“Learning From and with Our God of Unconditional Love (Together, in a Variety of Ways)”
“Love’s Primary Concern” – 1 Corinthians 13:1-13, Jeremiah 1:4-10, Luke 4:21-30
The question I am asking and answering, from a biblical perspective, is “What is love’s primary concern”? Answer, to foster unity. Unity has a better chance of coming about when one speaks truth, whatever the cost, in a humble, kind, and just way. That way we demonstrate our love for God and others. I have two examples.
My first example that love’s primary concern is to foster unity is the transformation of Knox Presbyterian Church in Pasadena, California. A decade ago, the John Knox Presbyterian Church in Pasadena was down to twenty people in worship. A group of young persons who were tired of their megachurch experiences wanted a church where they could be connected with people of all ages in a meaningful way. They showed up at John Knox and felt those twenty people were open to such a venture. Gradye Parson notes, “The older members saw their sincere interest and took the risk of letting them set the tone for the congregation. That tone included regular doses of bluegrass music despite having a twenty-four-rank organ. The church rebound began, and now is a healthy church with lots of young families.”[1] Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:7-8a, “It [Love] bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends.” God’s unconditional love bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things.
You are loved by God. God has chosen you.
Like Paul, we recognize that because of God’s unconditional love for all people, the discipleship practices of sacrificial giving and social justice are non-negotiable. Again Paul writes, this time in 1 Corinthians 13:3, “If I give away my possessions, and if I hand over my body so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.” Acts of unconditional love are not about the one doing the loving. Unconditional love is self-less and not self-congratulatory.
Like Jeremiah, we recognize that because of God’s unconditional love, God has called us to proclaim good news to anyone and everyone. Donald K. McKim writes, “The message of Christ is for all, and our calling during Epiphany and in all seasons is to proclaim this message to all.”[2] God’s unconditional love was on the move in and through Jeremiah’s life. God’s inclusive unconditional love for the people was evident through the words and actions of Jeremiah and he figured prominently as a model of faith for the people of God.
Like Luke, we recognize that because of God’s unconditional love, God spoke truth to power through Jesus’ self-disclosure in the synagogue. Following Jesus’ disclosure in the synagogue that the reading in Isaiah was fulfilled in the people’s hearing, the Jews were amazed and spoke well of him. According to Luke, initial amazement turned to hostility, as the audience took exception to Jesus. The people were filled with rage. Why? Blair R. Monie writes, “…because Jesus proclaimed a grace that was wider and more generous than they were. We are happy when the ‘right’ people are forgiven, accepted, or healed, but we’re not so sure that we want those things extended to people outside our favored circles, or that we want to extend that grace ourselves.”[3] God’s unconditional love for all people affords us an opportunity to explore ways we have things in common with those who are different than ourselves.
My second example, that love’s primary concern is to foster unity, comes from the sermon of The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde, Episcopal Bishop of Washington, delivered at the National Cathedral on the occasion of the Inaugural Prayer Service, the day after the Inauguration. The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde began with a Prayer and then read the text on building one’s house on solid ground from Matthew 7:24-29. I quote:
Joined by many across the country, we have gathered this morning to pray for unity as a nation – not for agreement, political or otherwise, but for the kind of unity that fosters community across diversity and division, a unity that serves the common good.
Unity, in this sense, is the threshold requirement for people to live together in a free society, it is the solid rock, as Jesus said, in this case upon which to build a nation. It is not conformity…Unity is not partisan.
Rather, unity is a way of being with one another that encompasses and respects differences, that teaches us to hold multiple perspectives and life experiences as valid and worthy of respect; that enables us, in our communities and in the halls of power, to genuinely care for one another even when we disagree.
Unity at times, is sacrificial…a giving of ourselves for the sake of another…
Jesus of Nazareth, in his Sermon on the Mount, exhorts us to love not only our neighbors, but to love our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us; to be merciful, as our God is merciful, and to forgive others, as God forgives us…
Now I grant you that unity, in this broad, expansive sense, is aspirational, and it’s a lot to pray for – a big ask of our God, worthy of the best of who we are and can be. But there isn’t much to be gained by our prayers if we act in ways that further deepen and exploit the divisions among us…
Given this, is true unity among us even possible? And why should we care about it?
