Sir Isaac Newton's third law of motion states simply that, “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.”  When you walk, your foot pushes backward on the ground (action), and the ground pushes forward on your foot (reaction), moving you forward.  In our exploration of Jesus’ parable in the fourth chapter of Mark, we will find that, like Newton’s law of motion, everyone reacted to Jesus.  And everyone still reacts to Jesus today.  But Jesus’ parable teaches us that every reaction to Him is not the same. Understanding the differences in reactions is key to our faith journey.  Many New Testament scholars consider this parable of Jesus to be the parable that unlocks the understanding of all other parables and teachings of Jesus. If the scholars are correct, and I believe they are, how then have you and I reacted to Jesus, and how do we understand this key among all the parables?  Let’s listen to Jesus today as though it were our first time hearing His words.

            Mark set the scene for Jesus’ teaching in this way.  “1 Again, Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he [Jesus] got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water’s edge. 2 He [Jesus] taught them many things by parables” (Mark 4:1-2b).  Mark’s gospel is primarily about Jesus’ actions.  Today was different.  Today was about Jesus’ teaching.  Today, Mark focused on what Jesus said, not what Jesus did.  Jesus was in Galilee, along the Sea of Galilee, which Mark referred to as a lake.  Jesus had been ministering to the public with miracles and preaching for about a year. Jesus’ primary message never changed, even if his delivery at times differed.  The message was “15 The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  On this occasion, the crowd of people along the lake’s shore swelled so much that Jesus was forced to get into a boat, move offshore a little, so that he could be heard and seen by all.  Who was in this crowd?  There were the Twelve apostles of Jesus and disciples of Jesus, as well as religious leaders, and people who were fascinated by the miracles Jesus performed. Those comprising the crowd were very different in terms of their family histories, occupations, ambitions, talents, and reasons for being along the lake shore that day.  And yet they were all the same in one regard.  Everyone there had reacted in some way to Jesus. Everyone reacts to Jesus.  They did then, and they do so today.  Mark said Jesus taught this crowd with parables. From those parables, Mark was inspired by the Holy Spirit to share in detail one concerning a man sowing seeds.

            Jesus began his teaching with a single word, “Listen!”  In Greek, the word is akouō, ἀκούω, ak-oo'-o. As we move through this Chapter, we find that Jesus used the word akouō fourteen times.  We miss that repetition in the English translations because akouō was not always translated into English as “Listen!”  But fourteen times in this chapter, Jesus challenged the crowd to “Listen!”  There was an urgency in Jesus’ words because Jesus’ message never wavered: “The time has come!  Listen! Don’t miss it!”

            Jesus said, 3 “Listen! [akouō] A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants, so that they did not bear grain. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil. It came up, grew and produced a crop, some multiplying thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times.”  9 Then Jesus said, “Whoever has ears to hear, let them hear.”  That last sentence is most important because in the Greek, it would be “καὶ ἔλεγεν αὐτοῖς Ὃ ἔχων ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκούειν (kai legō autos ho echō ous akouō akouō).  We might say it this way, “Whoever has ears, listen, listen!”  This is a type of literary sandwich we discussed last month, found in the Bible, in which words, phrases, or sentences are repeated as a top and bottom layer to something essential in the middle.  Jesus considered this parable essential, beginning with "listen" (akouō) and ending with "listen" (akouō).

            What did the crowd learn here through this parable?  Most learned nothing from the parable because they only heard the parable as a story about sowing seeds in Israel.  The crowd would have understood already that a seed cast upon the hardened pathway would not sprout and be eaten by birds.  They would have understood that a seed cast on the thin layer of soil covering bedrock would sprout but wither from lack of moisture. They would have understood that a seed cast among thorns would sprout but be choked out by the weedy plants. They would have understood that a seed was expected to produce 30 times its kind.  A seed that produces sixty times itself would have caught their attention as unusual.  A seed producing 100 times itself would have puzzled them and would be nothing other than miraculous.  However, most of the crowd, despite hearing Jesus' words, did not understand them. Why?  Because they were unwilling to listen.

            But. There is always a but.  But, Mark wrote, “10 When he [Jesus] was alone, the Twelve and the others around him [Jesus] asked him [Jesus] about the parables. 11 He [Jesus] told them [the Twelve and the other disciples], ‘The secret of the kingdom of God has been given to you. But to those on the outside [the rest of the crowd] everything is said in parables (meaning here, riddles) 12 so that, “‘they may be ever seeing but never perceiving, and ever hearing but never understanding; otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!’” (Mark 4:10-12; Isaiah 6:9-10).  To those who listened, Jesus taught in parables, but to those who only wanted to hear those same parables would be unsolvable riddles. Why?  Because, as Jesus quoted Isaiah, “They might turn and be forgiven!” Does this mean Jesus did not want the crowd to be saved?  No, not at all.  Jesus, quoting from Isaiah, was using irony by saying the last thing on the minds of the people hearing these words of God is the idea that they would want to turn and be forgiven.  Heaven forbid that should happen.  What does it mean to turn and be forgiven?  We sum that action up into a single word: repentance.  To repent is to turn from your ways and follow God’s ways. The last thing the crowd wanted to do was to give up their ways and follow God.  Yet, the central message of Jesus was, “The time has come.  Repent (turn and be forgiven) and receive the good news” (Mark 1:15).  The difference then between the crowd and those in Jesus’ company now was the spirit of repentance.  When someone repents, they move from a hearer of God’s Word who finds it a riddle to one who listens and enters into the kingdom of God.  This is why atheists reject the Word of God.  They can only hear it but cannot understand it because they refuse to listen.  They refuse to listen because they refuse to repent.  If you know someone who rejects God’s word, ask them if they feel a need to repent.  They will tell you, they don’t.

            How then did the Twelve and the other disciples come to understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God?  They did so by listening to Jesus’ reply to the question about the parable of the man sowing seed.  In response, Jesus said, “13  ‘Don’t you understand this parable? [If you do not understand this parable,] How then will you understand any parable?’” (Mark 4:13). Jesus’ words strongly suggest that this parable and Jesus’ explanation of it are key to understanding all the parables.  Here is what Jesus had to say.

            “14 The farmer sows the word” (Mark 4:14).  The farmer is anyone who spreads the word, the word of God. In this immediate setting, the farmer represents Jesus, who came to share the good news.  “14 The farmer sows the word.  15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them” (Mark 4:14-15). Jesus said, 'Some receive the word of God, some I have spoken to have received the word of God, but they react to it by rejecting it, just like hardened soil rejects the seed.'  Satan is at the heart of the rejection and has, in his way, corrupted their thinking and stolen the word from them.  We might recall that when we spoke from Chapter 3 of Mark a few weeks ago, the religious leaders accused Jesus of being Satan, Beelzebub.  Jesus warned the religious leaders that “whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:29). In the parable, Jesus was making the point that the religious leaders and their followers of the crowd were being devoured by Satan, like birds would do to seed cast upon the hardened path.

            Jesus continued, “16 Others, like seed sown on rocky places, hear the word and at once receive it with joy. 17 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away” (Mark 4:16-17).  Among the crowd were those who followed Jesus because of the excitement of the healing miracles and the multiplying of loaves and fish.  These were thrilling events that generated enormous interest, yes, even joy, but when they heard what it meant to be a disciple of Jesus, these people withered, like seed scattered in the thin soil over bedrock, and went home.  Some in the crowd along the shore that day were there just for the excitement and free stuff.

            Jesus addressed yet another group for whom the parable was but a riddle. Jesus said, “18 Still others, like seed sown among thorns, hear the word; 19 but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth, and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful” (Mark 4:18-19). We see this group exemplified by the rich young ruler who approached Jesus.  “Good teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” (Mark 10:17b).  The rich man had kept the commandments.  Jesus said to him, “‘One thing you lack,’ he [Jesus] said. ‘Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.’  22 At this, the man’s face fell. He went away sad because he had great wealth” (Mark 10:21-22).  Some who heard the parable of the Sower that day had other gods before the Lord, namely wealth and worry, and those gods were choking their spiritual life.

            Let’s pause here for just a moment.  One of the things we will discuss in more detail in the weeks ahead is that Mark tends to present his gospel in patterns of three.  Here we have seen the pattern of three displayed with three seeds that failed.  Three types of people from the crowd with whom Jesus spoke, whose reaction to his words, the Word of God, produced nothing.  The response of these people ended with them being either devoured, withered, or choked to death.  Why did they react the way they did to Jesus?  Because they failed to recognize that the time had come to repent and turn to God. Thus, they would be devoured, withered, or choked.  In short, they would experience spiritual and eternal death.  This was Jesus speaking about the judgment that awaits the unbeliever.

