June 6 - Communion "An Open Invitation"

Readings: Psalm 32, Isaiah 55:1-6, Romans 5:12-19, Matthew 11:25-30
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, on June 6, 2021

I remember when my kids were growing up one of them received an invitation to a party. “Oh” said the other, “That’s not fair! Why can’t I go?”  The next day the other one received an invitation to a different party and this time the first was not invited. That seemed to balance things out. Having received exclusive invitations, the problem was solved.

Today I am not making an exclusive invitation. Whilst my invitation is personal, it is also an open invitation to come and share in bread and wine and remember the living love of Jesus Christ in such a way that our lives are renewed by the Holy Spirit.

Usually when invites are sent out to any occasion a guest list is made. A communion celebration is no exception. Who is on the guest list today?

1.  The Heavy Laden. (Matthew 11:28) "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”
2. The Thirsty.( John 7:37-38) "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”  
3. All those who want to be near to God. (Isaiah 55:6) “Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”

1. "Come to me, all you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Are there things that are weighing you down? Are the worries of the world heavy on your shoulders? Are you going through a tunnel and have yet to see the light at the end of it? Then hear these precious words of Jesus. “Come to me all ye that are heavy laden and I will give you rest”

This is not an invitation to the self-sufficient. This is an invitation to those who are aware of their need. If we can but see ourselves in the light of God, then we would see that we are all in a situation of need.

Sometimes our need is for forgiveness. We just can’t believe we could be so stupid. We need to know ourselves forgiven so that we can move forward. Sometimes our need is for encouragement. Sometimes our need is for healing or for guidance.

Hebrews 7:25 says of Jesus that ‘He is able to save completely those who come to Him’. I like the way the Message Bible paraphrases these verses from Matthew.

"Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly."

This table of communion is a place to bring our burdens to God, to bring all our sorrows, all that weighs heavy upon us. Jesus invites us here. “Come all who are heavy laden, I will give you rest.” Next on our guest list:-

2. "Let anyone who is thirsty come to me, and let the one who believes in me drink.”  

He was not talking here of drinking water. Nor was He talking of drinking wine. He was talking of drinking in His life-giving Holy Spirit. John 7:39 states quite clearly, “Jesus said this about the Spirit.”

Christian life is spiritual life. Christianity is not a code of or morals or ethics. Christianity is not the Ten Commandments.  Christianity is not just being nice to people or helping them. Whilst being part of a community of faith is vital for Christian life and growth, Christianity is not just about going to church or singing hymns or saying prayers. All these are good and positive things, but they are not the bottom line.

The bottom line is that Christianity is about having a life-giving relationship with God as our Father, made possible through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, and in the power of His Holy Spirit. Everything else in Christianity flows for that source.

“Whoever is thirsty should come to me and drink, whoever believes in me, streams of life giving water will pour out from his heart”.

Without God’s Spirit life is dry, religion is empty, stewardship is a burden and worship is self-delusion. ‘Let everyone who is thirsty come to me.” With these words Jesus puts into a new framework the words of Isaiah in Chapter 55; 1-2

“Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat!  Come; buy wine and milk without money and without price.  Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food.”

Unless our Christianity is a spiritual thing it will offer little strength for living out our faith in the real world. We will remain hungry, unsatisfied, burdened and thirsty. But the richness of God’s grace can feed the hungriest of hearts.

On the communion table are bread and wine. Everyday things. What fills them with meaning are the spiritual realities they represent for us. The body and blood of Jesus Christ.

Here are symbols of love... a love prepared to abandon itself to save us; love offered without expecting reward, love that is not ashamed of rebuke or rejection. Love as fragile as a snowflake as yet more powerful than a nuclear explosion.

If you are thirsting for that depth of love, then you are thirsting for a deeper experience of the Holy Spirit. You have come to the right place. God’s Spirit empowers and enlivens, encourages us and guides us, lifts us up when we have fallen, strengthens us when we are weary. “Ho.. everyone who thirsts… come to the waters”.

Third on our guest list… Staying with Isaiah 55… verse 6 tells us;

“Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near”

There is no magic about communion. It’s not a conjuring trick or short cut to God’s blessing. But I’ll tell you what it is. It is something special. Why? Because Jesus said, 'Remember me' in this way, ‘Remember me’ by breaking bread and drinking wine together in fellowship.

Over the centuries, to our great shame, Christian people have argued and fought over what is happening here. At different times, the table has been hedged with superstitions and prohibitions.

‘You shouldn’t be here.’
‘You have to do this and this and this before you are welcome here.’
‘These things aren’t meant for you, you don’t make the grade.”

The tragic thing is that a lot of these arguments have arisen because people recognize this simple feast as something special. In the process they seem to have made something essentially simple unfathomably complex.

Now I speak personally… (And this is my opinion not Presbyterian doctrine) … I believe that we are not meant to understand why communion is special, nor are we meant to understand how it is that so many people over the centuries have testified that when they share in bread and wine with other Christians that God feels especially near.

We are not meant to understand it… we are meant to receive it, because real love, the love we nailed naked and bare to the cross of Calvary, the love that burst forth like an explosion of joy from the empty tomb, real love, is too deep to put into words.

It is something we must taste, something whose touch we feel in the most secret places of our hearts, something that when it touches us is like a bubbling stream that flows through us… renewing us and opening up within us even greater depths to be filled.

"'Seek the LORD while He may be found, call upon Him while He is near.”  This is a special invitation, to special feast, at a special time.

Revelation 3:20 pictures Jesus declaring; “Listen! I am standing at the door knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in to you and eat with you, and you with me.”

So, this morning I offer an open invitation. Come and feast on the love of God. Allow God to speak to you in whatever way God chooses as we share together in these elements of bread and wine.

Consider in what tangible ways you are able to respond to the inviting love that is offered here, through your time, talents, treasures and influence. How can your life be an invitation for others to taste and see that the Lord is good?

Who is on the guest list?

• The Heavy Laden - Come and find rest  (Matthew 11:28)
• The Thirsty – Come and be filled with the life giving water of the Holy Spirit
• ( John 7:37-38)
• All those who want to be near God – Open your hearts, because God is nearer than we dare imagine. (Isaiah 55:6)

As we share this feast may we find His rest, may we be satisfied to leave our lives in God’s hands. May we leave this place having been empowered for the service of others, knowing that we have been part of something special… the wedding feast of the lamb, the glorious meal of the kingdom where we have sat in the company of angels and saints and in the presence of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

I invite you to come, just as you are, bringing nothing but your honesty and need, that here, at this table, your life may be nourished by the Holy Spirit at work in our midst. To God’s name be the glory as we remember Jesus in the way He invited.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

May 30 Trinity Sunday "Hot Coals"

Readings: Psalm 29, John 3:1-7, Romans 8:12-17, Isaiah 6:1-8
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, on Sunday May 30th, 2021

Isaiah was a creature of habit. He was a believer in God. The things of God were important to him. Faith was a matter of action as well as intellectual assent. So, as he often did, he went into the temple to pray. He had no expectation that God was about to meet with him in a deep and life-transforming manner. In fact, the thought that such a thing should ever happen to a regular guy like him, probably never crossed his mind.

