Reading 1 John 1
In the early
church one of the big questions was about the nature of Jesus, was he human or was
he God. The gospel of John makes the case for the divinity of Jesus. John
writes of Jesus being the Word of God, the Word that spoke creation into being.
In the gospel of John, Jesus is God. here in the letters of 1,2 and 3 John, we
see a more human understanding of Jesus.
We now talk
about Jesus being fully human and fully God.
While this is no longer contentious in the church,
it was a major issue at the time.
A few themes to think about with this passage.
Witnesses – “We saw it happen, and we are
witnesses to what we have seen. Now we are telling you …”
What are we
witnesses to?
Not
the birth in the stable,
Or
the feeding of the multitude
Or
the calming of the storm
Not
the arrest
Or
crucifixion
Or
empty tomb
We
didn’t walk with Jesus on the Emmaus Road
Or
touch his wounds
What are we
witnesses to?
What have we witnessed?
·
I
have seen people grow in faith as they ask new questions and look for ways of
understanding what is happening in their lives.
·
I
have seen people grow in confidence as they step out in faith and use gifts
they were not sure were good enough
·
I
have seen young people make decisions about their future based on where they
sense God is calling them – and that isn’t into ordained ministry.
·
And
I have been aware of God’s presence in my own life, and how I have changed
because of those experiences.
Another theme
is Light – “Jesus told us that God
is light and doesn’t have any darkness in him.”
·
At
the time this was written there was no electric lights, or torches or even gas
lamps. I remember camping a lot as a child, and even with a torch you can’t see
much around you in the dark.
·
There
is the idea here, that you can get away with poor behaviour in the dark,
because it goes unseen. If you are going to be ashamed of what you do, do it in
the dark, and no-one else will know.
·
But
Jesus is light, so nothing goes unseen, and if we do something we are ashamed
of, we know we have done the wrong thing.
Which brings
me to another theme - Sin and
forgiveness
“If we say
that we have not sinned, we make God a liar “
“if we
confess our sins to God, he can always be trusted to forgive us and take our
sins away.”
We all sin,
I wonder what
do we mean by the word sin?
For me, sin
is that which separates us from God
Or shows that
we are not living in the way God intended for us to live.
It may be
something we value more than God
It may be the
way we speak to or treat people, and God gives us that nudge that says –
really!!!
The 2
greatest commandments are love God and love others a you love yourself; so, sin
is probably anything outside that 😊
I suspect for
many people sin is focusing on our own desires rather than on God.
But, we also
know that God forgives us, not so we can do the same thing again, but so we can
continue to live in relationship with God and each other.
…
We are
witnesses,
witnesses
to the power of forgiveness,
living in the light of Christ
and showing the light of Christ.
Not only are
we witnesses, but we are to tell others. To tell others what we have
experienced of God’s presence and grace in our lives.
In the
Grapevine this week, I have encouraged you to:
Think of a
time when you were especially aware of God’s presence.
Sit with that
image in your head - What did you feel
Here is a
piece of paper, with 3 boxes on it
An example
from my life:
1. At a retreat, day one was hard ☹
2. Woke day 2 – cloudy –I realised just
as the sun continues to exist even if
it is covered by cloud here, so God still
exists even if I can’t sense God
3. I started to sing 😊
One
commentator writes about this passage:
“Authentic
love is not an abstraction. It comes through speech, action, and presence. That
is the manner of God’s communication. That will characterize authentic faith
and authentic community as well.”[i]
What do we
communicate about God: with our words and our lives?