            Mark wrote that Jesus then turned his attention to the other three seeds of the parable.  Jesus said, “Others, like seed sown on good soil, hear the word, accept it, and produce a crop—some thirty, some sixty, some a hundred times what was sown” (Mark 4:20).  Jesus was speaking here about disciples of Jesus in general.  He said that some of those who hear the word and accept it will produce thirty times over.  They will become good and pleasing to the Lord, producing what God would ask of them. A second group of disciples, a second seed, will produce an astounding doubling of what God would ask of them, a sixty-fold yield, if you will.  The third group, a third seed, will overwhelmingly be productive for the kingdom, producing, if you will, a hundred-fold yield.  In short, those who repent and receive the good news will experience life to the fullest and produce life for and within the kingdom to varying degrees, from the expected to the overwhelming.  This parable illustrates that repentance and acceptance of God's word, as well as rejection of God’s word, are about making life-or-death decisions.

            Jesus then added these words to the Twelve and other disciples, “21 ‘Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand? 22 For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open. 23 If anyone has ears to hear, let them hear’” (Mark 4:21-23). The last line again in Greek being, “εἴ τις αὐτοῖς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκούειν (ei tis echō ous akouō akouō). “If anyone has ears, listen! Listen!” Again, drawing emphasis to the importance of what he said.

            What, then, do we take from Jesus’ parable and teaching?  There are three things for us to consider today.

            First, Jesus came with an open invitation, “The time has come!  Repent and receive the good news!” (Mark 1:15). This is the Word of God.  This is the Word of God that Jesus cast far and wide as he began his public ministry, as a Sower would do with seed.  All were invited to listen to the word, but some heard and some listened.  Jesus’ invitation still stands today.  We can now be Sowers of that seed, the Word of God.

            Second, everyone reacts to Jesus’ invitation.  Some will hear the invitation and reject the Word; they will refuse to repent.  Why? Because Satan has a hold over them. They will never listen to the word of God and will be devoured.  Others will appear to receive the Word of God and bloom for a short time.  But when difficulties come, they will claim God failed them or that God is a myth.  These people will die spiritually, not by being devoured but by withering.  A third group will appear interested in the Word of God but will not genuinely give their lives to Him because they have already pledged their lives to money or self-absorption, consumed by personal worries. Those concerns, the false gods of money and worry, will choke them to death.  The reality is that some people will only hear the word of God and not be saved.

            Finally, the good news of great joy is that those who do listen to the Word of God, who repent, who turn to Christ, will be saved.  Those who are saved will receive life, and their lives will produce fruit for the kingdom of God.  All of this will not be the result of personal effort but through the grace of God, a gift already prepared and awaiting those who believe and follow Jesus. If we understand all of this, we will understand the mysteries of the kingdom of God, and the parables will be joyful teachings because we will understand them.

            This all leaves us with some questions each of us must answer.  We should ask ourselves, “What is my reaction to God’s Word?  Have I listened, repented, and received what God has for me, or have I only heard God’s word?  Have I rejected God’s word and understand that in doing so, I will be spiritually devoured, withered, or choked?”

The time has come for each of us to repent and receive the good news of God's grace.  As Jesus said, “εἴ τις αὐτοῖς ἔχει ὦτα ἀκούειν ἀκούειν (ei tis echō ous akouō akouō).  “If anyone has ears, listen! Listen!”  Amen and Amen.

            As I did last week, I want to start this week in an unusual spot.  I'd like us to consider the wonderful food item known as the sandwich.  Many credit John Montagu, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, for creating the modern-day sandwich.  The legend is that in 1762, the Earl requested that meat be placed between two slices of bread to eat while he was gambling.  Other origins of the humble sandwich go back to the times of Jesus. Historians speak of the Hillel sandwich. It was a symbolic dish eaten during the Passover Seder, combining matzah (unleavened bread), maror (bitter herbs), and charoset (a sweet paste of fruit and nuts). It commemorates the way Hillel the Elder, a prominent Jewish leader, combined these elements during the time of the Second Temple. The sandwich represents the duality of Jewish history – the bitterness of slavery and the sweetness of freedom.  Whatever the sandwich's origin, what is notable about a sandwich is that the top and bottom layers hold the main ingredients together.  The principal focus of the sandwich is not the top or bottom layer, but the filling between them.

            I wanted to speak about the humble sandwich because, in the Bible, we find many references to sandwiches.  We see a top and bottom layer to a story, bringing focus to the substance in between.  And today, in our look at our reading from the Gospel of Mark, we find a sandwich with a parable nestled between the top and bottom layers.  Let’s look at what Mark wanted his readers to pay particular attention to.

            We begin with Mark, Chapter 3.  Here, we find that Jesus had taken his disciples away from the crowds and to a mountainside.  There, Jesus called twelve disciples to be his apostles.  “16 These are the twelve he appointed: Simon (to whom he gave the name Peter), 17 James son of Zebedee and his brother John (to them he gave the name Boanerges, which means “sons of thunder”), 18 Andrew, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Thaddaeus, Simon the Zealot 19 and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him” (Mark 3:16-19).  The mountainside gathering was an intimate moment for Jesus and the Twelve.

            We next find that Jesus and the Twelve were no longer on the mountainside but were in someone’s house.  “20 Then Jesus entered a house, and again a crowd gathered, so that he and his disciples were not even able to eat” (Mark 3:20).  Mark shifts between scenes quickly.  Mark moved us from seeing Jesus and his apostles in an intimate reflective scene on a mountainside to them being in a house crowded with people.  The house was so crowded and lacking intimacy that no food was offered.  The abrupt changes signaled that Mark wanted to catch people’s attention to an upcoming significant moment.

            The moment Mark was building toward gathered momentum with the introduction of the top layer of the literary sandwich.  Mark wrote, “21 When his [Jesus’] family heard about this, they went to take charge of him [Jesus], for they said, ‘He [Jesus] is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:21).  Mark interrupted the story of Jesus inside this crowded home to tell his readers that Jesus’ family was on their way to take charge of him believing that Jesus was no longer sane.  The Greek for “take charge” means “to lay hands on someone to get him under your power.”  It means to physically subdue a person.  It seemed that Jesus’ family thought that Jesus was insane, going around the countryside shouting, “Repent and believe in the good news,” healing people on the Sabbath, challenging the religious authorities, and now appointing apostles. Only a madman or the Son of God would do that.  The family chose to believe Jesus was mad.  We will see later that the family discussion will reappear at the end of the story as the second layer to the literary sandwich.

            Immediately after interrupting the story of Jesus inside the house to tell his readers about Jesus’ family, believing Jesus was mad, Mark interrupted the story a second time with news about religious leaders who descended upon the house.  Mark wrote, “22 And the teachers of the law who came down from Jerusalem said, ‘He [Jesus] is possessed by Beelzebul! By the prince of demons he [Jesus] is driving out demons’” (Mark 3:22).  The religious group viewed the cause of Jesus’ behavior differently than did Jesus’ family.  The religious group did not believe Jesus was insane; they thought Jesus was possessed, even being the devil himself.  The religious leaders understood Jesus was no ordinary person. Jesus had power.  They saw Jesus cast out demons and realized that doing so required supernatural authority.  However, the religious leaders thought only the devil or the Son of God would do and say what Jesus did.  The religious leaders chose to believe Jesus was the devil.

            At this point, Mark’s interruptions of the story about Jesus in the house were over.  With the stage set, Mark wrote, “23 So Jesus called them [the religious leaders] over to him and began to speak to them in parables” (Mark 3:23).  Again, a parable is a story, much like a joke, that plays on at least two levels with the surprise ending adding the key teaching about God, much like a punchline brings laughter to the joke.

            Jesus said, “How can Satan drive out Satan? 24 If a kingdom is divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. 25 If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand. 26 And if Satan opposes himself and is divided, he cannot stand; his end has come” (Mark 3:23b-26).  Mark added later that Jesus spoke this way to the religious leaders in the presence of his apostles because, “30 Because they [the religious leaders] were saying, “He [Jesus] has an impure spirit” (Mark 3:30). Jesus began the parable with the things of mankind that everyone could understand.  A house divided against itself is doomed.  As such, if Jesus were Satan, the one thing Jesus, if Satan, would not do would be to attack demons, as doing so would be an act of self-destruction.  People could understand Jesus’ example.  Jesus' point to the religious leaders was that their beliefs about Jesus lacked common sense.  Therefore, logically, Jesus cannot be Satan or otherwise possessed by an impure spirit going about doing things against his interests, essentially destroying himself. They should be looking for another source for Jesus’ authority.

            Jesus then offered an alternative perspective of what the religious leaders had witnessed.  Jesus said, “27 In fact, no one can enter a strong man’s house without first tying him up. Then he can plunder the strong man’s house” (Mark 3:27).  This part of the parable plays on two levels.  First, people could understand that if you wanted to control a man’s house, you needed to physically bind the owner.  This language was much like that describing what Jesus’ family intended to do to him, bind him, or take physical control of him, so that they could do with him whatever they wanted.  People had no difficulty understanding Jesus’ words that binding a strong man was a necessary first step to taking over what that man controlled.

            The religious leaders likely missed the spiritual dimension of this part of the parable. The spiritual dimension was that Jesus, in performing exorcisms, was binding Satan. Jesus was, in fact, a stronger man than Satan.  Such strength could only come from one source: God.