Can we identify with him? I am guessing that we have come into church this morning, because that is what we do on a Sunday. It is a part of our lives. We believe in God. We seek for God’s will to be done. We acknowledge that we need God’s help to get us through our days. Chances are that many of us are happy having a relationship with God on that sort of level.

In fact, anything more than that may actually stress us out, even more than the stresses that we come to church to try and cope with, are already stressing us out! Maybe the last thing we need right now is a dramatic, life changing, earth-shattering encounter with the Almighty. There is a lot to be said for the notion of a 'Comfortable God'.

Isaiah at a later date would declare, 'Comfort Ye, Comfort Me, my People'. Jesus calls us to rest in His love. And are we not Presbyterians, finding comfort in notions of decency and order, taking pride in the appearance of being in control and having things ordered and in a logical pattern? The last thing we need is a change.

Did I say 'Change?' How can I resist the change jokes!

How many Lutherans does it take to change a light bulb? Only one. But it takes the whole church to organize the dinner that goes with it.

How many Baptists does it take to take change a light bulb? Well, the preacher will talk to it, but ultimately it has to make the decision to change for itself.

How many Methodists does it take to take change a light bulb? 'Change?' said the committee, 'What is that? We don't understand the word.'

How many Presbyterians does it take to take change a light bulb? Again, only one. However it is a six year long process requiring overtures to the General Assembly and a majority vote of the Presbyteries.

The thing is, no matter what our religious flavor, we all have strategies in place to keep the wheels of our religious traditions well-oiled and avoid the sort of dramatic confrontation that Isaiah had with God in the temple, the sort that moved him out of his comfort zone.

The problem with being in the comfort zone is, of course, that nothing ever changes. Everything is lukewarm and every day and as predictable as finding Christmas cards in Hallmark in November. I suspect complacency results in our ministry to the world being compromised. We become so consumed with keeping the wheels in motion we forget about those who don’t have wheels!

Isaiah discovered something. When God is on our case, things change. When God draws near, you change, or you are consumed. When the Spirit of God starts to move, the wind will blow, and the sparks will fly.

That morning when Isaiah ambled along to church, the unexpected took a hold. He has a vision of the glory of God. Isaiah 6:1 'I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, high and lofty; and the hem of his robe filled the temple.' In Isaiah’s vision God is robed in kingly attire. This is not a little god, this is a Godzilla of a God. Huge. Think about that phrase; 'The hem of His robe filled the temple'.

In terms of our sanctuary, just a little bit of the cloth on the bottom of God's robe filled the place. That is a big robe. That is one huge vision to get your mind around. And then there are angels and seraphs buzzing around and music filling the air.

Today in the church calendar is Trinity Sunday, and we read that the angels, in the presence of God are singing a threefold anthem, 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory.' I know sometimes when we have the 'Holy, Holy, Holy' hymn, and the sopranos sing that top line, boy it makes the rafters tingle. That is nothing, Isaiah 6:4 in the temple; 'The pivots on the thresholds shook at the voices of those who called, and the house filled with smoke.'

The imagery is like that used in Acts 2 when the upper room on the Day of Pentecost suddenly became a place infused with the glory of God. Mighty rushing winds. Tongues of flame falling upon the disciples. The presence of a God whose glory filled the whole earth.

The challenge this passage places before us is to consider that our vision of God is just too small. That the lack of holiness in our lives is directly related to the lack of vision we have in regard to the holiness of God. That we have a God that is constructed from images that comfort and contain rather than the wild, untamed, un-named, glory of Isaiah’s God whose temple visions scare Isaiah half to death!

Isaiah’s response? Let him use his own words; Isaiah 6:5 'I said: 'Woe is me! I am lost, for I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; yet my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!'. Isaiah’s vision of God did nothing to comfort him or cause him complacency.

It reminds me of the imagery of the Battle Hymn of the Republic, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored; He hath loosed the fateful lightning of His terrible swift sword: His truth is marching on.”

This vision shook him to the core of his being. Yet at the same time it placed him in a situation where he was prepared to do with his life, whatever God required of him. It was a vision that revealed his sinfulness in the light of God’s holiness. He declares, 'I am a man of unclean lips'.

Picture that. The light of God shining so intensely into your life that every sin, every compromise, every wrong thought, or deed is lit up like the streets of Las Vegas at the peak of holiday season. Lit up for all the world to see.  'Woe is me. I am lost'.  What happened in Vegas, did not stay in Vegas after all.

God is light. Light that lights things up. That is what light does. Lights things up. Reveals them. Makes them incredibly easy to see.  That can be a scary thought. If that’s how God is then no wonder, we often prefer the shadows. No wonder we want to stay in our comfort zone. That kind of God could be dangerous. Wasn’t that just the reaction that Jesus incited in his opponents? They could not take the light. They preferred the darkness.

John’s Gospel 12:5 'The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it'. Going back to the 'How many people to change the light bulb' jokes, it is almost as though sometimes we are like a group of people who want to remove the light bulb because it is working too well. It is making the place look untidy by revealing the cobwebs and mess that needs dealing with!

But the light does not undo Isaiah. An angel comes with a hot coal that is placed on his lips. 'Now that this has touched your lips, your guilt has departed and your sin is blotted out. ' An act of grace. It is in response to this act of grace that Isaiah then declares, 'Here am I; send me!'

I cannot recreate you for you exactly what happened to Isaiah with the hot coal on his lips. Maybe you could smother your chicken in Tabasco sauce at lunch and see if that gives you a zing. It will not convince you of the reality of God’s call on your life, but it may give the people at the next table a smile.

God has not come to us with a hot coal. God’s love has been revealed to us through something far more intense. Through a cross upon which Jesus died a torturous death, praying, 'Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing'. We have a glimpse of the Glory of God that Isaiah was never able to view. We have a cross and an empty tomb, which reveal that not only does God tower over the earth, but over death and hell, and evil, and all that would detract from life being lived in freedom and wholeness.

That should be enough to move us out of our comfort zone. The question we should ask is 'Does our faith in God mean enough to us to change the way we live? To shine a little more, so that we dare to commit a little more and actually achieve a little more in the way of being the people God wants us to be?'

We are headed in the right direction. Like Isaiah we have come to the temple to pray. Christian growth seems to take place with us kicking and screaming against God every step of the way. We really do not want to move out of our comfort zone. We fear the sort of changes God may have in mind.

