Rejoice in Your Fellowship with the Word of Life

1 John 1:1-4

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our joy complete. 

Rejoice in Your Fellowship with the Word of Life

What gives you joy? It’s a little bit easier to ask that question a week after a major celebration. When I think of joy, I think about the 96 people who were gathered in this room 7 days ago. I think about the smell of the lilies that still lingers here. I think about the guitars and the violins and piano. I think about the voices and the songs they sang. I think about the window that was painted and the banner and the artwork that was hung. I think about the food and the fellowship we were able to enjoy.

It's easy to think about joy and what causes it a week after a major celebration. But did you catch certain notes of not-so-joyful things in our worship last week or this? I think about the Gospel Reading in both cases.

Last week’s Gospel – the one with the joyous discover of an empty tomb and an angel announcing Jesus’ resurrection – ended like this:

Trembling and bewildered, the women went out and fled from the tomb. They said nothing to anyone, because they were afraid.[1]

That doesn’t really fit Easter triumph, Easter joy.

Then there’s this week’s Gospel, which started with the disciples cowering in fear behind locked doors. Even after the women finally fessed up to what they saw at the graveside, even after 10 of the remaining 11 disciples swore to the fact that they had seen the risen Jesus alive, there was still doubt and fear. Thomas still didn’t believe, and you have to imagine that he wasn’t the only one.

In fact, we know that Thomas wasn’t the only doubter. There were some confirmed deniers of Jesus’ resurrection. The Jewish leaders come to mind, of course. They paid off the Roman soldiers to spread the lie that a group of fishermen overpowered professional killers and stole Jesus’ body. But they weren’t the only ones.

There was also a man by the name of Cerinthus. If you’ve never heard the name, I wouldn’t blame you. It never appears in Scripture. But we know from history that he was a man who was styling himself as a Christian but who denied so many of the things that are central to the Christian faith, like the fact that Jesus is God, or that Jesus really rose from the dead, or that the Apostles were telling the truth.

I only mention Cerinthus because his false doctrine was the specific trigger for John to write his first letter, excerpts of which we’ll read every week for the rest of the season of Easter. The things that you heard today from the first 4 verses of first chapter of John’s first letter are a direct response to Cerinthus and his false doctrine, which, at first, may feel like this weird niche of church history that you don’t really need to know, but it is remarkable how modern Cerinthus’ false doctrine is.

Last week I got a notification from Facebook. It originated from the church account. One of our Easter posts was generating engagement – people were not only responding to it, they were commenting on it – which is usually a good thing, but not this time. This time it was from a man making the same claims that Cerinthus did so many years ago. He said sarcastic things like, “Come, join our cult.” He posed memes of simple-minded Christians still waiting 2,000 years to return.

It wasn’t very pleasant. I deleted them almost immediately. It threatened to sour the joy of Easter that I was so looking forward to celebrate – not only for me but for anyone else who happened to read them too. But it was so real and it was a good reminder that these footnotes of ancient history still rear their ugly heads so many years later.

The Apostle John wrote his first 2 letters in direct response to that kind of ridicule and denial. And do you know what his response was? No one can rob you of the joy that is ours through the fellowship we have with God and with each other.

John starts his first letter by talking about

that which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched.[2]

It’s a little bit cryptic. It makes you wonder what he’s talking about, but thankfully, he doesn’t leave us hanging for very long. He says,

“This we proclaim concerning the Word of life.”[3]

If that’s still a little confusing, maybe it’s helpful to compare what John writes here to how he starts his Gospel:

“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning…. The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”[4]

John is talking about Jesus. “The Word” is a special title the Bible uses to describe Jesus. And in these first four verses, John tells us some very important things about Jesus. First he tells us that Jesus was there from the beginning. In other words, he is confirming for us what people like Cerinthus (and trolls online) deny – that Jesus is the eternal Son of God. In fact, John doubles down on this point in the next verse. He says,

“The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.”[5]

Long before Mary ever gave birth to Jesus, he existed as the eternal Son of God. It’s quite possible that that seems obvious to you. Maybe you were blessed to have grown up in a Christian household where Jesus’ divinity is a given, but that’s not a universally accepted truth – not then, not now. But it is important. It means that Jesus wasn’t just some guy. He wasn’t a martyr for a cause. He wasn’t a mentor for us to mold our lives after. He wasn’t a man who reached a certain level in the game of life and earned a special reward or recognition for his achievements.

Jesus was and is the Son of God from all eternity. He helped to form and fashion this world when it was created. He was the subject of the promise of salvation that God gave to Adam and Eve when they fell into sin. He was the message and oftentimes the messenger of grace and peace and comfort and forgiveness to generations of believers, until he finally entered into this world. Or, as John puts it here:

“The life appeared… the eternal life, which was with the Father… has appeared to us.”[6]

This is big news! The almighty, supreme Being who presides over the whole universe, who is infinitely greater and better than us in every imaginable way didn’t remain aloof from us. He didn’t turn his back from us when we sinned and disappointed him. He turned his face toward us. He made his love known to us. He spoke a word of forgiveness, and that Word was God made flesh, i.e. the man Christ Jesus. Jesus Christ is literally the incarnation of God’s love for you.

