Raining Cats and Dogs

 

Raining Cats and Dogs

1 John 3.1-10

As we enter the third chapter of John's letter, I was thinking about how much we have covered already and here comes some more. It never stops. The Bible is an endless discourse of thought and explanation of the Christian life. That's what it might feel like when it seems to endless rain outside. We have had our fair share and then some of the rain this summer in Ohio. I plan my sermon titles and worship information for several weeks ahead. At the time, I was wondering what it might be like if it actually rained when I put that sermon title on for August 28. Then, this past week I noticed the forecast and thought "What if it doesn't rain?" Oh well, The inspiration of the message can still work. I had thought about including "There Will Be Showers of Blessings" in our hymns today, but that kind of silly when its not raining out there. We have much to cover today as we are in another spot where John's thoughts from the previous chapter seem to carry into the next. 

Ocean of Love

The subject of Love is front and center as we enter the third chapter. I often will encourage people who want to get married to read the book "The 5 Love Languages" by Dr Gary Chapman. Inside we find a good explanation of what it means to actually love someone while learning the ways in which your spouse is actually speaking to you. Dr Chapman does an excellent work here showing us that people actually do "speak" a language of love in what they do and how they act. John is saying to us that God has lavished his Love on us. God speaks to us in modes of love. The sharing of his Son with the whole world is the ultimate expression of what it means to share Love. I tried to express the importance of understanding that our translation process from Greek and Hebrew might leave us with some gaps. It is actually an incredibly difficult process trying to move the thoughts and feelings of one language into another. A simple search on Google will show that there are multiple ways to express the language of Love in Hebrew or Greek. Where as, we have the word LOVE in English. You might find a site out there explaining that there are 8 different ways to express the phrase "I Love You" in Hebrew. I had learned in our Course of Study classes during Hebrew Bible that there were as many as 16 ways to use the word LOVE in Hebrew. While we simply have the word LOVE in our English language. I say all of this to convey the idea that we have much to learn about Love. It is not a simple matter. 

Just one simple verse from John's Gospel has so much to say to us.

God loves us so much that He would give up everything He had. Think about your own children. Would you make such a sacrifice on your own accord for the well being of everyone around you? Only one other person seems to have been asked in the biblical concourse. Abram is asked to give up Isaac in a moment of worship. He is willing. He doesn't understand the why or the what of the matter. He is simply willing to do what God asks in the moment. There is so much that the world doesn't understand concerning God's Love for us. That is why so many reject or don't want anything to do with this. If we could figure out a way to communicate that Love in ways the world could hear us and perceive the dire need for Jesus. it could make all the difference. Maybe we could do better in that area.

Clean It Up

How many Methodists actually have a grip on the matters of purification and sanctification? There numbers actually astoundingly low. I can recall being at my wife's home church of New Zion out on the western edge of Baltimore, OH. I was asked to lead the Adult Sunday School class one week and I took the opportunity to delve into the subject of sanctification. Upon asking all that were gathered if any of them had any idea what this word meant or had even heard it before, only one raised their hand and said they thought they had heard it - once. Sad. For a denomination who looks to a man like John Wesley as it's founding father it truly sad that more people do not truly grasp to need to understand this word. 

The Apostle John uses this moment speaking about Love to more right into the need for purifying ourselves from sin. Having spent time in two major denominations - the Church of the Nazarene and the United Methodist Church, it is really decisive that we spend a moment here on the words surrounding this topic. What is sanctification? What does it mean to purify oneself from sin? At the heart of our human lives is truly the matter of authority. Who tells you what to do? Who has control of your life? If we are looking at it the subject from the standpoint of being a good American, then we want the government to butt out of our affairs and leave us alone. We want to stand on our own two feet and do our own thing our own way. Freedom is just exactly that. That is probably how most people would define it. However, in the Christian life, we are taught that we need to be dependent upon God. We need to lean on Him. Trust in Him. In this matter of sanctification, we find our purification from sin in the moment we turn our lives over to Him. We are here to follow the example of Jesus Christ. The Son turned his life over to the Father and followed His will. Our will, our decision making process, needs to be in God's hands. One thing we do early on is ask Jesus to come into our live. We ask him to forgive us for our sins. That's how this life begins. There is another step that needs to be taken. And, that is the matter of turning our lives over to Him. This matter of authority comes down to us giving God control of our hearts and lives. We find our way to purity when we give this sinful self over to someone who is Holy. God is Holy. And we need His authority to rule us and lead us so we make good decisions. That is how we live this life for Jesus. 

It Never Ends

Here it comes again as John comes back to the idea that there are those in the midst of their community who would teach something different. It's never going to go away. And it never has. As long as there are human being roaming the earth, there will always be those who do not listen to the message of forgiveness and sanctification in Jesus Christ. There will always be those who seek to teach something else that doesn't add up to following God in His Love expressed in the form of Jesus giving his life on the cross. It boggles the mind. And, yet, if we are honest about it; if we have truly entered into this life through the asking for Jesus to enter, then we know that there are two sides to this. We have to humble ourselves and comes to a place where we realize that we need this forgiveness.We have to take that next step and humble ourselves again as we turn this life over to Him. We need his authority over us. We need Him to lead us and guide us. 

John would straight up compare the matter of not following God is his holiness and righteousness to that of following in the ways of the devil. Here is some good resource material. Go to Google and type in "explaining the devil Christianity" and see what comes up. I really should come back and give this a whole message all to itself. Maybe we will do that. According to our historical sources, the devil rebelled a long time ago. He is present in the Garden during that opening moment. He uses the idea of knowledge and truth against the first human beings to get them to do what they want and rebel against God. 

How can we make sure that we are not following in those footsteps? How can we make sure we are walking with Jesus? Making sure that what we are doing is being done in Love is a good place to start. This week, take the time to slow things down in your mind. Put your actions and your words up next to the person of God and His Love. Let Him lead the way. Let God direct your thoughts. It might make all the difference.