Sunday, May 27, 2012
“Filled to Overflowing!”
Scripture: Acts 2:1-41
The Jewish Pentecost was a holiday that was held 50 days after Passover – it was called the Feast of Weeks – a celebration of the first harvest and praise for what would be harvested later. This was a holy time for the children of Israel, and they came back to Jerusalem from distant places just to make their offerings, but the significance on this day would escalate to a point that no one could possibly have imagined. But the signs for this day had been evident for a long time.
Remember Joel’s prophecy (Joel 2:28-29) and later that by John the Baptist - Luke3:16-18?
The time was right, and the prophetic words would now become reality. It had been 50 days since Jesus’ crucifixion, and the Lord was about to do a miraculous thing!
Read Acts 2:1-4
“Baptized with fire and the Holy Spirit”! I should say so! In Acts 1:7-8, Jesus tells his disciples that an amazing power is on the way and that they will be his witnesses throughout the earth. Not a bad beginning! And this power isn’t limited to what we see at Pentecost – it will include courage, boldness, and confidence to be a disciple, insight into God’s plan for their lives, the ability and desire to witness to God’s presence in the world, and the authority to speak the glorious words of hope and life that come from faithful obedience in Jesus Christ.
But that power would come initially in the form of wind, fire, and tongues. And why these? Remember when Elijah experienced a great wind and raging fire, as well as an earthquake? (1 Kings 19:9-13) These didn’t contain any message from God, other than to get the prophet’s attention! The true message would finally come in that “gentle whisper”. So why would Pentecost any different? It would seem that the rushing wind and the tongues of fire weren’t, in and of themselves, the message from God! They were simply used to get everyone’s attention! They were the Spirit’s entry into this place, and the message, as with Elijah, would be coming in a very short time!
Read Acts 2:5-13
And how did the people react to the heralding of the Holy Spirit? The responses that I see in this passage are "bewildered”, “amazed”, “perplexed”, and “confused” – they had never experienced anything like this before, and why should they? The Holy Spirit had existed since before time began, and his entry into the world had to be spectacular! Jesus had come in such a humble and gentle manner that the world paid little notice of him. But no one was going to miss the coming of the Spirit!
But what was it all about? What did it mean? Everyone wanted an explanation as to how this could happen - they wanted to understand. They wanted to hear words of advice, they wanted to know how this band of Galileans, generally known as being somewhat less than astute and never as being linguistically gifted, could speak in so many different languages, and perfectly at that! Of course, there were a few that, as far as they were concerned, already had the answer to it all – “they’re all drunk!” When you haven’t got a clue, make the other person appear even more clueless! But the truth of the day would win out over the taunts of the skeptics.
Alasatair Symington, a Scottish, Presbyterian pastor, writes:
God is not looking for the best qualifications, best ability, best charisma, best prospects type of people -- not that he would turn down these sorts automatically, because it's also true that some of the most gifted people in our society have also been some of God's best servants.
But that is a coincidence and not a requirement. I think that is because God knows that the vast majority of men and women fall into the “I am only” category. But “only” is enough, with God's help, and it would amaze you what God can make of them.
-- Alasatair Symington, in Conversation with Rikki Fulton, Only is Enough, For God's Sake, Ask! (Edinburgh: Saint Andrews Press, 1993), 46-51.
The people who had come together that morning and had received the Power of the Spirit, were these very people – they were “I am only’s”. There was nothing special about any of them – fishermen, tax collectors, husbands, fathers, and perhaps even a few wives and mothers. These were people just like you and me – ordinary men and women who had discovered the grace and glory of Jesus Christ. And on this day, not only weren’t they drunk, they had become the unexpected, but willing servants of Almighty God!
What does it take for us to be God’s willing servants? He is calling to you, you know. Maybe you aren’t getting the rushing wind, or the roaring fire, or the great earthquake that you would like to see, but you are receiving that “gentle whisper” from the Spirit. Do you hear it? Or is life so hectic and convoluted and painful that you keep missing it.
Most of us will never get the “big production” that says “I’m God. I’m here. Are you listening to me?” We won’t get a burning bush, or a Damascus Road experience, or have Jesus join us as we quickly leave town on our way to the village of Emmaus. But what each of us does need is some quiet time each day if we are to hear God’s whisper in our ear.
In 1964, Paul Simon wrote a song by the name of “Sound of Silence”. Do you remember the 5th verse?
And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made
And the sign flashed out its warning
In the words that it was forming
And the sign said, "The words of the prophets are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls"
And whispered in the sounds of silence
And we will seldom get a neon sign to direct us to the message that is on the “Subway walls and tenement halls” either. But on Pentecost, God gave the people, not only a neon sign and a burning bush, but a glorious message for all time. Those 120 people who had gathered together on that morning in Jerusalem believed, truly believed, that God would come and would use them in a wonderful and miraculous way – they just didn’t know how or why or where or when. And on Pentecost, the Lord would use these ordinary, everyday people to deliver the most important message of all time.
