A sermon preached by Pastor Lewis Polzin on May 9, 2021 at St. Peter–Immanuel Lutheran Church in Milwaukee, WI, on 1 John 5:1-8. You may play the audio of the sermon here.
A mostly unedited transcript of the sermon follows the jump.
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.
The text this morning is from John’s first epistle, the fifth chapter:
Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
Thus far the text.
My dear friends in Christ,
He is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! He is risen and we actually pick up this with the continuous reading from last week. If you recall, last week, we were talking about abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in us that we would bear the good fruit and into the world. And we talked about the good fruit being the works that we do in love and service to our neighbors. It makes sense then that John would continue this. It is no surprise that our epistle lesson picks up from last week, just as our Gospel lesson does, and it makes sense that it is John who wrote both passages.
He tells us that if we are to bear the good fruit, it looks like loving those who are of God. Now John makes it very clear: anyone, everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Now as a Lutheran, sometimes this rankles me a little bit, I wonder at people who have these different denominational beliefs and I've often wondered how far is too far? How far, how much can you believe that's different than what the scripture speaks and still have it be okay. And John answers this for us. Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Now, granted, I want doctrinal purity. God wants doctrinal purity. He wants us to be right in what we believe, in what we teach, and in what we confess. And we should never stop working for that. But everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. And so the Holy Spirit, through John, tells us that is enough. It's enough.
I told you last week, it's true, I like to argue with Calvinists on Twitter. I don't know why; it's just kind of fun to rankle them every so often. And the goal isn’t just to rankle them, but to push them into understanding what it is that we believe and hopefully then, the understanding that this is what they should also believe. However, it must be done in love and not out of a position of hatred or anger or jealousy or anything like this. If we are to believe that Jesus is the Christ, that is enough. That's enough for us to be saved. It's enough for us to be called brothers and sisters, one of another.
And this is especially poignant in our day and age today when we had so many, at least what the world seems to be saying, so many divisions, especially, lately, racial divisions. Now, if you've been with me for any time whatsoever, you know that I believe that race is a complete lie. We are all one race, and specifically the human race, or the race that stems from Adam and Eve, a race that stems from Noah. Yes, it's true. We have our cultural differences, but we are all of one human race. The world wants us to judge people by what they look like, but John tells us what it is by which we should judge someone: do they believe that Jesus is the Christ? That's it. That's it. Now again, it's good to acknowledge the differences that we have, if they’re real, and some divisions are indeed real. But, it’s not something by which we judge their worth. Instead, even as we acknowledge the differences between you and another person, probably completely within a cultural context, we are to first acknowledge if a person is a believer. Now, this doesn’t mean we serve a person less, but it gives us a whole new realm of responsibility toward a brother or sister. For if they believe Jesus is the Christ, they are born of God just as you are. Don’t let the divisions divide you wrongly.
It is enough to say that Jesus is the Christ. And what does that mean? That Jesus is the Messiah, because that's what Christ means (Christ is the Greek word for the Hebrew Messiah) and all it means is the anointed one, the anointed one of God. Christ was anointed, as Peter says in Acts today, in his baptism where God sent the Holy Spirit and power upon Jesus. It was a glorious day when Jesus went down into John's baptism, and his anointing was seen by all. He took for himself that which was given, the role and title of Messiah. So, what is it to believe that he's the Messiah, that he's anointed? That he came into human flesh, that he lived a perfect life, that he died to forgive the sins of the world, that he rose again on the third day for our justification, and that he is ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God, the Father almighty. And as we confess in the creed, from thence he will come to judge the living and the dead. This is enough. That is what it is to believe that Christ is the Messiah. That's good. And if someone believes this, we should hold onto it because everyone then who loves Jesus, because he's the Christ, will love the Father. And so everyone who loves the Father then must love those who are also of the Father. That is the fruit that we bear.
