Title: Living Into What We Believe
Text: I John 5:1-5
Thesis: As children of God we live into what we believe.
Introduction
This week I came across a cartoon set in the wild west days of Tomestone, Arizona where on Wednesday, October26 at 3 p.m. Virgil, Morgan and Wyatt Earp along with Doc Holliday confronted the Clanton-McLaury Cowboy Gang for a 30 second shootout at the O.K. Corral. Actually is was a narrow lot next to Fly’s Photographic Studio which was about 8 doors down from the actual corral. The sides stood approximately 6 feet apart and opened fire… 30 shots were fired and the good guys won with minor injuries. The outlaw cowboys did not fare so well.
The cartoon is set in a wild west town. The gunfighters include the Pope, a Rabbi, an Imam, an actual cowboy, an Islamic extremist and an assortment of other shady looking religious sorts. The caption above the cartoon is a quote from an onlooker who says:
“We better get inside… looks like they’re fixin’ to settle whose is the one true religion of peace… again.”
The setting for the Book of I John does not seem to be set in a climate of persecution or peril. It does not seem that anything external is threatening the wellbeing of the Christians to whom this letter is written. The issues seem to be internal… the crisis is from within the religious community rather than from without. They were fighting amongst themselves.
As we read through the book of I John we pick up on a couple of concerns that may well be what prompted John to write this letter.
1. They had an Orthodoxy problem: Orthodoxy has to do with belief and specifically, the right truth.
2. They also had an Orthopraxy problem: Orthopraxy has to do with right practice.
The issue in I John was two-fold. They needed to be reminded of the truth of being children of God through faith in Christ who is the Son of God, the Savior of the world and the Christ, i.e. the Messiah. Plus they needed to be reminded that as orthodox people who believe right, they also needed to be orthopraxy people or people who live right or practice their beliefs right.
It is an ongoing concern in the life of the church even today. There are Christians (Christian groups/churches/denominations) who are very insistent on Biblical truth but who are failing miserably at living it out in Christ-like ways. If the news accounts be true… some are being openly hostile.
The people to whom John was writing needed to know the truth about who they were and what that truth meant in their lives… it is especially helpful to those who do not feel secure in their world or with God.
I. The Striving for Security, I John 5:1a
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. I John 5:1
If believing Jesus is the Son of God makes us children of God, what does that mean to us today? In practice, what does this mean? How do we do it?
The verse begins with an assertion: Everyone who believes Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God.
This we know about being a child.
A. A child is begotten
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child [is begotten] of God. I John 5:1
The word “child” refers to one who is begotten… in this case it means God is the begetter and those who believe in Christ are the begotten. We understand what that means in a literal sense so we then understand what that means in a figurative spiritual sense. In Christ God makes us or we become children of God.
Technically we may think of childhood as a period of time from conception and puberty. We typically expand that to include the time before a child become of age… 18 years old by our law. We understand that children have rights and parents have responsibilities for the care and wellbeing of their children. We also understand that in the eyes and heart of a parent, your child is always your child. Loving parents never stop caring about the wellbeing of their children… even when a child rebels and goes his or her own way forcing the parent to practice tough love.
I saw a video clip this week that showed a mother in a supermarket aisle. She had a baby in the cart and was shooting some pre-emptive cold strike nasal spray into her nostril, which by the way resulted in instant relief, when her 3 year-old decided he wanted a large bag of chips. She said, “No.” The kid instantly began to throw a fit. The mother then dropped her purse and flopped herself on the aisle floor feigning her own tantrum. The baby smiled. The 3 year old looked on in horror, put the chips back and meekly followed his mother as she got up and continued down the aisle.
On April 28 a video taken of a mother who caught her 16 year old son throwing rocks at police during the Baltimore rioting went viral. She proceeded to give her son several “whops upside the head” as she read him “the riot act.”
You may certainly question her method of discipline… she did not wait until the lad got home. She did not sit her son down and calmly inquire about his actions or discuss the up and down sides of participating in a riot. She went and got him. She took him home and she told him how much she loved him and how she worried every day for fear that he might not come home that night.
So we also believe that a child should be loved unconditionally.
