This is our last Sunday where the
topic is truth. That doesn’t mean that
truth won’t come up again. You can’t
really carve out a single topic from the full biblical witness that we are
charged to receive. You can’t talk love
without encountering truth. You can’t
talk obedience without faithfulness. You
can’t focus on justice without coming across mercy, but as far as the main
topic goes, this is our last Sunday on truth.
We pick up with mercy next week.
But this week we go to a very unique
letter from the apostle John.
The apostle John was an interesting
man for sure. Almost everyone who
follows Jesus knows the words from the third chapter of John’s gospel. In speaking to Nicodemus, he spoke to all of
us who have professed Jesus as Lord when he intensified his discussion with one
of Israel’s
teachers, saying:
For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life. For
God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the
world through him.
We think it was John who raced Peter
to the grave on that resurrection morning.
John followed Jesus for about 3 years around 30 AD. John was one of the leaders of the church in
Jerusalem for over 3 decades.
John left Jerusalem for Ephesus from
which he wrote his gospel and three letters.
By 95 AD, John has been exiled to Patmos and spent about 2 years
there. From this island exile, he wrote
the Revelation of Jesus Christ. But he
did not die there.
John returned to Ephesus for a few
years after he was released from Patmos.
He remained in Ephesus until he died near the beginning of the second
century. He was perhaps the longest
living of the original apostles.
While I can’t confirm this in
scripture, it is believed in those last years in Ephesus, when the worship
service was complete, an elderly John would stand and simple say, “Love one
another.”
I can’t confirm this but it sounds
like the person that we know from scripture.
When I think of this apostle, I can’t help but think of Jesus giving his
followers a new command, that they love one another.
Love one another. What a gentle yet powerful command. Jesus said that we would be known by our love
and I think John was known by his love.
In his third letter, truth dominates
the discourse. This is the shortest book
in the Bible with only 4 main characters.
· John – the letter’s author
· Gaius—the addressee
· Demetrius—the postman
· Diotrephes—the antagonist
Let’s start with the
trouble-maker. Diotrephes is trying to
make the church in his own image. He rejects the counsel of John, who likely
has been shepherding many churches in Asia Minor, but now this one church
becomes about its local pastor or elder who has rejected being under the
instruction and counsel of John.
He is doing more than stirring the pot
with his own interpretations and agenda, he will not receive the letters of
John and rejects anyone who won’t reject this apostle known for his love.
We don’t know much about Diotrephes or
the church that he has apparently hijacked desiring to be first, put in the
spotlight, the center of attention. We
don’t even know what the basis of the primary dispute was. Was it theological? Was it financial? Was it the color of the carpet or the
dishwasher? Was it something else?
We don’t know, but from John’s letter
we see how other believers were treated and a wayward believer who somehow had
taken the helm at this church.
John noted that he would deal with
this matter face to face. We don’t know
if that happened or not. Had Paul been
dealing with this, we would probably have a book of the Bible with at least a
dozen chapters, but John said he would sort that part out later.
The focus of this letter for us is
truth. John mentions truth 4 times in
the first 4 verses and another 3 times in the rest of this very short
letter. He expresses his joy at what he
has heard about Gaius.
In the midst of turmoil in this body,
Gaius was living in the truth. He was
faithful to the truth. Let’s put it this
way. He was genuine in his love for and
his life given over to his Master.
John does give a piece of counsel with
his affirmation of Gaius. Imitate
that which is good not that which is evil.
He is affirming that he is doing the
right things in helping the believers who have been sent with the gospel, even
though many are not personally known to him.
His discipleship is genuine.
He is not looking for personal glory
or notoriety. He is genuine in his
service to the Lord. He lives in stark
contrast to Diotrephes—the name means nourished by Jupiter—and surely contends
with the Judaizers that Paul had to address in this same neck of the woods.
Gaius stuck to his faith and was not
persuaded by the flavor of the month or the pagan heritage that had prevailed
for centuries. I think to last week as we talked about the words that Jesus gave
his followers. I am the way, the
truth, and the life. I think Gaius
fully embraced that his life was in his Lord and not in himself or his
perceived standing in the body.
