” God’s love toward us came first. For God so loved the world that he sent His only begotten Son. He paid for our sins, and He opened heaven for you and me and for all who believe.
What is love? God is love and love is of God and love is from God. Love does not define God, but God defines love. God gives love meaning.
How did God show His love to you? God the Father loved you by sending His only begotten Son to die for your sins upon the cross. Jesus laid down His life on the cross for your salvation. Jesus’ death upon the cross was the atoning sacrifice for your sins. Jesus made the payment for your sin by His precious blood. He suffered the wrath of God in your place. He was the innocent Lamb of God who died for you.
God’s love is not an emotion, but it is true love in action. His love is a self-giving, sacrificial love on your behalf and for your benefit.
God did not wait for you to love Him first. Instead, He took the initiative and loved you first. Romans chapter five says, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (v. 8). He died for sinners like you and me.
God loves you. How do you know that God loves you? He loves you because Jesus died for you and he rose from the dead for you. The blessings of the cross and resurrection were given to you in your baptism. He forgives your sin in Christ and He feeds you here at the altar.
Our Epistle lesson says, “We love because God first loved us” (1 Jn 4:19). God’s love toward us came first, then we love one another. God first loved us, then His love enables us to love one another. We are able to love one another only because we have received love from God. God’s love toward us is the motivating factor in loving others.
God’s love flows through us toward the neighbor. We are willing to love and care for one another because of God’s love toward us.
If there is a blockage of God’s love toward us, then there will be a blockage of love from us toward one another.
Our love toward a parent, a spouse, a co-worker, a neighbor, or a fellow church member will not be perfect. We still and will always have a sinful flesh. Deep down we are like the rich man, selfish and self-centered. We say things we should not have said, and we do things which we should not have done. There are times when our faith is weak, and we do not love the neighbor.
Lord, have mercy upon us. We pray that the Holy Spirit would bring us to repentance. We pray that, by God’s grace, we may confess our sin to Him and to one another. In Christ, there is the forgiveness of sins. We are thankful for God’s grace and mercy to us in Christ. We are thankful for the Gospel which strengthens our faith toward God and our love toward one another.
May God help us to be a Good Samaritan toward the one in need, to give food to the hungry and drink to the thirsty, to welcome the stranger, to clothe the naked, to visit the sick or those in prison. May God help us to be a faithful father or mother, a faithful spouse, and faithful co-worker, and a faithful neighbor to those who are in need. Again, we love one another because God first loved us in Christ Jesus our Lord.
So, let me summarize everything. First, there is faith in Christ, then there is love toward one another. Faith receives God’s love toward us, then we love one another. Faith and love go hand in hand. You cannot have one without the other. Love is the result of faith. The law does not provide the means to love the neighbor. Rather, the Gospel provides the means to love the neighbor. Loving others is not done for God. Rather, loving others is done for the benefit of the neighbor. If someone does not have faith in Christ, then there is no true love toward one another. We are not saved because of our love toward one another, rather, we are saved through faith in Christ. We pray that God would strengthen both our faith toward Him and our love toward one another.
We will receive today a holy and sacred meal of our Lord’s true body and blood for the forgiveness of all our sin. This is love from God that we can touch and taste.
After we receive the Lord’s Supper, we pray that God would strengthen us through the same in faith toward Him and in fervent love toward one another. We have faith in Christ, and we have love toward one another. We want both of these strengthened and preserved.
May our Lord’s Gospel and Sacrament strengthen and nurture our faith in Christ and may God help us to show love toward one another. God grant this. Amen.
