God Hates

In class we talked about when, how and by what we should judge one another.  This sermon is on how we reach into parts of the world that are living in sin, without condoning or accepting the sin, but still showing and teaching that God loves all sinners, them and us.

As a Christian there is no phrase that raises the hair on the back of my neck so much as “God hates.”  Any student of Scripture can tell you that God is Love, 1 John 4:8.  Nearly every child who has ever attended any Sunday school class every can tell you that God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whomsoever believes in him will not perish but will have everlasting life, John 3:16.  Yet when it comes to Hate there are very few verses that apply.  Proverbs 6 has a list of actions God hates. Job laments that God “hates” him at one point while lecturing his “friends.”   Almost literally every page of scripture says God hates sin. But nowhere in all of Scripture does it say God hates sinners, people.  We see his anger aroused against people, we see his concern for people, we see his forgiveness of people, we see his love for people, we even see his discipline of His people, but we never see Him hate people.

Too often as Christians we mistake God’s plan for how we should live for what we should tell our neighbors how they should not live.  I know that sounds strange, but that is the crux that the “God Hates” mentality is built upon.  People teach the Bible is a list of do nots, and they teach that following Scripture means condemning those that do.  It is everywhere; TV shows portray the Christian as small minded, and judgmental.  News programs are filled with images of people holding signs and banners with the words “God Hates.”  We see so-called Christian groups violate their own quote beliefs unquote to commit assault, murder, and acts of terror to make sure those they consider sinners know that “God hates.”  Yet no where do we see this in the first century Christians.  With the one possible exception of Peter cutting off the ear of one the men who arrested Christ.  And then Christ rebuked Peter and put the ear back on!

You might be asking what brought this tirade, I mean lesson on?  You might be aware that June is “Pride Month” in the US, you might not. But either way I received a resounding denunciation of the whole LGBTQrsvp ect. whatever society, that had in it a “call to arms,” a call to take back “our” country from sinners even to the point of advocating violence. All I could see as I read this hate filled vitriol, disguised as a “Christian” newsletter was a standoff in California a few years back when a quote Christian unquote group interrupted a “Pride event” with guns and homemade explosives.  And it got me to wondering, not as the 90’s wristbands often asked, “What would Jesus do?”  But, considering what the Roman culture was in the first century, I wondered, “What did John, Paul, Peter, James, Matthew, Luke, and others do?”

The Roman culture of the first century was awash with societal norms that would make the modern LGBTQ whatever community happy.  It was all about money, power, and personal gratification (sound familiar, kind of like the modern US).  Yet, the men who built The Church were raised by Jewish behavioral standards, who were now holding themselves to the even higher Christian standards were moving through a society perhaps even more corrupt and sinful than the one we find around us today, and what they taught was not, “God hates,” instead it was “God is Love.”

Obviously, the message this morning is not, “accept sin.”  I am not saying that we should support groups like LGBTQ, they are by definition sinful.  I am saying that we should not forget that Christ died for those lost within those groups.  And it is up to us to be a light of love for those lost to find a way to Christ.  The message is since “God is love, so must we be.”  The goal of this sermon is not to convince you that any group of sinners is acceptable to God, but to teach you that no group of sinners is, not even this one.  Through Christ our sins have been and continue to be forgiven as long as we continue to confess them and repent from them and grow closer to Him.  (1 John 1:5-7) One thing we must do to continue growing closer to Him is to learn that it is not the healthy that need a physician, but the sick. (Luke 5:31)

There are many places in the New Testament that I could use to teach that to be Christians we must embody Christ’s love to the world but this morning we will be using 1 John 4:20-21.

1 John 4:20-21

²⁰If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.

And

1 John 2:9-11

⁹He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. ¹⁰He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

These verses (and many others) are quite the contradiction to the whole, “God hates” that is portrayed as they way quote Christians unquote interact with non-Christians.

So, how can we as Christians (not the quote unquote types) live out the lifestyle we are commanded to live and show love to our “brothers” at the same time?

The first thing we must do is stay involved.  I know a young man who has decided that he wants to be in his words, “a young man with boobs.”  And his father has cut off all involvement with the young man because his father does not want to be associated with the young man’s sin.  By doing so though the young man’s father has lost any influence he might have had on the young man.  He stopped showing love to his son because he disapproves of his son’s actions.  And lest you think I am only using a personal example.  God made the decision to stay involved with us even after we committed our sin because he loved us.  Whether you are using the royal we referring to all of mankind going back to the Garden, where God promised a savior in Genesis 3:15. Or our own personal sin.

      John 3:16-17

¹⁶For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. ¹⁷For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.

      Romans 5:7-10

⁷For scarcely for a righteous man will one die; yet perhaps for a good man someone would even dare to die. ⁸But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. ⁹Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. ¹⁰For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.

      Another thing is remember, God loves them. Exactly as they are, exactly where they are, even in their sin.  Just as he loved you.  We just read Romans 5:8,

⁸But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So, when you look at that “sinner” remember you are one too.  Be the person in their life that loves them no matter their sin, no matter their failures, no matter circumstances.  Show them the love of God.

      Here is perhaps the hardest thing on the list.  Live your faith.  A study once found the single greatest stumbling block for non-Christians is Christians who acknowledge Christ with their lips and then deny him by their lifestyle.  To borrow some lyrics, “that is what an unbelieving world finds truly unbelievable.”  Whole sermons, plural, can, have and will be given on this topic.  Based upon verses such as:

            Romans 12:1-2

¹I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ²And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.

             Ephesians 4:25-32

²⁵Therefore, putting away lying, “Let each one of you speak truth with his neighbor,” for we are members of one another. ²⁶“Be angry, and do not sin”: do not let the sun go down on your wrath, ²⁷nor give place to the devil. ²⁸Let him who stole steal no longer, but rather let him labor, working with his hands what is good, that he may have something to give him who has need. ²⁹Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. ³⁰And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. ³¹Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice. ³²And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.

1 John 1:5-10

⁵This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

      Just to name a few of the possible specific verses but honestly when it comes to teaching live out your faith you could just start in Genesis 1:1 and end in Revelation 22:21. After all 2 Timothy 3:16-17 says it best:

¹⁶All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, ¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.

While living as Scripture calls us to live is the hardest point on this list. It is also the most vital.  If we are living according to our faith, it is apparent to those around us.  The quote Christian unquote groups will find it difficult to denounce us because our actions speak for us.  And the groups that those quote Christians unquote say, “God hates” will, and do, wonder why we quote that “Christ died for sinners.”

It is worth noting that the other points on this list are really a part of THIS point. 

Perhaps the best thing we can do is invite them to church with us.  I know, a totally revolutionary idea.  Hearing God’s Word and seeing the depth of God’s love is the only way for the non-Christian to become a Christian.  Remember, that every person in every pew in every church, the guy behind every pulpit, and every person outside of every church has one thing in common, we are all sinners.

Romans 3:23

²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,     

      The world portrays us as narrow-minded because we chose to abstain from sin, Love calls us to invite the world in so that they can see why we make our choices.   And Love calls us to allow them to make their own choices and love them anyway.  The world portrays us as hating others because we live differently, yet Love calls us to live differently by loving others.  The world portrays us as thinking we are better than it, but Love reminds us that we are not. 

      If you are not a Christian this morning, Love is calling you to obey His call.  If you are ready to obey, to put on Christ in baptism, or if you have a need of the church, please come forward as we stand and sing.

 

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