B. A child is loved unconditionally
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love… Romans 8:35-39
One thing children often forget is that there is nothing they can do that will destroy the love of a parent. The lady in the supermarket aisle did not abandon her son because he tried throw a hissy fit in the market embarrassing her in front of all those shoppers who questioned her parenting. She took him home.
The Baltimore mother did not disown her hoodied, brick throwing, rioting son… she took him home.
When we grasp the fact that we are children of God and that nothing can ever separate us from the love of God, we can rest secure in our Heavenly Father’s love. Romans 8:35-30
Nothing you can think, do or say will diminish God’s unconditional love for you. Nothing I or anyone else can think, say or do will diminish God’s unconditional love for you. No accusation Satan and all his minions can accuse you of will diminish God unconditional love for you.
It is unfortunate that we sometimes parent with fear and intimidation. It is unfortunate that a child should fear our wrath more than they feel our love. But if God be like the Father in the parable of the prodigal son… we are assured that we can always come home, not because we have to but because we can… and we will always be met at the door by a loving, caring, nurturing, restoring parent.
There is a second way we may live into our relationship with God and others when we feel alone or isolated.
II. The Sense of Isolation, I John 5:1b
And everyone who loves the father loves his children, too. I John 5:1b
If the children of God love not only their Heavenly Father but his other children as well, what does that mean for us today? In practice what does this mean? How do we do it?
Paul Tillich said it well when he said, “Language... has created the word 'loneliness' to express the pain of being alone. And it has created the word 'solitude' to express the glory of being alone.” Being alone is not a bad thing. Solitude is one of life’s best gifts… but loneliness, not so much,
Feeling lonely and unloved is a desolate place.
Love, in all its expressions, is one way we manage to live in loving relationships in a world of people.
In the Greek language there are four words used to define different types of love:
A. There are different kinds of love
1. Eros – physical, sensual, passionate love
2. Philia – friendship or brotherly love
3. Storge – familial affection and parental love (note… all are feelings based)
4. Agape – Selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love (note… volitionally based)
The word used for love in I John is agape or a selfless, sacrificial and unconditional love. It is an act of the will or decision to love. It is a love that does the thing best for the other person even it doing so comes at great cost or personal sacrifice. It is the love expressed in Ephesians 5:25 where Paul wrote, “Husbands love your wives, just as Christ loved the church. He gave his life for her…”
The intent is for us to understand that by virtue of our birth making us children of God… we are born into God’s family. The love we have for God extends to the other children in God’s family. So when we love the parent that love extends to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
So we might ask, “What fuels or motivates us to love the others in the family of God?”
There are different reasons to love…
B. There are different reasons to love
Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. I John 4:11-12
1. Moral obligation?
John asserts, since God loved us that much we ought to love each other. If we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. I John 4:11-12 Does our loving others boil down to the matter of what we “ought” to do? So I say, “I will love you because I should and therefore it is my moral obligation to love you.”
2. [Or is it] God’s love? We love God because God first loved us. We love others because God loves them.
The love of God is not a love we mull over and conjure up or feel. It is a love we do because that is how we are as children of God. Our motivation to love others is God’s love for us, in us and through us!
The practical side of this is the simple truth that no one who is a child of God need feel isolated and alone in life. God uses the metaphor of family to define who we are to God and to each other. We are family… Unfortunately there are people who do not have a healthy understanding of what it means to be family so they neither know how to give or receive the love of God or others.
Andy Perea began attending here some time ago. He and Dovy always sat in the back row there by the sound booth. We got to know Andy and when Andy got sick one of the men took time to visit him. Others in our church began to provide a ride for Dovy so she could come to church and to ladies life group. When Andy passed away a good number of you attended his funeral and came to the reception. Several of you pitched in to help at his reception.
We have within our church a bunch of little churches… groups of people who sit in the same area every week, who get to know and care for each other. Sometimes here in the Christian community we form relationships that are even closer than those we have with our families.
When we love those around us it is not because we ought but because we do and because we may even need to for our own sake… Audrey Hepburn once said, “When you have nobody you can make a cup of tea for, when nobody needs you, that's when I think life is over.” When we have within us the love of God we need to love if we are to express that love within us.
It is within the context of living out love for God and love for others that we find the strength to continue. George R. R. Martin of A Game of Thrones fame wrote, “When the snows fall and the white wind blows, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.”