Mark had previously recorded that John the Baptist foresaw Jesus' strength and power. John had said, “7 After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie. 8 I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit” (Mark 3:7).  Jesus, the stronger, the one with the Holy Spirit, came into Satan's domain and rolled back Satan’s influence, making it clear that Satan’s end would happen. This view was the one Jesus desired his followers to see unfolding before them.  Jesus wanted his followers to know that he was the Son of God, the Messiah, and that he was neither insane nor Satan. Instead, Jesus was a conqueror from the kingdom of God who had the power to bring an end to the kingdom of Satan.  It was doubtful the religious leaders understood this part of Jesus’ parable.

            Speaking further about accepting Jesus as the Son of God, the Messiah, Jesus taught those with ears to hear must know two critical things about God.  First was the good news message.  Jesus said, “28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins” (Mark 3:28). Let’s hear that again, “28 Truly I tell you, people can be forgiven all their sins.”  The Son of God was teaching that God will forgive and wipe out of existence any sin ever committed, no matter how bad or ugly the behavior.  Jesus’ words were another way of showing God’s power over the kingdom of Satan, the accuser.  With the forgiveness of all sin, Satan would be made powerless.  Jesus’ revelation here also made Jesus’ initial message more powerful.  Jesus said, “Repent and believe in the good news.”  Knowing that your sins can be forgiven gives rise to a sense of joy and hope. But Jesus added a second teaching about God with these words.  “People can be forgiven all their sins and every slander they utter, 29 but whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; they are guilty of an eternal sin” (Mark 3:28b-29). God will forgive every sin and slander, but God will not forgive those who claim that the Holy Spirit of God is unclean or is of Satan.  Jesus’ words were a direct warning to the religious leaders that to say He was doing the work of Satan would be a total perversion of the truth, a rejection of God, and would be unforgivable.  The religious leaders had placed themselves outside of God’s grace, and there they would remain for eternity.  As we make our way through the gospels, we find that the stance of the religious leaders against Jesus never changed and would eventually cause the religious leaders to bring about Jesus’ crucifixion.

To slander God as the religious leaders had done and give credit to Satan for the things of God resulted in their eternal death.  Jesus’ words were most sobering.

            Mark then interrupted the story of Jesus within the house with these words, “31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside [the house], they [Jesus’ family] sent someone in to call him [Jesus]” (Mark 3:31).  This is the bottom layer of the sandwich.  To remember, the top layer of the sandwich was in verse 21, “21 When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, 'He is out of his mind’” (Mark 3:21).  The coming of Jesus’ family and the arrival of Jesus’ family creates a literary sandwich bringing great emphasis unto the spiritual teaching bound between the two layers.

            What should we take away from Mark's sandwich-style parable of Jesus? I think there are three things for us to contemplate today.

            First, denying Jesus is the first step to eternal death.  Mark stated the simple truth of Jesus in Chapter 1, verse 1, “The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1). When people begin to deny Jesus as the Messiah or deny Jesus as the Son of God, they are starting their walk down the unforgiveable path.  It is just that simple.

Moreover, any church that calls itself a progressive Christian church is in danger. That church has left the path of Christ and is on the unforgivable path that leads to eternal death.  I say this because progressive Christian churches deny the supernatural presence of Christ and/or Jesus’ standing as the Son of God. There is a paper-thin line between denying Christ or altering Scripture to make Christ who you want Him to be, and blaspheming the Holy Spirit.  It should come as no surprise that the progressive church scholars believe Jesus never said, “Whoever blasphemes against the holy spirit is never forgiven, but is guilty of an eternal sin” (The Five Gospels).  Of course, they would have to say that to feel comfortable in their other alterations of the gospels and the New Testament.  We must exercise care in choosing only to belong to churches and Bible studies that accept the authority of Scripture.  Jesus taught the truth so that we would have life.  Jesus said, “Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  “Don’t be afraid; just believe” (Mark 5:36).  “Everything is possible for one who believes” (Mark 9:23).

            Second, we should be grateful to God for forgiving all our sins and slanders when we believe in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God. All means all.  It is hard to imagine a more profound difference between belief in Jesus, who forgives all sin and leads to eternal life, and the denial of Jesus, which leads to the unforgivable sin and eternal death.  That is the essence of the Biblical sandwich Mark created for us in Chapter 3.  God said to the people long ago, “I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life” (Deuteronomy 30:19b-20a).  If you have not publicly accepted Jesus and chosen life, do not delay.  If you have accepted Jesus but were not baptized as a public profession of your faith, do not delay.  Express your joy at being saved from sin.  Express your gratitude to God for extending forgiveness to you through Christ.  Choose life.

            Third and finally, Jesus revealed to his listeners, who now include us, that Satan’s doom is sure.  The parable made clear that the actions people witnessed as Jesus cast out demons were not those of a kingdom in conflict, a kingdom divided. Jesus’ casting out demons was evidence of a conflict between two kingdoms, in which the kingdom of God would ultimately prevail.  Satan, though powerful, was and remains no match for the power of Christ.  Satan loses every time in the battle between kingdoms, and it is not even close.  As the lyrics to “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God,” say: “And though this world, with devils filled, Should threaten to undo us, We will not fear, for God hath willed His truth to triumph through us: The Prince of Darkness grim, We tremble not for him; His rage we can endure, For lo! his doom is sure, One little word shall fell him.”  Satan’s doom is sure.

            Jesus brought the prophecies of Isaiah to life before the people.  Jesus said He had fulfilled the words of Isaiah, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners” (Isaiah 61:1). In Christ, we are freed from Satan. Praise God indeed.

            Therefore, let us choose the path of life, be freed from sin, and praise God for our salvation from darkness.  Amen and Amen. 

            Let’s start today with an unusual question. What is it that makes a joke a joke? What must a comedian keep in mind when putting together a good joke?  A joke is a pair of two stories or ideas. The joke makes the audience think it's about thing A, and the punchline reveals it's about thing B. It's the surprise ending of a joke that makes us laugh.  Now, it may come as a surprise that the composition of a comedian’s joke is like that of a well-known literary technique in the Bible called a parable. The parable makes the audience think it's about thing A, and the punchline, the surprise ending, reveals that the parable is about thing B. It's that surprise ending of the parable that teaches us about God.  Jesus taught his disciples in parables found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke. There are no parables in the Gospel of John, and none of the New Testament letters ever refer to a parable taught by Jesus.  The parables of Jesus are only found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke.

            The Gospel of Mark contains nine parables, and it is generally considered the first gospel circulated among the early church. Matthew’s gospel includes 21 parables, and Luke’s gospel contains 20 parables. It might sound like there are 50 parables of Jesus, but when you account for a parable appearing in more than one gospel, we find about 27 unique parables of Jesus provided across Matthew, Mark, and Luke.  I thought it might be profitable for us this summer to explore Jesus’ parables in Mark and understand what Jesus taught his disciples then and is teaching us now.

            As we open the Gospel of Mark, we find that Mark wanted his readers to immediately understand the entire point of the gospel in the first verse.  Mark wrote, “1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).  In English, that verse is 14 words.  In the original Greek, Mark made his point using just seven words: 1 Ἀρχὴ (The beginning) τοῦ (of the) εὐαγγελίου (good news) Ἰησοῦ (of Jesus) Χριστοῦ (Christ) [υἱοῦ θεοῦ]” (the Son of God). Before Mark described anything for his readers, he declared that the entire story was about the person of Jesus, the Messiah, who was the Son of God.  Mark would not make a good mystery writer.  However, Mark would tell the story of Jesus revealing his identity to some, namely his disciples, and concealing his identity to some, namely the Jewish religious leaders.  Jesus revealed himself through the parables he told, the miracles he performed, and the various figures of speech he used.  The methods Jesus used created confusion, misunderstandings, anger, and rejection among different groups of people.  These conflicting experiences gave rise to teaching because we only learn something when we are conflicted.  In these conflicted situations, Jesus took the things of men known to his audience and used them to teach those with ears to hear about the things of God.  Parables are always expressed in the context of at least two stories, one involving the things of men and the second involving and revealing the things of God.

            As we move from the first verse of Mark’s gospel, we find that Mark moved rapidly through some critical events.  First, John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the River Jordan.  John the Baptist preached, “Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him” (Mark 1:3).  John knew it was time for God’s chosen Messiah to come.  The people widely accepted John’s message, but not so by the religious leaders, namely the Pharisees.  Second, Jesus fasted and was tempted in the wilderness.  Third, John the Baptist was imprisoned.  Fourth, Jesus declares, “15 The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  Fifth, Jesus called four apostles: Peter, Andrew, James, and John. Sixth, Jesus drives a demon out of a possessed man.  Seventh, Jesus heals Peter’s mother-in-law.  Eighth, Jesus healed a man of leprosy.  These things all happened before the end of the first chapter.  Mark told a fast-paced action story about Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God.  There was minimal direct teaching by Jesus in Chapter 1.  Mark’s fast-paced storytelling continued at the beginning of Chapter 2 until Jesus came to a gathering of three groups of people. There were the Pharisees, the Jewish religious leaders, the disciples of the imprisoned John the Baptist, and Jesus’ disciples.  When the three groups came together, a question arose about fasting, a voluntary decision not to eat for a while.  Unlike today, fasting was not part of a weight loss strategy.  Fasting was only done for religious purposes; fasting was about setting aside physical desires to prioritize one’s spiritual connection with God.  Fasting is an example of how the things of men, such as eating, give way to the things of God, namely, prayer and reflection.

