1 John 2:3-11 October 1, 2006
In or Out?
We’ve been looking at The Apostle John’s first letter to the church, and we’ll continue to look at it throughout the fall.
John is writing to an embattled church. There has been a group in the church who have been teaching that Jesus wasn’t really human because the pure divine spirit could not mix with corrupted flesh or matter. They also taught that there was a secret knowledge of God that they had, and it was through this knowledge that you were saved.
It appears that they had left the fellowship, but their effect has remained – the Christians that are left are bruised and beaten, and they are wondering if they really have got it right.
They might not be that far off from how you might feel on any given day. In the broader church there are people who are questioning the divinity of Jesus, or that he even existed; there are people who question the truth and inspiration of the scripture, and there are people who think we have gotten the faith wrong all along. In the broader community, the church is accused of all sorts of conspiracies, they are many different faiths that seem just as authentic, and people are coming up with their own “build your own” faith all the time.
Living in this context it is pretty easy to start to wonder, “Do I have it right?” Am I even a Christian they way Jesus originally pictured it.
Apart from the outside influences, there are things in Scripture that might create self-doubt. In Matthew 7:21-27, Jesus says
21"Not everyone who says to me, ’Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22Many will say to me on that day, ’Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ 23Then I will tell them plainly, ’I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’
I used to know a woman in Parkdale who had a lot of self doubt about her faith. She had the gift of tongues, and when she would start to doubt whether or not she was walking with Jesus, she would check y speaking in tongues. She figured that as long as she could speak in tongues, God had not left her. According to Jesus – that wasn’t such a good test – he says that we might do all sorts of miraculous things in his name, but we don’t know him. This is a scary statement! It actually produces some self doubt in me. Might I be one of those who says to Jesus, “Lord, Lord, didn’t I run your church for 40 years?”
It brings us to the question: “How can I be sure that I have the true faith? How can I be sure that I really am a Christian?”
The good news is that John is writing to us, not to put more doubt or condemnation in our minds and hearts, but he is writing to encourage his church, and us that, “yes we do have the truth, yes you do know God, yes you do know Jesus.”
He begins his book by reminding us that he was more that an eye-witness of Jesus – he was his disciple and his good friend: “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched – this we proclaim concerning the word of life.”
He then reminds us that God is light, and his followers live in the light – God is the God who reveals himself – he is not wearing masks or keeping things secret, and neither should his followers!
Here in the passage we are looking at today, he gives us two proofs by which we can know that we are living for Jesus. Remember that this is good news – he is trying to encourage us that we are actually getting it right.
Proof #1: We are doing what Jesus said. 1 John 2:3-6
It would be a funny thing if we said that we are following Jesus and then never did what he said!
Rick came to our house for lunch last week after church. He said he would follow me there. It would have been very strange if he had watched me turn right onto Jane St. from Colbeck and then proceeded to turn left. I’d have to go chasing after him and say “Hey! I thought you were going to follow me!” If we say we are followers of Jesus and then turn left where he turns right, our words aren’t much good.
Jesus follows his statement about not knowing the miracle workers with this picture:
Matthew 7
The Wise and Foolish Builders
24"Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash."
He is saying that it does not matter how powerful you are in his name if you are not doing what he says.
Perfection?
Is John saying that if we know God we will not do wrong and we will always do the right thing that we have opportunity to do? If he is saying that when we know God we’ll all be perfect, then we’re all in trouble, or at least I am!
It would be hard to think that this is what he is saying since he just got finished saying that if we say that we are without sin we are lying.
John Calvin – “he does not mean that those who wholly satisfy the Law keep His commandments (and no such instance can be found in the world), but those who strive, according to the capacity of human infirmity, to form their life in obedience to God.
The people that John was arguing against may have thought that since material things are inherently evil, their body is evil, so they can do with it what ever they please! These people were saying that they had some secret knowledge that was saving them, and they weren’t even trying to follow Jesus and his commands.
We are at least trying to follow him like a lesser musician might try to follow a master, or like a lesser athlete might try to follow a pro. We make mistakes and wrong turns along the way, but we pick ourselves up, ask forgiveness and keep following. I have been told that the secret to playing in a band when you make mistakes is to just keep on playing.
What are the commands that we are following?
Jesus has many commands, and John rephrases his proof in verse 6 by saying “Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.” So it is not just doing what he says, but doing what he did – following him. So read the gospels constantly – see what Jesus did and said and follow him.
But I am going to centre in on three commands.
The first and the third are found in 1 John 3:23
“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.”
