Meditation for April 25
From The Rev. Peter A. Munson
1 John 4:7-21
"Perfect Love Casts Out Fear"
"Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and His love is perfected in us. By this we know that we abide in Him and He is us, because He had given us His Spirit...
Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as He is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. We love because He first loved us. Those who say, 'I love God,' and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from Him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also." (1 John 4:7-13, 17-21)
What is posted on your refrigerator? On our refrigerator are mostly photographs and phone numbers, and a couple of chore lists. There don't happen to be any quotes from scripture. I can only remember one quote from scripture ever being on my parents' refrigerator. It was the end of this quote from 1 John, the part that begins, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear... and ends with "... those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. The commandment we have from God is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also."
Late April makes me think of one of my parents' anniversaries. My parents met on a blind date on April 29, 1944. They were married 11 weeks (78 days!) later on July 16, 1944, in a relative's backyard on Hillside Road, not far from the University of Colorado campus. My mom was almost 24; my dad was 25. What was the rush? My dad was about to leave for his Army service in Burma. My dad was in Burma until the war ended, then spent most of another year looking for MIAs in China. Basically, my parents met, got married, and didn't see each other for the next two years. Quite a way to start a marriage, although it was rather common during World War II. When my dad died in 1996, they had been married almost 52 years.
I have some regrets about things I didn't get around to asking my parents. Like how they kept their sanity during those two years apart. And why they put this particular scripture on their refrigerator. My parents were typical for their generation, I think. They were very faithful, and didn't really talk about their faith. They just tried to live it out, from day to day. They took us to church every week, volunteered in the community, gave generously to church and other charities of their choosing, passed on their core values to us kids, and loved each other. I miss my folks. Sometimes I really wish my dad were here so that I could ask him for some advice about work. He wasn't a priest, but I know that in certain situations, he would have had some good advice for me! I would like to go on another hike to The Loch (in Rocky Mountain National Park) with them. Mostly what I miss about them, though, is seeing the love they had for each other. It was not a perfect love. But it was a lasting, faithful love.
My parents had their fears, like all of us do. I saw those fears in them, especially when I was an adult, and they were in their golden years. Through all their fears and all the ups and downs in their marriage, they kept faith in God. And they continued to love each other. God is very aware of our fears, too. How many times in the Bible - both Old Testament and New Testament - do people encounter God or an angel from God or Jesus and hear, "Do not be afraid!"? I haven't counted, but it's alot! But there is something that trumps all of our fears.
Perfect love casts out fear. "Perfect Love" has a name, and it is God. It is Jesus Christ. It is the Holy Spirit. When we are connected to God, when we abide in God's love - fear dissipates, fear is cast out.
We are reminded of many important things in this short passage from scripture. We remember that we love because God first loved us. And we are reminded that God is Love. We are reminded that everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. We are reminded that that there is a profound connection between loving our brother or sister, whom we can see, and loving God, whom we cannot see. But perhaps the most important reminder in this scripture is that our fears don't need to control us or keep us from doing the things that God calls us to do. There is a force in the world that is much stronger than fear, stronger even than those who might want to make us fearful. Many people play to our fears. For example, politicians - people who share citizenship with us - often play to our fears. God does not do that. God points to love. God holds up love. God says, "Be about love. Stay connected to me. Abide in Me. Abide in Love, for I am Love, and you will find that those fears flee away."
Perhaps this is why that scripture was on my parents' refrigerator. Their love for each other had conquered all those fears that must have come up when they were separated during World War II. And God - who is Love - had helped them conquer all the other fears that arose during their 50+ years of marriage. They might not have been able to talk too much about God, whom they could not see. Come to think of it, they didn't even talk too much about their love for each other. They just tried to love the people - the brothers and sisters - that they could see. And they tried to love each other.