Dr. Ziegler explains why God's love isn't based on attraction but creates beauty in sinners.
Dr. Michael Ziegler delivers a Palm Sunday message reflecting on the nature of divine love. Host Mark Isher introduces the episode, which also features commentary from theologian Dr. Jeff Gibbs. The sermon centers on the distinction between human love and God's love as revealed through Jesus Christ.
Ziegler opens with a personal story about supergluing a dime to a dresser his father built, illustrating a child's mystifying perspective. He connects this to the universal Christian mystery celebrated during Holy Week: the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The episode examines 1 Corinthians 13, often called the "love chapter," clarifying its original context was correcting childish behavior within the Corinthian church, not romantic love. Ziegler explains that human love is typically a self-seeking craving, like hunger for hot french fries. In contrast, God's love is creative and unconditional, making people valuable by loving them first, not because they are inherently attractive.
A key insight is that God loves sinners, the unattractive, and the offensive not because they are beautiful, but to make them beautiful through His love. Martin Luther is quoted saying, "the love of God does not find but creates what is pleasing to it." The sermon posits that human love is like a boomerang seeking its own good, while God's love is like an arrow or a meals-on-wheels truck that gives everything. Ziegler admits that, apart from God's love, he feels like a condemned, stunted child fixated on his own unmet needs. He emphasizes that Jesus stood under God's judgment on the cross to offer a way to grow within this divine love.
In the conversation, Gibbs agrees the Corinthians passage should be for "marriage counseling," not weddings, as it addresses a community despising one another. Gibbs advises that the first response to this teaching is simply to believe it, then let it impact daily life within the community. He references C.S. Lewis's idea that in perfection, there will be "unbounded giving and unashamed receiving." Ziegler concludes by substituting "Jesus" for "love" in 1 Corinthians 13, prompting listeners to recall gospel scenes of Christ's patience and sacrifice.
The tone is pastoral, instructional, and reflective, blending personal narrative with theological exposition. The style is conversational during the interview segment, while the sermon is more illustrative and homiletic.
Listeners interested in Christian theology, Lutheran teachings, or sermons exploring concepts of grace and love will appreciate this episode. Those seeking secular content or critical religious analysis might skip it.