1) believe in the name of Jesus – the command is to believe that Jesus is all the scriptures say that he is – that he is the Son of God become human, and his life, death and resurrection is God’s plan to rid us of all the wrong in our lives, and to restore us to relationship with God for the rest of our eternal lives. Jesus is also God’s plan for the restoring of all of creation. To believe in his name is to place our lives in his, to confess our wrongs, and to accept Jesus forgiveness and payment for those wrongs.
2) I want to highlight this second command, because it is the test that Jesus uses to whether you are with him or not.
In Matthew 25 Jesus tells three stories. The first is about 5 wise bridesmaids and five foolish bridesmaids. The five foolish bridesmaids are really not prepared for the wedding, so they are left out in the cold. The point of the story is to be prepared for Jesus return. It doesn’t tell us how to be prepared. The second story is about a master who gives his three servants various amounts of money to look after while he is away. When he comes back, two of the servants have invested his money and brought a good return, the third is afraid of loosing his master’s, money and buries it until he gets back. When the master returns he praises the two investors and kicks out the one who buried the money. The point of this story is that you become prepared for Jesus return by investing well the things he has given you, but the story doesn’t tell us how we are to invest those things.
The third story is a picture of Christ’s return when he divides the nations between sheep and goats: the ones who are in and the ones who are out. The way that he judges the sheep from the goats is whether or not they fed the hungry, slaked the thirsty, welcomed the stranger, clothed the needy, visited the sick and the prisoners. He says that anything that you do for the least of these, you do for him. The story teaches us that the way that we invest what God has given us is to care for the least in society.
After a different parable, he actually says “spend your money in such a way as to make friends in heaven.” (Luke 16:9)
Clip from “walk the line” - Johnny Cash has just come off drugs and cleaned up, he is in the record companies offices talking about a live album from Folsom Prison. One of the producers says “Johnny, your fans are church folks: Christians, they don’t want to hear about you going into prison and playing for a bunch of murderers and rapists trying to cheer them up.” Johnny replies, “well then they’re not Christians’
Jesus says we will be judged in part on whether or not we visit the prisoners.
We obey the commands of Jesus by doing what we can to care for the poor in our midst.
3) The third command is John’s second proof that we walk with God – the command to love one another. Jesus says in John’s Gospel, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (13:34-35) Later in the same talk, Jesus says, “If you keep my commands you will remain in my love…My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.” (15:10 & 12)
Proof #2: We Love Each other
John harkens back to the words of Jesus when he says in our passage: verse 7-11
Nicky Gumble, in the Alpha Course talks about how, before he came to faith, he thought Christians were weird and really didn’t want to spend any time with them, but after coming to faith he felt a true love for his Christian brothers and sisters. John says that this love is proof that the transforming Spirit of God is working within us.
This love for one another is something that God grants us, but it is also something that we must work at, otherwise it would not be commanded!
The are some Christians who are harder to love than others, and there will be times that we are in conflict with Christian brothers or sisters, but we are still call to love. At this point it is good to remember that the love that God calls us to is an action more than a feeling. God is not like the parent who says. “you are going to eat your peas, and you are going to like them.” You can command an action, but it is pretty hard to command an emotion.
So we are to treat one another in loving ways. Even if we do not feel the love, we are to act the love. And the love that we act is to be an extreme love. The old part of this command is to love one another the way that we love ourselves – treat the people around you the way that you would like to be treated. The new part of the command is to love one another the way that Jesus loves us. Our love for each other is the kind of love that would sacrifice our stand for each other as Jesus did when he came from heaven to be among us, it is the kind of love that would sacrifice our lives for each other as Jesus did when he went to the cross, it is the kind of love that would sacrifice our dignity for each other as Jesus did when he washed his disciples feet.
John uses such strong language during this section, because it appears that the group that he was arguing against was so loveless that the way they treated the other Christians could be regarded as hate. They had a great arrogance in their belief and they treated the others who were not “enlightened” with derision. John says that their hateful ways do not show that they are enlightened, but that they are walking around in darkness, and apposed to knowing the way, their hatred shows that they are lost, have no idea where they are going because their darkness has blinded them.
Our love for each other shows that we are walking in the light.
Do you ever wonder if you are getting it right? Do you ever wonder if you really are saved, or a Christian, or on God’s side?
John gives us these two proofs to encourage us – we know we are with God if we are following Jesus and doing our best with God’s help to obey him. We know we are with God if w4e love the people he loves the way that he loves them.
John does not say that you know that you are following the truth because of these intellectual arguments and scientific proofs. He says that you know that you know God because you are following Jesus’ ways and because you love each other. This is far greater proof than any argument!