Now, it doesn't mean that we don't do good deeds to those who don't believe that Jesus is the Christ; we do, but we don't love them in the same way, do we? There is a difference between the church and the world. There is a difference between those who believe in Christ and the world. Sometimes it is enough to say that what you're holding onto is going to send you to hell and unless you repent, that's it, and then to wash your hands of them and to walk away, as Christ says, if a town does not accept you, then wipe the dust off of your feet at them and leave them. If they will not accept that I have sent you to them, then wipe off the dust. And so it must be with the world, that we do this as well. But when it comes to a brother or a sister of the faith, it's not enough just to leave them and do whatever. Our call is to stand by them, to support them, to uplift them in prayer, and to even uplift them, if they need you to, to literally pick them up off the ground. I’ve had to help some saints, even in this church, stand after service, and I know you have, too. That’s a good deed. Now, certainly, if somebody falls outside, you don't look at them and say, Well, do you believe in Jesus? And if you don't, I'm going to walk away. That's not okay. But certainly it is a good thing when we do it inside the church, or for our brothers and sisters. And it is even more a good deed, to lift up an errant brother or sister, one who has maybe different ideas than what the scripture says, or one who is in a sin that they are having a hard time getting over, or, God forbid, one who is in a sin that they refuse to repent of. When they believe that Jesus is the Christ, we are not called to leave them behind in the dust, but to pick them up in love just as our Father has loved us by sending his Son. We love our neighbors by sending ourselves to them and serving them in whatever capacity that it may be necessary for them to benefit from. It's a big deal. When we talk about what it looks like to live as a Christian, this is a big deal. We have a different relationship one with another than even we do with one in the world.
But we bear this fruit because we belong to God. And so we look for those that we can serve. John says, by this, we know we love the children of God, that we love God and obey his commandments. Of course we know what these commandments are. If you're going to sum them all up, they are to love God with all of your heart, your mind, your soul, and your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself. You would not do evil to yourself, would you? Of course not. And so it is that we should not do evil to our neighbors.
We sit here and think of all the ways that we failed in this. At least we should. I do. When we compare ourselves to the law of God, we find that the law accuses us in our sin. It tells us that we are not worthy of any of the love of God. We cannot match up to the demands of the law. So what are we to do, because if we are to be loving God, we are to be loving our neighbors. John makes it clear. And you want to know that you love God? You’re going to see what you do in terms of obeying his commandments. Well, how many of us are doing okay with that? That answer is none. So what is our only recourse?
Our only recourse is to fall at the feet of Jesus, beg for his forgiveness, to repent of our sins, to despise them as much as we would the worst person in the world, even more. And when we do this, we find that our Lord Jesus is quick to forgive, for where repentance is forgiveness always, always immediately follows. It is as if you're getting the words out of your mouth and Christ picks you up and says, my son, my daughter, I forgive you before you can say a word. It's like the prodigal son, and you all remember this story of Jesus. The son begins to starve and is miserable, and so he sets his mind to return to his father’s home, not as a son, but as a slave. And as he goes back to his Father, he thinks, the servants in my father's house eat well. I know what I'll do. I'll go back and say, Father, I sinned against heaven and against you, please, please let me do something to serve you. And as he's walking his way back, the father sees him from a long way off, and begins to run to him. He runs to his son, grabs him around the neck and screams in his ear, I forgive you and I love you. This is the picture of our Jesus, for if we believe that Jesus is the Christ, we know that this is what he will do and has done because the Christ is the one who forgives our sins. The Christ is the one who welcomes us into his family. The Christ is the one who saves Israel, the nation that we've been grafted into.
See, if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, you do believe that Christ will forgive your sins. And this is a wonderful and glorious thing, but he doesn't forgive you your sins so that you can go back and keep on doing evil. He forgives you your sins that you should leave them behind and work now toward the good. It’s very clear, isn't it? John is wonderful in this that he brings all this out. We can't just sit back and say, Eh, it doesn't matter what I'll do. I can go forward and do whatever I want. Instead, the Lord tells us what it is that we will do. We will love God. And we will love the children of God by obeying his commandments. Because, when we're in Christ, we find that the commandments, even as far as they're going to accuse us, and they're going to accuse us all the way to hell, the law, the commands of Christ, John says are not burdensome.
