September 9 2007 Lectionary Reading: 1 John 4.15-21

Theme: The living truth

There is an old legend, which comes to us from the Early Church, an old legend about the apostle John - John who wrote the Gospel of John and the letter we have before us today. The old legend tells us that as an old man, he was once sitting outside his house, which was in a village near Ephesus, enjoying the sunshine. He was sitting holding a little partridge, feeding it some grains of corn. At this moment a man came by on horseback with a bow over his shoulder, on his way to hunt. The man said to John, Why, with all the weighty matters that must concern you – why are you so taken up with a little bird ? John said to him – that bow on your back – do you keep the bowstring taut all the time ? No, said the man, if I did not let the bow rest, it would not keep its strength. Just so, said John, I too must rest if I wish to refresh my mind, if I wish to keep my strength.

It is amazing to think that we are able to read what that same John wrote, able to encounter for ourselves the great depth of Christ that was in him as we read the First Epistle of John. Written sometime around 70 or 80 AD, when John was an old man, First John is a short letter but at the same time it is great in depth. This letter is written out of the trials and troubles of one of the churches John knew. This letter is written in response to a very difficult situation. We see here, in John’s letter, how John, guided by the Spirit, gives a true Word for this situation of trouble and difficulty. What was this situation ?

Well, the apostle John took a great interest in two or three small churches in the region of Ephesus. These congregations were quite distant from each other, they were house churches meeting in small towns remote and difficult to get to. These congregations were looked after by younger men who were able to cover the long distances needed. In one of these congregations a crisis erupted. There was a break away from the Church by a group of men and women who formed another group in the town.

The leaders of the breakaway group claimed, it seems, that they were being given special insight directly from God. As to what they believed, it seems that while they still honoured Jesus, they regarded Him more as a great man. Their group, they claimed, was free of sin, unlike the Church they had left, with all its faults. With great energy, they organised themselves into a new church.

The leaders, the prophets of the new church set about convincing the members of the original congregation that their direct communications from God were the only true ones. With great self-assurance, and hard hitting criticism they began a campaign to draw members away from the original Church. Because many in the original congregation were those of simple faith who could not express themselves very well, many of the believers were becoming confused – felt it difficult to know what to say, what to do, how to answer the leaders, the prophets of the breakaway church.

This was the situation – and the first letter of John is his response to it. Here, in his late 70s, perhaps early 80s, in what he writes, John brings to bear great depths of reflection on Scripture, the resources of prayer, but above all under the deep guiding of the Spirit he speaks of Jesus Christ.

What does John write ? What do you say to a struggling congregation, whose faith is under pressure, a congregation lacking confidence, trying to steady themselves, in the face of the men and women in the same town who are insisting they have the truth. And insisting not only that they have the truth but doing so in a very direct, abrasive, confrontational way ?

From the opening words of the letter, to its end, John writes in steadying, foundational words of great comfort.

We are in fellowship with you, he writes, we are with you in this, we are all, all of us with you in this, because we are all, all of us, in fellowship with the Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Jesus, whom we know, personally – having known Him, seen Him on the cross, seen Him raised to life from death – we know that He is eternal life Himself.

From this great foundation John will unfold all that he has to say, of the living Jesus Christ. And you know, Jesus Christ and Him crucified, is always the steady foundation – for all situations, in all circumstances – in the joys and blessings of life, in the difficulties, in darkness and in light.

But to move to 1st. John chapter 4: John deals with the heart of the matter, the heart of the difficulty – the matter of truth. You’ll remember that the breakaway group of men and women, with their leaders and prophets insisted that they had the truth. They had insisted so long and so stridently that they had the truth that probably some, weaker in faith, in the original congregation were shaken. Others, a little stronger in faith, might have wondered how to find steady ground in the face of these questions.

So what does John say, about the issue at the heart of the matter ?

What does he say about truth ? Well, John says to the congregation, struggling in this situation.

“You know Jesus. Your eyes are opened to see Jesus, your ears are open to hear what He commands. Some of you have just begun to know Jesus in simple faith and trust; others know Him more deeply, and know that God has sent Jesus, His own Son into the world as a sacrifice for us, and so you have begun to know His majesty, and power.

This shows that the Spirit of God is at work in you – for the truth about Jesus Christ, from the simplest truth to the deepest, from the plainest truth to the almost inexpressible – is given to us by the Spirit. The truth of Jesus Christ that you know, and live by is given to you, is given by the Spirit, the Spirit whom Jesus Himself sends – the Spirit who guides us into all the truth. This is the living foundation, the cornerstone, the bedrock, the wellspring.”

To put it in other words:

“We know Jesus because the Spirit is guiding us,

Because the Spirit is guiding us, we know Jesus.”

You’ll notice that here John doesn’t spend time dealing with the breakaway group’s points blow by blow. No, he leads the men and women he is writing to

the life in the living power of faith, the power of living faith – that life in which we know Jesus Christ and Him crucified because the Spirit has opened our eyes, to see Him, because the Spirit has opened our eyes, because the Spirit guides us, teaches us, we know Jesus Christ and Him crucified.

So, in that situation of difficulty and confusion, for the struggling congregation, John, with great, great power has directed the men and women there away from their difficult and confusing circumstances back into the great living reality of faith.

John, with great, great power has pointed the men and women there away from their difficult and confusing circumstances back to the centre - which is that life in Jesus Christ which wells up and flows through His Spirit……here, is their security, their life, their future….. in Him.

And so too, for us, all the length of our days……….

Because the Spirit is guiding us, day by day we will come to know the treasures of grace, forgiveness,love, truth and life in Jesus Christ and His cross,

and it will be so until we draw our last breath,

it will be so, until we see Him, face to face.

AMEN.