But it should not be that way. Can we reflect on the greatness and glory of God? Can we seek to nurture in our spirits a sense of awe and the mystery of God? Can we recognize the radical, revolutionary, hot coal-like, awesome actions of God in Christ’s death and resurrection? Are our hearts prepared to be empowered by the Holy Spirit who can sometimes be found in the wind and flame, but at other times in the stillness of the quiet following the storm?

If we apply ourselves to such things, we are, I believe, moving in the right direction. Who knows, maybe this Sunday will not be your average Sunday. Maybe somebody here and now is hearing the voice of God saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go?' Maybe you are that somebody? Indeed, it is probable, in a world where 'the fields are ripe for harvest, but the laborers are few', we are all people that God is calling to particular areas of service.

The right response to make to the call of God is “Here am I; send me!” If we make the excuse that 'We are not worthy', then God comes with the hot coal of Christ's forgiveness and says, 'No, you are not worthy, but through the forgiveness of the Cross and the empowerment of resurrection glory, my Holy Spirit will guide you!'

Isaiah went, as he often did, to pray in the temple. It turned out to be a day that changed his life. Are we prepared this day to allow this not to be your average Sunday? Are we prepared to allow God to change us and remake us? Will we embrace the call that God places upon our lives to love this world with all the strength God gives to us? 'Whom shall I send, and who will go?'. Isaiah declared ‘Here am I; send me!'

What will be our response to this challenging passage of scripture?

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Message from the First Letter of John. 5. God Birthed Faith

 

 'Sin, Forgiveness and Love ' (Messages from the First letter of John)  “God Birthed Faith”
Readings: Psalm 98, Acts 10:44-48, John 15:9-17, 1 John 5:1-6
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, on May 9 2021

Our reading this morning, from 1 John 5, brings us to the end of a series that has dealt with his themes of 'Sin, forgiveness and love.'  Last time we saw how it was John who penned the awesome words; “God is Love.”  In this morning’s reading he again brings us back to the theme of love, but this time he reminds us that unless we act upon the love that God offers to us, then we have not really got it.

Our reading today takes us a little further than just suggesting that because we are loved we should love others. John suggests that our loving actions need to revolve around a center. In the household of faith, John tells us that our center is faith is Jesus Christ. He writes in verse 5 “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Some may ask, “Isn't John's focus on faith in Jesus Christ as the Son of God a little restrictive?” What is the big deal about believing in Jesus? Isn't it enough that we are generous and charitable and get along with each other? Why does John insist on muddying the waters by telling us we need to get our focus right about what we believe about Jesus Christ?

As far as John was concerned there could be no separation between belief and action.  'In fact,' he says (Verse 3) 'This is love for God: to keep His commands.” Earlier in his letter he spoke about people who had become so sophisticated in their believing that they had fallen into all sorts of wrong ways of thinking that led them into wrong ways of acting. For John what you believe determines what you do, and what you do shows what you really believe.

 John believed that faith is something that God has to birth within us through the action of the Holy Spirit. Faith is something that in John's gospel is described as being “born from above” that effects the individual as though they had been “born again.” Genuinely believing in God, for John is about having a God birthed faith. He gives us some reasons.

•    Only a God-birthed faith could give us a true love perspective.
•    Only a God birthed faith could create true community.
•    Only a God-birthed faith could conquer the world.

1. Only a God-birthed faith gives us a true love perspective.

In previous chapters John has been incredibly careful to define what he means when he uses the word love. He always uses the Greek word 'agapé'. There were other words in Greek that he could have used. They had a word for family love 'storgé', they had a word for physical love, 'eros', they had a word for brotherly love 'philia'. John uses none of these but uses the word 'agapé' which was particularly descriptive of the kind of love that was seen in the life of Jesus.

'Agapé' love described a life lived for the benefit of others. A love that healed and recreated and went beyond what was expected. A love that lifted the fallen and was more concerned for the needs of the other than needs of the self. John outlines this love in chapter 4:9-10 “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins.”

John sees Christian action as a response to what God has done for us in Jesus Christ. The act of God in Christ is the motivation and the centering point for loving the world.  When we get it right about who Jesus is, and why He came, it changes the way we live.

It changes the way we see others. We cannot look down on anybody else or see any person as beyond the reach of God. Because Christ died for us, He died for them. Through the eyes of Jesus there is no “us” and “them.” All people are people who need the love and grace of God.

“That's love” says John. It is not a feeling. It is not an emotion. It is not something we fall in or out of. It is not being benevolent or feeling charitable. It is not giving out of a sense of guilt or acting out of duty. It is centering our life in Jesus Christ, being empowered by the Holy Spirit, opening our hearts and lives to the grace of God, and acting in gratitude for the blessings of salvation Jesus obtained for us through His death and resurrection. Only a God-birthed faith gives us a true love perspective.

2.Only a God-birthed faith creates true community

John also insists that if we say that we love God, but do not apply ourselves to loving each other, then we are deluding ourselves, and the truth is not in us. He goes as far as saying that people who act like that, think they are children of God, but in actuality are walking in darkness, not in the light.

In previous chapters we see that John takes sin seriously. One of the most pernicious of sins is that of failing to work at creating community. We had these words in our reading this morning: - (verse 2) “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands.” The stress is on centering our lives in Jesus Christ and allowing Jesus to be the hub around which our community life revolves.

To truly be a community of faith we must look to Jesus and see each other through the lens of the love of God. If we look to each other, if we look to having common interests or being like-minded as a center for our life together, then we become nothing more than a civic organization organized around a particular sense of values.

There is nothing wrong in having community organizations. They can do some great things. But they are not the Church of Jesus Christ. The Church of Christ has a higher calling. To be a place where all people can discover the love of God in Jesus Christ. A place where the outcast can find a home and those who feel unloved can be embraced by God's love. An oasis amid a barren uncaring world where the hurting can find healing and the hopeless be inspired by the action of the Holy Spirit renewing their lives.

Unless we make Jesus Christ our focus... none of that can happen. Unless we make Jesus Christ our center... we quickly become exclusive rather than inclusive. Believe me, I understand bills need to be paid, the building needs looking after and that we have to plan our programs and have our meetings and maintain our records. But, please, never let us stop asking “Why?”

“Why are we a church?” Because God has called us to be a community that demonstrates to the world what living a life together focused on Jesus Christ looks like. Because God has a task for us, a task that can only be accomplished through our faith in Jesus Christ, a faith that we demonstrate by having love for each other and inviting others to be in on it. Only God-birthed faith gives us a true love perspective. Only a God-birthed faith creates true community.

3. Only a God-birthed faith conquers the world.

1 John 5: 4-5 “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Conquer the world? Lord, who are You kidding? Lord, it is all I can do to hold my life together! You expect a 'pulled in one thousand directions, conflicted, stressed out, not always sure what I'm doing or what I really believe, things to do, places I need to be, person' like me, to conquer the world?

