“A double whammy”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Tuesday, April 29, 2025
1 John 2: 1-11 (Forward, p. 90) CEV p. 1286
Here the apostle John deals with two of the very real realities of life, sin and disobedience (or obedience). On the first count, he is quite adamant in saying that he’d rather us not to fall into sin. (And so, he counts that as a distinct possibility). However, he immediately follows this up with a provision, a way out, should we sin. (What a relief: he knows, all too well, that this is a distinct possibility!) If we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, a defence attorney you might say, someone who speaks on our behalf with God the Father, namely Jesus Christ the righteous one. And what is more: Jesus is the atoning sacrifice, the propitiation, for our sins and the sins of the entire world. And so, we are ‘covered’!
But now comes what I would call the second part of the double whammy. John immediately follows this discussion of sin with a discussion of what it means to obey or disobey God. Here he suggests that when we obey God we are showing that we truly loving Him, and what better way to do this, than to follow His example. And what is that example? It is to love others, just as Jesus did. And, if we fail to do that, we are living and walking in the dark, or, in other words, in sin.
I don’t know about you, but I don’t always think of sinning or not sinning in quite these terms. I often think of this in terms of specific commands or injunctions, rather than something so broad as loving others, that is, wanting, willing, and working for whatever is best for that person. It is broad, yes, but it becomes very specific when we begin to think of the flesh and blood persons, the persons we know and meet, that we should be applying that love towards. That puts obedience, loving God, and sinning into a very real perspective and forces to think about them in a brand-new way. Fortunately, we have His help and assistance in so doing.
Forward notes: “But whoever hates another believer is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know the way to go, because the darkness has brought on blindness” (verse 11).
“If you have ever hated or been hated, you know the visceral damage it can do. Likewise, if you have ever loved or been loved, you see the joy it brings. The darkness of hate and the light of love cannot co-exist. Throughout the gospels, we are told that if we are in conflict with a brother or a sister, we must leave our gifts before the altar and be reconciled.
“If we are blinded by hatred, how can we possibly make our way to the light? Since the beginning of time, people’s hearts have turned against each other, and our world today is riddled with division between people who despise each other.
“Perhaps this passage is assigned to the second Tuesday of Easter because the miracle of the resurrection is the only way to be saved from the power of hate. May it be your salvation this day.”
Moving Forward: “Where do you find the light?”
A concluding note: Something I didn’t notice at first: verses 9 and 11 speak of loving a brother or sister in the faith, a fellow believer, another Christian. Whoa. That’s a hard one, for far too often it is towards our fellow Christians that we express the fiercest venom, the most concentrated hatred and ill will, the most conspicuous lack of love. (Just think of the debates at some church meetings!). And yet these are the very people that we should be loving, loving just as Christ has loved us.