From boredom to boldness
Commentary
One of the dangers the followers of Jesus face in any age is staying alert to the magnificence of our salvation in Jesus Christ. When we first encounter God's gracious love, it almost overwhelms us. But over time, it becomes a familiar part of the landscape -- one religious item among many others. Even the way we talk about God's saving grace in Jesus becomes like the hackneyed verse on a valentine card. Praying, the most personal aspect of our spiritual lives, becomes riddled with clichés. Devotional life diminishes while a step-up in public and external activities like church work increases. Suddenly the God who seems so alive in the crowded sanctuary of Easter Sunday is nowhere to be found on any given Wednesday afternoon at five o'clock. Faith becomes ritual without meaning and love is little more than empty words without demonstration.
The texts for this day offer an opportunity to shake the people of God out of their lethargy in the face of a world that has become loveless and violent. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes what many have called a holy boldness on the part of Peter and John as they stand before the very court which condemned Jesus to death. They exhibit a new courage and compassion and conviction no one would have expected from these uneducated, common men. Clearly, the only explanation for their boldness is found in the verses which follow our reading where Luke tells us that the Sanhedrin "recognized that they had been with Jesus." The reading challenges us to renew our relationship with the living Christ, so that we can move from boredom to boldness in our spiritual lives.
The author of 1 John reminds us of the enormity of God's love in the sacrificial death of Jesus, and calls us to an understanding of love that is down-to-earth and practical. Will or intention is closely bound with action. Talk is cheap. Not actually doing something for brothers or sisters in need is to close one's heart against them. Love is not just a special way of feeling; it is an orientation of life and action for God's Easter people. At every level of American society, from urban criminal through urban executive, our culture is permeated by the deification of wealth, power, sex, and status. The pursuit of all these goals stands in blatant contradiction to the New Testament of love.
The gospel reading from John picks up this same theme by implicitly asking, "Just how far will genuine love go?" John paints the contrast between the good shepherd who risks even life for the safety and well being of the sheep and the false shepherd who cares nothing for the sheep and is motivated only by the money he is paid. John then stretches our understanding of the limits of Christ's kingdom to include all who know Jesus Christ as Lord, and are willing to love others as they have been loved by Christ. He ends this pericope with the reminder that Jesus did not lose his life. He gave it in love for the sins of the world. The cross was not thrust upon him. He willingly accepted it for us!
OUTLINE I
Holy boldness
Acts 4:5-12
A. vv. 5-10: The passage suggests three signs that demonstrate the life of Christ in God's Easter people. The first is a new courage which Peter and John demonstrate. The word boldness means a lucid and daring statement. In the Greek, it carries the idea of "telling it all." There is no apology, no faltering, no hesitation. Bryant Kirkland has written: "Holy boldness is the mark of vital men and women in touch with the living Christ. It is not an option, but the normal operation of a vital, spiritual congregation." Do we have the courage to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord of life, or are we content to "not rock the boat" and simply hide behind the fact that we live in a diverse world where the highest of all virtues is that of toleration.
B. v. 11: Besides a new courage, the Easter people reveal a new compassion. For years every one of the leaders of the Sanhedrin had passed the lame man on their way to the temple. Suddenly, because of the action of Peter and John, this cripple is able to walk, and to run, and to leap in the air! No one can miss the fact that a person who was once a forgotten part of the landscape, is now the center of God's compassionate concern.
C. v. 12: Peter and John evidence a new conviction. Jesus is not only the best person they have ever known. They are now convinced that there is salvation in no one but Jesus Christ.
OUTLINE II
Believing and behaving
1 John 3:16-24
A. v. 16: For John, where love is not shared in action, there is hatred. No compromise or mediating position is conceivable. The definition of love like that of hatred, is given in narrative form; John refers to the death of Jesus as a model for love, thus echoing Jesus' own words in John 15:12-13. All those who hate are murderers, following in the wake of Cain. The words which immediately precede verse 16 are often left out of the reading, but the reality of murderousness and violence is an apt description of current American society. Small wonder that a society that cynically views love as foolish sentiment is plagued by murderous violence.
B. vv. 17-18: John gives us a down-to-earth example of those who profess to love, but whose behavior does not match their belief. He insists that love's genuineness is demonstrated in concrete acts of helpfulness. For him, the refusal to perform such acts of love is to close one's heart. What is at stake here is not accomplishments or results, but a demonstration of Christ's love in us through a willingness to act.
C. vv. 19-24: The God who commands accepts obedience to his commands as testimony to our belonging to the truth, and the genuineness of that obedience is attested in concrete acts of love, not just in talking about love. John understands belief as not only faith and right confession, but as obedience to Jesus' message and mission.
OUTLINE III
How far will you go?
John 10:11-18
A. vv. 11-15: In setting forth the contrast between the good and false shepherd, John contrasts a life motivated by love and service with a life that centers in greed and selfishness. The good shepherd as revealed in the life of Jesus is the faithful friend of the sheep. In Hebrew, the word shepherd and the word friend come from the same root. The good shepherd knows the sheep as companions. It is almost second nature for the good shepherd to think of their welfare before his own. The good shepherd goes before the flock willing to risk even his life to protect the sheep. When danger comes, the false shepherd will run to save his own skin, but the good shepherd will love, even if it means life itself.
B. v. 16: One of the hardest lessons to unlearn is exclusiveness. John pictures a day when the whole world will know Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Genuine love has no limits. It goes beyond nation and class and race to include all who know Jesus Christ as their Lord. The unity envisioned here is not some ecclesiastical structure, but a unity that is based on a common loyalty to Christ, and a willingness to love others as Christ has loved us.