Friends that exactly why what we believe about Jesus Christ is so important. Verse 5... one more time... “Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

When John says 'Believe' he is not asking us to intellectually give a reasoned response to a number of theological formulations or do a checklist on the Apostles Creed.  He is challenging us to consider where we are coming from, what our lives are revolving around, what we are centered upon.

If we can get it in our minds, that we, you and I, here today, at this time, in this place, are God's ultimate concern, than it can change the way we see ourselves, those around us and everything about our lives. If we can see that God's love really is so committed to us that in and through Jesus Christ, God can transform everything we are and everything we do, then it's going to make more than a little difference to the way we live.

It as we allow God to make a difference in us, through the working of the Holy Spirit, that our lives start to make a difference to the world. It happens in simple ways.

Like inviting a friend to church.  Like visiting or calling one of our shut-ins. Like being a little more attentive to prayer and Scripture reading.

Like helping with one of our mission projects. Like, if God has unexpectedly blessed us financially, including our church family in that blessing. Like not waiting to be asked to take something on that needs doing, but seeing the need and responding, just because we can. 

Like committing to regular support, with our time, talents, and treasure of our local faith community. Like moving ‘What happens in my church” a little higher on our list of life priorities.

To do any of that, in a way that becomes joyful and fulfilling, and not burdensome, it is vitally important we have our center in the right place.  

John reminds us. in his first letter, that the center for both our personal faith and corporate life as a church is our faith in who Jesus is and what God is seeking to do in our lives... about the life of God's world, experienced in and through the Holy Spirit. Why does he do that? Because...

•    Only a God-birthed faith can give us a true love perspective.
•    Only a God birthed faith can create true community.
•    Only a God-birthed faith can conquer the world.
 
Let us seek to be people whose confession of faith is more than words and endeavor to be a church whose focus is so clearly on Jesus Christ that others cannot help noticing Him!

And to God's name be all glory. Amen.

The Reverend. Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Messages from the First Letter of John. 4. Fearless love

 

 'Sin, Forgiveness and Love' (Messages from the First Letter of John)
Readings: Psalm 22:25-31, Acts 8:26-40, John 15:1-8, 1 John 4:7-21
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, May 2nd 2021

Everything I know about growing plants could be written on the back of a postage stamp. I claim zero experience in the green finger department. But this much I know. Nothing grows by coercion. Things only grow through nurture. If you plant tomatoes, you cannot go out in the garden and terrify them into maturity. “Now come on little Tommy Tomato plant. Grow up or I'll give you a such a thrashing that you'll never even be able to say the word fertilizer.”  You must tend plants, carefully and gently.

Spiritual growth is no different. Fear cannot produce spiritually mature believers. The only fertile ground for true spiritual growth is the love of God. 1 John 4:18-19 tells us “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  We love because He first loved us.”

The last few weeks we have been following a series on John's first letter that has taken us through the themes of sin, forgiveness, and love. Last week we were considering the great legacy of love that has been passed on to us. We affirmed that love is a great mystery which opens to us amazing possibilities. In chapter four John takes us further. He gives us the famous phrase “God is love.”

One of the amazing things about the life of Jesus was how He never acted out of fear but always out of love. That is not to say that Jesus was never afraid. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He prays that He may be spared from the pain and agony He would face at the Cross. There is nothing wrong in being afraid. It is a part of what makes us human. But being afraid and living in fear are different things.

There are two kinds of fear.
The first is best described as 'Honor' or 'Respect,' the second as 'Dread.'

When the Book of Proverbs tells us ‘Fear the Lord' the intention is not for us go through the whole of our lives being afraid of what God may do to us if God finds out what we are really like. The fear we are to have towards God is by the way of honor and respect. That was the kind of fear that Jesus had towards His Father. He refused to do anything or be anything that did not represent the love of God.  His whole ministry was built upon respect for and trust in what the love of God could do.

The opposite of respectful fear, the unhealthy, negative kind of fear that John tells us to have nothing to do with, is maybe best described as dread. John writes “Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”  Dread is the fear that has to do with punishment. Fear of punishment can never help us build a mature relationship with God or with each other. Jesus lived fearlessly because His life was centered in the loving heart of God.

He did not care what people thought about Him. He was totally secure in His relationship with His Father God. He did not have to gain favor with people or use people to get where He wanted to be. He was right where He wanted to be, in the will of God. 

He was able to act in complete freedom and without dread because He knew Himself a child of God. Both at His baptism and on the mountain of Transfiguration He found His identity in His Father's claim on His life “This is my beloved Son”.

What might it take for us to live lives defined by fearless love?

How can we apply these words about 'perfect love casting out fear' to our own lives? In 1895 a lady called Clara Scott had a hymn published called “Open my eyes”.

Open my eyes, that I may see, glimpses of truth Thou hast for me;
Place in my hands the wonderful key, that shall unclasp and set me free.

Only through having a clear picture of God, ourselves and each other, can we unlock the mystery of fearless love. Or to put it another way... 

•    We need to redefine how we see the Divine.
•    Remember the claim of God's name.
•    Reach out to others as sisters and brothers!

Let us explore those themes a little more!

1.    We need a clear picture of God … we need to redefine how see the Divine

What are we afraid of that prevents us from letting the love of God enfold us and envelope us?  Our fears can come from an irrational picture of God. Even with my lack of gardening skills I recognize that nothing grows by coercion. Growth takes place through nurture. The first picture the Bible gives us of God is as the Creator. The second picture is as the Gardener. As you read the New Testament the images Jesus uses are often nurture related. He talks of sowing seeds. Of Vines and branches. Of Seeds and Weeds. Of Springtime and Harvest.

Many of us have picked up on negative images of God. A tyrannical father. A mean dictator. An uncaring judge. A strict disciplinarian. A God of hellfire whose greatest delight is to punish unrepentant sinners with eternal torment. A warped policeman on high. A God of disapproval. Unapproachable. Unrelenting. Irrational. Making rules we can never keep. A rather scary God.

Many times, I have had people say to me ,'Oh, I wouldn't want to set foot in church, probably make the roof cave in or cause the place to be struck by lightning'.  A God who toys with people, who is a despot, a blue meanie, a dark disturbing brooding figure from our worst nightmares.  I have heard people describe to me the God they do not believe in... and found myself thinking that... I do not believe in that kind of God either!

If ever those negative images of God start creeping in on you, read this passage from 1 John and see how many times life affirming love is mentioned. “This is how God showed His love among us: He sent His one and only Son into the world that we might live through Him.' 'We know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.'  'There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”

To live fearless lives, we need to put our faith, not in a God we dread, but one whom we have the utmost respect for and seek to honor in the way we live our lives. The first letter of John paints a picture for us of a God whose very being is love. A God who wants to nurture us and feed us and grow us. A God who wants us to live life in all its variety and abundance. Not a God whose desire is to restrict, control or dominate, but One who sets us free to live into the people we are meant to be.   Again, hear verse 18; “Perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment.”

