word and testimony

I wonder, do I really dare to ask God for an important mission? Do I really want what might come if I make myself fully and freely available for him to use?

The Apostle John wrote Revelation as a testimony; in fact, he starts it this way, in Revelation 1:1-2: “The revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, who testifies to everything he saw—that is, the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.”

That’s pretty standard stuff for the New Testament. But, remembering that John was exiled as punishment for evangelizing, I was struck later on, in verse 9, by a repeated phrase: “I, John, your brother and companion in the suffering and kingdom and patient endurance that are ours in Jesus, was on the island of Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.”

The word of God and the testimony of Jesus were at once the reason for John’s hope and the passion that drove him, but they were also the cause of his persecution. Following Jesus had gained him, in his words, suffering and patient endurance. What’s more, his readers were living the same things.

Is that what it means to be a Jesus-follower? When I live for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus, do I have to be ready to suffer for it too? The answer is, of course. That’s something I learned in catechism classes and from sermons ever since. Jesus said his followers would be persecuted.

So why, after all these decades of faithful following, do I still hope it never happens to me?

And, if I’m a true disciple of Jesus, why hasn’t it yet?

all glory

Jude is one of those books I hardly ever read. It’s a hard letter, very negative, all about sin. This morning I was drawn to the the final lines, in verses 24 and 25: “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.”

I was attracted to the idea that Jesus would keep me from stumbling and present me to God one day. That’s comforting. But as I re-read those verses, I realized that they pointed me to my own sin.

Here’s my problem: I want glory and power and authority for myself. I wonder this morning, as often as I’ve read or prayed or sung words giving these things to God, how often I’ve meant it completely.

How do I reconcile giving all glory to God with my thirst for praise from other people? And if I really want him to have the power and authority, why do I so often resent his leadership?

This morning these words seem a direct challenge to my desire to control my own life. They’re a call to humility and servanthood when I want to be the hotshot business executive who made it to the top of the ladder. 

“To the only God our savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” Today I’m praying for strength to live as though I really mean those words.

examples

Often as I read the Bible, there’s casual mention of people I wish I knew more about. For various reasons they seem interesting, or sometimes they just seem so normal that they’re very relatable.

John’s third letter has several of these people. He addresses the letter to Gaius, who must have been a pretty good guy. Gaius, unlike many of us, had no fear of strangers and aliens. Here’s what John wrote about him, in verses 1: “To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love in the truth. . . . 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. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

“Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. They have told the church about your love. Please send them on their way in a manner that honors God.” 

Gaius wasn’t the only good person in that church. In verses 11 and 12, John wrote about another man, Demetrius, who everyone liked, and the context is interesting here: “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. 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.”

John, in effect, is saying, “Be like Demetrius. He’s a guy who does good and not evil; everyone says so, even God.”

But this is a normal church, and not everyone is commendable. In fact, it looks like in this church the leadership might be problematic. In verse 9 here’s what John had to say: “I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first, will not welcome us.” Here’s a person who sees John as a threat; he likes being the biggest fish in this little pond, and fears that if an actual apostle shows up people won’t treat him that way anymore. 

I think John offers us some examples here. We can be self-centered like Diotrephes, but notice that even though he’s clawed his way to the top, he still doesn’t seem secure. He sees others as threats. That can’t be much fun.

Or we can be like Demetrius, who just plain does the right thing almost all the time. Demetrius the good. Another great example would be Gaius, who shows hospitality to people that other people shun. Either way, two men who are trying to live like Jesus.

Interesting, isn’t it, that the man who wants all the attention has, in the end, earned only negative remarks, while the other two are praised. I think that tells us a lot about how Jesus sees his church.

fellowship

Happy Thanksgiving! Today should be a day of church and fellowship; that’s what John would have said, anyway.

Reading 2 John this morning I was struck by how John ended this letter, in verse 12: “I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.”

For John, face to face was best. Physical presence was necessary if you wanted complete joy. John was a great letter writer, and I assume he got letters as well, but that couldn’t begin to substitute for the happiness of getting back together. And he addresses this letter to “the lady chosen by God and her children” – the bride of Christ, the church, and it’s members – and signs it “the children of your sister, chosen by God” – a sister church. To him, complete joy came from fellowship with the family of God.

That’s a great reminder for today. We could choose to stay home and watch the parade on TV. We could choose to hole up and watch TV. We could hook up with friends and family on Facebook, safely separated by distance and a tiny screen, able to disconnect any time we want.