C. vv. 17-18: For John, the supreme example of how far genuine love will go is Jesus' obedience to God. Jesus never doubted the necessity of the cross. His death was entirely voluntary. He could have turned back and saved his life, but instead he gave it for us.
The texts for this day offer an opportunity to shake the people of God out of their lethargy in the face of a world that has become loveless and violent. The reading from the Acts of the Apostles describes what many have called a holy boldness on the part of Peter and John as they stand before the very court which condemned Jesus to death. They exhibit a new courage and compassion and conviction no one would have expected from these uneducated, common men. Clearly, the only explanation for their boldness is found in the verses which follow our reading where Luke tells us that the Sanhedrin "recognized that they had been with Jesus." The reading challenges us to renew our relationship with the living Christ, so that we can move from boredom to boldness in our spiritual lives.
The author of 1 John reminds us of the enormity of God's love in the sacrificial death of Jesus, and calls us to an understanding of love that is down-to-earth and practical. Will or intention is closely bound with action. Talk is cheap. Not actually doing something for brothers or sisters in need is to close one's heart against them. Love is not just a special way of feeling; it is an orientation of life and action for God's Easter people. At every level of American society, from urban criminal through urban executive, our culture is permeated by the deification of wealth, power, sex, and status. The pursuit of all these goals stands in blatant contradiction to the New Testament of love.
The gospel reading from John picks up this same theme by implicitly asking, "Just how far will genuine love go?" John paints the contrast between the good shepherd who risks even life for the safety and well being of the sheep and the false shepherd who cares nothing for the sheep and is motivated only by the money he is paid. John then stretches our understanding of the limits of Christ's kingdom to include all who know Jesus Christ as Lord, and are willing to love others as they have been loved by Christ. He ends this pericope with the reminder that Jesus did not lose his life. He gave it in love for the sins of the world. The cross was not thrust upon him. He willingly accepted it for us!
OUTLINE I
Holy boldness
Acts 4:5-12
A. vv. 5-10: The passage suggests three signs that demonstrate the life of Christ in God's Easter people. The first is a new courage which Peter and John demonstrate. The word boldness means a lucid and daring statement. In the Greek, it carries the idea of "telling it all." There is no apology, no faltering, no hesitation. Bryant Kirkland has written: "Holy boldness is the mark of vital men and women in touch with the living Christ. It is not an option, but the normal operation of a vital, spiritual congregation." Do we have the courage to proclaim that Jesus Christ is Lord of life, or are we content to "not rock the boat" and simply hide behind the fact that we live in a diverse world where the highest of all virtues is that of toleration.
B. v. 11: Besides a new courage, the Easter people reveal a new compassion. For years every one of the leaders of the Sanhedrin had passed the lame man on their way to the temple. Suddenly, because of the action of Peter and John, this cripple is able to walk, and to run, and to leap in the air! No one can miss the fact that a person who was once a forgotten part of the landscape, is now the center of God's compassionate concern.
C. v. 12: Peter and John evidence a new conviction. Jesus is not only the best person they have ever known. They are now convinced that there is salvation in no one but Jesus Christ.
OUTLINE II
Believing and behaving
1 John 3:16-24
A. v. 16: For John, where love is not shared in action, there is hatred. No compromise or mediating position is conceivable. The definition of love like that of hatred, is given in narrative form; John refers to the death of Jesus as a model for love, thus echoing Jesus' own words in John 15:12-13. All those who hate are murderers, following in the wake of Cain. The words which immediately precede verse 16 are often left out of the reading, but the reality of murderousness and violence is an apt description of current American society. Small wonder that a society that cynically views love as foolish sentiment is plagued by murderous violence.
B. vv. 17-18: John gives us a down-to-earth example of those who profess to love, but whose behavior does not match their belief. He insists that love's genuineness is demonstrated in concrete acts of helpfulness. For him, the refusal to perform such acts of love is to close one's heart. What is at stake here is not accomplishments or results, but a demonstration of Christ's love in us through a willingness to act.
C. vv. 19-24: The God who commands accepts obedience to his commands as testimony to our belonging to the truth, and the genuineness of that obedience is attested in concrete acts of love, not just in talking about love. John understands belief as not only faith and right confession, but as obedience to Jesus' message and mission.
OUTLINE III
How far will you go?
John 10:11-18
A. vv. 11-15: In setting forth the contrast between the good and false shepherd, John contrasts a life motivated by love and service with a life that centers in greed and selfishness. The good shepherd as revealed in the life of Jesus is the faithful friend of the sheep. In Hebrew, the word shepherd and the word friend come from the same root. The good shepherd knows the sheep as companions. It is almost second nature for the good shepherd to think of their welfare before his own. The good shepherd goes before the flock willing to risk even his life to protect the sheep. When danger comes, the false shepherd will run to save his own skin, but the good shepherd will love, even if it means life itself.
B. v. 16: One of the hardest lessons to unlearn is exclusiveness. John pictures a day when the whole world will know Jesus as the Good Shepherd. Genuine love has no limits. It goes beyond nation and class and race to include all who know Jesus Christ as their Lord. The unity envisioned here is not some ecclesiastical structure, but a unity that is based on a common loyalty to Christ, and a willingness to love others as Christ has loved us.
C. vv. 17-18: For John, the supreme example of how far genuine love will go is Jesus' obedience to God. Jesus never doubted the necessity of the cross. His death was entirely voluntary. He could have turned back and saved his life, but instead he gave it for us.