            Mark brought us into that gathering this way.  “18 Now John’s [John the Baptist’s] disciples and the Pharisees [Jewish religious leaders] were fasting. Some people came and asked Jesus, ‘How is it that John’s disciples and the disciples of the Pharisees are fasting, but yours are not?’  19 Jesus answered, ‘How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them’” (Mark 2:18-19).  Three groups were present—the Pharisees, John the Baptist’s disciples, and Jesus’ disciples. Two groups were observing a fast: the Pharisees and John the Baptist’s disciples.  That these two groups would be seen as acting together is a surprise. Given their differing views about God, one would have expected the Pharisees and John’s disciples to be seen as independent of one another.  The third group, Jesus' disciples, were happily eating.  Observing the scene, someone asked Jesus, “How is it that your disciples do not fast like the Pharisees, for even John’s disciples are fasting with them?”  Fasting is a thing of God.  So Jesus answered the question using something from the things of men to explain the things of God.  Jesus said, “How can the guests of the bridegroom fast while he is with them? They cannot, so long as they have him with them” (Mark 2:19).  Jesus would be here referring to himself as the bridegroom. If we brought these words into our modern understanding, they might sound like, “Tell me honestly, do the groom's friends go to his wedding and not eat at the reception?”  We can understand Jesus’ answer because everyone eats at a wedding.  But Jesus referring to himself as a bridegroom brought the story to a level deeper than a simple wedding.  Jesus was invoking an image about himself through the Old Testament prophet Isaiah. Much of what Jesus said that Mark used in his gospel related to the prophecies of Isaiah.  What was that Isaiah prophecy related to a wedding?

            Isaiah wrote in Chapter 61, “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor.  He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, 2 to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, 3 and provide for those who grieve in Zion—to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair…10 I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God.  For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.  11 For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations” (Isaiah 61:1-3, 10-11). Jesus, in declaring himself the bridegroom, was bringing into the discussion that salvation and righteousness were before them, and that should be cause for celebration, not fasting.  Jesus, revealing himself as the bridegroom, made clear it was a time for good news for the poor, binding the brokenhearted, freedom for the captives, release of those held in the darkness, comfort for those who grieve, punctuated with beauty, joy, and praise.  It was not the time for mournful fasting.  The Pharisees and John the Baptist’s disciples did not understand who stood before them.  Those two groups were wedded instead to ashes, spirit of mourning, and despair.  Jesus' earliest message made even more sense: “15 “The time has come.  The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!” (Mark 1:15).  Jesus’ disciples were moving toward something new, the good news, while the Pharisees, and even John the Baptist’s disciples, could not see the good news before them.

            Having gotten people’s attention with his revelation about being the bridegroom, Jesus offered the first two parables in Mark: the first involved cloth and the second involved wineskins.  Jesus said, “21 No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear [in the old garment] worse. 22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins” (Mark 2:21-22). Both parables convey a similar message about the things of God, starting with the things of men.

            In the first parable, Jesus pointed out something about the things of men, such as repairing a hole in a garment.  “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment” (Mark 2:21a). People understood that old garments were not repaired using cloth straight from the loom.  Cutting a patch out of the new piece of cloth would spoil the new cloth, and sewing the new cloth onto the old cloth would cause the patch to tear away, making the hole in the old garment even worse than it already had been.  The old cloth still had value, but it could not be corrected by sewing new cloth on top of the tear in the old cloth.  This is the story from the perspective of the things of men.

            What then is the story of God's things? That story has two levels. First, the story of God has value even if we fail to live it out properly, as though we have put a tear in a garment. The Pharisees held fast to the story of God but did not live it out properly.   The disciples of John the Baptist, the one who foretold the message of something new coming, were aligning themselves with the Pharisees.  It was like a new cloth was sewn onto an old garment with a tear. That combination would not last. Adding a new layer to the practices of the Pharisees would only result in the patch of new cloth tearing away from the old, making the old garment worse.  The second level is implied.  New cloth should be fashioned into a new garment using the knowledge first used in making the old garment.  The new garment here refers to the coming of the Messiah was, as Isaiah proclaimed, coming with “a robe of his righteousness” (Isaiah 61:10b).  The disciples seated in the presence of the Messiah were on the pathway to experiencing the robe of righteousness found in the person of Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God.

            In the second parable, Jesus pointed out something about the things of men, such as fermenting and storing wine.  Jesus said, “22 And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins” (Mark 2:22).  People understood that new wine, that was just formed, could not be put in old wine skins that were brittle and dry.  If that were done, as the new wine fermented, it would generate gas, and the wineskin would have to expand.  Old wineskins were too brittle to expand and would crack and break, spilling the new wine. This is the story from the perspective of the things of men.

            What then is the story of God's things? That story has two levels. First, the story of God has value, like an old wine skin. But that story had a new addition before the people now.  One that would expand favor upon the Jewish nation for salvation being offered through Jesus to all who would place their faith in Jesus.  That new expansion could not be accommodated within the understanding of God’s existing story alone.   That is one level.  The second level was new in that such salvation would require a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  The only ones pursuing that relationship were Jesus’ disciples, not the Pharisees or John’ disciples.

            Jesus revealed himself as the bridegroom of prophecy, the Messiah, bringing the new wine of salvation and the new garment of righteousness.  Jesus did not come to replace the story of God found in the Old Testament but to fulfil it with newness.

            What do these parables mean for us?  I think there are two things we should have in mind. First, the backdrop of these first two parables is Mark 1:1, “1 The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1).  If you do not accept that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, then the parables are meaningless to you.  Life is meaningless to you, even if you do not realize it now.  I recently counseled an individual who rejected God and then said, “When I die, I will have a conversation with God, and I am sure I will be allowed into heaven.”  I told him, “You need not worry about a conversation with God.  You won’t be speaking with him.  Instead, upon your death, you will be going to hell.  If you reject God in this life as you have done, God will reject you for the next.”  If you do not accept Jesus, the parables are meaningless, as is life itself.

            The second thing we gain from these parables is that belief in Jesus requires imitating him and not repeating endless past rituals.  We should not expect to use the new cloth of God’s living word, Jesus, to cover over tears in the fabric of our garment.  The salvation of Christ is not a box of band aids that we use to cover tears in our spiritual life.  Christ's salvation is a new garment of righteousness, the image of Christ given to us through faith alone in Christ.  In that new garment, made from that new cloth, our soiled record of sin is exchanged for the sinless record of Jesus.  We live our lives now and forever as new beings developed by the Holy Spirit to be more and more like Christ.  Like a well-written joke with its surprise punchline, Jesus’ parables on new cloth and new wine had a surprise ending.  You must approach God as a fresh, new being redeemed by Christ.  You cannot hold onto the past and believe you can redeem yourself with a few corrections, as though you were putting a patch on an old garment or just a little new wine in an old wineskin. 

            Letting go of our past, our old ways, our old thoughts, and the old things of men is part of the redemption story and is how we have space to receive the things of God.  The Old Testament prophet Isaiah said, 18 “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  19 See, I am doing a new thing!  Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?”  (Isaiah 43:18-19a).  Paul said, “17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).  “20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).  Jesus said, “3 Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” (John 3:3).

            If we want to live the life God intended for us to live, we must accept the “good news about Jesus the Messiah, the Son of God” (Mark 1:1) and be redeemed into a new creation covered with the robe of righteousness and blessed with new wine of salvation.  Amen and Amen.

          In our lives, we have encountered several stories involving the three main characters.  There is the story of the Three Little Pigs.  The story of Robin Hood, Little John, and Friar Tuck. Another story would be the Three Musketeers.  I suspect we could compile a long list of stories with three characters.  Our Scripture reading could be one of the stories on the list.  Our reading today, the whole of 3 John, was about three men: Gaius (guy us), Diotrephes (die-ought-tro-fees), and  Demetrius (dee-me-tree-us).  These three men were Christian leaders known to the Apostle John, and each is mentioned in a letter from John addressed to Gaius.  The three men were either members of the same church or were members of churches near and known to each other.  Churches at this time were not separate buildings. Churches were places where people gathered in a home, usually the largest homes.  The letter contained a straightforward assessment of the spiritual life of Gaius, Diotrephes, and Demetrius as measured by their love for other Christians, particularly through the expression of hospitality.  In his first letter, John spoke about the importance of hospitality among Christians.  In 1 John, Chapter 3, John wrote, “17 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? 18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18).  Supporting other Christians was, and remains, an essential part of the Christian walk.

