A Life Worth Living Speaks the Truth

The third sunday of easter

Shepherd of the Hills Ev. Lutheran Church (WELS)

1 John 1:1 – 2:2

1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2 The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to make our joy complete.

5 This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 8 If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.

2:1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (NIV)

CIR HIRI! (Christ Is Risen; He Is Risen Indeed!) A life worth living lives on the promises of God.  It dismisses doubt.  This morning we see that it speaks the truth.  Speaking of truth, please be honest with me, does this alb make me look fat?  Husbands, perhaps such a question conjures up painful memories of having been asked a similar – albeit much more terrifying – question by your wife about an outfit she was trying on.  The most horrifying thing about being helplessly pinned down with that question in that situation is not determining the truth, which is generally pretty easy; rather, it is determining whether your wife wants to hear the truth, or if you are in one of those situations where you’re supposed to tell her what she wants to hear (hint: your wife always looks good).  Of course we’ve all been brought up being told always to tell the truth, and sometimes it leads us to see the reality of the expression, “the truth hurts.”  True as that might be, the alternative – not telling the truth – hurts much worse.  It almost always tends to bring a whole lot of extra baggage and problems with it as well.  That’s one of the reasons we speak the truth.

Another reason we speak the truth is because spiritually speaking, the difference between eternal life or eternal death hangs in the balance of truth.  Man must know and acknowledge the truth of who he is and what his natural state before God truly is.  More importantly, he must come to know the truth about what God has done in Christ Jesus to forever change that status before God.  Only one place shows both truths:  the Word of God, so in order to know and speak those two truths of who we are and what God has done for us, we look to the words of John in God’s Word this morning, and in so doing, we find a life worth living.

Why should the words of John have any merit when it comes to looking for guidance in speaking the truth?  Yes, his Gospel and three letters are included in the inspired Scriptures, cementing the reality that, through the Holy Spirit, John’s words are every bit God’s Words.  That is sufficient for us, but nonetheless, John goes further and explains why he should be qualified to speak to the issue at hand: he was an eye witness, experiencing Jesus first hand.  He explains, “That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.  The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.  We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us” (v.1-3).  John didn’t hear it from a guy who heard it from a guy, who heard it from a guy, etc.  He didn’t have to draw on some other individual’s description or experience.  He was with Jesus.  He saw him with his own eyes and touched him with his own hands.  So when John wants to share what he saw and heard while with Jesus, we do well to listen.

The truth that John speaks has much to say about Christian living.  John clearly connects right believing with right living in his letters.  That is to say, a person lives what he believes, and believes what he lives.  Belief and behavior are two sides of the same coin.  As one commentator put it, “orthodoxy of doctrine is no substitute for righteousness of life” (Bruce).  To draw the wrong conclusion that “I may live in whatever way I please because I have pure doctrine” is no better than the false assumption that “it doesn’t matter what I believe because I live a pure life.”  Right believing is right living.

That brings us to the first of three truths spoken by John: “If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth” (v.6).  If God is light, having no darkness whatsoever, as John had just established, then how could a person claim any degree of fellowship with God while at the same time walking in darkness?  It’s an impossibility.  A light is either on or off.  While some may be dimmer than others, finally, even if only dim, it’s either on or off, light or dark.  Ask the unbelieving world about the criteria it has for determining whether or not a person is a Christian.  The unbeliever cares little what the Christian believes; rather, he will make his judgment based on how the Christian lives.  In his mind, walking in the light is how he identifies a Christian.  It would seem that his assessment of who is and who isn’t a Christian isn’t so far off from John’s.  It’s a sobering reminder for us that it is necessary for us not only to talk the talk, but to walk the walk of light as well.

Why?  “If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin” (v.7).  It almost sounds contrary to every thing we’ve learned, doesn’t it?  It sounds like in order for us to be purified from all sin, we must first walk in the light.  But if we recognize that John is simply writing in the same spirit of James, who pointed to our lives and works as evidence of saving faith, then it isn’t such a difficulty.  Walking in the light is a fruit of faith, and if we have faith, then we have fellowship with one another and with Jesus, whose blood purifies us from all sin.  We don’t walk in the light to bring about purification from sin; rather, we walk in the light because we have been purified from sin.  Where’s the proof of such purification? CIR HIRI!