Read Acts 2:14-41
This is the message for each and every one of us – “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.”
Now each of us may think that we didn’t crucify Jesus – after all, we weren’t even alive then. But that doesn’t mean that we aren’t responsible for the Lord’s agony. His execution wasn’t because he had broken a law, regardless of what the false witnesses said – Jesus accepted this fate so that he could destroy the hold that sin has on all of the people of earth for all time and in all places. And that, my friends, makes us just as guilty of Christ’s death as the one who drove the nails into his battered body and hoisted him up for all to see.
What are we going to do about that? Are we going to leave him on the cross? Or in the tomb? Or let him fade from memory? Those 3,000 new disciples didn’t – they became the Church, the Body of Christ, and they carried his message of new life far beyond the limits of Jerusalem. They took that message back to their home lands, and shared it with their family and neighbors and friends, and “everyone was filled with awe” (v. 43).
What are we going to do about that? It’s about time that the church of 2012 began to live like Easter people, like Pentecost people, like true disciples of the Living Christ! Yes, I know there are pockets of witnesses who are ready at every moment of every day to share the message of Christ with the world. But there aren’t nearly enough! We’ve become complacent and comfortable in this life, and that is the worst enemy of the Church. We need some persecution to set us on fire again, and trust me, it is not only coming, but it is here.
The “persecuted” church is growing, and the “complacent” church is dying. The “faithful” church is loudly singing God’s praises wherever they go, and the “peaceful” church is barely humming, and then only on Sunday morning. The “awed” church is no longer speechless, and the “content” church has become mute.
Which pew do you sit in? Are you truly expectant that the Holy Spirit will fill you to overflowing just as he did on that first Pentecost? That you will always have words of grace to share with everyone you meet? That you, too, can truly say “The Jesus who we crucified is risen and living and wants to be Lord and Christ of our lives!”
Which pew do we really sit in, and do we need to change seats?
Sunday, May 20, 2012
“Righteousness by Faith, and Faith Alone”
Scripture: 1 John 5:1-12
This is our last week in 1 John, and personally, I see this last chapter as a marvelous conclusion to the book. And I also feel that our first 4 weeks in this epistle have all been leading up to the leading statement for today, that “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”.
After all, what is our faith all about? Certainly, we are to understand that it is the Holy Spirit who is working miracles in our life and is the very one who leads us and challenges us and convicts us. We are to be alert to the danger that sin holds for us, but without our faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit will be limited and sin will run wild in us. Faith is what it is all about.
Read 1 John 5:1-5
These 5 verses are the answer to nearly every worldly argument that we will ever hear.
First, love of God is grounded in the belief that Jesus is the Christ – the Messiah – the Anointed One of God, and that love of the Almighty must be accompanied with love of the children of God. This doesn’t limit compassion to only believers, though – the Lord God has created all people, and therefore those who do not claim Christ as Lord and Savior are still His children! We first love God, and from the depth of that love, we can then love other people.
It doesn’t work the other way around – we don’t come to love God by showing love to the people of earth! If we try to take that tact, we will always love the things of earth first, and our love of God will, by necessity, be second best. We will question his plan for our lives, we will hesitate to claim his perfect call on our lives, and we will be tempted to make our own way instead of following His way.
Second, our love of God is rooted in our obedience to him. The third aspect of the Great Commission is this – “.. and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” (Matthew 28:16-20) Obeying God’s instructions for our lives, for some, is seen as a burden. They don’t like the commandment, it doesn’t fit with their secular life, it doesn’t make sense to them, or there may be some other aspect of their ideology that prevents them from seeing things the same way that God does. But we know that, even though the Lord’s way isn’t always our way, he doesn’t offer us the option for negotiation. Love is the only thing that can ever help us to accept those commands and to live them in joy.
And this leads us into the third thought that John offers us today. V. 3 “His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.” Our love for God lifts the burden of this life, and allows us to overcome the ideology of the world.
V. 5 - “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God!” And that is the message that Christians are called to spread throughout the earth. It’s a message of hope and grace, a message that we all are in desperate need of. Some, however, would have us believe that overcoming the world is not necessarily a desirable thing – that the world is just fine the way it is, and that laboring for the Lord is a difficult and trying job, with little, if any, real benefits!
Consider the case of the woman who found herself doing most of the household chores. One evening, she went to a PTA meeting, and her husband and her oldest daughter got together and decided that it would be a very wonderful thing if they would clean up the kitchen for her. So they did.