          John began his letter this way.  “1 The elder, to my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth.  2 Dear friend, I pray that you may enjoy good health and that all may go well with you, even as your soul is getting along well. 3 It gave me great joy when some believers came and testified about your faithfulness to the truth, telling how you continue to walk in it. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth” (3 John 1-4).  John began his letter by affirming Gaius’ standing before God.  John said that he loved Gaius because he, John, and Gaius shared the truth of God.  We have talked about this for the last few weeks.  Christians should love other Christians simply because they are Christians. Here, John took the step to begin his letter to Gaius, making it clear John loved Gaius in and through the truth. John set a good example for us to follow in unashamedly telling other Christians they are loved.

          From a shared standing before God, the Apostle John said to Gaius that it brought great joy to John to hear reports that John was walking in the truth.  So not only did Gaius accept Jesus Christ, but Gaius was working at following Jesus. Gaius’ efforts created joy in another Christian, here John.  Again, John set an example for us to follow.  We should have joy when we see other faithful Christians walking in the truth of Jesus Christ, whether they are part of this fellowship or part of another fellowship.  So when we see other Biblically based churches growing, we should follow John’s example and be joyful at what the Lord does in every faithful church.

          John continued in his joy with Gaius.  “5 Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. 6 They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God. 7 It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans. 8 We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth” (3 John 5-8).  John commended Gaius for the welcome he organized for missionaries moving through the city. 

The early church expanded considerably across the Roman Empire because the Romans were so good at building roadways and providing safety and security over those roads.  Missionaries sent out on foot traveled those roadways to share the gospel message. But the idea of a Motel 6 in every city with its light on waiting for the weary traveler was centuries away. Instead, travelers needed hospitality. John cited here that Gaius generously received the missionaries and provided them shelter and food, even though the missionaries were unknown to him.  In the New Testament, Luke, Paul, Peter, and John discussed the need to extend hospitality.  In the immediate case, Gaius offered Christian hospitality, which involves receiving a stranger and elevating them to an equal.  Christian hospitality is receiving an unknown person and having them eat your food and sleep under your roof.  Christian hospitality is receiving that person and introducing them to your circle of friends so the stranger may be welcomed under your reputation and standing umbrella.  What is the reason for extending yourself in this manner for these strangers?  There is only one reason.  These strangers abide by the same truth in Christ that you do. Christian hospitality is extended to visiting Christians simply because they are Christians.

Jesus spoke about his followers giving and receiving hospitality.  As to giving, Jesus said, “12 When you give a luncheon or dinner, do not invite your friends, your brothers or sisters, your relatives, or your rich neighbors; if you do, they may invite you back and so you will be repaid. 13 But when you give a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, 14 and you will be blessed. Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:12-14).  The idea of Christian hospitality is the elevation of others. We certainly can be considered hospitable by inviting family and friends to dinner.  However, Christian hospitality is different in that such hospitality is used to elevate others.

Jesus cautioned his followers to be gracious in receiving such hospitality. When Jesus sent his disciples ahead of him into the surrounding villages, Jesus said, “5 “When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ 6 If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. 7 Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house” (Luke 10:5-7).  The disciples, the first Christian missionaries, were to take nothing with them when they traveled and then to accept the hospitality first offered to them. Those who provided hospitality elevated the disciples without any means of support.  The disciples were then to eat and drink whatever was provided by that household.  However, the disciples were not to move from house to house seeking a better and better place to stay with better food and drink.  The disciples were not to try to become superior to their first hosts. Christians receiving hospitality were to be gracious and accept gifts they had been given.  Christian hospitality is different from worldly hospitality.  Christian hospitality is centered on the elevation of people and the acceptance of the elevation provided.

Gaius was providing Christian hospitality to strangers coming from John’s church, and those returning to the church were talking about the joy they experienced under Gaius.  The sense here is that Gaius would continue to do good in the future.

Having commended Gaius, John turned his attention to a problem stemming from a man named Diotrephes.  John wrote, “9 I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us. 10 So when I come, I will call attention to what he is doing, spreading malicious nonsense about us. Not satisfied with that, he even refuses to welcome other believers. He also stops those who want to do so and puts them out of the church” (3 John 9-10). The house church that Gaius was part of, or a church Gaius was aware of, was in the grips of a bully named Diotrephes. Likely, the church gathered in Diotrephes’ home.  Can you imagine a church with a bully?  Yes. Sadly, many of you do not have to imagine such a church, because you have been part of such a church.  Here, a bully named Diotrephes was engaged in four actions markedly different from those of Gaius.  First, Diotrephes would not welcome John.  Second, Diotrephes was spreading false rumors and gossip about John. Third, Diotrephes refused to receive church missionaries.  Fourth, Diotrephes would prevent others in the church from sharing Christian hospitality with the missionaries by kicking out those members who dared to extend hospitality to the missionaries.  Diotrephes was larger and in charge, and wanted everyone to know he had the power. John said the problem with Diotrephes was that he loved being first.

Being first here does not mean Diotrephes wanted to be seated or fed first, although Diotrephes probably was first seated and fed.  What John meant by Diotrephes loved being first was that Diotrephes loved being in charge of everything in the church.  Diotrephes treated the church as his own and did not practice Christian hospitality by elevating people, but instead practiced patronage.

What is patronage, or being a patron?  In this context, Diotrephes was acting as a patron who was only willing to offer financial support, or housing, or meals to those who would be subservient to him.  Diotrephes was not about elevating people.  Diotrephes was about dominating people by using the church to do it. Diotrephes was willing to do something that benefited someone else, so long as Diotrephes benefited from the relationship.  Diotrephes had a “what’s in it for me” attitude.  John condemned Diotrephes’ behavior.

John knew what he was talking about here.  Just before Jesus' arrest, John and James, John’s brother, approached Jesus and asked that one of them be placed on the left and one on Jesus’ right in the kingdom.  Matthew wrote, “24 When the ten heard about this, they were indignant with the two brothers. 25 Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. 26 Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 27 and whoever wants to be first must be your slave— 28 just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:24-28).  Being first, meaning being large and in charge, was not to be the behavior of Christian leaders.  Jesus taught that lesson well to John and the other apostles.  John pointed out that Diotrephes, a church leader, was not following Christ and trying to be an authoritative ruler and lord over the local church.

We must examine ourselves to see if we are exhibiting the Spirit of Christ or the spirit of Diotrephes in our Christian walk.  Are we acting like patrons within our church?  For example, if someone said, “I will give the money to renovate the sanctuary provided I get to choose the paint colors, type of pews or chairs to be installed, the type and style of carpeting, etc., otherwise I will contribute nothing” then that person would be acting as a patron. That seems like an obvious situation. There are other, more subtle ways people act as patrons in a church, such as through their giving, positions on church boards, or behaviors that frustrate or demand a specific direction or decision of the church.  All such behavior is a way of trying to lord their standing over others.  John said that he would call Diotrephes about his behavior when he arrived at the church because John sensed that Diotrephes would continue to do poorly in the future.  We should likewise not be afraid to call out similar behaviors within our church to recover a brother or sister.  John told Gaius and us, “11 Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God” (3 John 11).  Let us then do good so our works may be credited to God.

John concluded his letter discussing the three characters by saying, “12 Demetrius is well spoken of by everyone—and even by the truth itself.  We also speak well of him, and you know that our testimony is true” (3 John 12).  John was commending Demetrius to Gaius. Demetrius may have been kicked out of the house church of Diotrephes for being hospitable to those who did not enjoy Diotrephes’ favor.  John was looking to Gaius to encourage Demetrius.

What should we then take from this story of three churchmen? I think there are two things we should remember about it.

First, Christian hospitality is different from worldly hospitality.  In general, to be hospitable in the world means that someone makes you feel comfortable and at home; that person is being hospitable, providing a warm, friendly environment.  They are welcoming, open, and convey a feeling of goodwill.  Christians would be expected to act in this manner.  What makes Christian hospitality unique is that sense of caring for guests extends further by applying that standard in a way that lifts up other Christians.  Christian hospitality is not just about treating family and friends well; it is about treating strangers as family, who are family in Christ.  Christian hospitality is about using our reputations to help strangers become quickly part of the local body of Christ, the church. Christian hospitality involves risk with the reward of knowing we walk in the truth and bring joy to other Christians. John saw this Christian hospitality expressed by Gaius, and it caused John to have great joy.

Secondly, we learn that Christian hospitality is a significant mark of God’s truth within us and a substantial way the world sees the church.  We see this from John’s initial efforts to get Diotrephes to change his ways.  John, upon hearing that Diotrephes was being a bully and denying simple hospitality by the church, never mind Christian hospitality, sent a letter to the church. We do not have that letter.  But in our letter, John said he was personally coming to the church to set things right.  When behaviors by anyone, perhaps particularly by the leadership, are not according to the truth of God, we must act to set them straight.  Not straight according to what we think is right, but straight according to the truth of God’s word.  The message we send as a church in how we treat other Christians speaks loudly as to how we treat God’s truth and speaks loudly to the world.  If we use the truth to lift other Christians, our love for God becomes more true and evident.  If we refuse other Christians or treat them shabbily, then we grieve the Holy Spirit and essentially deny Christ before the world. Let me give you just a small example. This congregation has exhibited Christian hospitality by receiving and welcoming two other congregations to share in using these spaces and the building.  We have received strangers in the name of Christ.  When I share this news with other pastors or even nonbelievers, there is usually a reaction of surprise and an acknowledgement that opening up the spaces to others is highly unusual and reflective of a desire to be faithful to God’s Word.  Christian hospitality, when practiced, is noticed and does matter.  It is just as true that when we don’t practice Christian hospitality or bully people within the church, it does matter and must be corrected.

