1 John 4:7-21

I thought we were empty nesters. We bought a house for the two of us and an

occasional visitor. Now, that has all changed. A week ago, my two younger kids moved

to our house. One for a month, the other for the summer. Now my oldest is graduating

from college and moving in for the next 6 months plus. I love my kids, but we were

getting used to being empty nesters.

I am excited to celebrate with all our recent graduates; it is fun to watch them plan and

dream. We celebrate their accomplishments and look forward to what they will learn

next. This rite of passage, called graduation, is part of how we begin to launch the next

generation into independence.

In the kingdom of God, we strike a balance of independence and reliance on one

another. We are called as individuals to relationship with Christ, at the same time we

are called to love one another in the church. 1 John 4:7-21 tells us to turn in love

towards one another as a part of our faithful love for God.

Vs. 10-11 challenges us to consider the love we have received from God and share with

the church, “ 10  In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His

Son to be the propitiation for our sins. 11  Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to

love one another.”

Our challenge, in this modern age, is how do we continue to love our graduates as they

establish themselves in a new community? It is easy to love the students while they are

near, how do we maintain connection to the students and encourage them in their new

communities? Have we taught them how to discern which communities to join to

continue growing their faith?

We have not launched our children into space without support, they are just down the

road, a phone call away, or an invitation to a home-cooked meal from the community

they grew up in. We are called to continue to love even when they are away from us.

We are their home, where love was taught, truth was learned, and care was extended.

They are allowed to come home.

As we send our graduates out into the next phase of their lives, wherever their dreams

take them, they should know they are loved and have a home among us. It is a lesson

my wife and I have sought to teach our children, that we are here to support,

encourage, correct, and teach even as they grow older. How we do this has changed

as they have aged and we are striving to learn how to love our children at every stage of

life.

My house may be fuller, but the love in action that my children have experienced is

worth every opportunity to continue to teach them of the love of God and for others.