Category: 1 John (Page 1 of 7)

The First Thing First

My two grandsons are in there! The boys!

Valerie is 22 weeks in, due in mid-July, and she looks straight-up amazing!

Let the record show that my NCAA tournament bracket is weak this year. So weak. For the first time in my life, I am going with all four number one seeds in the Final Four–Auburn, Duke, Houston, and Florida–with Cougar High beating Auburn for the championship, because I don’t know what else to do. I have no hopes of being competitive in our church bracket. I have picked Texas A&M and Texas Tech to make it to the Sweet Sixteen and I have picked Texas to lose their opener. I’m picking against the ‘Horns on principle for the integrity of a non-gimmicked 64-team bracket. And because they stink.

More importantly, we are eight days away from Opening Day.

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We Christians who talk about love all the time and claim to belong to a God of love and to follow a Messiah of love don’t always love so well. So, people have a hard time believing in our God and Messiah.

But love is the main thing. It’s the number one thing. Love is the most important thing. Our Lord Jesus tells us in unambiguous terms, over and over again, that loving others is the primary commandment. It comes first. For disciples of Christ, nothing else ever comes before love. All other Christian commands and obligations come somewhere after the first priority to love.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 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 an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” ~1 John 4:7-12

Since our salvation is delivered by love, since the Church is born out of love, since we exist as a people of God only by the love of God, then our very reason for living is to embody that same love among ourselves and in God’s world.

Here’s the hard truth: If you’re not a loving person, you don’t know God. If you’re not showing love to others, you haven’t truly understood God’s love for yourself.

Nobody in the world will listen to you talk about God if they experience you as an unloving person. You’ve got no credibility. It’s obvious you don’t know who you’re talking about.

If you’re a salesperson at Rogers Ford, it’s probably best that you don’t drive a Chevy around town. They don’t get the president of PETA to run the membership drive for the NRA. And you’re never going to influence anybody for Christ if you’re not a loving person. You’ll drive people away.

The Church is fractured and our witness to the world is compromised because we keep getting this one thing out of order. Instead of loving first, we judge first. Instead of loving first, we condemn first. We yell first. We complain first. We insult first. We forward the email and repost the post first. And then love might or might not come somewhere after that. It’s out of order.

We discern socio-economic boundaries first, we put racial differences first, and then we decide when and how to show love.

We prioritize politicians and parties and partisan platforms first, and then we figure out who and how and if we’re going to love. It’s backwards!

We want to investigate someone’s criminal history first, we want to question someone’s immigration status first, or categorize someone according to their outward appearance first, and then we think about where and how and if we’ll show love. That’s the wrong order!

Yes, there are difficult passages in the Bible that have to be figured out and there are some verses that need careful discernment and there are parts of Scripture with which followers of Jesus can legitimately disagree. But the command to love as the most important command and the primary command that outweighs all other commands is not one of them!

This is a critical time in our Lord’s Church. Theologians and historians and sociologists have been telling us for more than 40 years that we are going through the greatest transition in the last 500 years of Church history. And what you do matters. It matters to you and to your family, it matters to your friends and your city and the country in which you live, and to the whole world.

Anger is acceptable in our culture, but that’s not who you are. Discord and division are society’s tools, but not yours. The culture encourages you to take care of yourself first, but that’s a non-starter for Christians. Asserting myself and my rights and my personality is not my priority as a follower of Jesus. We do not go along with the world on that. We don’t say, “Well, that’s just the way the world is” or “That’s just how things work and how things get done.” To somehow justify not loving people–no matter the reason–is to squash our creativity and insult God’s grace and ignore the command of Christ.

Our Christian faith and our Christian beliefs and our Christian experience with the love of God compels us to move toward all people and embrace all people, whether they step toward you or not. That’s not the point. The point is moving toward people in love the way God in Christ moved toward you. In love.

Peace,

Allan

See the Light. Be the Light.

John the Baptist is sitting in a jail cell. He’s sitting in darkness. He sends word to Jesus. “How do we know you’re the one? Are you really the answer to all our prayers, or do we need to keep looking?”

Jesus says, “Keep looking for what? It’s right in front of you!”

“Go back and report to John what you hear and see. The blind receive sight, the lame walk, those who have leprosy are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is preached to the poor!” ~Matthew 11:4-5

You and I can see the Kingdom of God being ushered in by Jesus. The Christ is born in the city of David and hurting people are comforted. Distressed people are encouraged. Everywhere Jesus goes, hopeless people are filled with hope. Prisoners are released and captives are given their freedom. Jesus walks in and sick people are made well, sinful people are forgiven. Jesus shows up and the devil’s grip on God’s people is broken forever. You can see Jesus bringing in the promised Kingdom of God!

