This is my least favourite... mainly because I had to introduce a book and preach a message but only had 4 verses to work with.
Still....
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Good Morning,
As many of you will know, the [place] festival is happening soon [dates] – for those who don’t know- it’s the [place] carnival that they always hold on the Park opposite the church, only this year they are re-naming it.
Anyway the organisers asked us if we would like to be involved as a church, and it was decided that we would open the church up on the Saturday to let people in for a chat, or a coffee, or a prayer.
Mavis and I then thought we would like to put up a display of the Christian story around the church for people to see.
So of course we need to include all the important parts in the story of Christianity..
Where do you think the story starts?
-what is the start of the Christian story?
-easter? Baptism of Jesus? Christmas? (gradually help them with answers if they don’t respond etc)
Well our passage today provides us the answer, “That which was from the beginning”.
In many ways it echoes the start of Johns’ gospel “In the beginning was the Word”.
Christianity is not a 2000 years old religion, that begun in the desert somewhere. It is the result of a progressive revelation of God to his people;
Through creation we learn something about God- that he is a creative God, he then reveals more to Adam & Eve in the garden, and then more is revealed to Abraham as God makes a covenant with him;
Yet more is revealed to Moses as he has the law given to him,
And so on and so on, until in Matthew 5:17 Jesus says “I have not come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come to fulfil them”.
I often feel this – the antiquity of the Word – is something we miss.
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And so over this term we are going to be looking at 1 John, so I thought as this is the first sermon of the series, it would be good to spend some time giving an extended outline of 1 John, to build up a framework to help understand how the next few weeks will fit together.
First John was quoted from very early on in the life of the church, by Papias of Hierapolis who lived between 60-135AD. And also it is quoted in Polycarp’s letter to the Philippians (a different letter to the bible) in the early second century.
Now although we’re not sure when it was written; most scholars seem to put the date as being between 85 and 95AD -after John’s gospel had been written.
Although 1 John lacks explicit reference to a city or region, it is most likely that John is speaking to problems that have arisen in the churches over which he has some jurisdiction. This area was roughly western Asia-Minor, or south west turkey.
The letter was most likely written to counter the threat of Gnosticism – an early form of Christianity which had changed the message of the Bible in several key ways.
John’s purpose, therefore, was to expose false teachers and their utter lack of morality.
He wanted to assure his readers that they had been saved. And because he had seen Christ, known Christ, he wanted to refute the idea that this human saviour was some kind of unreal Spirit being.
As we read 1 John together over the coming weeks, you can experience some real joy and some real ambivalence.
On the one hand, John’s writing style is very simple, with a very limited and basic vocabulary (so much so that I’m told this is usually the first book that students learning Greek are given to read).
On the other hand, you may experience real difficulty trying to follow John’s train of thought. It seems to me that unlike Paul who writes in a very systematic and logical well structured way, John is .. random.
It’s been suggested it may help to think of it more as a musical composition than a Pauline argument.
I have to confess this is actually quite a kin to how my mind works when I try to organise things so I found it very enjoyable.
John gives a prelude to anticipate the first theme, then the next two main themes
Are struck or more accurately hinted at, followed by an interlude and then another prelude this time to the major theme of the false prophets and their denial of the incarnation.
With all the three major themes in place, John works them over two more times each, adding and clarifying as he builds up with powerful crescendo to the finale.
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And so moving into today’s passage particularly, a prelude to the first theme.
These first 4 verses can be seen as split into two sections, that on foundation facts (v 1-2) and that for the benefit of our everyday experiences.
Now in the first section – In order to catch his readers’ attention, John begins abruptly. He writes not only from knowledge, but also from his profoundly personal experiences of the "Word of Life."
John recounts that he had heard, seen, looked at, and touched his Subject.
The subject being the ‘word of life’
But what is he talking about? To me it seems there are three possibilities as to the identity of this "Word of Life":
• The gospel message, which conveys new life
• The person of Christ
• Both 1. and 2.
Option 3 is best. It seems likely that John’s readers would have identified the "Word of life" with the "Word made flesh" of Jn. 1:14.
Indeed, eternal life and Jesus were practically synonymous for John ( in 1 Jn. 5:20 he claims Jesus is “the true God, and the eternal life”).