We don’t know much about the church to
whom John wrote, but his counsel applies to us.
Live in the truth. Walk in the
truth. Be faithful to the truth. Be genuine in
your faith.
We are called to mix it up in a
godless world but not belong to that world.
Jesus jumped into the middle of a world of sinners not because he wanted
that lifestyle. He wanted to share words
of life with the lifeless.
We can’t do that if we are faking
it. We can’t go into the godless world
with words of life unless we walk in the truth.
Paul would say, work out your
salvation with fear and trembling—living out your life lived in God’s favor as
the most important thing that you do.
John says walk in the truth.
I ask, are we doing that? How are we responding to grace—God’s
unmerited love and favor?
Some people need a checklist. Give me a list of God’s laws and let me see
how close I can get. This is how some
are called to walk in the truth.
Some people—I think of Mother
Teresa—who just went out into the world to be God’s love. She walked in the truth. This is giving everything that you have in
response to God’s grace. Living in God’s
favor was enough sustenance and abundance for her.
I think of the airline pilot who
faithfully goes through the checklist before takeoff. I want him or her methodically going through
the checklist. I also think of the
running back who knows the plays, but when the hole isn’t open has the instinct
and desire and passion to find a crease in the defense and run towards the goal
line.
Both live in the truth and respond in the manner that they
know. Most of us are somewhere in
between the pilot and running back and don’t live in the world of analogy. We live in the world of schedules, and bills,
and ballgames, and idols, and fundraisers, and funerals.
Most of us, do our best to keep God
first, to seek his kingdom and his righteousness before every other distraction
of our lives. But we still struggle.
Most of us are called to walk in the
truth in our homes, our schools, our jobs, and our ministries—whatever they may
be.
Most of us are called to walk in the
truth proclaiming the good news of Jesus Christ, not because Tom won’t let up
on this Great Commission thing, but because our hearts cannot contain the truth
of how much God loves us.
We are to walk in the truth living a
life that says God loves us and has shown us how to live.
We are to walk in the truth praising
the name of Jesus every step of the way.
Only through his atoning sacrifice are we made right and can live the
life we were designed to live.
We are to walk in the truth knowing
that the glory of Christ Jesus surpasses everything that God has done for us.
For this reason, we must not be
persuaded or dissuaded by the state of the world, the flavor of the month slant
on scripture or socialism, or whether we have a pianist or not. Whatever the controversy at hand, we must
never lose sight of or relegate to a subordinate position, that Jesus is
Lord! Neither things large nor small
must get in the way of walking in the truth.
Listen to John’s words once again.
I have no greater
joy than this: to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
John noted that while there was much
controversy at the hands of this man named Diotrephes, those John had mentored
and discipled and sent out gave him great joy when they didn’t get wrapped up
in the gnat straining and camel swallowing but stuck to the truth that is Jesus
Christ.
Diotrephes disruptive practices would
be dealt with in due time. This was the
time to commend Gaius and perhaps all believers who stay the course of seeking
God first in the middle of controversy and distraction.
You know, this is the only writing
that we have from John where he does not use the name Jesus or Christ. He simply notes that for the sake of
the Name, disciples went
forth in their ministry.
Remember how excited Peter was that he
was beaten for the sake of the Name. Jesus is in heaven but for the sake of his
name, our discipleship is multiplied to the point that the world will not
overcome our living in the truth.
Walking in the truth is living for the
sake of the Name. Are we doing
that? Can we even do that? Will we do that?
When we say the words that we got from
Joshua, as for me and my house we serve the Lord do we translate them into
action that says we walk in the truth?
Are we working Jesus in where we can or are we working out our salvation
never leaving the Name of Jesus out of anything?
Will we be bold enough to speak the
truth in a spirit of love and let people who are dead in their sin know there
is life, life abundant, and life eternal in Jesus Christ.
Will we do that for the sake of the
Name?
I think what gave John great joy will
do the same for our Master.
Let’s walk in the truth. Let’s live in the truth. Let’s be people of the truth.
Amen.
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