And we walk in his light. By his life, death, and resurrection, by his obedience and faithfulness, his perfection is our perfection. His holiness, righteousness, and redemption is ours. His eternal life is your eternal life. His love is lavished on you. His peace embraces you. Christ’s Spirit lives in you, his power works for you, and his victory belongs to you! We walk in that light! Your church lives and worships and serves together in that light!

“The truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.” ~1 John 2:8

We’re like Stonehenge. All of us, all our churches, we catch this light of Christ. We catch these beams of light from the Lord of Life and we reflect that light, we proclaim it, we project it, and we share it with everybody. We preach it, we embody it, we live it. So everybody in town knows that your church is the place and the people where your yoke can be shattered and the rod of your oppression can be broken forever by the brightest of lights that gives life to all people!

You can see the Kingdom of God. It’s visible right now in and among all us who claim to follow Jesus as Lord. When we decide to also be the Kingdom of God, well, now we’re on to something.

Peace,

Allan

Our Only King

“The devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written, ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.'” ~ Matthew 4:8-10

It’s election season in the United States–tomorrow is Super Tuesday here in Texas–and a whole lot of Christians are losing their minds. And their hearts. And maybe more. I appeal to all followers of Jesus everywhere to remember that we already have a King, he has already come and defeated all our enemies, and he is reigning in all power and glory at the right hand of God. Not only is Christ Jesus our King, but he is our only King. We only have one. And he has made it unmistakably clear how we are to behave. If we act in ways he never acted, if we say things he never said, if we seek power when he never did, if we fight for perceived rights while he willingly laid his down–he’s not really our King. Not really.

“This is how we know we are in him: Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” ~ 1 John 2:6

I see Christians struggling mightily against flesh and blood, their eyes fixed on the here and now, desperate for worldly power so they can rule an earthly kingdom. I see Christian churches hosting political rallies and selling t-shirts in the lobby proclaiming, “Let’s go, Brandon,” the well-known euphemism for a vulgar and violent profanity aimed at the sitting President.

You know, the same President the Bible tells us to honor. And respect.

Most Christians I know would never stand for that kind of vulgarity to be displayed inside their homes, shared around their workplace, or shouted at a ballgame. But increasingly more Christians are just fine with spewing and promoting and wearing that kind of filth in the context of national politics. To get their guy elected, to get their platforms approved and their laws passed, lots of Christians are using decidedly un-Christian tactics. And they are openly eschewing the ethics of our King Jesus. I used to worry when it was subtle and under the table. Today, though, Christians and Christian leaders are publicly declaring they don’t believe in Jesus or his Way.

The pastor of the biggest Southern Baptist Church in Texas says, “I don’t want somebody who’s going to turn the other cheek. I want the meanest SOB I can find to protect this nation.” In other words, I don’t want Jesus. Salvation for this country has got to come from someone else. And Christians are applauding. If it’s about national politics and “saving” the nation, they’re happy to compartmentalize their discipleship, to fight and cheat, to insult and lie, oblivious to or apathetic toward the obvious hypocrisy that is destroying our Christian witness to the world.

“My Kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight.” ~ John 18:36

It’s not that we don’t know the Scriptures–of course, we do! It’s not that we’re ignorant of who Jesus is and what he came to do and how he came to do it. We all know he came not to condemn the world, but so the world would be saved through him. And we know he did it with love and sacrifice and service, he did it with forgiveness and mercy and peace. Why are the ways of Christ Jesus adequate for destroying the powers of sin and death and Satan for all eternity, but they are not enough to protect us from political opponents?

Christian brothers and sisters, let us all reflect carefully and prayerfully about the ways we are representing our Lord during this election season and what we are communicating about Christianity to a watching world. Many of our loves are disordered. Many of our priorities are misplaced. These things shape us. These actions carry far-reaching consequences. We already have a King. And he has already shown us his Way.

As the ancient baptismal confession states, let us renounce the ways of the world and of the devil, and embrace the Way of our Lord Jesus.

Peace,

Allan

The Other Question

Charles Sheldon wrote a book in 1896 entitled, “In His Steps: What Would Jesus Do?” The book proved to be very popular and was widely read. It questioned the thought processes and actions of Christians as they lived their lives at the turn of that century. Now, 128 years later, we express that same wonder in T-shirts and bracelets and bumper stickers:

What Would Jesus Do?