2.    We need a clear picture of ourselves... we need to remember the claim of God's name

Verse 19 reminds us “We love because He first loved us.” Our capacity for loving others comes from the security of knowing that we ourselves are loved by God. Every Sunday following our prayer of confession we celebrate, with words of Assurance, that through the grace and love of Jesus Christ, God claims us as God's own. There is nothing we have to do, or can do, to be God's children other than thankfully accept our salvation as the huge, undeserved, unwarranted gift that it is.

One of the greatest Christian thinkers and apologists of the last century was Karl Bath. I have the fourteen or so volumes of his “Church Dogmatics” (a study in dialectic theology) on my shelf in the study. Still working my way through it. He was the architect of one of the confessions in our Book of Confessions, “The Barmen Declaration,” a historic and incredibly brave challenge to the rise of the Nazi ideology in Germany, a work that made him an enemy of the powers that sought to destroy the world. He wrote thousands and thousands of words, some extremely hard to get your head around, during his life.

In 1962 he made his one and only visit to America and the story goes that he was asked how he would summarize the essence of the millions of words he had published, and replied, with words many of us have known since Sunday School Days; "Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so."

Verses 16 and 17 “If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.”

We need a clear picture of God … we need to redefine how see the Divine We need a clear picture of ourselves... we need to remember the claim of God's name.

3.    We need a clear picture of each other... reach out to others as sisters and brothers

The final verse we read this morning reminds us that the love of God is not just about us. True, Jesus loves us, but He calls us to share that love with each other. 'Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.'  

John is keen to point out that unless love is also transforming the way we see each other, then God's Spirit is not truly at work in our lives. We are called to see each other as God sees us, as people God sent Jesus to die for, as people God loves, as people, who, like us, are marred by our sins, but nevertheless have all the potential that being human gives us.

There is a movie, called “Come Sunday.” (It was on Netflix for a while.) The movie charts the course of a highly successful fundamentalist preacher. Through his study of scripture, particularly verses his Pentecostal tradition chose not to focus upon, (like these we have been considering in first John), he comes to have something of a conversion experience. At the end of the movie, he is invited to speak to an inclusive Unitarian congregation... folks he would once have considered the enemy.

In speaking to the congregation, he says, “I spent a lot of my life living in the fear of God. And I preached that fear. I preached it and I preached it and I preached it and I preached it.  So much so, that I became afraid not to preach it. And I have found it so hard to let go of that fear. Why is that? Is it because, if God loves everybody unconditionally, maybe we have to? Is that it? What is it about loving each other unconditionally that scares us so much?”

To live fearless lives, we must treat others how we would like them to treat us. Grant them all the respect and honor that we ourselves receive from God.  That is the challenge. “Whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” That is the challenge of love, of God being love that names us and claims us and calls us to love each other as we have been loved.

We cannot grow spiritually by coercion but only by love. When it comes to growing plants, I confess I am not so good. When it comes to growing in the Spirit, by the grace and love of God, I am hopefully doing better every day. The greatest source of love in all creation is the love of God, that we see demonstrated in Jesus Christ and which impacts our lives through the action of the Holy Spirit.

There is a whole lot of teaching that John packed into these verses we have been looking at this morning. So, let me finish with a quick review.

In order to live fearlessly we need to;

•    Have a clear picture of the nature of God, we need to redefine how see the Divine.
•    Have a clear picture of ourselves, we need to remember the claim of God's name.
•    Have a clear picture of each other, we need to reach out to others as sisters and brothers.

And there is no better place to recommit our lives to fearlessly pursuing divine love than around a table laid with bread and wine. As we share these elements may we seek for God to renew our hearts and lives. May God help us, through the guidance and inspiration of the Holy Spirit, to live lives of fearless love that truly reflect the light of Jesus Christ.  AMEN!

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Messages from the First Letter of John. 3. This is Love

 

'Sin, Forgiveness and Love  - Messages from the First letter of John

Readings: Psalm 23, Acts 4:5-12, John 10:11-18, 1 John 3:16-24 

Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, April 25 2021

Yvonne and I are extremely fortunate in that we both came from homes where we had two parents who let us know that we belonged, we were loved, and we were valued. As children this was not something we appreciated as we should have done, until we were out of the family home and making a home of our own.

Both of our parents grew up in the lean times near the beginning of the last century, just after the First World War and on into the Depression. As young people their lives were torn apart by the Second World War. Yvonne’s late father was interned in a prison camp, an experience that left its scars.

My own late father was shipped from miserable destination to squalid encampment in the North African arena. Along the way he contracted malaria. He managed to collect a kitbag of memorabilia, only to have it stolen when he returned to port in England. Even his few good memories were taken away.

Our brothers and sisters, and eventually ourselves, were born in the 1950’s, a time in Great Britain when you still shopped with ration coupons and the best food you could eat was that which you could grow for yourself.

As children we did not realize the giving up and the sacrifices that our parents went through so that we could have the things they never dreamed of. There were times when our childish selfishness, must have driven them to the point of despair, but they carried on loving us just the same.

We are continuing to look this morning at the first letter of John. For the first two chapters he has spoken of the need to ‘Walk in the Light’ and live up to the name of being ‘God’s Children.’ He has spoken of the reality of sin and evil in our own lives and in the world, and the corresponding reality of God’s salvation that can be known by placing our faith in Jesus.

In the middle of the third chapter, he moves on to speak about love. John speaks of God as a parent, of the love of Jesus Christ and the nurturing of the Holy Spirit. Many of us have a point of reference, in the love we have experienced at the hand of our own families. However, John’s point of reference was not his own mom or dad, but the love he had experienced at the hand of Jesus and among the community of the disciples.

Some scholars believe John’s letter to be the authentic writings of John, described as ‘the disciple Jesus loved.’ (John 13:23, 19:26 & 21:7). According to tradition, John ‘the elder’ was the only disciple whose life did not end in early martyrdom, but he lived to a ripe old age and exercised leadership in the earliest church.

1 John speaks of the love of Jesus as though it were firsthand experience. Jesus had washed his feet. He had heard Jesus teaching, “I am the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for the sheep.” He had stood at the cross with the mother of Jesus and heard Him pray, “Father Forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”  John was the one who, in His dying moments, Jesus asked to take care of His mother and John took Mary, the mother of Jesus, to his home and cared for her. (John 19:26-27)

John knew what sort of love surrounded the life of Jesus. From out of that rich experience the author of John tells us, 1 John 3:16, “This is what love is, that Jesus laid down His life for us.”