Well, I disagree. At least I do according to my sinful flesh. Our struggle against the sinful flesh is real and it’s hard. To sit there and say, well, I must honor God in all things, I must always keep the Sabbath, I must not misuse his name, I shouldn't commit adultery, I shouldn't ever lust, I shouldn't ever kill, which is to hate my brother in my heart, I should've ever steal, I should never lie, I shouldn't ever want something that belongs to someone else, is hard. To sit there and say, according to my self, my flesh, I can't do that is right. But, in Christ, being indwelt by the Spirit, I know have the power to avoid these sins, and I also know I am not always going to do that. No, because I will battle with my sinful flesh as long as I live, I will fall into sin again and again. But even as I battle, there is forgiveness there, for Christ sees who I am in him. I am his beloved child. I'm his beloved brother. And so he tells me, according to his Spirit who lives in me and lives in you, that these commands are not burdensome, because when we have been converted, when we believe that Jesus is the Christ, we should want to do these commands. We should want to follow after them. And if we do not want that, then maybe we need to have a good, hard conversation with pastor about, well, do we really think that we're a Christian now? And if not, maybe we need to get some real work done. Sadly, no one's taken me up on that offer, but it's still there.
I think this idea though, that as we go out and we love others by the law, and this because we love God, we're going to help and serve others through love. This is something for us that makes a lot of sense because all of us here have been converted. All of us do believe that Jesus is the Christ and in the love of God, we want to do good to our neighbor. This is the victory that we have, that desire that's in us to do good to our neighbor. And why do we have that victory? Because that victory comes to us by faith. And how does faith come to us? It comes because Jesus is the Christ, right? Remember, again, especially as we're approaching this day of the Ascension that Jesus says it is good, that he leaves us to go to be with his Father, because then he's going to send the Holy Spirit to us. And the Holy Spirit, by faith, will guide us into all truth. And so it is true then that if the Holy Spirit dwells in you, by the promise of baptism, then you have faith in you. And if you have faith in you, you have the victory over sin, death, and the devil that Christ won for you.
You don't have to struggle against these things. You don't even have to struggle against the law,; go and do the good that God empowers you to do. And again, will you always do this? No, yet it is that our Lord says, I forgive you. That is the wonderful thing about being a Christian. We are a church of sinners. We are a church of great sinners, but we are a church of sinners who have been greatly forgiven. How do you know this? John says it's by the water and the blood. You know what he means by this? Certainly it means by the very water and blood that poured out of the side of Jesu when the soldier pierced him, right? When he was peierced, the spear entered his lung and the water that had built up there as Jesus drowned to death on the cross, that water poured out, along with any of the blood that he had been aspirating, right? Cause as he's breathing out this blood, he's also breathing it in and, by his wounds, it pours out into the world.
I saw a picture once of this, that what John's really getting at in these pictures, is Jesus hanging on the cross, which by the way, is a wonderful image. We never should forget that Jesus hung on the cross. I love full crosses. I love crucifixes because we should always remember that what it is that Jesus did on that cross. Certainly, the empty cross reminds us that Jesus came down and rested in the tomb in death, and that Jesus has risen from the dead, but the full cross reminds us of why it is that Jesus rose from the dead. And so, this picture was Jesus on the cross and he had a wound in his side. Out of this wound flowed the water and the blood, and the water was flowing into the baptismal font and the blood was flowing into the cup that we share in Holy Communion. And so it is that John, a big fan of double entendres, both in his gospel and in his epistle lessons, we find that John means not just by the water and the blood that came out of his side, which John witnessed as the only apostle to see the crucifixion, that Jesus really did die and that Jesus rose again, but that the water of baptism and the blood of the supper testify to you that Jesus is the Christ.
And how does he do this? How is this testified to you? By sending you the Spirit so you know that Jesus is the Christ, that you have the victory over sin, death, and the devil, that you know that you've been forgiven all of your sins. Because the very water and blood that flowed from Jesus have come to you in baptism and in the supper, you have faith in this Christ. And in fact, if you want even more proof to know that the Spirit is alive in you, you may see that you want to do the good things that Jesus has for you.
These things, water, blood, and Spirit, testify to you. Do you want to know if Jesus is the Christ? Do you want to know if you've been forgiven? Do you want to know if you can live in Christ and that on the last day, he'll raise you up from the dead and that you will live with him forever? Then look to the gifts of the church, look to your baptism and remember it, that you were baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. And remember that you've been at the alter, you have received Jesus in your mouth. And remember too, that you can see it even in the works that you do, because they're done out of love for God. And because you love God, you'll love your neighbor. See these three things. John says the water, the blood, and the Spirit testify, indeed, that you have the victory over sin, death, and the devil because Jesus was victorious over sin, death, and the devil. And this is true always and forever because Christ is risen! He is risen, indeed! Alleluia! In Jesus’ name, amen.
Now may the peace of God which passes all human understanding guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus, our Lord! Amen.
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