May 12, 2024 1 John 5:9–15 Series B
Alleluia! Christ is Risen!
He is risen indeed! Alleluia!
Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God, our Father, and our Lord and Savior JEsus Christ, who loves you with his very life. Amen. If you were to leave final words of advice, final words of wisdom for those you care about most, what would you say? When you look back at your life and all the lessons that you have learned, all the experiences that you have had, what do you think is important enough to pass down for future generations?
I picture this question like some old guy sitting on a rocking chair on his front porch. Like, gather round children and hear the tales of the days before. This isn’t a secret, but one day I hope to grow up to be a cantankerous old coot. Just some crazy old guy on the porch rambling at people as they walk by. I don’t know, it seems relaxing to me. I can just picture myself saying things like, kids these days and their loud music. And i don’t understand how whatever works. But my absolute favorite, there are two kinds of people in this world, those who can infer conclusions from incomplete data and….
So when I was thinking about this lesson from 1st john today, this is the picture i have in mind. Here we have John, the beloved disciple, the only disciples to not die a horribly gruesome death. He’s living there in house arrest, in exile, and he’s on the porch writing a letter considering all the lessons that he has learned, looking back at his life and thinking, this is what the people need to know.
So he writes stuff down. He writes the gospel of John. The gospel of John serves to fill in details which the synoptics don't include. John wrote it because he wanted us to know more details about JEsus. And the gospel of John is absolutely beautiful. It’s so simple to read yet so deep in meaning at the same time. And many of our favorite passages from scripture come from John’s gospel. Things like John 3:16 or the great I AM statements. I am the way the truth and the life. I am the good shepherd. I am the vine. I am the door. And many more just, excellent teachings.
And John an really turn a phrase and cause you to think in more, spiritual terms, looking past the physical world into the spiritual reality that surrounds us. Like the book of revelation, showing us the spiritual reality of the sin we experience in the world.
But being able to turn a phrase is not always the best way to leave a legacy. Saying something ambiguous can cause all kinds of problems. Legal wills try to take away some of this ambiguity, but even then lawyers get involved and something so simple, give my stuff to my kids, becomes so complex.
And John knows this. So picture in your mind’s eye the apostle JOhn, the last of the twelve, sitting there on his porch drinking his iced tea, or whatever old people drink, and he finally knows what to say, the words he wants you to remember, in plain English, in black and white. “There are two kinds of people in this world, those who have faith in Jesus and those that don’t. Those that do go to heaven, and those that don’t, don’t.” That’s the message. Or in his words, from our text this morning, “12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.”
And he’s right. That’s what it boils down to. The message of the Scriptures really is that simple. You either believe in Jesus Christ for salvation or you don’t. Not really any middle ground there. And this message is both terrifying and comforting.
It’s scary because all of us know someone who doesn’t believe in Jesus Christ. All of us know someone, care about someone who doesn’t trust in Jesus for salvation. And we don’t like to think about what that means. We would rather say things like, “well, they are a pretty good person.” or other things like it. We try to soothe our consciences with the same salvation by works that we know is false and doesn’t apply to us. Right? We know the truth.
The truth is there are no good people. There is no person who can be good enough to earn for themselves salvation. Not a friend, not a family member, not a coworker. Not you. And certainly not me.
And that’s where the good news of this statement comes into play. You have Jesus or you don’t. And that’s it. That’s the test of salvation. Do you trust Jesus? It’s not did you give enough alms to the poor? Did you say enough prayers? Did you do enough penance? Did you give up enough of your stuff? And while those things are certainly good things to do, and things that God wants us to do, we aren’t saved by them.
You are saved by Jesus Christ. Period. Full Stop. That’s it. That’s how you are saved. And that’s what unites all of us to be here today. Salvation found in Jesus Christ. We are many people, from all kinds of different backgrounds. We have different political beliefs, different family histories, different life experiences. But we are all united under one banner, under one Lord. We are united as one family in Jesus Christ.
One of the things that I have noticed when I visit the elderly and those who are near death, is the simple faith in Jesus that they have. When alsheimers and dementia run their course, I am amazed at how faith is able to express itself. I hear it in the Lord’s prayer. Even though people struggle to remember their own names, they know who Jesus is. I hear it in songs that are still hummed and sung, songs like, “Jesus loves me this I know.” And “I am Jesus Little Lamb.”
The witness of those who have faith in Jesus is incredible. The simple faith of Jesus is my Lord, my Savior. He died on the cross and rose again for my sins. What good news. What a comforting message.
When you grow up, I suppose as you grow up, and you look back at your life. Some of us have more to look back on than others, to be sure. What message, what lesson would you like to leave with those who come after you? With the next generations? Not something big and challenging to remember, but rather the simplicity of the Gospel. The beauty of the message, “Jesus Christ died for me, that I might live with him.”
May God continue to use us to proclaim this message until he returns in glory. Amen.
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