They put up all the food, wiped all the counters, washed all the pots and put them away, put the dishes in the dishwasher, and even remembered to put detergent in and turn the thing on! They swept and mopped the floors and then sat down, and overcome by their own nobility, they awaited her arrival.
Two hours later she returned from the meeting, walked in and took off her coat, hung it up, walked right through the kitchen and into the den, grabbed the remote control, and began watching television.
They followed her over to her chair and stood by her side. Finally she felt them looking over her shoulder and looked up at them and said, “What?”
Her husband said, “The kitchen.”
“The kitchen. What?”
“The kitchen. We cleaned up the kitchen. Didn't you notice? It's sparkling clean. We cleaned it for you.”
The woman replied, “Yes, I noticed. Thankless job, isn't it?”
As told by Dr. John Fiedler, This Thing of Giving Thanks, First United Methodist Church, Dallas, Texas, November 23, 1997.
That is how the world views the love that Christians show to their Lord – as a thankless job! - but the truth is that our love is greatly appreciated – by those we show that love to, and by God who has called us to share his love with others!
It’s all about Jesus and the love that he showed to us first!
Read 1 John 5:6-12
Every Sunday morning, Gibson Corners has a time that is set aside for folks to witness to the ways that God has been working and moving in their life. And these are wonderful moments – they are encouraging and uplifting, and it is a true blessing to able to share in these “God Moments”. But as powerful as they may be, it is God’s witness to us that has the real punch for our lives. And that witness, John tells us, comes from three sources – the Spirit, the water, and the blood.
Have you ever thought about the witness in this way? Think about it!
The Spirit – God’s presence in the world that has been with us since Jesus’ ascension - speaks to our life – not in a demeaning or demanding or threatening or judgmental way, but in a gentle way that brings us to understand that God has a specific need and plan for our lives.
The water – a reference to Christ’s baptism – witnesses to us of a new life and new opportunities in our walk with Almighty God. And in our own baptism, we accept the decision to leave the way that we had been walking, and begin to live the life that the Lord Jesus has called us to live.
The blood – a reference to the Lord’s crucifixion – is a witness to the cleansing power and eternal promise of Christ’s gift of worthiness.
The three that witness to our blessing of new life in Christ far exceeds anything that we could ever offer, but that doesn’t mean that we put an end to our own witness. We have been given a second, and possibly a third or fourth or fifth chance at walking this new way with our Lord, and we can’t overlook the opportunity to share it with others. God is a sure and certain presence in our life, and when he calls us to his side, we can trust him implicitly.
The Lord offers us eternity, while the world can only offer today, and maybe not even that.
God offers us new life, while the world remains immersed in the same old death.
Christ offers us the perfect relationship, but the world can only bring about brokenness and failure and isolation.
Whoever believes in the Son of God will receive glory and riches beyond all measure and imagination. He is all we will ever need! There is no waiting, no trial period, no initiation ritual, no labor, no worry, no doubt. It is all through faith that Christ is exactly who he says he is, for in Jesus, there is only certainty and blessed hope and an eternal promise that can never, ever be broken by him.
Verse 1 -“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God”, and Verse 12 – “He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.” It is as plain and simple as that. By faith, and faith alone.
And, friends, this brings us right back to the first verses of the first chapter of this study – 1 John 1:1-3
Do you have the Son by faith? And are you testifying to his glory?
Sunday, May 13, 2012
“A Christ-like Love”
Scripture: 1 John 3:11-24
Let’s start with a refresher on what we’ve seen in 1 John so far:
In week 1, we considered the ways that we come to know what God is calling us to, and how the Holy Spirit speaks to us and reveals his ways to us.
In week 2, we saw how the Holy Spirit brings holy light and vision into our lives to dispel the darkness that surrounds us in this world.
Last week, we considered the sinfulness of our lives, and how, in spite of our constant failure in this life, the Spirit continues to lead us ever closer to the heavenly perfection that awaits us.
This week, we consider the infinite love of Almighty God and what it means for our life – both now and for eternity.
Read 1 John 3:11-15
Hatred is synonymous with murder! Have you ever thought of it in that way? And why not? Hatred destroys relationships, and so does murder. Hatred is also a destroyer of our life, not just that of the other person, and murder destroys many lives. Hatred is based in selfish ambition, and murder is almost always grounded in the same. Hatred is usually the final act of a desperate heart, and murder is no less than that.
