The Power Of One: One Love.

Last night, Pastor Sam was the plenary speaker at the opening service of the National Black Nazarene Conference (held in Atlanta, Georgia).

I must confess up-front that I don’t have adequate words to summarize my pastor’s sermon. It was a beautifully woven tapestry of Old and New Testament scriptures in support of the conference theme, The Power of One. Perhaps I can best describe it in terms of the “ones” expressed during the message: One Love, One Heart, One Command, One Response.

Pastor Sam reminded us of Augustine’s description of the triune God: The Father (Eternal Lover), the Son (Eternally Beloved), and the Spirit (Love), existing in unity. And, in the act of expressing His love for us, God took the incredible measure of breaking up the love-fest in the Godhead. The Son, Jesus, was sent to earth in bodily form as the sacrifice for our sins. God’s love is an exhaustive love.

In referencing Psalm 27, Pastor Sam spoke of the need for God’s people to love Him in the same manner as He loves us. And as was shared earlier in this week’s blogs, it is an all-or-nothing venture. In Matthew 22 we see the word of Jesus, who quotes from Deuteronomy and Leviticus: the Lord wants all of our heart.

Jesus said to him, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. The second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40)

We are called to respond to God’s exhaustive love for us with a corresponding exhaustive love for Him. As Pastor Sam shared, “If we know what the love of God is, we should be ready to love Him back.” The God who loves us exhaustively reserves the right to instruct us on how we are to show our love for Him. His instructions to us are concentrated in the Decalogue (the Ten Commandments). We are taught that we must express our love to God through complete devotion, and through genuine love for our neighbors.

May our love for God be in the same vein as His love for us: exhaustive, exclusive, and extravagant. Embrace this love today.