God has granted us the Holy Spirit to guide and empower us in following God’s Word, the truth. We can demonstrate our obedience to the Spirit and bring substantial joy by exercising Christian hospitality and encouraging other Christians who were once strangers to us but whom we now see and treat as brothers and sisters. Amen and Amen. 

            I once worked with a church that was experiencing some difficulties in relationships within the church and with the pastor.  I was told I probably would only need to facilitate one or two meetings.  My assignment ended two years later, after about a dozen meetings and as many Zoom calls.  What was accomplished?  It is hard to say.  The pastor is still there.  Most of the members of the congregation remain.  So too do many of the hard feelings.  One of the reasons the church never was able to heal was that the members did not have shared values.  The Old Testament minor prophet Amos asked, “3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed?” The answer is no.  Two will not walk together unless they agree to do so.  The church members were not walking together because they disagreed on an essential point.  What was the crucial point?  They disagree on this question: “Who is Jesus?”

            Some people in the church believe deeply that Jesus is the Son of God and their Savior.  Some others believed Jesus is possibly the Son of God, but the gospels and the New Testament letters describing Jesus were unreliable, not the Word of God.  Therefore, Jesus may be just a good guy and a good teacher of morals, like others who came before and after him. Still others offered a wildly different view.  In one meeting, a woman said her husband was not feeling well and could not be at the meeting to speak for himself.  However, she said of her husband that he is probably the single largest financial contributor to the church; that this is his church, and he wants to see it flourish, and he is an atheist.  I think you get the point.  The church members were not walking together.  At best, they were going around in circles like bathwater going down the drain.  Sadly, I do not think the church is unique in its conflicted membership.

            Today's New Testament reading from the Apostle John's second letter dealt with conflicted situations.  The letter also addressed the topics we discussed last week: truth and love.  Last week, we saw that truth and love can bring some tension.  Today, we will see that in another context, namely within the church, truth and love create the soil for a wonderful setting of peace.  In that setting, we seek truth and love within the church to be at peace.  What was it that John said about truth and love, and peace?

John wrote, “1 The elder, (John) to the lady chosen by God (that is a church) and to her children, (church members) whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love” (2 John 1-3).  We see three key things in the opening verses of John’s letter.

First, John was writing a letter to a church that he had not been able to visit for some time, calling the church “a lady chosen by God” with its members “children” of God.  John’s letter was clear.  It is written to a church for the benefit of the church members.  It is not written to the world.  Therefore, the words here provide guidance and encouragement for Christians.  This letter is not for nonbelievers.  It is for us.

Second, John said that love and truth can be in harmony within the church.  John began this teaching by saying that he and all other Christians were united to this church and its members because the truth, God, was found within them.  John’s love for the members of the church was not based on sentimentality, family origin, good looks, or anything other than the church members believed Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing, they had life in Jesus’ name (John 20:30).  The church members held fast to the truth and agreed to walk together.  John, also a believer, said he and all other believers in Jesus Christ loved this church because they were walking together with them. I trust you can see why that situation I described with that conflicted church existed.  Not all the members had accepted the truth.   Therefore, love and truth were in tension rather than harmony. When the church is comprised of the truth and worldliness, including atheism, there can be no harmony.  Why cannot the church and worldliness coexist? John gave us that reason in the third point of the opening of his letter.

John said, “2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: 3 Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love” (2 John 2-3).  John said that because the truth is found only in the believer and the church, God gives three things to the believer and the church.  These three are not given to the nonbeliever or the world.  In that order, those three God-given things are grace, mercy, and peace.

What is grace?  Grace is God's unmerited and undeserved kindness. Grace is God’s expression of love received in gratitude as a gift.  Grace is nothing that can be earned or bought.  It is gifted without merit.  God’s grace is found in Jesus Christ because God’s grace is everything a holy and righteous God does for sinners that they do not deserve.  We did not deserve Jesus being sent to us.  God sent Jesus as an expression of grace.  John wrote in the opening words of the Gospel of John, “14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth” (John 1:14).  And “12 To all who did receive him [Jesus], to those who believed in his [Jesus] name, he [Jesus] gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God” (John 1:12-13).  Grace from God is the starting point.  God’s grace reshapes our lives because accepting God’s grace removes us from the world.

What follows from God’s grace is mercy.  Mercy, like grace, is also unmerited.  You cannot earn mercy.  In Hebrew, mercy is granted only within a relationship between the grantor and the receiver.  Mercy is not given or dispensed in some random or unknowing manner.  Mercy is given to those who are known.  John pointed out that having been received unto God through God’s grace and being known to Him, God grants mercy and frees us from sin and the penalty of sin.  Having been forgiven, we know God because He is within us, and we are within Him. God’s mercy reshapes our lives because accepting God’s mercy removes us from sin, the condemnation of sin, and puts us into an intimate and forgiven relationship with God.

From God’s grace and God’s mercy comes God’s peace.  Jesus said peace comes from Him.  “27 Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid” (John 14:27).  Peace, in the Hebrew context of the time of Jesus, emphasized wholeness and well-being in life.  With such peace comes safety, rest, and the absence of hostility.  We are no longer enemies of God.  One commentator said, “Grace is God doing for us what we do not deserve, mercy is his not doing to us what we do deserve, and peace is God giving us what we need based upon his grace and mercy. The word order is significant. God's grace is always prior. Mercy and peace flow from it” (Akin, Daniel L. 1,2,3 John: An Exegetical and Theological Exposition of Holy Scripture, B&H Publishing Group, 2001).

So God’s truth, when received, brings God’s grace, mercy, and peace given in love to the believer. Having been so nourished by God, believers can then love other believers.  This is why the church I spoke about at the beginning of the message remains in conflict.  Not everyone is a believer who has received God’s grace, mercy, and peace, and therefore lacks the capacity for love like God.  This is another reason I will not conduct a wedding ceremony for believers and nonbelievers.  The believer has received God’s grace, mercy, and peace, but their nonbelieving partner has not.  The couple may eventually have a worldly successful marriage, but they cannot have a marriage as contemplated by God because peace will always be missing. Truth and love will always be in tension.  That may sound harsh, but it is not.  Holding truth and love together in harmony is a blessing for believers only because, in love, God has given the believer grace, mercy, and peace.

As we return to John’s letter, John reminds the church and its members that loving one another is essential to the Christian life.  Christians loving Christians because they are Christians is an indispensable condition of faith.  Jesus commanded his followers to love one another.  John reminds the recipients of Jesus’ command.  “4 It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. 5 And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. 6 And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love” (2 John 4-6).  I am guessing that some people in church are a bit weary of hearing the words, “love one another.”   It is said often. I have repeated it several times in the last few sermons.  The phrase “love one another,” appears in one form or another 19 times in the New Testament and is expressed by Jesus twice and then written about by Paul 8 times, Peter 3 times, and John 6 times. Christians loving other Christians is the primary way nonbelievers would know who is a Christian, and is the primary way Christians show their love for God.  I am concerned that the sharp distinction drawn by Jesus and in the New Testament about love within the Christian community has become muted and hard to see within the Christian community today.  Far too often, the mark of a Christian is thought to be a cross pendant around someone's neck or occasional attendance at a church.  Those, dear friends, are not the standards for Christians from the Bible.  If we want our witness to the world to matter, we must love one another.  We can love one another because we have received God's grace, mercy, and peace.  Love one another.

John presented one final point: a warning and a call for self-protection.  John said, “7 I say [all] this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist” (2 John 7).  We spoke about John’s concern here a few weeks ago.  Within the church, an idea began to form and spread.  The idea was that Jesus was the Son of God, Jesus was divine, but that Jesus was never human, and, therefore, Jesus never died. There was no virgin birth.  The person called Jesus only appeared to be human, but was not human.  Jesus did not go to the cross; someone else died on the cross in Jesus’ place, with the leading candidate for that role going to Simon of Cyrene, who the gospels said at one point was made to carry Jesus’ cross.  The blood of Simon, or perhaps someone else, was shed on the cross, but not Jesus's blood.  This idea was born because people could not accept that God would die for his people. The technical term for this heresy is Docetism, which was tearing at the foundation of the early Christian church.

John said, “8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching [the teaching of Christ], do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work” (2 John 8-11).  John made it clear that those who claim to be Christian or seek to be part of a church congregation but are not believers, or worse, preach anything other than Christ crucified, should be denied entry.  The purity of the church in matters of doctrine is essential.  The Apostle Paul said similarly when he wrote, “14 Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? 15 What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? Or what does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? 16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16a).