Consider the story of Cain and Abel. (Genesis 4:1-16) It’s interesting that when Cain and Abel decided to bring their gifts to God, it was by their own volition – God did not ask them to do this, they chose to. But Cain’s gift was incomplete; it was lacking something of great importance. Why? He brought “some” of his crops, while Abel brought the best from his flock. And when God showed his favor to Abel, Cain became jealous of his brother, and the jealousy lead to hatred, and the hatred lead to murder. John tells us that Cain’s actions were evil, and Abel’s were righteous. Why? I think that there are two reasons:
1. God expects that we will give our very best – not because he demands it, but because we should want to.
2. Cain couldn’t accept the fact that he had been caught in a deception, and that God called him on it. I expect that he had hatred for God, but couldn’t figure out a way to get even with the Almighty. And so, his hatred was poured out on the innocent one – the one who he saw as the reason for his humiliation, the very one who had done what was right in the first place.
It wasn’t Abel’s fault that Cain was chastised – the Lord told Cain that sin had been waiting at his door, and that he had given in to its evil. What does that have to do with Abel? Nothing! The love of God had been offered to both of the brothers, but Cain had side stepped it.
God’s love is just waiting for every single one of us, too – that marvelous, Godly love that was revealed to us at Calvary, and how many times have we struggled with what that love means for us, and how to respond to it in a righteous way?
Read 1 John 3:16-20
Real love, true love, is sacrificial. And the disciple tells us that unless we show that same love to others, there is no Christ-like love within us. This is not a love that most people strive for – it’s painful, it’s costly, and it contains little, if any, personal pleasure.
Dostoevsky writes in “The Brothers Karamazov”:
Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action, rapidly performed and in sight of all. Men will give their lives if only the ordeal does not last long but is soon over, with all looking on and applauding as if on the stage. But active love is labor and fortitude.
--Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (Macmillan, 1922), 55.
“Active love is labor and fortitude”. It’s hard work! And that pretty much describes the love that Jesus showed to us throughout his ministry. And for the most part, we fall far short of living in that same manner. For many, it is a matter of neglect and a lack of caring.
But for some, their greatest fear is that they aren’t doing nearly enough, and guilt enters their life. If this is where you are, know that God knows your heart, and he calls us to love in unique and special ways – in the ways that he has created us to love. God is greater than our hearts, he is greater than our conscience, and he is greater than our guilt.
We should never expect to love in the ways that we think we should love – not in selfish ways, not in slipshod ways, and not in ways we are comfortable in - but rather in the ways that God needs us to love.
Is that God-kind of love easy? Not on your life! To give out of our abundance, whether we see it as abundance or not? To love the very ones who have never showed the slightest amount of love to us? To sacrifice on behalf of those who we don’t even know? To love those who are totally different than we are, those who don’t meet our standards for life, those who we know for certain are dirty, rotten, unworthy sinners? Of course, that includes you and me, doesn’t it?
It is easy to love nice people; the real test of a Christ-like love is to accept and love, as brothers and sisters, those who are grouchy, nit-picky and negative.
- Homiletics Online
Read 1 John 3:21-24
“We have confidence before God .. because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” And this brings us back to Cain and Abel, doesn’t it. Cain gave a gift to the Lord, but it was by his standard and by his definition. Abel, on the other hand, gave God the very best that he had. Does Almighty God deserve our best or our leftovers? Do our gifts meet the standard that the Lord establishes, or the ones that we decide upon? Do our gifts please our Lord, or do they only please us?
It all comes down to this – that we must know what God would have us do and to who and how he would have us show his love – not our view of what God should want us to do, but his view - and then to have the commitment and fortitude to go and do it.
And how do we know if we’re on the right track? As a general rule, if the world wildly applauds our efforts, then we are probably missing the Lord’s target by a wide margin! And conversely, if they verbally condemn our actions, then we are usually pretty close to the mark. But what does all of this mean for us, for the Church?
In Matthew 10:22, Jesus tells us “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
But in John 7:7, he tells us the “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me.” The implication here is that when others come against us, they are actually showing hatred toward Christ and his word, and not to us. Cain showed his disdain for God by turning against his brother.
Why would the world hate a Christ-like love? For that is exactly what is happening today. Loving as Christ has loved has become passé. John 13:34 – “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jesus doesn’t give us much latitude here – love the people of this world to the extreme, but in a Christ-like way! Not as the world loves, but in his example.
“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing”. Does that quotation make anyone here cringe? No one ever promised that a life in Christ would be easy, but we do have the promise that it will, one day, be glorious!
Love as Christ first loved.
Give as Christ has always given.
Live as Christ lives today.
And the light of the Holy Spirit will shine brightly on all who will experience that Christ-like life and love that is within you.
Let’s start with a refresher on what we’ve seen in 1 John so far:
In week 1, we considered the ways that we come to know what God is calling us to, and how the Holy Spirit speaks to us and reveals his ways to us.
In week 2, we saw how the Holy Spirit brings holy light and vision into our lives to dispel the darkness that surrounds us in this world.
