November 5, 2015

“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. 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. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him. Little children, let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous”. 1 John 3:1 – 7

“Verses 3-7 are implicit exhortation: If we remain in Jesus, and he has no sin, then we must not sin either. 1 John cannot imagine being a child of God, trusting and hoping in Jesus, and not reflecting the character of Jesus in one’s own life. But we must not get confused at this point. All discipleship rests on the declaration of what we already are: loved by God, children now, promised that we will be like Jesus when he appears.

It may be significant that this text is full of indicative verbs, not imperative. The readers are not simply told to be better, to try harder, or to get rid of their sin. That’s what Jesus came to do (verse 5). Perhaps the tension of this text regarding sin finds its resolution only in the conviction that by God’s grace we will be made like Jesus in the end. Here in Easter season, we have a new identity because of Jesus’ resurrection, and yet we hope and look for that day when the risen Jesus will return and transform us all into his image.” (Working Preacher Website, Commentary on 1 John 3:1-7 Brian Peterson)

Identity! It is a struggle every person goes through, not just those who identify themselves as transgender or in other ways, but everyone who is breathing has gone through a period where they were trying to understand who they are. Sometimes our identity comes through the sports team we follow. Other times it is through the college we attended (Pitt vs. Penn State), or the city we come from (New York vs. LA), or a region of the country (northerner vs. southerner). As a baptized Christian, it is clear to me where my identity comes from: I am a child of G*d, chosen in my baptism as one of G*d’s own. This is the most important identity I have, and I need to remind myself of that every day.

And this is one of the greatest missions we have as members of the Christian church – we need to remind people that they are valued and loved simply because they were created in G*d’s image. People chase after identity in all the wrong ways – but that often is because our society wants to devalue us – if we are not rich, or educated, or white, or black, or Latino, or male, or female, or beautiful, or skinny, then we should not have any value (this is what advertising will tell us). Society is telling us that our happiness is just one more surgery away, one more weight program away, one more gym membership away, one more new relationship away, and this is a statement filled with lies. We are beloved children of G*d – and that is where our identity should begin, so we can begin to move forward on the road to living happy, fruitful lives.

Pastor Dave