To Be a Child of God -- Lectionary Reflection for Easter 3B (1 John 3)
3 1 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. 3 And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. 8 Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Those who have been born of God do not sin, because God’s seed abides in them; they cannot sin, because they have been born of God. 10 The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love their brothers and sisters
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This
Easter season we find ourselves in 1 John. While this letter/sermon is well
known for reminding us that God is love, therefore we should love one another
(1 Jn 4:7). As with the Gospel, the letter also reminds us that God is light.
The first word we heard (last week) is that since God is light those who fellowship
with God will also walk in the light (1 Jn. 1:5-7). One of John’s concerns is
sin. At one level, John is realistic. Everyone sins, though they shouldn’t.
However, since we do sin, God has provided us with an advocate to argue our
case before God. That advocate is Jesus, who also serves as the atoning
sacrifice for our sins (1 Jn 2:1-2). While John understands that sin is with
us, he also challenges the community to live without sin. That is the issue
that gets raised here in chapter 3, where John speaks to us as children of God
(in contrast to those who are children of the devil).
While
John doesn’t give precise definitions of sin in the letter, we know he is concerned
about schism and the denial that Jesus is the Christ. Thus, he is concerned
about those persons, the antichrists, who walk in darkness and will, if they
can, lead people astray. So, he spends much of chapter 2 warning against the
influence of antichrists who are attempting to deceive them with their lies.
These lies if embraced will lead to schism. John wants to prevent that from
happening. With that as the background, we come to chapter 3 of 1 John.
I
understand why the creators of the lectionary might want to stop in verse 7. It
offers a more uplifting message. But, especially in this day and age, we need
to address the other side of the coin. We moderns might find conversations
about the devil problematic. History shows how references to the devil and the
devil’s disciples have led to tragedy (think Salem witch trials). Nevertheless,
the presence of evil in our world does suggest that we are facing spiritual
problems that require spiritual answers. Perhaps John can help us with finding
those answers.
When it
comes to being a child of God (to be born of God) that will be reflected in a
life that is not marred by sin. That is because, as we read in verse 9, God’s
seed abides in those who are born of God. Thus, those born of God cannot sin. Another
way of putting this is to say that because we are to be like Jesus, the Son of
God, who does not sin, then the same should be true of us. On the other hand,
if you’re a child of the devil, you’ll be like the devil. Since the devil has
been sinning from the beginning, if you’re a child of the devil you will engage
in sin. That is, instead of being righteous you will be devilish. his is stated
in contrast to its opposite, that is, to be a child of the devil. If the
latter, we will act in accordance with that identity.
When we
get to verse 8, John has something important to say about the mission of the
Son of God (Jesus). He writes that the Son of God (Jesus) has been revealed to
destroy the works of the devil. If we turn to the Gospels, we learn that Jesus
was an exorcist. Yes, he cast out demons. That was the way he often healed. As
Richard Beck points out not only did Jesus go around doing good, but he healed
those who were under the power of the devil. In other words, his good works
“are consistently described as spiritual warfare, as a battle he was
waging with Satan.” Then Beck points us to this verse. [Reviving Old Scratch, p. 31]. I appreciate the
word Beck brings to the conversation, as one who struggles with this idea of a
devil/Satan. He urges us not to snip out (ala Thomas Jefferson) the stories of
Jesus the exorcist. He writes that “We prefer to see Jesus as a moral teacher,
especially when he calls out corrupt religious, political, and economic
institutions. But if you excise the dramatic clash between Jesus and the Devil
you eliminate the narrative glue that holds the Gospels together as a coherent
story. If we want to understand what Jesus was up to in the world, we’ve got to
confront his conflict with Satan and acknowledge how central that plotline is
to the story being told in the Gospels” [Reviving Old Scratch, pp. 33-34].
John is
speaking here of spiritual warfare. There are those who oppose Jesus. They are
the antichrists who, if successful, will destroy the community. John does not
want that to happen. We live in challenging times. We are being pushed to
accommodate ourselves to the world. It might be a message of America First. It
might be a message of consumerism. It is that which divides and conquers, which
takes on many different guises, all of which are at their base spiritual in
origin.
We read
this passage during Eastertide as a reflection on the message of the
resurrection of Jesus. If Good Friday is a sign of resistance to the
righteousness of God as embodied by Jesus, his resurrection stands as a sign
that those spiritual forces that resist God’s vision for the cosmos have been
defeated. That is, the children of the devil may have their day, but in the end,
they will not succeed. Ultimately love will win. So, as we continue our celebration
of Easter and with it the Resurrection, we’re invited to see the Resurrection
of Jesus as the turning point in what can be described as spiritual warfare. As
the Easter hymn declares: “The strife is o’er, the battle done, the victory of
life is won; the song of triumph has begun. Alleluia!” Yes, “the powers of death have done their
worst, but Christ their legions has dispersed: let shouts of holy joy outburst.
Alleluia!” (Latin, 1695; tr. Francis Pott, 1861). Oh, I understand the
resistance continues, but the battle has been won!
Note: For more on 1 John, I suggest my book The Letters of John: A Participatory Guide (Energion Publications, 2019).
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