Last week, we considered the sinfulness of our lives, and how, in spite of our constant failure in this life, the Spirit continues to lead us ever closer to the heavenly perfection that awaits us.
This week, we consider the infinite love of Almighty God and what it means for our life – both now and for eternity.
Read 1 John 3:11-15
Hatred is synonymous with murder! Have you ever thought of it in that way? And why not? Hatred destroys relationships, and so does murder. Hatred is also a destroyer of our life, not just that of the other person, and murder destroys many lives. Hatred is based in selfish ambition, and murder is almost always grounded in the same. Hatred is usually the final act of a desperate heart, and murder is no less than that.
Consider the story of Cain and Abel. (Genesis 4:1-16) It’s interesting that when Cain and Abel decided to bring their gifts to God, it was by their own volition – God did not ask them to do this, they chose to. But Cain’s gift was incomplete; it was lacking something of great importance. Why? He brought “some” of his crops, while Abel brought the best from his flock. And when God showed his favor to Abel, Cain became jealous of his brother, and the jealousy lead to hatred, and the hatred lead to murder. John tells us that Cain’s actions were evil, and Abel’s were righteous. Why? I think that there are two reasons:
1. God expects that we will give our very best – not because he demands it, but because we should want to.
2. Cain couldn’t accept the fact that he had been caught in a deception, and that God called him on it. I expect that he had hatred for God, but couldn’t figure out a way to get even with the Almighty. And so, his hatred was poured out on the innocent one – the one who he saw as the reason for his humiliation, the very one who had done what was right in the first place.
It wasn’t Abel’s fault that Cain was chastised – the Lord told Cain that sin had been waiting at his door, and that he had given in to its evil. What does that have to do with Abel? Nothing! The love of God had been offered to both of the brothers, but Cain had side stepped it.
God’s love is just waiting for every single one of us, too – that marvelous, Godly love that was revealed to us at Calvary, and how many times have we struggled with what that love means for us, and how to respond to it in a righteous way?
Read 1 John 3:16-20
Real love, true love, is sacrificial. And the disciple tells us that unless we show that same love to others, there is no Christ-like love within us. This is not a love that most people strive for – it’s painful, it’s costly, and it contains little, if any, personal pleasure.
Dostoevsky writes in “The Brothers Karamazov”:
Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing compared with love in dreams. Love in dreams is greedy for immediate action, rapidly performed and in sight of all. Men will give their lives if only the ordeal does not last long but is soon over, with all looking on and applauding as if on the stage. But active love is labor and fortitude.
--Fyodor Dostoevsky, The Brothers Karamazov (Macmillan, 1922), 55.
“Active love is labor and fortitude”. It’s hard work! And that pretty much describes the love that Jesus showed to us throughout his ministry. And for the most part, we fall far short of living in that same manner. For many, it is a matter of neglect and a lack of caring.
But for some, their greatest fear is that they aren’t doing nearly enough, and guilt enters their life. If this is where you are, know that God knows your heart, and he calls us to love in unique and special ways – in the ways that he has created us to love. God is greater than our hearts, he is greater than our conscience, and he is greater than our guilt.
We should never expect to love in the ways that we think we should love – not in selfish ways, not in slipshod ways, and not in ways we are comfortable in - but rather in the ways that God needs us to love.
Is that God-kind of love easy? Not on your life! To give out of our abundance, whether we see it as abundance or not? To love the very ones who have never showed the slightest amount of love to us? To sacrifice on behalf of those who we don’t even know? To love those who are totally different than we are, those who don’t meet our standards for life, those who we know for certain are dirty, rotten, unworthy sinners? Of course, that includes you and me, doesn’t it?
It is easy to love nice people; the real test of a Christ-like love is to accept and love, as brothers and sisters, those who are grouchy, nit-picky and negative.
- Homiletics Online
Read 1 John 3:21-24
“We have confidence before God .. because we obey his commands and do what pleases him.” And this brings us back to Cain and Abel, doesn’t it. Cain gave a gift to the Lord, but it was by his standard and by his definition. Abel, on the other hand, gave God the very best that he had. Does Almighty God deserve our best or our leftovers? Do our gifts meet the standard that the Lord establishes, or the ones that we decide upon? Do our gifts please our Lord, or do they only please us?
It all comes down to this – that we must know what God would have us do and to who and how he would have us show his love – not our view of what God should want us to do, but his view - and then to have the commitment and fortitude to go and do it.
And how do we know if we’re on the right track? As a general rule, if the world wildly applauds our efforts, then we are probably missing the Lord’s target by a wide margin! And conversely, if they verbally condemn our actions, then we are usually pretty close to the mark. But what does all of this mean for us, for the Church?
In Matthew 10:22, Jesus tells us “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.”