Does this mean nonbelievers cannot come to church?  Certainly, not.  What it means is that nonbelievers cannot become part of the church.  Why?  Because nonbelievers lack God’s grace, mercy, and peace.  Nonbelievers lack God within them and are not within God. Nonbelievers will not influence the church and its members toward Christian ways because those ways are not found within them.  Nonbelievers do not possess the truth; therefore, love and truth are not in harmony but in tension.  If not resolved by submission and obedience to God, that tension will lead to stress and strife within the church, the body of Christ.

John wanted the church and its members to understand that God’s truth and love can be an excellent and harmonious relationship.  The church was designed and intended to be a collection of believers gathered to encourage each other in the faith.  Each believer has received grace and mercy from God, making all equal before God.  They are all a loved child of God.  Because they are and know they are loved children of God, there ought to be peace in their gathered lives.  This is what we all want.  The natural consequence of being at peace with God is loving other Christians just because they are Christians.  A natural result of loving other Christians is showing love for God, who commanded that we love one another.  That love is not only one that encourages individual Christians, but it is also protective by keeping the nonbelievers from joining the fellowship of Christians. There is much to think about in John’s very short letter, especially for those of us who have family and friends who are nonbelievers.  Let us pray.

          There is an expression that many people here would be familiar with.  The expression is, “The tension was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.”  We use this expression when involved in a tense situation of strong emotions, usually between two sides or people with opposing views.  The expression describes a sense of unease and foreboding that is so heavy that it has a thickness that lends itself to being cut by a knife.  Most people get uncomfortable when they find themselves in such a tense situation.  Many will see if each side can compromise to relieve the tension and the heaviness. It seems reasonable to reach a compromise before the problem leads to hard feelings or ruptured relationships.

          The Bible contains many tension-filled and emotionally charged situations, many of which involve Jesus. The tension of the exchanges was thick, as though one could cut through it with a knife. Let’s look at just a couple of examples.

“13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found people selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple courts, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! Stop turning my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?”  (John 2:13-18).  Jesus created this agitated situation when he chose to cleanse the Temple.  People looked on and thought, What is going to happen now?

In another instance, Jesus had been arrested and stood before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council.  “62 Then the high priest stood up and said to Jesus, “Are you not going to answer? What is this testimony that these men are bringing against you?” 63 But Jesus remained silent.  The high priest said to him, “I charge you unr oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”  64 “You have said so,” Jesus replied. “But I say to all of you: From now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”  65 Then the high priest tore his clothes and said, “He has spoken blasphemy! Why do we need any more witnesses? Look, now you have heard the blasphemy. 66 What do you think?”  (Matthew 26:62-66).  The tension was thick.  A battle was underway between Jesus and the high priest, Caiaphas.  You could cut the tension with a knife.

We could go on with many more tension-filled scenes with Jesus.  Here is one thing, though, that separates Jesus from most of us. Never once in those tension-filled moments did Jesus seek to relieve the stress and tension that many times came about because of what Jesus said.  Jesus never sought a compromise to ease the tension and allow everyone an opportunity to walk away believing they had something.  Jesus did not try to strike a compromise in the hope that He might create a win-win situation through compromise.  Jesus, who we often speak and sing about as a loving, caring, compassionate, gentle, and understanding God, that Jesus, if he ever owned a knife, never tried to cut the tension with a knife, even if his words and actions created the tension.

So we might ask, “Why did this loving Jesus seemingly create tense-filled situations? Why did this loving Jesus never seek to alleviate tense-filled situations with some soft and comforting words?”  Jesus did not do so because the tension was there for a purpose.  The tension was there to bring about conviction concerning the truth.  The tension Jesus often created or found was not between him and some other group. The tension was between love and truth.

How can love and truth be in tension?  Biblically, truth is absolute.  Something is either true or false.  We read a few weeks ago in the Apostle John’s first letter, these words, “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b).  The message here is that in Biblical truth, something is either true or it is false.  It cannot be somewhat true because that would suggest it is also somewhat false or dark in John’s terms.  “God is light; in him there is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5b).  Truth has no darkness, yet there can be significant tension between truth and love.  The Apostle Paul would later write, “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).  Why should we speak the truth in love?  Paul wrote, “Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ” (Ephesians 4:15).

Jesus was loving to be sure, but He was God.  Jesus said of Himself, “I am the light of the world” (John 8:12).  Jesus was loving, but there was no darkness in Him. Jesus spoke the truth in love, a love that sought to heal the sinner and, in doing so, created tension and inner conflict with those Jesus spoke with.  As much as Jesus loved people, Jesus could not compromise the truth.  As a result, the tension remained in those scenes. Sometimes the tension was so thick you could cut with a knife.

The Apostle John picks up on this theme of love and truth and the tension that can come in expressing the truth.  In the last chapter of John’s first letter, John wrote, “5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God” (1 John 5:1-5).  John hit his readers with the truth that is fully light and contains no darkness.

          The first truth was that “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God” (1 John 5:1a). If you believe in Jesus as the Christ, the anointed one of God, the Son of God, then you have been born from above. You are not the person you were when you were born to your biological mother and father.  You have changed.  God is within you, and you are now within God.  Do you believe that?  You should. It is the truth.

          The second truth is that “Everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well” (1 John 5:1b).  The truth is if you love God, then John said it must also be true that you love His children, meaning Jesus, yourself, and other Christians because all are God’s children.  Do I sense a slight rise in tension when we consider that loving ourselves and other Christians is a sign that we love God?  Are we comfortable standing before God if there is love for self and other Christians?  However, if we do not adore ourselves or other Christians, we start feeling the tension about our standing before God.  You can search the Scriptures, but nothing in the Bible will relieve that tension. Only submission to God’s word will relieve that tension.

          The third truth is that we love God by loving his children and carrying out God’s command.  To demonstrate our love for God, we must love his children and do what God has commanded us to do.  We are expected to represent God well by following his direction.  What are those commandments? Indeed, the moral code in the Ten Commandments is part of what God expects.  Moreover, we are to love God and others as ourselves, believe and follow Jesus, encourage baptism, make disciples, repent, and pray.  Do we have any tension with the truth that we must obey God’s commands as a sign of our love for God?

          The fourth truth was that only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God overcomes the world.  Our faith in God through the saving work of Jesus Christ is not some academic or Sunday pursuit.  Our faith in Jesus is a living transformation of human existence. Through Jesus, our lives are made holy when we walk this path and made eternal before God.  John revealed that holiness and eternal life are only for those who believe in Jesus.  Period.

          The entirety of the truth John talked about rested upon one thing and one thing only.  That was the answer to the question, “Who is Jesus?”  If Jesus were just some person who developed a following of disciples, then what Jesus said was not the truth.  Jesus would have been, at best, a cult leader, who the Romans executed.  We have seen cult leaders in our times.  Men like Jim Jones of the People’s Temple, Joseph DiMambro of the Order of the Solar Temple, Marshall Applewhite of Heaven’s Gate, and David Koresh of the Branch Davidians were all cult leaders who had their truth, not the truth.  Each one of them motivated or coerced their followers into death.

          In this final chapter of John’s first letter, John emphasized that Jesus was not a cult leader.  John said, “6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement” (1 John 5:6-8). Jesus was not the savior, the Son of God, simply because Jesus said so.  Jesus was who he was because the Spirit, the water, and the blood were in agreement.

          What did John mean that the Spirit, water, and blood agreed that Jesus was the son of God?  This statement by John is one of the more difficult statements for New Testament scholars to unravel.  I think we can safely think about John’s statement this way.

          The Spirit of God was upon Jesus, giving testimony that Jesus could do the signs and wonders of God, that Jesus was the Son of God.  Jesus was divine.  That same Spirit descended and stayed upon Jesus at his baptism.  John said as much near the end of his gospel account.  “30 Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (John 20:30-31).  The Spirit of God testified that Jesus was the Son of God.

          The blood of Jesus gave testimony that he was the Son of Man.  Jesus was human.  This Jesus, who was the Son of God, was also human, and he bled and died upon the cross. Jesus’ blood, John said, cleanses the believer from all unrighteousness.  The blood of Jesus testified that Jesus was the Son of Man and the Son of God.

          Finally, the water gave testimony. As we have been learning in the Bible study, John used water to tell the story of Jesus. Water is found in Chapter 1 with Jesus’ baptism, Chapter 2 with changing water to wine, and Chapter 3 with new birth coming from water and the Spirit.  In Chapter 5, Jesus was the living water of God, an imagery recreated in Chapters 5, 7, and 8.  I think you get the idea. John highlighted in his gospel the role of water in the story of Jesus.  In most, if not all, of these references, the water relates to prophecies or events of the Old Testament, the Hebrew Scriptures.  Jesus was the fulfillment of scripture, showing Jesus was both the Son of God and the Son of Man.  The water, therefore, represents the entirety of the Old Testament scripture, the Torah, and it testifies to who Jesus is.

          From this point, John said, “9 We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life” (1 John 5:9-12).  Jesus was the truth of God expressed in love.  John said whoever does not believe the testimony of God represented by the water, blood, and spirit calls God a liar.  There is that tension again.  Everything in your life depends upon who you believe Jesus is.