And that’s no fairy tale! It’s not wishful thinking or a delusional fantasy. It’s a verifiable fact. How many times does John confirm it here?

“…which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched…”[7]

The eternal Son of God really did become a real-life, in the flesh human being. Shepherds and wise men visited him at his birth. Rabbis marveled at his spiritual maturity as a young man. Countless people heard his sermons and benefited from his miracles. A city crowded with pilgrims witnessed his death.

But, if you’re like me, that’s not what you’re thinking of when you hear John say,

“…which our hands have touched.”[8]

You’re thinking of Thomas, aren’t you? Putting his fingers in the holes in Jesus’ hands. Putting his hand in the hole in Jesus’ side. Jesus’ resurrection was no fairy tale either. The eternal Son of God, who lived a human life and died a human death, conquered death and rose from the grave. The dead man lived and there were witnesses to it. More than 500 people heard, saw, looked at, and touched the risen Jesus.

Men like Cerinthus – and modern-day trolls and cyber bullies – may deny it, but Jesus really is “the Word of life.” He lives! He is the expression of God’s love for you, and he lives for you. He died on the cross to forgive your sins and he rose to new life to give you eternal life with him forever in heaven. No one can rob you of that joy. Nothing can stand in the way of the fellowship that you have with God, or with each other, because of what the Word of life did for us all.

I asked you earlier what gives you joy. This is what gave John joy – proclaiming the Word of life, writing his Gospel so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name,[9] celebrating the fellowship that we have with God and one another forever through the life, death and resurrection of the Word made flesh for us.

I pray this brings you joy too. When life has you down or doubting, listen to the Word of life; he tells you all about God’s love for you. When the devil or your own conscience condemn you, look at the Word of life; he gave his life for you on the cross. When you are low on hope or joy, feel the Word of life on your forehead or in your hands and on your lips; he gave his body and poured out his blood to forgive you all your sins, and he washed you with water and the Word to unite you to himself forever through his resurrection from the dead.

Rejoice in the fellowship we share with God and one another through his Word of life. Amen.  

[1] Mark 16:8

[2] 1 John 1:1

[3] 1 John 1:1

[4] John 1:1,2,14

[5] 1 John 1:2

[6] 1 John 1:2

[7] 1 John 1:1

[8] 1 John 1:1

[9] John 20:31

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God on Trial: Sympathy

Luke 23:26-34

26 As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus. 27 A large number of people followed him, including women who mourned and wailed for him. 28 Jesus turned and said to them, “Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me; weep for yourselves and for your children. 29 For the time will come when you will say, ‘Blessed are the childless women, the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed!’ 30 Then “‘they will say to the mountains, “Fall on us!” and to the hills, “Cover us!”’

31 For if people do these things when the tree is green, what will happen when it is dry?”

32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots.

God on Trial: Sympathy

Did you know that only 50% of Canadians would describe themselves as Christian? That’s down from 77% in 2001. The trajectory for Christianity in our country is kind of scary. But the perception of our religion may be even worse. In a recent poll, “Evangelical Christianity” was the only religion seen as being more damaging than beneficial by every other religious group in Canada. In other words, our non-Christian neighbours are more likely to describe us as misogynistic, transphobic, and homophobic than generous, friendly, and caring.

And these are just the statistics. What about the stories? A middle schooler is shamed by his teacher in front of his class for saying he believes in the biblical definition of sex and gender. A boyfriend loses his girlfriend or fiancée because of the high value he places in his faith. A store owner loses business because she doesn’t participate in very specific social causes. You’ve heard the stories. You may have one or two of your own. And we haven’t even mentioned the funny looks, barbed comments, and cold shoulders we get from unbelievers all the time. We poor Christians!

Should we look for pity? We won’t get it from the world. Many people are happy to see that Christianity’s cultural influence is fading. “Poor Christians!” Is that what we should say?

Is that what Jesus would say?

Jesus sure makes for a sympathetic figure on his way out to Golgotha. Actually, pathetic might be the better word. His back is shredded from scourging. His face must be bruised purple from the beatings he received. Blood drips down from the thorns driven into his scalp. After a night without sleep, he’s exhausted. His body crumbles under the weight of his cross, so the soldiers conscript someone from the crowd to carry it for him.

No wonder the women wept and wailed! Whether this group of people following Jesus were his disciples or simply citizens of Jerusalem drawn to the spectacle of that morning’s events, no one would have been able to help but burst into tears at the sight of a human being treated so brutally.