But the joy of Thanksgiving comes from everything we share with each other. Our fellow brothers and sisters and cousins, all the children of Christ’s dear ladies, know the same gratitude we do, thankfulness that can only come from finally being free, or at least in the process of becoming free, of all the bad outcomes of our bad choices. Our families know our history, almost every detail of it, and have been there through it all. We need to be together today; we have so much to share, so much to say to each other, and we need to do it face to face.

So I hope your worship is wonderful, and the food is plentiful, and you get to be with people you like and there are lots of laughs and maybe some tears. I hope the people you spend your day with are people you can pray with. If not, you’re probably doing a good thing but it won’t be fellowship the way God meant it to be.

not heavy

You know the biggest mistake people who don’t know Jesus make about Jesus? That’s he’s a hard Lord to follow. That he’s all about demands and sacrifice and just wants to forbid anything fun. That ultimately he judges and condemns.

John knew better. Look what he wrote in 1 John 5:2-5: “This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”

Anyone who has lived with Jesus for any amount of time knows better. We know, as John knew, that even though obedience is hard sometimes, obeying never makes life harder. Life always gets easier and better when we follow God’s commands.

There’s a good reason for that, an obvious one. God made this world and he made me. He knows how life works. He is very aware of what will make things go smoothly and what will bring pain. And so he gives us, the ones he loves, instructions in how to life a joyful, productive, meaningful life.

There are a lot of liars in this world, people who repeat the propaganda of the Father of Lies. They tell us that God has it wrong, that casual and variable sex is more fun than marriage, and drunkenness is necessary to have a good time, and cheating is an advantage as long as you don’t get caught. But that kind of disobedience is, unlike obedience, extremely burdensome. That life brings addictions and diseases and loneliness and broken relationships and guilt. That’s a heavy load.

God’s commands aren’t burdensome. Someone once said, “God only tells us to do what we would do anyway if we knew everything God knows.” Obeying God gives us clear consciences and wonderful relationships and true joy. Where Satan would hand us a backpack full of bricks, God picks up the load for us, and let’s us walk through life unburdened. 

What John is telling us is Jesus makes us winners at life. Over-comers. His requirements aren’t heavy at all.

false teaching

There are a lot of different things said about God these days, ranging from “He doesn’t exist,” to “He’s going to take everyone to heaven.” Most of them are obviously wrong, but sometimes it’s hard to be certain. Are people bringing us true words of God or not?

It turns out there’s a way to know that, too. John tells us how, in 1 John 4:6: “We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.”

Ever notice there are some people you can’t even talk to? They dismiss everything you say at best; at worst they won’t even discuss things with you. Well, John says that’s a surefire way to identify a false prophet.

That’s because humility is a consistent trait of God’s true servants. No real Christian will ever refuse to sit and seek the truth from scripture with you, or pray over your differences. People who are really living close to God will be gentle and patient in persuading you, and will also be open to counsel themselves. 

So, no mic-drops between Christian brothers and sisters. No one-way conversations or lectures. No final words or destroying opponents or shutting them down. Jesus-followers are always willing to listen to others.

You can see why it’s a clear way to spot someone bringing false teachings. It’s so counter-cultural, so radically different from the way everyone else acts.

It’s also a good way to tell when we’re getting off track. When we’d rather shut down someone else than listen, it’s a good time to ask if we’re talking truth or just our opinion or preference.

how we know

I think every Christian wonders once in a while whether he or she is really saved. Often, we wonder because we look at the way we live, or maybe just all the things hidden inside.

When we do that, we’re on the right track. Look at this from 2 John 3:24: “The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

There is, John says, a way to know for sure. If we sense the Spirit, then we know that we belong to Jesus. The Spirit, after all, is a way we know the triune God, so that evidence is as conclusive as it gets.

But how do we know if the Spirit is in us? Well, Paul told us that in Ephesians. He explained that the Spirit will produce fruit in our lives, and he even told us what that fruit would be. Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

You see why we wonder?

Sometimes, in traffic or at work or when we disagree at church, we don’t see the fruit. Those are barren seasons, times of no harvest. Our spiritual tree seems bare. But even in those bad times, there are signs of green life.

Because other times we see fruit. Maybe not on every branch, and maybe it isn’t very big. But sometimes we’re thoughtful and kind and generous. Sometimes we have gentle words instead of harsh ones, and joyful thoughts instead of cynical ones. Sometimes we promote peace instead of conflict. On certain days we can even wait patiently instead of demanding answers or solutions. And we know, because that’s not how we are by ourselves, that the Spirit is at work.

There is a way to know for sure. Jesus himself told us you’ll never get good fruit from a bad tree.