Trinity II Fr. F. W. Burgett
Trinity Anglican Church Given 06/01/08
“My little children, let us not love in work, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (1 St. John iii. 18.)
We are all familiar with St. Paul writing to churches in different countries and admonishing them for failing to live up to the faith delivered to them by the disciples. St. Peter wrote Epistles of courage, pilgrimage and hope to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. St. James wrote an epistle of exhortations in simple straight forward language. Even St. Jude wrote an epistle to oppose the heresy of Docetism – the belief that Jesus was wholly divine and his earthly appearance was an illusion. This is our second Sunday in Trinity and we have our second epistle from St. John for this season.
St. John’s epistles are somewhat different. St. John did not address a specific heresy or practice within a particular church. John had a different concern. He was the last survivor of the twelve and knew there was a new generation of believers who would never know Christ personally. Robert Browning expressed John’s concern in his poem “A Death in the Desert.” He say’s,
“When my ashes scatter, there is left on earth no one alive who knew, saw with his eyes, and handled with his hands, that which was from the first, the Word of Life. How will it be when none more saith, ‘I saw’?”
John had no peers who could say, “I saw”. John was not allowed to visit any of the new generation of believers because of his imprisonment. The church at that time was comprised of household churches sometimes widely scattered. The primary source of communication between the churches came through itinerant missionaries. The household church traditionally supported the missionaries while they were witnessing to the pagans. John’s epistles were written to be carried by itinerant missionaries and distributed to the household churches supporting them along the way.
As the church lacked a centralized structure, extravagant and varied Christian teaching sometimes cropped up in the isolated households. The aforementioned Docetism was rampant as no one could personally verify the actual humanity of Christ. The Gnostic tendencies grew into arrogance toward less sophisticated brethren. People recognized Jesus and his teachings but did not recognize his incarnation. The importance of Jesus’ two natures was lost.
Not far from John was an example of the growing tendency. Diotrephes, a conscientious leader with influence in numerous household churches, looked upon John and his teaching as inferior, divisive and out of touch. It was not in keeping with the cultural norm that Christ was divine and his appearance on earth was an illusion. Diotrephes was insubordinate and slanderous with the itinerant missionaries who brought John’s message. He not only refused to support them as was the custom, he refused fellowship with those who did support them. By removing the mystery of the two natures of Christ, the church was rapidly falling into religious romanticism and that spiritual romanticism was becoming the essence of the Christian religion.
The individual teachings of the household churches developed into schisms as each grew more rigid in their interpretation and more confident in their own understanding of the faith. Bear in mind, none of these were people who knew, saw or touched Jesus in person. Each household conscientiously applied their understanding to the faith and carried it to an isolationist extreme. They were so sure they were right; many would not even talk to each other.
Being the last of those who knew, saw and touched Jesus personally, John was distraught to see how people discounted and re-interpreted the faith brought to them. He could not visit each household church personally to re-introduce them to the reality of Jesus. He wrote these epistles so those churches could come to know Christ as both divine and human.
John says, “Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.” Would not this statement apply as well today? Catholics and Protestants share little more than suspicion and distrust. Anglican, Orthodox and Roman Catholics are much the same. Every major protestant denomination is split between those with a conservative view and those desiring a cultural accommodation for both faith and practice. It was little different in John’s time. And yet, John tells us we must love the brethren, even those casting slings and arrows at our beliefs.
The household churches in John’s time were only trying to preserve their understanding of the faith. But John says, “The love of God cannot dwell in us if our compassion is shut off from others.” John was giving them a guideline for orthodoxy. That is how we too can tell if we are preserving our faith or arrogantly dismissing others who believe differently. If we have no compassion for them, we have missed the point and need to re-align our approach. We must hold to the faith of Jesus Christ and have compassion for those who do not.
It matters little whether they have lost the faith through misunderstanding, misdirection or simply prideful self interest. We must have compassion for them or the love of God will not dwell in us. Then we are told how to have compassion. We must love, not in word, or tongue. We must love in deed and in truth. We can learn to use words of compassion and speak kindly of everyone. But, that is not enough. We must also love in deed and in truth. We must act according to our convictions and pray our actions do not convict us. If we love others as God loves us, we will not deviate from the truths He delivered to us through Jesus Christ. God is truth. God is love. We cannot separate the two. When we have love and disregard truth, we are emotionally warm but spiritually lost like icebergs floating on hidden currents. When we have truth and disregard love, we have a spiritual compass but are not motivated to move. Truth and Love are absolute requirements for following God’s will.
A news report caught my eye this week. It was about a 61 year old woman dying when a power failure left her iron lung inoperable. The family used a generator for such emergencies but could not get it started in time. I looked a little deeper into the story and found a story of great love. This lady was three years old when polio struck. Up to her twenties, she could breathe without assistance for short periods. From the 1960’s on, she was confined to the iron lung 24 hours a day. She graduated from high school, received an honorary degree from Freed-Hardeman College and wrote a children’s book about Blinky, a star who wanted to be a wishing star.
You might well ask, “Where is the love in this story?” It is behind the scenes. A spinal deformity prevented this lady from moving to the more modern respirators. She didn’t qualify for Medicare. The love in this story is in the family and friends that helped her accomplish her goals for 57 years. That is love in deed and truth.
The Gospel today is like the final exam for the lessons of the epistle. It poses a challenge to all Christians. The story about the great supper is familiar and shows the critical nature of our response. God has prepared a place for us in heaven. Will we accept his invitation or will we make excuses. We have been given the truth and commanded to love. John also reminds us of our example. “So God loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, to the end that all that believe in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (St. John iii. 16)
“While we have time, let us do good unto all men; and especially unto them that are of the household of faith.”