But what does Jesus say? “Don’t cry for me! No sympathy for me, please. Mourn for yourselves and your children!” In fact, just five days earlier, Jesus himself had wept for them. Because the people of Jerusalem had rejected the Messiah, they would experience God’s judgment. The time was coming when mothers would rather be childless than watch their children suffer. People would prefer to be crushed under the weight of a mountain than be starved, tortured, or captured by their enemies. And history records the horrific things that happened to mothers and children when the Roman army destroyed Jerusalem a generation later, things too terrible for me even to mention.

Sure, Jesus was innocent and the victim of injustice. He was facing a cruel death on a cross that he didn’t deserve. But as pathetic as his situation was, theirs was more pitiable, because they would suffer too, and, in general, the trajectory for the majority of the people of Jerusalem was an eternity of suffering in hell for their rejection of him. If the sinless one would have to suffer, imagine the suffering that sinners deserve? If the Son of God was put on trial and wrongfully condemned, imagine the judgment in the court of public opinion that awaits all of his followers.

When we hear about the decline of Christianity in this country, when we read about society moving away from godly values, or when we feel the sting of rejection or mockery ourselves, our natural reaction is to think of ourselves as victims in need of sympathy. But that reveals a problem of perspective. If we look at the big picture, what we experience now is nothing like what Christians around the world suffer, and nothing like what Christians throughout the ages have endured. The comfort and societal approval we Christians have enjoyed for generations are not the norm. More importantly, the woe-is-me mentality is sinfully self-centered. It leads us to complain, to lash out, to circle the wagons to try to keep the world at bay, to look to flawed human leaders and systems to recover what we think we’ve lost, or maybe even simply to give up hope altogether.

But here’s the thing: when did God ever tell us to play the victim? Self-pity is the opposite of what we see in Jesus. His pity is not for himself but for the women—and their children and husbands and all their countrymen who would suffer too. And his pity doesn’t end there. Follow his stumbling footsteps to the crest of that hill and watch him be lifted up like a criminal. What are his first words? “Father, forgive them.” Forgive whom? His disciples? Those poor women? No, the soldiers driving nails through his hands and feet!

Jesus’ words reveal a heart that is focused not on self but on others. He was thinking about the families of Israel. He was thinking about the soldiers who had no idea they were crucifying the Son of God. He was thinking about you and me. If Jesus had pitied himself, he easily could have escaped this fate. But he was pitying us wretched sinners who were facing an eternal destruction far worse than anything the Romans could dole out. We deserved to face God’s wrath but Jesus had pity on us.

Relish that for a minute. Jesus’ heart went out to you. But he didn’t just weep for you. He took God’s punishment for you. He died for you. He shed his blood to cover you, to hide you from the destruction to come. Through pain and fatigue and insult, you were on his mind.

To say that Jesus didn’t want sympathy for himself isn’t to say that he didn’t deserve it, i.e. that his suffering wasn’t so bad. That should be obvious. There’s a reason those women were moved to tears at the simple sight of him.

And to say that Jesus doesn’t want us to look for sympathy isn’t to say that he doesn’t have pity on us. Nothing could be further from the truth. Jesus knows your pain. He’s felt it. He can sympathize with you in your weakness. His heart still goes out to you when you suffer, including and especially when you suffer for his name.

But he doesn’t want us to wallow in self-pity. He wants us to look past ourselves and look to him. He wants us to let him help us carry our crosses as we follow him, and find strength in his Word and sacraments. He wants us to look past ourselves and look to him for help and healing.

But he also wants us to look past ourselves and have pity on those around us. We have brothers and sisters in the faith who are struggling with pain and temptation. We have fellow followers of Jesus who are feeling the attacks of the anti-Christian forces of this world. Our Savior would have us pray for them, reach out to them, and remind them of his love and promises.

And, as strange as it sounds, Jesus also would have us direct our sympathy even toward our enemies. There is a destruction coming that this world cannot fathom. And the people of this world, even the ones who make our lives harder as Christians, don’t know it’s coming! Many of those who put God on trial are like the soldiers crucifying Jesus: They have no idea what they’re doing. They think they’re fighting against outdated values or old-fashioned fairy tales—fighting for the rights of humans to live free. They don’t realize they’re fighting against the Son of God, and they have no idea how badly that will end for them.

What if we thought of these people not as our enemies, or obstacles for us to overcome, but as fellow sinners who have been so deceived by Satan that they are doing his bidding without realizing it? We can have pity on them, warn them, pray for them, and tell them about God’s forgiveness, just like Jesus did. We can point them to the Savior who has compassion on them.

In other words, let’s save the sympathy for others.

“Poor Christians!” Is that what we should say? What would Jesus say? We know the answer because he told us in a sermon on a different mountain three years earlier: “Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:10). Blessed we are—happy—to suffer with Jesus. When the world treats us like it treated him, we’re reminded that the Father sees us like he sees his Son: righteous and royal. Pity? Why? We have the kingdom! Thanks be to God! Amen.

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