But in John 7:7, he tells us the “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me.” The implication here is that when others come against us, they are actually showing hatred toward Christ and his word, and not to us. Cain showed his disdain for God by turning against his brother.
Why would the world hate a Christ-like love? For that is exactly what is happening today. Loving as Christ has loved has become passé. John 13:34 – “A new command I give you: love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Jesus doesn’t give us much latitude here – love the people of this world to the extreme, but in a Christ-like way! Not as the world loves, but in his example.
“Love in action is a harsh and dreadful thing”. Does that quotation make anyone here cringe? No one ever promised that a life in Christ would be easy, but we do have the promise that it will, one day, be glorious!
Love as Christ first loved.
Give as Christ has always given.
Live as Christ lives today.
And the light of the Holy Spirit will shine brightly on all who will experience that Christ-like life and love that is within you.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
“Going On to Perfection”
Scripture: 1 John 3:1-10
I was going to offer a different title for this message but thought that it might be too long. It would have been something like “Going on to Perfection, (But We Still Have a Long Way to Go!)” Too Long??
Of course, the phrase “going on to perfection” is attributed to John Wesley, and is a major theme of United Methodist theology. The truth is, though, the phrase is not his original thought. In the King James Version, which is what Wesley would have been using, we read in Hebrews 6:1 “let us go on unto perfection”. NIV uses the word “maturity” instead of perfection, but the relationship between the two creates an interesting image. Personally, I think a “mature” faith is far more realistic and achievable than a “perfect” one.
But many believe that we can actually achieve perfection in this life, in one form or another. Few of the New Testament writers pick up this theme, but John seems to lean toward that in our passage for today.
Read 1 John 3:1-3
John is telling us that it is our hope in the return of Christ that purifies our lives at this time. Let’s think about this for a moment. We all know that we are the sinners that Paul was writing about in Romans 5:8-9 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him.” Christ came to earth to die for the sinner, not for the righteous, and by the blood of Christ, we have been justified in faith, but not made perfect. Even though we are still failures in reaching the status of perfection, Christ has made us worthy.
And why would God want to do this for us? Verse 1 tells us that the great love of the Father has been lavished on us, that we might be called his children. His love for who? For US! For you and me! Not for creation in general, not for animals or plants, but for humanity. And all we have to do is accept it! Ah – but that’s the rub, isn’t it? God’s love has to be accepted if it is to be able to do its work in us! If I were to write a check out for $10,000, and make it out in your name, and say “Here is a gift for you”, and you say “Wow! I can really use that money. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”, but never take the check and cash it, what good can it possibly do for you? If the word of God is offered and heard, but never claimed, how can you ever expect to “go on to the perfection” that scripture speaks about? If we hear about the blood of Jesus, and can recite all the verses in scripture that speak about it, but never claim the blood for ourselves, if we never allow the Cleansing Flood to wash over us, how can we ever be saved?
The truth is that we can’t! In the 3rd chapter of Zechariah, we see the high priest, Joshua, standing before the judgment seat, and Christ, in the presence of Satan, the accuser, replaces the filthy clothes that the priest is wearing, with new, fine clothes, and proclaims in verse 7 “If you walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then .. I will give you a place among these standing here.” Joshua does nothing except allow the angels clean him up. Satan wants to intervene and point out all of his shortcomings, all of the reasons that the high priest is unworthy, but is never even given the chance to speak. It is all in the hands of the Angel of the Lord – who is Jesus. We have to allow Jesus to clean us up, but if we don’t, we are stuck in the filth of our own lives, the filth of our own making.
Read 1 John 3:4-6
“Everyone who sins breaks the law” and “he appeared so that he might take away our sins.” This would seem to say that those who are in Christ Jesus no longer sin, but I think that this is a misconception. It doesn’t say that it takes away our tendency toward sin – it merely says that the sin we commit is taken away. Sinfulness is a constant problem for us, even for the most committed Christian. And we also have to consider the word “might” in our passage. Jesus’ greatest desire is to perfectly cleanse us, but it is still up to us whether or not we let him. “he appeared so that he might take away our sins.” It is our responsibility to ask that of Christ, and then to let him do it.
My wife and I have a hedge of flowering quince across the front of our lawn. It is beautiful in the spring, when it is trimmed up nicely and begins to flower. The red blossoms last about 2-3 weeks, and then the beauty ends and the work begins. Shoots begin to grow, which destroys the smooth lines of the hedge, so every month or so, I have to get the trimmers out and reshape it –everything that detracts from its appearance has to be removed. But the trimming isn’t the end – once the cutting is done, I have to comb through the entire length to remove all of the cuttings, and even then, when I take another look a few days later, I find more dead cuttings which I missed, and which are, by this time, brown and even more unattractive. And as I reach into the bushes to remove these “undesirables”, I also find the sharp thorns that are hiding inside. And as if that isn’t bad enough, the hedge continues to grow in all of those ways that I don’t want it to grow, and within a month or so, the process starts all over again. Every time I start my trimming, I think of this planting as my “sin hedge”. It reminds me of how sin works in my life.
