John 3:16 is a favorite verse for many, summing up our theology as we proclaim
with Christ: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever
believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” It is a beautiful piece of what
we believe, but 1 John 3:16 has a special place in my own faith: “This is how we
know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our
brothers and sisters.”
There’s something radical about this love. I mean, when was the last time you
considered putting yourself in harm’s way to benefit someone else who was neither
blood family or a close friend? But maybe this means even more than a willingness to
die for someone else. Before this section, 1 John says: “This is the message that you
heard from the beginning: love each other.” A few verses later, he says “We know
that we have transferred from death to life, because we love the brothers and sisters.
The person who does not love remains in death.” And then we come to the passage we
just heard, “This is how we know love: Jesus laid down his life for us, and we ought
to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. But if someone has material
possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but refuses to help, how can the love
of God dwell in a person like that? Little children, let’s not love with words or speech
but with action and truth.”
Laying down our lives means more than being willing to die. In her Working
Preacher Commentary, Dr. Janette Ok makes sense of this section by noting, “‘Laying
down our lives’ resembles what Paul says in Philippians 2:4: ‘Let each of you look
not to your own interests, but to the interests of others.’” Dr. Ok later shares about a
pastor she knew “who lived modestly but was in the habit of giving generously[. She
asked him] how he determined the amount he gave to [a relief agency and a
missionary connected to her church.] He answered, ‘I give until it hurts.’”
Can we say the same? Early in my ministry, I preached on this text, and I found
this story from some missionaries in Haiti.
[There was a couple who] served for 12 years as missionaries to
Haiti. Among various other ministries…, they discipled a few
young men who [went on to] lead various churches and ministries.
One participant in this was a shy young man named Miltador.
Miltador showed a heart to obey even the most radical instructions
of the Bible. Like most Haitians, Miltador lived in poverty. He did
have one possession that many Haitians did not. Miltador owned a
cow--a feat that may not sound all that impressive to us, but one
that would give Miltador's family an opportunity for ongoing
nourishment from the cow's milk and ongoing income breeding
the cow and selling its calves.
Miltador came into possession of the cow after several years of
work. A local farmer hired Miltador, then just a boy, to take care
of a calf. Each morning and evening Miltador retrieved the calf
from the neighboring farm, found a place for it to graze, then
returned it to its home. Miltador cared for the calf, with no pay,
until it had grown and could be bred. When the farmer finally
bred the cow, the farmer gave Miltador a calf--his only payment
for years of work.
As this discipleship group, including Miltador, studied through the
New Testament, they came to 1 John 3:16-18. …
The next week, when Miltador arrived at discipleship group
meeting, [the group leader] casually asked about his cow--was it
healthy? Miltador hung his head, "I don't have the cow anymore,''
he confessed. …''My brother has been sick and needed to see a
doctor. He had no money to pay a doctor. Last week you told us
that if we have material possession, and see our brother in need,
but don't help--how could the love of God be in us? So I sold the
cow and gave the money to my brother so he could see the
doctor.''
We might think that Miltador’s response was drastic. Couldn’t he have sold the milk
to provide for his brother? His actions seem impossibly radical, and perhaps foolish. Yet
he did understand the underlying message that is so hard to grasp.
Words alone are not enough for John; to love in love in deed and truth means that
any words have to be followed up with actions. This morning’s lesson puts together
God’s love for us, our love for God, and showing love for others. We won’t always get it
right; there will be times when we turn a blind eye to another in need.
When that happens, our hearts might condemn us. I know there have been times that
I’ve focused on things I’ve done or said that are past, worrying over what I should have
done instead. We so often condemn ourselves as we fret and fixate, anxious about actions
or inactions. But we know that God is greater than our worries. This is how we know that
we belong to the truth and how we set our worries aside and rest in God’s presence: God
is bigger than our worries and knows everything. So I find comfort that “Even if our
hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things.”
Let us strive to live out 1 John’s words: “This is his commandment, that we believe
in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other as he commanded us.” And we
can be assured that as we seek to act in love, we “dwell in God and God dwells in [us].
This is how we know that he dwells in us, because of the Spirit he has given us.”
Thanks be to God.
Alleluia! Amen.
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