When I hear those words, I think of my own parents, who during the war years, were literally prepared to lay down their lives, who went without so much that we may have an abundance, whose love was not often expressed through a gush of words but was rather a reality we experienced through daily actions.

But hold on - ‘laying down His life’, that is only half the verse. We who have been loved have an obligation laid upon us.  We who have been touched and nurtured and raised by those who loved us, we whom Jesus Christ calls God’s children and who claim allegiance to the church of God have a responsibility.  

The verse continues “….and we ought to lay down our lives for each other.” In particular those with material and spiritual needs.  As verse 17 lays out before us: “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”

C.S. Lewis comments, “It is easier to be enthusiastic about Humanity with a capital ‘H’ than it is to love individual men and women, especially those who are uninteresting, exasperating, depraved or otherwise unattractive. Loving everybody in general may be an excuse for loving nobody in particular.”

“Love everybody, Love Life, Love the world.”  It sounds good. Admirable even.  1 John insists that love is not expressed through verbalizing high-sounding ideals, but through actions that benefit people other than our selves.  Again, this is a lesson that many of us first learned in our home environments. Part of our capacity to love others comes from having first been loved ourselves.

Sadly, not everybody is as fortunate as many of us have been.  Some grow up in homes where love is at a premium.  Some have parents unable to care for them. Some suffer abuse and neglect.  Some have parents unwilling to commit themselves to anything but self-interest. But we should never rule out the possibility of love.

Which brings me to Brigadoon.Where? Brigadoon.  Brigadoon is a musical that for many years ran on Broadway. The story is about 2 men from New York, Tommy Allbright and Jeff Douglas, who are on a hunting trip in Scotland when they stumble across a village called Brigadoon in a valley that is not even marked on the map.

It turns out that Brigadoon is a magical village that only appears out of the mist every 100 years, and whose existence will be destroyed should any of the villagers ever leave it.  There is much romance and talk of folk being married to other folk whilst all the time they are wishing they could be married to somebody else. Into this smushy mix comes Tommy Albright who is supposed to be marrying his fiancé Jean in New York, but falls in love with a Brigadoon lassie by the name of Fiona.

In the First Act of the musical, Tommy asks the wise local schoolteacher, Mr Lundie, if an outsider could be permitted to stay in Brigadoon. Mr. Lundie replies, "A stranger can stay if he loves someone here – loves them enough to want to give up everythin' an' stay with that one person. Which is how it should be. 'Cause after all, laddie, if ye love someone deeply… anythin' is possible."

But they do not get married, the New Yorkers leave Brigadoon and that is the end of that. Or is it? Of course not! By the end of Act 2 Tommy and Jeff have returned to Scotland. But the village has gone. And will not be back for a hundred years.

Tommy laments, "Why do people have to lose things to find out what they really mean?" Just as he and Jeff turn to leave, Mr. Lundie appears from the mist and explains: "Oh it's you Tommy, lad. You woke me up. You must really love Fiona,"… to which Tommy, still dazed, stammers "But… how....?" Mr. Lundie replies "You shouldna be too surprised, laddie. I told ye… when ye love someone deeply enough, anythin' is possible. Even miracles."

And there you go... I just went and ruined the ending for you! It has to be out there on some streaming platform or on a DVD if you want to watch it!

My point in taking us to Brigadoon, is that the whole musical is based upon a highly biblical proposition. That with love all things are possible. As Mr Lundie explains: “I told ye when ye love someone deeply enough, anythin' is possible. Even miracles."

1 John 3, verse 18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”  In the real-world miracles do not just happen. They are the result of loving actions. The miracle of the resurrection could not happen without the commitment of the Cross.

The miracle of hungry people in our community being fed only happens when we seek to meet their needs. The miracle of justice being restored, only happens when injustice is challenged. The miracle of people being delivered from things which hold them back, only happens when people provide help and opportunities for them to renew their lives.

Miracles are the result of loving actions.

God does not abandon people. God calls people to reach out to abandoned people, following their Saviors example, so that the lost sheep once again find a home.

It is interesting to see how 1 John 3:16 complements John 3:16.

John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. '

1 John 3:16 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters."

We have received a great legacy of love from those who went before us. From our parents. From our mentors in the faith. From the examples of Church history and the saints of our traditions.

There remains only one way our families and communities can experience the love of God. That it begins in us and spreads to others.  We are all invited to allow our lives to be changed by the love of God that we may draw others into the experience of the joy and love of God's Kingdom.

Through God's amazing Grace, may we seek to be those who are making a loving difference wherever this week may lead us. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Messages from the First Letter of John. 2. Sin's Remedy

 

 'Sin, Forgiveness and Love ' (Messages from the First Letter of John.)
Readings: Psalm 4, Acts 3:12-19, Luke 24:36b-48, 1 John 3:1-10
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, April 18 2021

I was on my way to church as a pastor in Liverpool.  I went down one road. It was blocked off. I tried a different route. No, that was closed as well. In the end I had to go miles out of my way and was late for the service. When I got to church, I discovered the problem.

About 45 years (or so) earlier, in the Blitz of the Second World War, the Germans had been bombing Liverpool. As the bombs fell, those who could not make it to the air raid shelters, hid in under-stairs cupboards, under the kitchen table, wherever might provide some shelter.

Sheltered under a kitchen table during a raid was a lady who still came to the church.  She remembered during a raid, hearing a bomb coming down - then waiting for it to explode - and nothing happened.  After the “All clear” was sounded she forgot all about it.

45 years later (or so) a council workman was cleaning out the sewers. His shovel hit something hard and metallic. He bent down to clear the muck off it. “Hey Harry! Harry! This likes like one of those bomb shell things. You don’t think it could be a, y’know .. actual bomb do ya? Harry responded, “Call de army!”

For 45 years there had been an active un-exploded bomb lying in the sewer and it could have gone off at any time – especially when Harry’s mate belted it with a shovel. The bomb disposal people evacuated the area, sealed it off, and carefully removed the potential disaster.

In his first letter John pictures sin as something dangerous and life threatening that lurks below the surface of our lives - something that must be treated with the utmost seriousness. In his first chapters John speaks of turning the ship of our lives around and actively ‘Walking in the Light.’ In the third chapter he outlines for us what it means to be a child of God. In particular, how being a child of God should affect our attitude towards sin and salvation.  

There were those in the church of John's day who taught a different gospel than that which he had received firsthand from Jesus Christ. A particular group of people John is writing about were known as ‘Gnostics’.

Being a gnostic implied that you were in possession of special knowledge that made you a cut above your average believer. Some believed that this special knowledge, this ‘gnosis', made them spiritually perfect. As they were spiritually perfect, sin could not harm them. They regarded sin as so ineffectual (in comparison to their state of enlightenment), that they paid no attention to their moral lives.

