January 21, 2016
Scripture Reading: 1 John 2:7-11; John 13:34-35
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Questions for Reflection:
To understand a text that you are studying, you have to understand the author’s tone. What words give a glimpse to the tone that John is writing with? The words “dear friends” are also translated “beloved” in other translations. John is cognizant of the arguments and the divisions within the church; however, he writes with a concern about teaching something to this congregation that he loves. There’s a pastoral tone to what he writes. He cares for these people deeply. Why does it matter that they know how much he cares for them? Leadership expert and author John Maxwell has written, “They don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.” John cared for his congregation.
What is the command that John gives the congregation? How is it an old command? Assuming that they were familiar with John’s Gospel (which most scholars believe to be the case), what had they already learned from Jesus’ teaching? John returns the idea of light and darkness. How can you identify someone as living in the light? What is the danger in the darkness? When we choose not to love, we can get blinded in our hatred. New Testament scholar Gary Burge writes “Love becomes a genuine value only when it is tested, only when we must reach beyond ourselves and love someone we do not wish to love.” Is there someone in your life that you are finding it difficult to love? How can you choose to live in the light and act in love to them today?
The truth is that walking in the light is a daily choice that may not come easy. The indie band, Run River North, have recorded a song about this struggle. They sing: “ And, from the ground, I saw your face / You spoke of love, oh, you sang of grace / But come the night when the light is gone / It’s in the dark that my deeds are done / What I’ve done in darkness I must turn away / This mended heart was meant for so much more / Though the wind it’s telling me that it’s okay / I’ll stand my ground till I hear the kingdom come / So I will fight to keep the fire burning in the night.” Listen to the song below. As you do, reflect on what you’ve learned from 1 John about how we can live in the light.
We talk often at One Life about the value of cultural communication. We want to become great at communicating God’s message in artful ways. Spend time praying that God would make that vision a reality and that in doing so people who are far from God would experience Jesus.