We Know the Love of God, So Share It :: 1 John 3:13-18
[Introduction]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, you should never be surprised when the world looks at you ... or speaks to you ... with hostility or disdain (v 13). As Saint John reminds us this morning, the world will hate you because of the Gospel ... or we should, as our Lord said in John 15[:18], because it hated him first.
How or why the world could and would hate us because of the Gospel, because of Jesus, is a mystery to me. The Gospel is the best gift of all. And it’s free. It doesn’t demand anything from you. It tells you what God has done and continues to do for you. It offers nothing but grace and love, peace and pardon, redemption and forgiveness and eternal life. And the world hates that ... because you didn’t deserve any of it. I know that doesn’t make sense. But it’s true.
The Gospel is rejected by the world because its core message flies in the face of human pride and autonomy, self-preservation and self-exaltation. The world hates it when the radical, unconditional, self-sacrificial love of Jesus breaks into a community through the lives of baptized believers and thereby exposes the irrational, conditional, selfish darkness of the world.
In our epistle reading for this Second Sunday after Trinity, Saint John unpacks this truth for those of us who have passed out of death into life (v 14) ... that is, you who are baptized. He reminds us of at least three truths ...
1) He reminds us that the Law exposes our hidden malice.
2) He reminds us that the Gospel of Christ heals every wound and atones for every sin.
3) And he reminds us to bear the natural fruit of sanctification.
1. We’ll begin with the Law.
When Saint John holds up the mirror of God’s holy Law, he provides us with a radical, terrifying diagnosis of our heart. He writes, Everyone hating his brother is a murderer (v 15a). With these jarring words, John echoes the teaching of the Sermon on the Mount.
We like to think of murder as a crime reserved for the depraved. We comfort our consciences by saying ... Well, I’ve never killed anyone. In fact, I’m a decent person.
But the Law of God doesn’t judge by human standards. The Law of God judges the thoughts and intentions of the heart (Hb 4:12). And out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander (Mt 15:19). The Law then declares that whoever is angry with his brother will be subjected to judgment, and whoever insults his brother will be subjected to the council, and whoever says, Fool!, will be subjected to the hell of fire (Mt 5:22). With the Law, Jesus strips away our self-righteousness, our polite social masks, and our convenient excuses. And this angers the world.
It also mirrors what Luther teaches us in the Small Catechism. Let’s look at that.
Please open your service book now to Page 321. But instead of focusing on the Fifth commandment, let’s look at the Eighth.
As the head of the family should teach them in a simple way to his household ... What is the Eighth Commandment? ... What does this mean?
John shows us that the opposite of keeping this commandment is harboring hatred. Why else would we NOT speak well of our neighbor? Slander, which comes through gossip, is another form of hate. It’s murder. When we carry bitterness against someone ... when we nurse a grudge ... when we secretly rejoice in someone’s failure ... when we assassinate someone’s character through the most subtle gossip ... we are committing murder in our hearts. We are wishing that person did not exist ... or would go away ... that they would not enjoy God’s blessings. And that’s murder. And it doesn’t matter how subtle it is.
John’s diagnosis is absolute and unyielding. You know (and continue to know), John says, that every murderer does not have eternal life abiding in him (v 15b).
Yes, brothers and sisters in Christ, that is John’s call to repent.
2. Which brings us to the second reality of Saint John’s epistle reading ... the objective of the Gospel.
Having completely crushed our self-righteousness under the weight of the Law, John does not leave us in despair. He immediately lifts us up with the sweetest comfort imaginable. He writes, In this we know the love that he, on behalf of us, laid down his life (v 16).
Notice very carefully what John does not say here. He does not say, By this we know the warm, fuzzy sensation in your chest today. He points us entirely outside of ourselves. He points us to an objective, historical, concrete event ... the cross of Christ. He points us to the Gospel that Jesus lived without sin, died for your sin, and rose from the dead free from sin, all to prepare a place for you in his kingdom, at his table. He laid down his life for you.
Your assurance of this truth does not depend on the fluctuation of your emotions today ... nor does it depend on how well you kept the commandments yesterday, today, or tomorrow. It rests entirely on the finished, objective redemptive work of Jesus. On the cross, Jesus bore the full penalty for every murderous thought, every bitter word of gossip, and every moment of cold indifference or idolatry of self that has ever polluted your heart. Your sins of thought, word, and deed were nailed to his cross.
Jesus remembered that the wages of sin is death. But he does not desire the death of sinners. So he stood in your place. On the cross. There he laid down his life. He bled and suffered and died for your sins. He was forsaken by the Father so that the Father won’t forsake you. And because he himself was sinless ... Hallelujah! He is Risen! ... His life is now your life ... so that when you stand before the Lord in judgment, God will see only the righteousness of Christ.
This is the definition of love. And it’s an objective fact, stamped in history and sealed in the blood of Christ, and distributed to you in your Baptism and during the Lord’s Supper, both of which proclaim the Gospel that the world despises so much. Now when the devil accuses you, whispering that you are too sinful to approach the Lord, you can look to the cross, come to the altar, and proclaim what Jesus has done for you.
3. So ... now that you have that eternal life ... what will you do with it?
John offers us godly wisdom in this regard. If anyone has the sustenance (or we can say, the life) of the world and sees his brother having a need, yet closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him? Children, let us not love in word or tongue, but in work and truth (vv 17-18).
As Lutherans, we are fiercely protective of the truth that we are saved by grace alone through faith alone, apart from works of the Law. We reject any notion that our charity, our kindness, our material sacrifices can earn a smidgen of God’s favor. But we must never fall into the trap of thinking that because we are fully forgiven ... that we get to live any way we want.
When you look at the cross and realize that Jesus laid down His life for you, your heart is freed from the crushing burden of trying to save yourself. You are freed to love your neighbor ... to love your brother and sister ... to share forgiveness simply because that’s what Christians do.
Open your hands and your heart. Give of your time, your resources, and your comfort ... without being asked. Love in work and truth because Christ first loved us in work and truth ... and none of us asked him first.
[Conclusion]
Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, John’s epistle is a profound summary of the Christian life. It humbles us by exposing our hidden hatreds. It comforts us by pointing us to the Gospel where love is defined once and for all. And it empowers us to walk into a hostile world, ready to lay down our own preferences, resources, feelings, and lives for our neighbors.
Marvel not if the world hates you for doing that. Keep your eyes on Christ. He has already overcome the world, and in Him, you have passed from death to life ... in Jesus’ name.