As they were ‘perfect'... if a thing felt good....  it was good...  and they did it...and so it went on, until it became apparent to John, that some of the things they were doing, were the very opposite of the things Jesus had taught him to do. He accuses the Gnostic's of making two terrible mistakes.

Firstly, they were denying the reality of sin and evil and its capacity to corrupt and destroy.  

Secondly, they were failing to see the significance of Christ’s death - that He died for their sins and that unless they put their faith in Him, they would be lost.

John hits them with this argument; if they were truly born of the Spirit of God, if they were as perfect as they made themselves out to be, then fruits of the Spirit, such as love for their sisters and brothers in Christ, would be flowing out of them.  Their lives would be models of moral magnificence.

Instead, their lives were producing evil things. They were spiritually proud. They looked down on those who did not share their enlightened views. They were inconsistent in their moral behavior. The seed that was producing these bad fruits was not the seed of God, but the work of the devil.

John counteracts their philosophy, with some down to earth, no nonsense talk. Verses 8-9; "The one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil. No one who is born of God practices sin."

Such a passage warns us never to become so sophisticated in our thinking that we underestimate the real power of evil in our world. Right at the start of the passage, verse 2, he points out that, Children of God are ‘a work in progress'. “Beloved,” he writes, “We are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when He (Jesus) is revealed, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is” (v2).

For the Gnostics this fell on deaf ears. They thought they had already arrived at perfection. As a result, they failed to see the depth and power of God’s love that was revealed to them in the Cross of Jesus Christ. After all, what good is a Savior who dies to forgive sins, if you are convinced that through your own sophistication you have already dealt with them?

Over 2000 years later our sophisticated culture makes the same mistake. We are not comfortable with the concept of sin. We tend to justify our behavior in other ways. How many times have you heard these?

‘I just couldn’t help myself.’
 ‘She made me do it.’
 ‘He deserved it.’
‘It’s just the way I am.’
 ‘It’s not a problem.’
‘It’s just a bad habit.’
 ‘Everybody does it’
‘Don’t judge me.’
‘I’m not hurting anybody’,
‘It felt so right.’
 ‘Nobody’s perfect.’
‘I’m no angel.’

I am sure you can think of others!
 So sophisticated have we become,
 that it has almost considered a sin
 to describe ‘sin’ as sin!

Sin is not just inappropriate behavior. Not according to Scripture. According to John’s teaching it is an enemy crouching at the door. It separates from God’s love, it cheapens life. At the end of the day its only payout is death.  John pulls no punches. ‘Sin’, he says, ‘is the Devil’s work.’ Always will be. Always was. Right from the beginning.

1 John 3:8 “He who commits sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.”

God’s remedy for sin is salvation. Jesus came to die upon the cross so that the power of sin may hold no sway over our lives. God calls us to put our faith in Jesus Christ, to ask God’s Holy Spirit to take up residence in our lives that we may be spiritually reborn from above. God calls us to work with the Holy Spirit in developing Christ like lives.

This is the basic gospel message.  “That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That “Christ died for our sins.” As 1 John 3:5 phrases it, “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.”

Sin is the un-exploded bomb beneath the surface of our lives that is waiting to go off.  Maybe, like the lady in Liverpool who heard that bomb fall during the Blitz, we forget that it is there. It lays in the dark sewer of our souls, only to be recognized when somebody starts to dig deep down and name it for what it is.

So, hear John, as he explains that to be child of God, means accepting some fundamental truths.
Accepting that we are sinners.
    Accepting that Christ alone can be our Savior.
        Accepting that to walk in the light involves actively taking steps,
            to deepen our relationship with God in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Sophisticated? No, it is not.
    It is the simple gospel that has been proclaimed throughout the world.
        We are sinners who need a Savior.
            The remedy for sin is the Cross of Jesus Christ.

Eventually an un-exploded bomb causes disruption. It carries within itself all the power of destruction it has had since day one. We can excuse our sin, cover up our sin and even deny our sin. But until we confess our sin and bring it to the Cross of Jesus Christ it remains a force that can explode and destroy and wreck our spiritual walk.

Every worship service is an opportunity to renew our lives before God. To see ourselves, warts, and all, in God's light. To claim for ourselves the forgiving and renewing power of the Holy Spirit. To seek for Jesus Christ to renew us and remake us so that we can be better servants and bearers of His good fruit.

As one morning I sought to drive to church in Liverpool an un-exploded bomb prevented me from reaching my destination. The army bomb squad came, and the bomb was diffused. The bomb had to be dealt with before normal life could carry on.  Likewise, we need daily to accept the love and life changing power of God to rise above our natural tendency towards sinful behavior that we may live every day in the light of Jesus love and peace.

Such is a glorious possibility for every one of us. Grace is amazing. All are invited. Remember the words of Jesus from the cross. “Forgive them Father for they do not know what they are doing.” Just like that workman, banging on an un-exploded bomb under the streets of Liverpool, we underestimate the potential damage that can be done to our lives when we pursue our own agenda and make no room for God’s guidance.  

It does not have to be that way. Jesus calls us to walk with Him. To walk His way. The way of love and service and true freedom. When we commit our lives to being the sort of people who have room for the things of God’s Kingdom, it makes all the difference to ourselves and those around us.

And to God’s name be all glory. Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.

Messages from the First Letter of John. 1. Walk in the Light

 'Sin, Forgiveness and Love '
(Messages from the First Letter of John)

1."WALK IN THE LIGHT"
Readings: Psalm 133, Acts 4:32-35, John 20:19-31, 1 John 1:1 - 2:2
Preached at Bridgehampton Presbyterian Church, NY, April 11 2021

I must have been about thirteen years old. There was great excitement in the house.  I grew up near Liverpool, England, a place which was once a bustling, active port. Sadly, by the time I came on the scene the city was a dismal shadow of its former self. But that day there was a big ship coming in, sailing up the River Mersey taking crude oil to one of the Oil Refineries further downstream.

This was not just a big ship, it was a super tanker, a mega tanker, a monster tanker!  The sort of boat that you could have five full size football fields on deck, all with games going on and still have enough room to land a Jumbo Jet.  Well, maybe not quite that big, but it was the biggest thing that had sailed down the River Mersey ... ever.

So, my dad drove me and my friend down to New Brighton, where you could get a good view of the river.  Of course, it was raining and gray and visibility was poor.  Then along it came. A huge, ugly, bulk of a thing, being towed by a whole fleet of struggling tugboats, it slowly transported its oily cargo up stream.  

We have witnessed recently the spectacle of a large ship being stuck in the Suez canal. I remember reading in the newspaper about how hard it was to turn these monstrous mega machines around out at sea.