Our sinful lives are, if nothing else, persistent! We make those intentional efforts to rid ourselves of that which isn’t of God, and we look pretty good, for a while(!), but slowly and almost imperceptibly, the sin begins to come back, and we have to turn back to the Lord for renewed forgiveness and regeneration. But sin doesn’t go into the night quietly! It fights to stay active in our lives, and there are times when the battle to break our hold on it can get pretty tiresome and even bloody! And after the battle is over, and we take a look deep inside of our spirits, we discover that there are still some vestiges of our immorality that are still making our lives pretty messy. And so, the process begins anew by our turning back to the Lord, seeking his forgiveness, and allowing him to clean us up once more.
While a life in Christ may mean that we truly do leave certain aspects of the old life behind, there are other things that are a constant struggle to overcome. In verse 6 we read “No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” This means that if we continue to have those sinful issues in our lives that we refuse to surrender to the Lord, then maybe we need to reexamine our relationship with Christ! We need to let him clean us completely! And how do we know what those things are? What makes us continue to avoid rejecting them?
Read 1 John 3:7-10
“Do not let anyone lead you astray!” I’m sure that you have heard someone say “That’s not a sin – it’s just the way the world works!” And we buy in to the lies of the Satan, the prince of deception. Jesus overturned the need for ritual – those things that are associated with the expression of faith. As much as our mothers told us otherwise, it is not a sin if we don’t wash our hands before we eat. It isn’t real smart, but it isn’t a sin. It isn’t a sin to eat pork, or to help a person who is bleeding, or to touch a dead, unclean animal, or to refuse to testify to a truth, or a myriad of other legalistic requirements. Jesus has created a new way to worship and celebrate this life in him.
But it is a sin if we fail in our moralistic life – those things that are associated with our relationships with God or other people. In Matthew 15 (:16-20), Jesus gives us a list of those things that make us unclean. Jesus reinforced these laws – he didn’t overturn them. He never reversed the 10 Commandments, even though some see them as the 10 wonderful suggestions! Do you get the point? It isn’t about what we eat, it isn’t about the style of worship that we prefer – It’s about the things we think and say and do regarding God and other people that truly matter.
The world would have us believe that there are no absolute truths anymore, and that scripture is outdated and rewritten. But that is the Satan speaking – he “has been sinning from the beginning”, and he wants us to join him. (v. 8) Satan chose that way over the way of glory, but we don’t have to follow his dead end way! Are we going on to destruction, or are we heading for glory and perfection?
As Joshua said (24:15), “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve”. Choose well.
Of course, the phrase “going on to perfection” is attributed to John Wesley, and is a major theme of United Methodist theology. The truth is, though, the phrase is not his original thought. In the King James Version, which is what Wesley would have been using, we read in Hebrews 6:1 “let us go on unto perfection”. NIV uses the word “maturity” instead of perfection, but the relationship between the two creates an interesting image. Personally, I think a “mature” faith is far more realistic and achievable than a “perfect” one.
But many believe that we can actually achieve perfection in this life, in one form or another. Few of the New Testament writers pick up this theme, but John seems to lean toward that in our passage for today.
Read 1 John 3:1-3
John is telling us that it is our hope in the return of Christ that purifies our lives at this time. Let’s think about this for a moment. We all know that we are the sinners that Paul was writing about in Romans 5:8-9 - “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him.” Christ came to earth to die for the sinner, not for the righteous, and by the blood of Christ, we have been justified in faith, but not made perfect. Even though we are still failures in reaching the status of perfection, Christ has made us worthy.
And why would God want to do this for us? Verse 1 tells us that the great love of the Father has been lavished on us, that we might be called his children. His love for who? For US! For you and me! Not for creation in general, not for animals or plants, but for humanity. And all we have to do is accept it! Ah – but that’s the rub, isn’t it? God’s love has to be accepted if it is to be able to do its work in us! If I were to write a check out for $10,000, and make it out in your name, and say “Here is a gift for you”, and you say “Wow! I can really use that money. Thank you, thank you, thank you!”, but never take the check and cash it, what good can it possibly do for you? If the word of God is offered and heard, but never claimed, how can you ever expect to “go on to the perfection” that scripture speaks about? If we hear about the blood of Jesus, and can recite all the verses in scripture that speak about it, but never claim the blood for ourselves, if we never allow the Cleansing Flood to wash over us, how can we ever be saved?