          God shared the truth that Jesus is His Son, and if you believe that, you will have eternal life with God.  To say otherwise, John says you make God a liar.  I hope you believe God.  I hope you and I will share this truth lovingly with others, but always without hesitation, reservation, or shame.  Let us love by stating the truth.  Amen and Amen.

            “God is love.”  We read that twice today in John’s first letter.  We read it in Chapter 4, verse 8, and verse 16.  “God is love.”  This is a very much-loved sentence of the Bible.  You can find this phrase on T-shirts, books, posters, coffee cups, and bracelets.  You can also find this phrase coming from the lips of believers and non-believers alike. “God is love.”

            When we hear the phrase “God is love,” we must ask whether John is making a statement of truth or giving us a definition.  What do I mean by that?  If we conclude John is giving us a definition, then “God is love” means “God = love.” If that is true, then we would be inclined, as many do, to see God as passive, permissive, or unquestioningly understanding.   We would see God then as accepting sin or offering love as a sentimental feeling. That is the mindset we get if we believe John defined God by the single word, love.

            However, if we see “God is love” as a statement of truth, we need to know how that truth works together with other statements about God.

• God is Light (1 John 1:5).
• God is Spirit (John 4:24).
• God is Faithful (1 Corinthians 1:9)
• God is Just (2 Thessalonians 1:6)
• God is Gracious and Compassionate (2 Chronicles 30:9)
• God is Mighty (Job 36:5)
• God is Sovereign (Daniel 5:21)
• God is Merciful (Daniel 9:9)

I think you get the picture.  There are a lot of “God is” statements in the Bible. By one count, there are 99 such statements.  Each of them is true.  Each of them differs from the others.  It seems unlikely that when John said, “God is love,” John meant those words as the single definition of God, but rather as another profound truth about God.  The use of many statements about God tells us that the spoken and written word cannot adequately describe God.  They are, at best, an effort to express what God is like, and the collection of “God is” statements still falls short of the mark. God knows that is true.

            John would agree that the single statement, “God is love,” while true, is incomplete.  John said that God showed us what is meant by “God is love” in this way: “God sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him,” and that God “sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins” (1 John 4:9,10). God, who is Just, Mighty, Righteous, Spirit, Faithful, Merciful, Light, and Love, chose to show “God is Love” by sending his one and only Son to the world as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Jesus, God’s only Son, was sent to earth to die for our sins so that we could have life.  I have tried to let that thought sink into my head without shuddering, and I cannot do it.  As much as I think I may love, I cannot conceive that I could express that love by willingly yielding my son over to death to show the depth, breadth, height, and width of that love.  I would not do it, but God did it for me, and God did it for you.  John said God did not send the Son in response to our love for God, far from it.  God sent the Son because God loved us first.  The Apostle Paul went so far as to say that God sent his Son when we were enemies of God.  Romans 5:10, “For if when we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life.” God acted first and showed Godly love by sending his Son to atone, to take the punishment, for our sins.

            God’s love through the Son was universal, meaning God did not and does not withhold His love from anyone.  However, the life-giving power of God’s love was conditional. The atonement by His Son for our sins, the essence of God’s love, only affects those who believe in His Son.  While God’s love is available to all, it only takes root in those who believe in His Son. Scripture says, “16 For God so loved the world (universal giving) that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him (conditional) shall not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him (universal). 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned (conditional), but whoever does not believe (non-believers) stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son” (John 3:16-18).  God’s love extends to all his enemies, and those who receive God’s love by believing in the fullness of His Son, Jesus, are no longer God’s enemies but become God’s children.  All others who remain God’s enemy.  God meant this when He inspired John to write, “God is Love.”  This is why so many people are sadly mistaken when they believe “God is Love” means God is passive, permissive, or unquestioningly understanding.  They see God then as accepting sin or that his love is a sentimental feeling.  That is just wrong.  God, who is Just, Mighty, Righteous, Spirit, Faithful, Merciful, and Light, loves universally but will not accept us as His children if we do not first accept His love and live following His Son.

            From this sacrificial understanding of “God is Love,” John wrote, “ 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we (believers) also ought to love one another (other believers)” (1 John 4:11). God’s love received and effected in us ought to cause us to love others who have also believe simply because they too are believers.  I spoke about this briefly last week.  John was not discussing a “love everyone in the world” mentality here.  John was talking about loving other believers.  It might be a relief that I do not have to love people who have decided to reject God’s love, who choose to remain enemies of God, and who persecute Christians.  I could choose to love people in the world, but I do not have to love them.  But the effect of God’s love within me ought to cause me to love other Christians just because they are Christians.  Having to love everyone who is a fellow Christian is a sword with a sharp edge. We can choose to love someone in the world, but we have no choice in loving another Christian.  God has accepted them, and as John said, God’s love is complete in them (1 John 4:12b).  Therefore, we ought to love them.  I can tell you from my own experience that there are some Christians who can at times be hard to love.  You might feel the same way, but I ask that you not look around the sanctuary to see if they came today.  Jesus said, and John reiterated, we must love them.

            How do we love other Christians, including the difficult ones? John said, “He has given us of his Spirit” (1 John 4:13). We can love with the power of the Holy Spirit and not through our own doing.  John said to live this life, yes, to thrive as a Christian, you must continually acknowledge Jesus is the Son of God who paid for your sins and that God lives in you and you in God (1 John 4:15).  This is our starting point.  We begin our life in Christ and living it out with the power of the Spirit by interpreting everything through the cross.  Once you accept Jesus as the atoning sacrifice for your sins, meaning Jesus is your Savior who bore your sins on the cross, you exit the world of darkness and enter the light of Christ.  In that light, you have entered a new life.  It is a life in which you now have God living within you, He has given you His Spirit, and you are forever in the embrace of God.  And this transformation of your life occurs because God is love.

            John said, “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us” (1 John 4:16). When we love other Christians, we do so knowing that we share the same Spirit of God and are in God's embrace. So our love towards them is about showing our love for God.

            I once spoke with a man who was the father of a few children.  He told me he wanted to be a good father to his children and for them to know he loved them.  He asked me what I thought about different things he wanted to do with his children to show his love.  Some of those things involved fun activities, while others involved discipline.  He was conflicted about how to be a good father and to show his children that he loved them.  Part of this man’s conflict arose because his relationship with the children’s mother was often argumentative and troubled.  I told this man that if he wanted his children to know he loved them, he should love their mother.  To love their mother would be the most convincing sign to the children that he loved them.  If you want God to know that you love him, love those He loves.  Love one another.  It may be a poor analogy, but the principle holds true.

            “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus” (1 John 4:16b-17).  That is a powerful and humbling statement.  God is love. If we live in love, then we are like Jesus in this world.  God’s love drew us to Christ.  Accepting Christ as a sign of God’s love brings us into a new relationship with God that is free from condemnation.  In that relationship, we are to live in love with God and others who have also accepted Christ.  Living lovingly brings a proper image of Jesus to the world, which remains in darkness. You are a light.  Your witness is intended, and life lived in love is intended to draw others to Christ.  The fact that you have the Spirit of God within you is intended to draw others to Christ.  But do we? Do we serve as a light to others? Do we appear as Jesus to others?

            What might we then do to check ourselves to see if we appear like Jesus? Of course, we can ask ourselves some of the most obvious questions.

• Do I forgive my brothers and sisters in Christ like Jesus forgave me?  Or do I only forgive those offenses by a brother or sister that I could see myself doing?  “13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you” (Colossians 3:13).
• Do I serve other brothers and sisters in Christ like Christ served?  Am I generous and sharing my time, treasure, talents, and tears with other Christians as Jesus did?  Invite those who cannot repay you for your kindness.  “Although they cannot repay you, you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous” (Luke 14:14).
• Do I pray for other brothers and sisters in Christ throughout the week?  When I say grace at my daily meals, do I also bring to mind and pray for those who have asked for prayer in the worship service?  “Pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective” (James 5:16).

I think you get the picture and probably have heard such things before.  But do we fully love our brothers and sisters to do the hard work Jesus did as well? What do I mean by that?

• Do I love like Jesus and help my brothers and sisters correct their understanding of theology?  Am I willing to say, “Brother, you have it wrong about God,” or, “Sister, we are called to be merciful, not punitive.”  Jesus loved enough to correct his disciples often so that they would bear good witness to others.
• Lastly, and perhaps one of the most challenging forms of love, do I love like Jesus and help my brothers and sisters stop sinning? Am I willing to follow the commands of Christ and speak privately to a brother or sister engaged in sin that they might be restored?  This is hard work.  Jesus repeatedly told people who sought to follow him, “Stop sinning.”  Jesus said, 15 “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over” (Matthew 18:15).  I can tell you that helping someone through sin is an extraordinary act of love.  You risk much, but it is sweet when we care enough to help someone stop sinning.

John ended this letter section with these words, “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister” (1 John 4:21). God is love.  God showed His love through the cross.  God loves those who accept the work of the cross and place their faith in Jesus.  That means God loves you and me.  We then must love one another and be like Jesus in this world.  Amen and Amen.