Grace, love, and peace are yours through our loving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who laid down his life for us. Amen.

John 15:9 "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. ¹⁰ If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. ¹¹ I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. ¹² My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. ¹³ Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are my friends if you do what I command. ¹⁵ I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit-- fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. ¹⁷ This is my command: Love each other.

We live in a world that tries to be practical. Love does not fit into this practical world. Love seems very impractical. The lack of love, however, seems to be the way to get ahead in this world. A pitcher is cheered for throwing at and hitting Barry Bonds. NASCAR drivers want to "bump draft" in order to win the race, even though it is against NASCAR rules. Politicians put down the President and his policies every chance they get in order to score political points. Companies let long-time employees go in order to hire new employees at cheaper salaries. Toymakers watch the divorce rate go up knowing that parents and grandparents will buy toys to gain children’s affections. Someone asking me this week what my sermon was about while I was in my backswing on the golf course.

Biblical principles like turning the other cheek, laying down our life for another, loving our neighbor as ourselves, being the Good Samaritan, all seem so impractical in a society that is all about getting ahead at the expense of others. Forgiveness seems impractical in a world where hurt feelings and revenge are commonplace. Unity seems unrealistic in a society where families, churches, and political parties are fragmented and divided. And yet, Jesus gives us some very good advice about impractical love in a practical world.

Even as Christians, you and I have a problem with love, don’t we? Our love (if we dare call it that) is self-seeking. Our love keeps track of wrongs. Our love fails when it is needed most. That is why Jesus has to command love: "This is my command: Love each other. Love each other as I have loved you."

Love and forgiveness often go hand-in-hand. "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." (1 Peter 4:8) And yet, instead of covering over someone’s sins, we tend to hold them up and display them for the world to see. We demand apologies. We look for tears of repentance. We insist that people be responsible for their actions.

How dare we! How dare we ask for people to come to us begging for forgiveness! How dare we hold up our hurt feelings as a badge of honor! That is our pride, our ego, demanding people to come before us with an apology! Does Jesus demand that of us? You bet! Does he get it? I don’t think so. But he accepts what he gets from us. Jesus demonstrates his great love in his awesome forgiveness.

How dare we withhold forgiveness when we have done far worse to Jesus than anybody could ever possibly do to us! We brood over our anger. We allow bitterness to rage in our hearts. Hymn #493 says it well: "How can [God’s] pardon reach and bless the unforgiving heart that broods on wrongs and will not let old bitterness depart?"

Martin Luther wrote in the explanation of the 8^th commandment that we are to take another person’s words and actions in the kindest possible way. Instead we immediately jump to conclusions, perceive the worst, and don’t give the benefit of the doubt to a fellow brother or sister in Christ. Is that what God wants us to be doing with the love he has given us? These are all trivial debts that are owed to us when compared to the immense debt of sin God forgave us at Christ’s cross.

Love displays itself in Christian unity. We sang, "In Christ there is no east or west but one great fellowship of love. So, brothers, sisters, praise his name who died to set us free from sin, division, hate, and blame, from spite and enmity!" (CW #539) However, too often it is us versus them. It is choosing sides. You’ve all seen it: Epiphany vs. First Evan.; the church vs. the school; churches vs. synod; long-time members vs. new members; parents vs. teachers; teens vs. parents; neighbor vs. neighbor. You know how upset you get when your children bicker and complain and fight. Imagine how it must tear God apart to see his children, brothers and sisters in Christ doing the same. The Bible says: "If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose." (Phil 2:1-2)

There are going to be times in the church, the school, the family, when we disagree, when there may be strong words, when there may be hurt feelings – but we move on. We are united in Christ. We are one fellowship with each other through our baptism. We may not always agree, but we are like-minded, being of one spirit and purpose. Things may not always be said or handled or done in the appropriate way, but there is forgiveness, there is unity, there is love!

Pastor Roekle has been our circuit pastor for the past four years. He suggested that I should be the next circuit pastor. I told him "No way!" My counseling with other pastors, teachers, or members who aren’t getting along would be "Suck it up! We’re all on the same team! Get over it! Forgive each other and let’s get some work done for Christ!" I wouldn’t say that (unless I was really frustrated), but I would certainly be thinking it. Countless times in the Bible it says we are united in the forgiveness and love of Christ, so if Christ forgives us, we should forgive each other.