Being secure children of God and living in a loving “pack” of family members are two ways we live into who we are in Christ. Another way is through the way we live.
III. The Need to Perform, I John 5:2-3
We know we love God children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome.
If loving God is synonymous with obeying God’s commandments, what does that mean for us today? In practice, what does this mean? How do we do it?
I would like to speak to two things that may trigger our desire to obey God’s commands.
A. Obedience triggered by fear of displeasing God (Performance based love)
For much of my life I lived by the rules. The idea was that if I lived by the rules it would inspire devotion to God and please God or make God happy. It is unfortunate that the thing that triggered my conduct was the fear of displeasing God. It was through my conduct that I sought to please God and demonstrate my devotion to God. We call this performance based love.
It never occurred to me that devotion to God was the thing that would trigger and inspire a godly life.
So is the child of God supposed to be motivated to keep God’s commandments because of the threat of the law or the awareness of God’s grace? Is the child of God motivated to keep God’s commandments because of God’s displeasure or God’s love?
God sees us through the lens of a loving Heavenly Father. God sees us through the lens of forgiveness through the saving work of Jesus Christ. God sees us through the lens of the Master craftsman who is working on a priceless work of art.
Obligations or expectations can carry with them a sense of burden. A burden is something weighty or heavy or pressing or demanding.
When our son became engaged to Amy, she suggested we initiate a series of hot-button questions to get to know each other. We could ask each other whatever came to mind. One of my questions to my soon to be daughter-in-law was pretty loaded but I asked it non-the-less. I asked, “When I am old and can no longer take care of myself will you let me come and live with you?” Great question huh?
Amy answered, “No, but we will find you a nice place nearby.” Good answer.
It may not be true of everyone but most people do not want to be a burden to others. God doesn’t want to be a burden either. God is not a tyrannical overlord who is bent on making life hard for us. God is intent on making life good for us. God does not want us to labor under the burden of rules and regulations. God wants us to thrive his grace and mercy and guidance.
God does not ask of us anything that is not for our benefit. That is why we want to do God’s will. God’s will is God’s best for us.
So if obedience is not to be triggered by fear of displeasing God, then what?
B. Obedience triggered by devotion (Unconditional love)
There will always be those who will take advantage when there are no regulations. Whenever congress or the courts deregulates some industry it is only a matter of time before the banks or companies dealing with natural resources or businesses gain acquisitions to create monopolies or politicians become beholden to big money donors… there will be corruption.
However the child of God is ultimately motivated by the goodness of God to do the right thing.
In Mark 12 a man asked Jesus, “Of all the commandments, which is most important? “ Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind and strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.” Mark 12:28-31
Every single commandment in God’s Word falls under what it means to love God, others and ourselves. Every expectation God has of us is wrapped up in love for God, others and ourselves. It is only when we fail to obey God’s guidance that we make a mess of things with God, for others and ourselves.
Conclusion
Bruce Thielemann, said in his sermon “When Life Crowds You Out,” that Copenhagen is a nice city and there are many things to see there. If I could only spend one hour in Copenhagen, the place I'd go again would be the Church of Our Lady. That's where the great Thorvaldsen statues are. When you walk into the church, it's very dim. But after you're there for a few minutes, you begin to see the statues. They're carved out of cold stone, but they look like warm, living personalities--so warm they melt your heart.
One statue of Christ stands with his arms extended. I walked up to that statue, and as I looked, I thought, He has his eyes closed. He must be at prayer. A man who sat in the front pew said to me, "You have to get on your knees to see his eyes." I got down on my knees and looked up, and there was such grace and mercy and compassion in those eyes that it was almost more than I could bear.
That is the way it is for us… it is in looking into the eyes of God that we discover the love of God in Christ. It is in that loving devotion that God lives in us and his love is brought to full expression in us and through us. (Bruce Thielemann, "When Life Crowds You Out," Preaching Today, Tape No. 95.)
And it is all made possible because… I am convinced that nothing can separate us from the love of God: Neither trouble nor calamity or persecution or hunger or destitution or danger or death or life or demons or fears or worries or the powers of hell or powers in the sky above or the earth below or anything in all of creation will ever separate us from the love of God. Romans 8:35-39