Moreover, Jesus said of himself that he is life eternal (Jn. 11:25; 14:6) and Paul said that Christ is the gospel message (1 Cor. 1:23). Therefore, it seems reasonable to me, and most scholars, to view the "Word of Life" as the message of the gospel incarnated in Jesus the Son of God.
As I said previously, the early stages of a heresy called Gnosticism had begun to surface when John wrote this. So John wanted his readers to know that this teaching was false and that his audible, visible, and tangible witness to the "Word of Life" is conclusive proof that "the Word of Life" was a material, divine reality.
These facts are really crucial, and are why I outlined to you at the beginning that a man named Polycarp had quoted from 1 John. And indeed sat at Johns’ feet learning from him.
Because if this is true then what we have hear is eye-witness testimony.
John is trying to give his readers every reason to sit up and listen to what he has to tell them.
Moving to verse 2,
John states that Christianity is not a human fabrication, nor an elaboration of some other world religion. Rather, Christianity is a revealed religion ("the life appeared").
Were it not for God graciously choosing to reveal himself finally and completely in Christ, we would all be blinded by the darkness of the ruler of this world, we wouldn’t know anything about God.
John’s experience reminds us that Christianity is not a religion for just scholars; it is an intensely "personal" one. Consequently, our faith is based not only to what God has done in history, but to what God has done in us.
Our experience of Christ should be similar to that of John’s:
• we "see" the truth of the gospel
• we "testify" to it (- affirm it to be true)
• and we "proclaim" it to others.
John assures his readers and us that the truth about salvation is both objective and subjective. It is grounded in the personal and historical; the perceiver and the perceived; the experience and the experienced.
However, lest we forget that experiencing and proclaiming Christ is merely a means to an end, John reminds us that God is bringing about his objectives in our salvation.
And so now moving onto the second section –
[Verses 3-4]
John states two intended purposes for proclaiming the Word of life:
The first being "Fellowship", and the second being Joy.
John says that fellowship with him and his apostolic colleagues necessarily depends upon a relationship with God through Christ.
It is impossible to have genuine, biblical fellowship with other believers and not have fellowship with God through his Son Jesus (and vice versa).
Christians are related to one another as a branch is related to a vine. – the true vine – Jesus.
We are a spiritual family.
So what happens when the fellowship become one-sided to either the human or divine elements?
Human fellowship minus divine fellowship is like a tree without roots.
Likewise, divine fellowship minus human fellowship equals false piety.
Remember the what Jesus told us was the greatest commandment, “Love the Lord your God.. and love your neighbour as yourself”
these two must be inextricably linked for our growth as Christians to be complete.
For example Evangelism that does not involve fellowship will leave new disciples with a serious case of biblical malnutrition.
Similarly, fellowship amongst ourselves, in which we constantly pray for one another, but that does not issue forth in evangelism will leave a static and lifeless "holy huddle."
Again for example,
Praying on your own, and reading the bible with no reference to any other Christian author, or to any lesson that history has taught us, will invariably lead to some rather odd beliefs indeed – something that can be seen in many cults.
And fellowship with one another that has no reference to God, is no different really from any other group of friends – it does not set us apart from the world, and if we’re honest, it doesn’t equip us to deal with and grow through the challenges of life in the same way the true vine does.
We need to hold fellowship within our community as very important, but also in creative tension with fellowship with God, and fellowship with those outside.
Finally the second reason John gives for writing is "Joy" (and not a cheap glow that depends upon circumstances).
Rather, biblical "joy" is a quiet, inner confidence that our salvation is secure.
Biblical "joy" is delighting in all the blessings of a relationship with God and his people.
But still, what does John mean in this context about Joy?
I think I think the most likelt answer, is is similar to that of John the Baptist,
who said in Jn 3:29 “The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom's voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete.”
Think of it if you will, as a parent – or perhaps a grandparent feels joy when they see a child begin to reach it’s potential.
John is expressing his quiet inner confidence that their salvation and growth is actually secure; as is ours. This should give us a confidence and a joy!
In Summary
What was experienced, seen, heard, felt, and written down is the historical and deeply personal reality John calls the "Word of life."
This "Word of life" is none other than the gospel message incarnated in Jesus.
This "Word of life" is: Revealed to us, so it can be experienced by us and, proclaimed,
the effect of which is this: fellowship with God, and fellowship with God’s people, resulting in the joy and assurance of our salvation.
Let us Pray-
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