(1 John 3: 16-24)
As I wrote this sermon the final vote count for our 2020 Presidential election was still up in the air and was too close to call. The uncertainty was palpable and it was all that was on the news as so much seemed to be riding on the outcome. It goes without saying that free and fair elections are important and serve as a cornerstone of our democracy and how the world views us as Americans, as the United States. I know, it may not seem like we are united right now, and it may take a long time for the divisions to come back together and for the inflicted wounds to heal leaving visible and invisible scars. But, let me try and put it in some sort of perspective. Life will go on regardless. Take it from one who lost two separate bids for re-election. The first defeat was when I was the elected District Attorney for San Jacinto County, a small county in rural East Texas northeast of Houston. As the individual ballot boxes came in from the various polls around the county, I sat upstairs in my office watching the election slip away, stunned at the ever-widening margin of defeat. The second was when I lost my bid for re-election as the Prosecuting Attorney for Jefferson County, Washington not all that long ago. It wasn’t even close. You know what I did the next morning after each resounding defeat? I got up and went to work because I still had a job to do and citizens to serve. It goes without saying that when I went home the evenings of those voter rejections I was deflated and crestfallen, but I knew that there was a life after electoral death. Essentially, I said; “Well that was interesting, what’s next God?” You see, Teresa and I have a deep and abiding faith in God and believe that if we are doing His will everything will work out for the best. Sure, it would have been easy to question God, as in both positions I felt I was serving those who were underserved or not being served at all. I could have said; “But God, I wasn’t finished yet, there’s more to do.” To which God would have responded; “You’re right, I’m not finished and there is more to do. Stand by for further instructions.” Trust me, after losing each election, the furthest thing from my mind was a career in the ministry.
And, abiding in God is what the Apostle John is talking about in our scripture reading for this morning. John wrote this letter sometime between 85 and 90 A.D. before being banished into exile on the island of Patmos. He didn’t write it to any particular church as was Paul’s calling, but he wrote it as a pastoral letter for several Gentile congregations as they continued to grow and struggled to find their way. He was writing to the new generation of believers giving them an assurance and confidence in God and in their faith, and he writes with the authority of an eyewitness to Christ’s ministry. The early church was going through a lot and had experienced the great persecution starting in Jerusalem in 70 A.D. There were false prophets and teachers and opportunists preying on the church in an effort to gain some sort of personal advantage and there were those who questioned Christ’s authenticity. John wanted to bring them back to center and ground them in their faith. He wanted to talk to them about love.
He says; This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. John is referencing not only the crucifixion but what Jesus said in his gospel, John 15: 13 where he said; No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends. And Jesus literally gave up his life for us. At first blush this does seem to be asking a lot, and yes, there are times when we would willingly sacrifice our lives for others. But this statement doesn’t necessarily mean actual death. It can mean committing your life to the service of others. Real love is an action, not a feeling. It produces selfless, sacrificial giving which involves putting others’ desires and needs first. John underscores this unselfish sacrifice when he says; But if a person has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need and that person doesn’t care, how can the love of God remain in him? I think the operative phrase in this statement is: “doesn’t care”. You see someone in need, you are in a position to help, and you do nothing, because you don’t care. If you don’t care, how can the love of God remain in you? John gets right to it when he says; Little children, let’s not love with words or speech but with action and truth. Action speaks louder than words. This is how, he says, that we will know that we belong to the truth and reassure our hearts in God’s presence. They will know we are Christians by our love. Our love in action.
The Apostle then says; Even if our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. I think what he’s saying is that our hearts, our consciences, condemn us. We know all-to-well our faults, flaws, failures and weaknesses. We know, like the Apostle Paul, that we are sinners and have fallen short of the glory of God. But God knows that, and He is ultimately the final judge of the heart and can mend a broken heart. All you have to do is to confess your sins, your shortcomings to God and ask his forgiveness which he will readily give. And, he says that even if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence in relationship to God. We receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. Now, it depends upon what you ask for and why. I am reminded of a song Janis Joplin made famous in the 1970s where she asked God to buy her a Mercedes Benz because her friends all drove Porches and she must make amends. Sorry Janis, it doesn’t work that way. Because when you ask, you aren’t asking for yourself. What John is telling us is that we will receive if we obey and do what pleases God, because what you will be asking for will be in line with God’s will, not yours. The flip side is that if you are truly seeking God’s will, there are some requests you will not make, like that shiny black Mercedes Benz.
John closes out this portion of his letter on love by saying; This is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other as he commanded us. The person who keeps his commandments remains in God and God remains in him; and this is how we know that he remains in us, because of the Spirit that he has given to us. Obeying God’s twofold command to love each other and confess faith in Christ is evidence of the Spirit’s presence that marks a people out as belonging to God. In fact, abiding in God by the Spirit is the condition by which a people can boldly approach God with petitions and receive from God whatever is asked. This ask-receive formula envisages the reciprocity of covenant-keeping.
This awareness of the triumph of God’s faithfulness enables believers to pray boldly not only because of God’s irrepressible faithfulness toward his “little children” but also knowing that when God finds evidence of a community’s covenant-keeping acts of love and confession of faith in Christ, God will answer its petitions. And, I think this is where we are as a people and a church here in the Tri-Area. We may not be as young as we used to be, and we may not be as big as we used to be, but God sees the evidence of our covenant-keeping acts of love and confession of faith in Christ and, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, the prayers and petitions we pray for others get answered in unimaginable ways. It seems as if the more we do, the more God gives us to do, and through the Spirit we are provided with the resources to get the job done. And I firmly believe that our church couldn’t continue to be “that” church if it weren’t for the believers who call our church home, believers who abide in Him and are secure in their future.
Please pray with me.
Gracious and loving God, move us to love others with more than words and speech. Move us to show our love with action and truth. Make us readily identifiable as Christians through the acts of love we live out in our daily lives in how we treat others. And when we pray and bring our petitions to you, keep us focused on the wants and needs of others through the gift of the Holy Spirit. In Jesus name, we pray, Amen.