We are talking a required area of many, many square miles. If you have ever been out on the water in just a little boat, and been going full belt, and then want to turn around and go the other way - you know how hard it is.  Multiply that situation by many miles and many tons - and you get the picture. And if the boat was going with the flow and had to turn and head back against the tide, then the distances grew even greater.

The first letter of John is addressed to a church that John felt was headed at speed in the wrong direction.  He knows that the inertia involved in the process was going to be hard to deal with; that turning things around was going to be a laborious process. He sets about reminding them of some of the basics of their faith.

In the first chapter (and on into the second), he recalls a fundamental Christian teaching.  Humankind by nature prefers the darkness to the light.  That there is in our makeup, a driving force, a spirit of rebellion, a twisted desire towards unrighteousness, a bias towards what is bad rather than what is good.  He calls it by a three-letter word spelt S-I-N.

Sin. For John sin is not unlike the crude oil that fills the belly of the mega tankers. If ever you have been on a beach that has suffered the catastrophe of a large oil spill then you will be aware of crude oil's capability to cling and spoil and destroy.  

It is a heart-breaking sight to observe sea birds trying to get the oil off themselves, trying to prune themselves and in the process covering their beaks, just becoming more and more overwhelmed by the oil, coating their wings so they can’t fly, in their eyes, in their mouths and into their bodies, slowly they die. Their only hope is for some animal rescue organization to take them to a safe place, and over a period of time clean the oil off with detergents and chemicals, until, stained, but capable of survival, they can be set free.

John use two words to describe sin. He firstly uses Greek word ‘skotos’ which means 'darkness'. He recognized such darkness within himself.  He felt he had lived much of his life in the dark when it came to the things of God. He felt it was a universal human failing that we turn a blind eye to the needs of others and focus just on ourselves.

Secondly John uses the Greek word ‘harmatia’. 'Harmatia' meant 'going beyond the boundary line' or 'trespassing'.  In many traditions when they say the Lord's prayer they say, forgive us our 'trespasses'. Forgive us when we overstep the mark, forgive us those times when we deliberately and purposefully choose to act in ways we know aren't right. He tells us that we are driven by sins that we commit because we can’t seem to help ourselves (we are in the dark) and we are driven by our desire to do the wrong thing (we trespass).

Because of sin, because of the darkness in our lives, we do not walk in the light. We cherish the shadows. We are content with our masks, and our excuses, and our false reasoning, and our blind spots.
We are ships headed in the wrong direction and it takes more than high ideals to turn us around.  

John really hates what sin does to our world. He saw how sin destroyed and polluted all creation. He saw how it was such a powerful thing that many people did not even recognize it in themselves. He tells us “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” (1 John 1:8). We have this tendency when talking about 'sinners' that we mean somebody else other than ourselves. We like to shift the blame. Here's John saying, “Don't play that game, take the blame!”

You may have seen the Harry Potter books or movies. The death eaters are the dark spirits dispatched by Lord Voldermort to create havoc at Hogwarts. In Harry Potter terms sin is like your own personal death eater.  Sin is a dark disturbing and destructive power.

Most of all John hates sin because it is a joy killer. His whole reason for writing his letter is stated in verse 4. “These things we write to you that your joy may be full.” (1 John 1:4 NKJ).  God's people were meant to be joyful. And when they walked in the darkness rather than in the light, then the joy quickly evaporated from their lives and the life of their churches.

The dilemma is 'How do we turn this ship around?  
How do we get out of the darkness?
How do we ‘Walk in the Light’?'

John’s remedy is that there was no way of turning around, no remedy for the condition of sin - other than the forgiveness and grace found at the Cross of Jesus Christ. That there is nothing we can do to help ourselves. That we are like those seabirds coated with oil, we need an external agent to cleanse us and free us. That just as the only way crude oil becomes useful is when it becomes refined, so the only way our lives become the sort of lives God wants us to have, is when we are refined by the Grace of God we discover in Jesus Christ.

In the King James Bible Verse 2 of 1 John Chapter 2 reads, “Jesus Himself is the propitiation for our sins”. Propitiation. Not a word you hear very often! “Jesus is my Propitiation.” It is not the sort of slogan you find emblazoned on Christian T-Shirts and Bumper Stickers or put-on church noticeboards. Propitiation. 'Jesus is the propitiation' What does it mean? Propitiation means "getting something out of an impossible situation."

When John speaks of Jesus ‘being the propitiation for our sins’, John is telling us that 'Only Jesus is the One who can get us out of the impossible situation that sin creates'.  Jesus Christ, and He alone, is the One who can turn the big, ugly, ship of our lives around. Jesus is the only one who can cleanse our lives from sins pollution. That the answer to our darkness and our trespass is found at the Cross.

Other translations use the phrase 'reconciliation' or 'atoning sacrifice'. Again, the meaning is that Jesus has done for us at the Cross what we could never do for ourselves. His death reconciles us to God. His death means we can be in fellowship with God. We have through Jesus 'At-One-Ment' (atonement).

How do we make the forgiveness offered at the cross our own? Again, John offers the solution. 1 John 1:9 “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

Another way to think of confession is to see it as admitting to something. Sometimes you will hear people involved in a confrontation and one will challenge the other, 'Come on, just admit that you messed up, then we can start putting things right!”

That is what it takes to allow the grace of God to impact our lives. That we admit to ourselves, to each other and to God that we are messed up and need all the love and hope and healing and forgiveness that God offers to us at the Cross of Jesus Christ. To admit that it was because of sins like ours that Jesus was crucified. To get down off our high horse and admit that unless God helps us through, we are lost.

When we take that step, God shines light on our path. How?  God offers us the presence of His Holy Spirit as a comfort and a helper and a Guide. We read God's Word in scripture and it starts to come alive and make sense. We find that worship in church is not a matter of dull repetition or duty but a living inspiring encounter with Jesus whom we know as our Lord and our Savior.

We see people in need not as a nuisance but an opportunity to serve our Lord. We find that issues become not a matter of who is right or wrong, but we dream of how peace or reconciliation can be found. In moments of tragedy, we do not despair but recall how death became a place for resurrection and a cross became an empty tomb.  

And we find mixed up in all this... moments of indescribable joy... because we know that God is our God and we are God's children and that somehow all of this is related to the death of Jesus on the Cross, the reconciliation, the atonement, the 'propitiation' that God in love created there.

It does not happen overnight.  It takes time. It takes consistency.  Like that monstrous mega super oil tanker, I saw heading up the River Mersey a long time ago, we are a tough vessel to turn around.  But in the hands of the right captain, it’s amazing what can be done.  

John invites us 'Walk in the light'.
 Rejoice that through Jesus we can live free and forgiven.
But do not take it for granted.
Show you are truly thankful by working with God
to be all that you can be,
to the glory of God's name.

Amen.

The Reverend Adrian J. Pratt B.D.