1 John 1:1-9 (NRSV)
We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life-- this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it, and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us-- we declare to you what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
James Kiefer writes about St. John the Apostle and Evangelist:
John, son of Zebedee, was one of the twelve apostles of Our Lord. Together with his brother James and with Simon Peter, he formed a kind of inner circle of Three among the Twelve, in that those three were privileged to behold the miracle of the Great Catch of Fish (Luke 5:10), the healing of Peter's mother-in-law (Mark 1:29-31), the raising of the daughter of Jairus (Mark 5:37 = Luke 8:51), the Transfiguration (Matthew 17:1 = Mark 9:2 = Luke 9:28), and the Agony in Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37 = Mark 14:33).
He expressed a willingness to undergo martyrdom (Matthew 20:22 = Mark 10:39)—as did the other apostles (Matthew 26:35 = Mark 14:31)—and is accordingly called a martyr in intention.
However, we have ancient testimony that, although imprisoned and exiled for his testimony to the Gospel, he was eventually released and died a natural death in Ephesus: "a martyr in will but not in deed."
John is credited with the authorship of three epistles (1 John, 2 John, 3 John) and one Gospel, although many scholars believe that the final editing of the Gospel was done by others shortly after his death. He is also supposed by many to be the author of the book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, although this identification is less certain.
Today's meditation in Forward Day by Day offers additional insight into John.
Exodus 33:18-23. I will make all my goodness pass before you, and will proclaim before you the name, “The Lord.”
The author of Exodus prefaces this speech by explaining “the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.” Our lectionary sets John’s close relationship with Jesus in the context of Moses’ relationship to God. In the wilderness, when Moses is weary of the weight of leadership, God refreshes him with an intimate vision of God’s very self. Moses, not famous for his unquestioning obedience, needs the reminder of God’s goodness.
John inherits this pattern of relationship with the Lord. John brings all that he is, his whole person, to Jesus, and Jesus receives him. If the other disciples were disturbed by John’s “thunderous” personality, by his questions of Jesus, Jesus himself seems to have known what John needed. Clearly Jesus made his own goodness pass before John.
Like Moses and John, we are meant to bring all that we are to God and to talk face to face. Nothing less will satisfy. (1996)
When I made Oblation as an Oblate of St. Benedict, I chose St. John as my Oblate name. I chose the name for a few reasons. Of all the Gospel writers John reflects a depth of knowledge and spirit. St. John also represents for me the one Apostle who seemed to walk to the beat of a different drummer. Of all the Epistles in the New Testament, the Apostle wrote more about the topic of love than probably any other author. John clearly makes the love of God and neighbor a central theme to his understanding of being a follower of Christ. Some of the best writings and the most difficult are found in St. John's Gospel.
In my own humble opinion, St. John the Apostle shows through his work as an Evangelist and an Apostle that the love of God for all humankind transcends human labels and classification. One of the beliefs that is quite central to Christians is that God is both transcendent and imminent. God is beyond human description and understanding, yet God is closer to us than the smallest cell of our body. St. John represents to me an individual who's heart was made vulnerable to God in Jesus, and yet he was willing to risk having his heart broken to get closer and closer to God in not only Jesus, but in others who also needed God. It was John who stood by Mary as Jesus hung dying on the cross.
As we celebrate this Christmas Season, what is our focus on St. John about? We read in the Epistle reading that John writes about what he and others have seen and heard, that Jesus came as the Light to deliver us from darkness. We are encouraged to come to Jesus and receive the forgiveness of our sins through God's perfect revelation of God's Self in Christ. In today's commemoration we are remembering that Jesus' birth happened so that he could go from his cradle to the cross on which Jesus would redeem all humankind through his suffering and death. On the cross is the culmination and meaning of all human suffering, when suffering becomes redemption in and through God's human vesture on the cross. All suffering no matter how little or how great is valuable to God in the sense that God can use suffering to transform ourselves and the world around us. God is not a sadistic God in the sense that he wants us to suffer pain and anguish. But we know that within our human experience there is much suffering. At the cross, God demonstrates how God is present in and with all of us who suffer any grief or trouble. God's love is ever present and communicating with us and with the world through human suffering in ways that we do not understand.
In Jesus, God came to us in the midst of all of our grief, mess and trouble to help us know that we do not walk through the darkness of this world without the Light of Jesus Christ to help guide us through. When John writes about himself in his Gospel, he refers to himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved." All of God's children are among the disciples whom Jesus loved. When John writes of "the disciple whom Jesus loved" John is writing about all of us. God's compassion and grace is given and shared with all humankind through the Person of Christ who's birth we celebrate. St. John the Apostle and Evangelist makes this love for humankind from God the center of his life and ministry through his Epistles. St. John makes it ever more clear that those who claim to follow Jesus must be willing to make some kind of investment in loving our sisters and brothers if our discipleship with Christ is to be authentic.
1 John 4:7-21(NRSV)
God Is Love
Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.
By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Saviour of the world. 15God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19We love* because he first loved us. 20Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters,* are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister* whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters* also.
It is for the reasons stated in these Bible passages that I repeatedly write about the full inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer (LGBTQ) individuals in the Church and in society here in this blog. The message of Jesus is one of unconditional and all-inclusive love. The hate that is so often pitted against LGBTQ people on behalf of arch-conservative Christians of all kinds is not as much based on the Bible, as it is on capital gains. See an excellent article in America Blog Gay here that is such a great example of what I am writing about. The hateful rhetoric of organizations like the American Family Association continues in the wake of the historic repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell. While the focus of LGBTQ people is on equal rights and the opportunity to serve our country openly, the focus of groups like the American Family Association is focused on the issue of homosexuality. They are insistent on continuing to "bear false witness" (See Exodus 20: 16) about gay sexuality for the express purpose of continuing to criminalize LGBTQ individuals. Not because it is the right thing to do, but because it earns their organizations money and political power. Tomorrow we will recall the slaughter of the Holy Innocents. That is exactly what happens when people are so concerned about political power before justice, inclusion and equality. That is the kind of thing God came to us in Christ to call us to repentance and redemption from. It is that kind of thing that concerned progressive Christians have every business speaking and writing about stopping. That is why we celebrate the mysteries of God coming to us in Christ. Because in Christ those dominant, conquering forces are overthrown not by violence and more prejudice. But, by love, acceptance and inclusion. This is why I think St. John the Evangelist is so important.
Shed upon your Church, O Lord, the brightness of your light, that we, being illumined by the teaching of your apostle and evangelist John, may so walk in the light of your truth, that at length we may attain to the fullness of eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (Collect for St. John the Apostle and Evangelist, Book of Common Prayer, page 238).
O God, you made us in your own image and redeemed us through Jesus your Son: Look with compassion on the whole human family; take away the arrogance and hatred which infect our hearts; break down the walls that separate us; unite us in bonds of love; and work through our struggle and confusion to accomplish your purposes on earth; that, in your good time, all nations and races may serve you in harmony around your heavenly throne; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Human Family, Book of Common Prayer, page 815).
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