John writes that we love because he first loved us, and this sermon traces what that first love does. It reaches those who feel unlovable, the way Jesus received the sinful woman who wept at his feet and the tax collector who climbed a tree, and it declares them forgiven and welcomed before they had done a single thing to earn it.
Because God moved first, the parable of the unforgiving servant warns that grace not passed on curdles into cruelty, while Paul’s picture of love in 1 Corinthians 13 sets the pattern: debts get cancelled, gifts are used for others, and love outlasts every other gift. Part two applies that love concretely – reconciling with a brother before worship, giving generously as Zacchaeus did, and husbands loving their wives as Christ loved the church.