Jeremiah 31:3; Psalm 107; John 3:16

Back on November 5, I was scrolling through Facebook, checking out some of my favorite posts, and I happened upon one from Clergy Coaching Network, which is one of my favorite sites. It was a quote from Rich Villodas, which said, “The story of Scripture in four phrases repeated throughout its pages.” “Well,” I thought to myself, “this should be interesting.” So I read the four phrases: “I love you. I am with you. Don’t be afraid. You can come home.” And I thought to myself, “There’s a sermon in there somewhere.” Actually, there were four sermons in there. A four-part sermon series that begins today, The Bible in Four Simple Phrases. Today’s phrase is, “I love you.”

One of the most obvious messages that is repeated throughout the Bible from cover to cover is that God loves us. We were created to be in a relationship with God. And God has tried every means God could think of to have a relationship with us, in spite of all that we have done to turn away from God. The three scripture passages I chose to read are only representative of literally hundreds that say the same thing.

The book of Jeremiah was written during a difficult period in the history of Israel. The people had been sinning against God for a very long time. In spite of the fact that God had raised up prophets to call the people back to the right way of living and worshiping, they had not been able to make any lasting change of heart or behavior. And so their punishment had finally fallen upon them: the land had been conquered and many of the people had been carried off into exile in a foreign land. They had no idea when or if they would ever return. Jerusalem and the Temple had been destroyed. And Jeremiah, while not mincing any words in explaining the judgement that had been rightfully carried out, also brought messages of hope for the future. In this particular verse, he was reassuring the people that God had not stopped loving them. He reminded them of God’s love in the past, saying, “The Lord appeared to us in the past, saying: ‘I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.’” That same everlasting love, that same loving-kindness, was theirs in the present, even while they were in exile. It would be their strength as they waited for the time of their return home, as they lived in a foreign place.

Psalm 107 describes several groups of people who, through their own choices or simply by chance, ended up in great trouble. They cried out to God, and because of God’s great love, God rescued them. The Psalm begins, “Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.” Then we are told about some who wandered in desert wastelands. They ran into all sorts of problems, and cried out to the Lord in their trouble, and God delivered them from their distress. Then they gave thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love. Next we are told of those who sat in darkness and the deepest gloom. Again, out of their horrible situation they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he saved them from their distress. They gave thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love. Some became fools through their rebellious ways and got into all sorts of trouble. But when they cried to the Lord he saved them from their distress. Then they gave thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love. And finally, others went out to the sea in ships and encountered storms, and they cried out to the Lord in their trouble. God brought them out of their distress, and they gave thanks to God for his unfailing love. The message is clear: we are to remember the great love of the Lord.

And finally, the great verse from John, chapter 3, verse 16: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” There are so many amazing aspects of this verse! That God loved the world, the whole world. No one is excluded from God’s love; everyone is included in it, the good, the bad, and the ugly. God loved the world so much that he was willing to give his only Son to live and to die for its people. I cannot imagine enough love that I would be willing to sacrifice a member of my family for someone else’s benefit. But that’s the kind of love God has for us. And the thing that we gain from God’s generosity is eternal life. We will literally never die. Our life will go on past death.

With so much assurance from the Bible that God loves us, you would think that everyone would be absolutely positive in their own minds about it. But there are a lot of people in this world who have their doubts. There are people who have said to me that God could never love someone like them, someone who has done the things they have done, someone who has failed to do the things they should have done. There are people who don’t feel worthy of God’s love, as if they have to earn it somehow. But God’s love is a free gift; we don’t have to earn it; we could never earn it. It is a gift. A gift coming out of God’s grace.

So how do we know that we are loved by God? That was your homework question for today. So how do you know that God loves you?

I have my own answers to that question. I know that God loves me because the Bible tells me so. I know that God loves me because I feel it in my heart. I know that God loves me because I look at all creation and it declares God’s love. After all, God could have made the world functional without making it so beautiful. I know that God loves me because he puts people in my life who love me. I know that God loves me because he helps me in my life, he comforts me when I am grieving, he gives me peace when there is no reason for me to feel peaceful. I know that God loves me because he gives me a useful purpose in life. I know that God loves me because I feel his pleasure with me.

I know that God loves the world when I see people love each other with the love of God. When there are acts of mercy being done. When people forgive each other. When people make peace with each other. When the poor, the elderly, the vulnerable are taken care of. When the body of Christ is serving those around them. Then I see the love of God at work in the world.

I’d like to close with a song recorded by Wynona Judd called Testify to Love.