It’s a good question. But if another question isn’t given equal billing alongside it, we wind up with answers that are only half true. As we walk, we must also ask:

What Is God Doing?

Jesus tells us and shows us what to do and how to do it–and how not to do it. At the same time, he tells us and shows us what God is doing.

Jesus is God in action. Jesus is God incarnate. Jesus is God speaking. Jesus is God hugging lepers. Jesus is God forgiving sinners. Jesus is God protecting an adulterous woman who’s about to be killed. Jesus is God blessing little children. Jesus is God giving sight to Bartimaeus and giving life to Lazarus. Jesus is God calling down judgment on religious posturing. Jesus is God weeping over Jerusalem. Jesus is God living among us and showing us how to join him in living that life.

The other question reminds us that God’s Kingdom is present tense, God’s eternal will is unfolding around us in the present, God’s love and mercy, his forgiveness and grace are being poured out presently. In and through his Son Jesus. And in and through his children and followers of Christ.

What would Jesus do? What is God doing? What would we do? What am I doing?

“Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.” ~ 1 John 2:6

Peace,

Allan

Love at Advent

This Sunday is the fourth and final Sunday of the Advent season. This is the liturgy we are using at GCR to acknowledge the event and light the fourth candle, the candle representing love. Please use these readings and passages during this week to bolster your time with the Lord in Word and Prayer. Feel free to use this at your own church or small group this Sunday.

When the angel Gabriel visited Mary, announcing God’s plan for her to conceive and give birth to the Messiah, Mary said to the angel, “How can this be?” And yet, only a few months later, Mary sings praise to the Lord as she holds his salvation in her arms.

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
From now on all generations will call me blessed,
for the Mighty One has done great things for me–holy is his name!
His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.
~ Luke 1:46-50

We, like Mary, hear God’s call to participate in making God’s plan for our salvation a reality. We are gracious recipients of God’s gifts and his great love that transforms us into bearers of the Good News. As the apostle reminds us in 1 John 4:

“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 an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
~ 1 John 4:9-11

Congregation: We wait as people who have encountered our God’s divine love that disrupts the status quo and ushers us into abundant life, together, marked by mutual love and peace.

We light this candle as a reminder of the love of Christ that transforms us. May his love grow within us, changing us into bold proclaimers of God’s salvation with our voices and our lives. Amen.

Leading Lavishly

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!” ~1 John 3:1

Our God does not measure his love out to us. He doesn’t weigh it on scales or scoop it out with a spoon. He doesn’t give just enough of his love to get us by or just as much of his love as we might deserve. He floods us with his love. We have more of his love than we could ever ask for or imagine. That’s the one thing you can ask God to do that’s impossible: God, will you love me more? Nope. Can’t. Impossible. He lavishes us with his love. We are his children. That is what we are.

“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” ~Ephesians 1:7-8

Our Father lavishes us with his grace. We sing about it. God’s amazing grace. Matchless grace. God’s grace that reaches even me! God’s forgiveness is over the top. It’s not that you’re forgiven of some of your sins or most of your sins or all the little sins or every sin except that one sin. It’s not that you’re forgiven is you do this one thing or keep this set of rules or follow this particular creed. In Jesus Christ, every single one of your sins — all of ’em; name em! — are all gone forever! God’s forgiveness is total and complete! Your sins are removed from you as far as the east is from the west! They are all hurled to the bottom of the sea, never to be dredged up again! God doesn’t put your sins up on the top shelf in the corner of a dark closet just so he can pull them out again and hold them against you at the worst possible time. God’s grace is lavish and complete.

“I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” ~John 10:10

This is not an incidental or isolated remark from our Lord. This comes right between “I am the gate” and “I am the good shepherd.” Jesus is our doorway to salvation and the shepherd who lays down his life for his sheep. And in the middle is the key contrast between his purpose and mission and that of the thieves and robbers: They come to take, Jesus comes to give. They seek destruction, Jesus seeks abundance.

From the fullness of his grace we have all  received one blessing after another. God gives the Spirit without limit. The water he gives will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life. Rivers of living water for all to drink. You will bear much fruit and your joy will be made complete. You will  do greater works than me. The Gospels are full of Jesus’ lavish life-giving abundance. If we wrote them all down, all the books in the world wouldn’t hold them!

The apostle Peter says we shepherd like our Chief Shepherd. We treat those in our flocks the same way Jesus does. With lavish love. With limitless grace. With inexhaustible forgiveness. With unmerited favor. We give everybody in our church life to the full.

Peace,

Allan

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