Chapel speech: On God's "crazy" love.

Originally presented at Luther Junior and Senior High School morning chapel, October 10, 2014.

If you've ever taken an English class taught by one of the J-3s, you've probably learned phrases like "can't stand" or "crazy about." We teach that in English there are many ways you can talk about how you feel about something or someone. "I hate spiders," for example, or, "I really like ice cream."

My cat Ebenezer. Missed cuddling this li'l guy.

If you remember this lesson, you probably also remember that the strongest way to say that you like something in English is to say you "love" it. "I love pizza," you might say. "I love my cat." But what is love? For pizza and cats, it's not the same thing. We don't cuddle our pizza and we don't eat our cats. In English, the definition of love is very broad.

If you came to English Summer Camp this year, you learned the words to the English song, "Jesus Loves Me." We sing this song in church Sunday Schools all the time. It's one of the most basic tenets of Christianity. But what does Jesus' love mean?

Jesus himself says in the Gospel of John that "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends." And the apostle Paul tells us that Jesus did this very thing in today's Scripture reading. "At just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly," he says. Who are the powerless and ungodly? That's us! That's all of us.

We may not be murderers or thieves or terrorists, but we all do things that hurt each other and separate us from God. No matter how hard we try, we can't be completely good, sinless people—and that includes Christians. I try to love people, but if I'm in a bad mood, or if I'm hungry, or if I feel overwhelmed, all that love can disappear. In my life I've said and done many things that have hurt people, intentionally and unintentionally.

This is what Paul is talking about when he says that "we were still powerless." We can't make ourselves "good" even if we try. Humans are not perfect, and we are not worthy to stand before a perfect God.

But Paul writes, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." The consequence of sin before a perfect God is death. But God sent his one and only Son Jesus to live with us and die for us so He could share our shame, and then Jesus was resurrected to conquer death and give us eternal life with God.

So what does Jesus' love mean for us in our daily life? It does not mean that nothing bad will happen to us, or that we won't ever experience some form of suffering. But it does mean that He will be with us always, and that we don't have to fear death as long as we believe in Him because He has opened the way for us to have eternal life with God. That's how much God is "crazy about" us.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your great love for us. Help us to know that love, believe that love, and share it with others today and every day.

In Jesus name I pray, amen.

You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous person, though for a good person someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:6-8 (NIV)