The truth is that we can’t! In the 3rd chapter of Zechariah, we see the high priest, Joshua, standing before the judgment seat, and Christ, in the presence of Satan, the accuser, replaces the filthy clothes that the priest is wearing, with new, fine clothes, and proclaims in verse 7 “If you walk in my ways and keep my requirements, then .. I will give you a place among these standing here.” Joshua does nothing except allow the angels clean him up. Satan wants to intervene and point out all of his shortcomings, all of the reasons that the high priest is unworthy, but is never even given the chance to speak. It is all in the hands of the Angel of the Lord – who is Jesus. We have to allow Jesus to clean us up, but if we don’t, we are stuck in the filth of our own lives, the filth of our own making.
Read 1 John 3:4-6
“Everyone who sins breaks the law” and “he appeared so that he might take away our sins.” This would seem to say that those who are in Christ Jesus no longer sin, but I think that this is a misconception. It doesn’t say that it takes away our tendency toward sin – it merely says that the sin we commit is taken away. Sinfulness is a constant problem for us, even for the most committed Christian. And we also have to consider the word “might” in our passage. Jesus’ greatest desire is to perfectly cleanse us, but it is still up to us whether or not we let him. “he appeared so that he might take away our sins.” It is our responsibility to ask that of Christ, and then to let him do it.
My wife and I have a hedge of flowering quince across the front of our lawn. It is beautiful in the spring, when it is trimmed up nicely and begins to flower. The red blossoms last about 2-3 weeks, and then the beauty ends and the work begins. Shoots begin to grow, which destroys the smooth lines of the hedge, so every month or so, I have to get the trimmers out and reshape it –everything that detracts from its appearance has to be removed. But the trimming isn’t the end – once the cutting is done, I have to comb through the entire length to remove all of the cuttings, and even then, when I take another look a few days later, I find more dead cuttings which I missed, and which are, by this time, brown and even more unattractive. And as I reach into the bushes to remove these “undesirables”, I also find the sharp thorns that are hiding inside. And as if that isn’t bad enough, the hedge continues to grow in all of those ways that I don’t want it to grow, and within a month or so, the process starts all over again. Every time I start my trimming, I think of this planting as my “sin hedge”. It reminds me of how sin works in my life.
Our sinful lives are, if nothing else, persistent! We make those intentional efforts to rid ourselves of that which isn’t of God, and we look pretty good, for a while(!), but slowly and almost imperceptibly, the sin begins to come back, and we have to turn back to the Lord for renewed forgiveness and regeneration. But sin doesn’t go into the night quietly! It fights to stay active in our lives, and there are times when the battle to break our hold on it can get pretty tiresome and even bloody! And after the battle is over, and we take a look deep inside of our spirits, we discover that there are still some vestiges of our immorality that are still making our lives pretty messy. And so, the process begins anew by our turning back to the Lord, seeking his forgiveness, and allowing him to clean us up once more.
While a life in Christ may mean that we truly do leave certain aspects of the old life behind, there are other things that are a constant struggle to overcome. In verse 6 we read “No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” This means that if we continue to have those sinful issues in our lives that we refuse to surrender to the Lord, then maybe we need to reexamine our relationship with Christ! We need to let him clean us completely! And how do we know what those things are? What makes us continue to avoid rejecting them?
Read 1 John 3:7-10
“Do not let anyone lead you astray!” I’m sure that you have heard someone say “That’s not a sin – it’s just the way the world works!” And we buy in to the lies of the Satan, the prince of deception. Jesus overturned the need for ritual – those things that are associated with the expression of faith. As much as our mothers told us otherwise, it is not a sin if we don’t wash our hands before we eat. It isn’t real smart, but it isn’t a sin. It isn’t a sin to eat pork, or to help a person who is bleeding, or to touch a dead, unclean animal, or to refuse to testify to a truth, or a myriad of other legalistic requirements. Jesus has created a new way to worship and celebrate this life in him.
But it is a sin if we fail in our moralistic life – those things that are associated with our relationships with God or other people. In Matthew 15 (:16-20), Jesus gives us a list of those things that make us unclean. Jesus reinforced these laws – he didn’t overturn them. He never reversed the 10 Commandments, even though some see them as the 10 wonderful suggestions! Do you get the point? It isn’t about what we eat, it isn’t about the style of worship that we prefer – It’s about the things we think and say and do regarding God and other people that truly matter.
The world would have us believe that there are no absolute truths anymore, and that scripture is outdated and rewritten. But that is the Satan speaking – he “has been sinning from the beginning”, and he wants us to join him. (v. 8) Satan chose that way over the way of glory, but we don’t have to follow his dead end way! Are we going on to destruction, or are we heading for glory and perfection?
As Joshua said (24:15), “choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve”. Choose well.
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