Notice that love is not something that we just feel like doing. It is a command! "This is my command: Love each other!" "Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another." (1 John 4:11) We are breaking God’s commands when we fail to forgive. We are sinning when we nurse our resentments. We are not living and loving. Instead we are giving the devil a foothold. That is why the Bible gives us this advice: "In your anger do not sin: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷ and do not give the devil a foothold." (Ephesians 4:26-27)

Love is looking for the best in people, instead of looking for the worst. Love is looking for the best in people and accepting the worst.

Love is silence when your words would hurt. Love is patience when your neighbor is curt. Love is deafness when a scandal flows. It is thoughtfulness for another's woes. Love is putting yourself in the other person’s shoes. It is submitting out of love for Christ to another. It is natural to love them that love us, but it is supernatural to love them that hate us or even disagree with us.

We may say we can’t forgive and forget. Hogwash. Forgive and don’t bring up the offense again. Over and over again we see where we fail in the areas of love, God excels and covers all our failings in love. God really does forgive and forget: "For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; ¹² as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." (Psalm 103:11-12)

God rips loose the devil’s hold on your soul every day. He shakes up your worldly securities so that you must turn to him. He hides you from harm and danger in the embrace of his outstretched arms. He calls you through the rock solid tomb of death into eternal paradise. There is no greater power. No greater love. No greater God. No greater salvation.

Our love is self-seeking. Jesus’ love isn’t; that’s why he lived and died for us. Our love keeps track of wrongs. Jesus’ love doesn’t; that’s why our sins have been forgiven, and we have peace with God. Unlike ours, Jesus’ love never fails; that alone is why we can look forward to eternal life in heaven. "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) Jesus’ love also makes it possible for us to love.

What if we could be like Jesus? Jesus loved us despite the fact that we were sinners. Jesus loved the unlovable. He loved us. He gave up his life for us. What if we could be like that? Then love would see our brother as God sees him. Then love would always forgive wrongs. Then love would flow to my sister over and over, no matter what. It would endure all difficulties for the sake of Christian unity. That would be Christ-like love.

And Jesus' kind of love is eternal. It never stops. Prophecies are fulfilled and go away. The imperfect praises we raise on this earth will stop. Earthly knowledge is useful only for this lifetime. But the love Jesus has for us will continue past the grave and we will truly know it in heaven.

So can we be like Jesus? On our own, no. But we are forgiven. His love shines on us. And now we get to reflect that gracious love to others. What an honor!

Dad took 8-year-old Helen and 5-year-old Brandon to the mall for a little shopping. Inside the mall a petting zoo was set up. The kids begged, "Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?" "Sure," dad said, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. They bolted away, and dad felt free to take his time looking for a scroll saw. A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the mall with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little critters while their moms and dads shop.

A few minutes later, dad turned around and saw Helen walking along behind him. He was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. Recognizing his error, he bent down and asked her what was wrong. She looked up at him with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, "Well, Daddy, it cost fifty cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter." Then she said the most beautiful thing he had ever heard. She repeated their family motto. The family motto is in "Love is Action!" She had given Brandon her quarter, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen.

What do you think dad did? Well, not what you might think. As soon as he finished his errands, he took Helen to the petting zoo. They stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. Dad had fifty cents burning a hole in his pocket; he never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.

Because she knew the whole family motto. It's not "Love is Action." It's "Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!" Jesus said: "Greater love has no one than this: that he lays down his life for his friends." Very rarely do we have the opportunity to lay down our life for another, but we may have plenty of opportunities to give up our quarter, or our parking space, or our pride …

Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. Love gives; it doesn't grab. Helen gave her quarter to Brandon and wanted to follow through with her lesson. She knew she had to taste the sacrifice. She wanted to experience that total family motto. Love is sacrificial action. That is really the Christian family motto. It is Christ giving himself up for us, now we give ourselves up for others. It is impractical love in a practical world. Amen.

1 John 4:10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Amen.