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I felt the pastor’s sermon this morning was better than usual. He expounded on 1 John 2:7-11
Dear 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. Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble. But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded him.
The title of his message was, "True Christianity." He spoke about the Christian’s true calling is to love. He cited to passages from the Old Testament. Deuteronomy 6:5, Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. And Leviticus 19:18, Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.
From the New Testament, he cited John 13:34, where Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
He said this is not so much a new commandment as a new application, extent, or reach. He said that Jesus loved us, when we didn't deserve it. He loved us sacrificially. He loved us, when we were still in our sins. This love is new in respect to the Old Testament. Anyone that claims to be in the light, but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
Visible Christianity is characterized by love. There is a difference between walking in the darkness and being in the darkness. What is hate? Hatred can be active or passive.
If you cannot forgive a person, you're not a true Christian. Love is Christianity made visible, Christianity in action.
Loving actions start with loving attitudes. We need to speak words seasoned with grace. Love is not a feeling, it is an action of the will. One important action of love is forgiveness.
Then he related the following story: During that War of Independence, in Ephrata, Pennsylvania, there was a Baptist pastor called Peter Miller. He was a friend of General George Washington. There was another man named Michael Whitman in that town. He was an evil minded man who did all he could to abuse and oppose the pastor. One day Whitman was arrested on charges of treason and was found guilty and sentenced to death. The old preacher heard about it and immediately started out on foot and walked the 70 miles to Philadelphia to plead for the man's life. He was admitted into Washington's presence and at once begged for the life of the traitor. "No Peter" said Washington, "I cannot spare the life of your friend." "My friend!" exclaimed the pastor, "he is the bitterest enemy I have." "What?" cried Washington, "You have walked seventy miles to save the life of an enemy? That puts the matter in a different light. I will grant the pardon." And he did. Peter Millar took Michael Whitman from the very shadow of death, back to his own home in Ephrata - but no longer as an enemy but as a friend.
This forgiveness and loving our neighbor is so difficult for each of us. Although I have a very thick skin, it is something I struggle with. I’ve been betrayed by a couple of people that I can’t really say I’ve been able to forgive. I’ve just put it out of my mind. Somehow I don’t think it’s the same thing.
I suggested, and not in jest, that he repeat this sermon once a month. One of my complaints about many pastors is their attempt to make biblical passage relate to modern day life. After listening to some of them, I feel like I’m in the middle of a lecture on management techniques.
I much prefer for a pastor to preach directly from the bible. I think they should give their audience a little credit for enough smarts to figure out how it applies to modern day life.
I general, I feel this pastor does that.
These types of sermons remind me of one of the better football coaches, Vince Lombardi. He would start every football season with his players by saying, “This is a football.” Vince wasn’t much on razzle-dazzle. He believed his players should learn the basics until they became second nature. I think pastors might want to look at this example for some inspiration.
I think Christians need to just work on the basics until they become second nature.
Posted by Ted at July 11, 2004 9:49 PM