The second truth John establishes has to do with the reality of sin in our lives.  “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us” (v.8).  Though they may be rare, there are some this side of heaven who claim to be perfect; to be without sin.  We know that many strive to achieve such a state of sinlessness, indeed believing that they can, but few are those that would actually make such a claim.  To such people, and any of us who have bought into that notion, John says, “ we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.” 

Equally as bad as those who believe sinlessness is a state than can be achieved are those who believe it’s not something that is needed to be achieved, because they were never sinful in the first place.  These are the people who subscribe to the “man is basically good” philosophy, people who apparently ignore the evening news and countless headlines over the course of a day.  Rather than the picture of being steeped in sin before birth, as the Bible paints us, they believe in man’s inherent capacity for good.  They deceive themselves, and the truth is not in them. 

In either case, the futility of pretending to be without sin, or pretending that such a state can be achieved, will be met with about the same success as efforts to rid a naval ship of yellow fever. Some time ago a naval ship that had had a case of yellow fever break out among its crew returned to the naval yard for repair and fumigation.  After the ship had been scraped and repainted, and all the proper procedures had been endured, the ship was put back to sea again.  However, not even a full month later, yellow fever appeared again on the ship.  More drastic action was to be taken this time.  Since it was said that yellow fever spores could not live through the cold weather, the ship was to be opened up and exposed to freezing weather during the winter.  When spring arrived, the ship was repainted and made ready for sea again, but again the fever broke out.  Finally it was determined that, although a most noble naval vessel, death was in it, so it was eventually towed to sea and sunk.

So it is with all of us by nature: try as we might, sin naturally clings to us, and no matter how hard we try, no matter the method, we cannot rid ourselves of it. It has been passed down from generation to generation, threatening a fate that would sink us spiritually and eternally into the depths of hell.  To avoid such a fate, only one remedy can rid a person of the effects of that original/inherited sin: the blood of Christ.  Only the blood of Christ can fully and completely purify us inside and out, so that not a trace of such sin remains.  That purification is applied by the Holy Spirit, either by means of the cleansing waters of baptism or through the Word of God alone, but always through the Word of God.

What a difference there is for those who confess their sins!  John says, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (v.9).  We’re sinners – that’s the truth!  Don’t claim otherwise, or you reject the very forgiveness that is received following that confession of sins.

The third and final truth of which John speaks may not appear all that different from the previous one.  He writes, “If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (v.10).  It sounds nearly identical, but there is a subtle difference: the difference between having sin and the act of sinning itself.  The one is a lie that man can be without sin this side of heaven; the other is a lie that refuses to identify sin when it is being committed.  This lie refuses to call sin, sin.  Sin is either watered-down (“a little white lie”), euphemized (living in sin is called “cohabitation”), or outright denied (homosexuality is acceptable).  To deny our actual sins is to call God a liar and to show that the Word is really no part of our lives.

With these truths it is clear that John is serious about helping his readers connect the dots between belief and behavior.  Speaking the truth means not trying to hide or ignore our sin, but confessing it freely.  For when we have that truth down, then John wants to lavish us with the most important truth: “if anybody does sin, we have one who speaks to the Father in our defense – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world” (2:1,2).  There simply is no greater truth than knowing that the One interceding on our behalf has made us at one with God, paying for the sins of the entire world.  But one cannot and will not appreciate that life-altering truth unless he first speaks the truth of his own sin.  Yes, we sin daily, we sin much.  But dear friends, that sad truth cannot begin to snuff out the bright Easter joy that reminds us that God the Father fully accepted his Son to be our atoning sacrifice.  Even if we forget all other truth while here on earth, may we never tire both of hearing and speaking that truth, a truth of which we can be certain  because… CIR HIRI! Amen.

“For the freer confidence is from one’s own works, and the more exclusively it is directed toward Christ alone, so much better is the Christian it makes.” (Luther)