Well, I hope that we care, because the culture of contempt that has become normalized in our country threatens to destroy us…Contempt…it’s a dangerous way to lead a country.
And we are right to pray for God’s help as we seek unity, for we need God’s help, but only if we ourselves are willing to tend to the foundations upon which unity depends. Like Jesus’ analogy of building a house of faith on the rock of his teachings, as opposed to building a house on sand, the foundations we need for unity must be sturdy enough to withstand the many storms that threaten it.
What are the foundations of unity?…
The first foundation for unity is honoring the inherent dignity of every human being, which is, as all faiths represented here affirm, the birthright of all people as children of the One God. In public discourse, honoring each other’s dignity means refusing to mock, discount, or demonize those with whom we differ, choosing instead to respectfully debate across our differences, and whenever possible, to seek common ground…dignity demands that we remain true to our convictions without contempt for those who hold convictions of their own.
A second foundation for unity is honesty in both private conversation and public discourse. If we aren’t willing to be honest, there is no use in praying for unity, because our actions work against the prayers themselves.
Now to be fair, we don’t always know where the truth lies, and there is a lot working against the truth now, staggeringly so. But when we do know what is true, it’s incumbent upon us to speak the truth, even when – and especially when – it costs us.
A third foundation for unity is humility, which we all need, because we are all fallible human beings. We make mistakes. We say and do things that we regret…we are perhaps the most dangerous to ourselves and others when we are persuaded, without a doubt, that we are absolutely right and someone else is absolutely wrong.
The truth is that we are all people, capable of both good and bad. Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn astutely observed that “The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties, but right through every human heart and through all human hearts.” The more we realize this, the more room we have within ourselves for humility, and openness to one another across our differences, because in fact, we are more like one another than we realize, and we need each other.
Unity is relatively easy to pray for on occasions of solemnity. It’s a lot harder to realize when we’re dealing with real differences in the public arena. But without unity, we are building our nation’s house on sand.
With a commitment to unity that incorporates diversity and transcends disagreement…we can do our part, in our time, to help realize the ideals and the dream of America.
Let me make one final plea, Mr. President. Millions have put their trust in you. As you told the nation yesterday, you have felt the providential hand of a loving God. In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now. There are gay, lesbian and transgender children in Democratic, Republican and independent families who fear for their lives.
And the people who pick our crops and clean our office buildings; who labor in our poultry farms and meat-packing plants; who wash the dishes after we eat in restaurants and work the night shift in hospitals – they may not be citizens or have the proper documentation, but the vast majority of immigrants are not criminals. They pay taxes, and are good neighbors. They are faithful members of our churches, mosques and synagogues, gurdwara, and temples.
Have mercy, Mr. President, on those in our communities whose children fear that their parents will be taken away. Help those who are fleeing war zones and persecution in their own lands to find compassion and welcome here. Our God teaches us that we are to be merciful to the stranger, for we were once strangers in this land.
May God grant us all the strength and courage to honor the dignity of every human being, speak the truth in love, and walk humbly with one another and our God, for the good of all the people of this nation and the world.[4]
Knox Presbyterian Church accomplished unity through and with a very diverse congregation. The Right Rev. Budde asked our President to work for unity, which he promised he would, in the midst of polarized citizens, policy, and goals for our country. Every Christian is called by God to live the radical gospel of Jesus’ unconditional love; to affirm that all people are created in the image of God; and to treat everyone with dignity even in disagreement. Love’s primary concern is unity. Foster unity. Build the common good on solid ground. Amen.
This sermon was preached on the Fourth Sunday after Epiphany, 02 February 2025,
by the Rev. Dr. Steven M. Marsh in the Great Room and Sanctuary
at Grace Presbyterian Church in Wichita, Kansas
Copyright 2025
Steven M. Marsh
All rights reserved.
[1]Gradye Parsons, Our Connectional Church (Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 2018), 34.
[2]Donald K. McKim in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1, 211.
[3]Blair R. Monie in Joel B. Green, Thomas G. Long, Luke A. Powery and Cynthia L. Rigby, editors, Connections, Year C, Volume 1, 222.
[4]Excerpts taken from The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde’s sermon given at the Inaugural Prayer Service on Tuesday, January 21st at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C.
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