1 John 1: 1-10
March 17, 2019
First Presbyterian Church, Sterling IL
Christina Berry
Our scripture reading for this Sunday is from the first epistle of John. I want to make sure we distinguish it from the Gospel of John. There are similarities between the two, and echoes of the Gospel of John can be heard in the three epistles of John- the opening verse of the Gospel is “In the beginning was the word…”and the opening verse of the first letter starts, “We declare to you what was from the beginning…” Both discuss the light of God as expressed in Jesus, light of the world; but they are distinct books with different writers. The authorship of the Gospel of John has been debated since the 2nd century, and the author of the three epistles called John has come to be called simply, “the elder” – or in Greek – the presbyter.
In our Lenten series on Wholehearted Worship, we began last week with the call to worship. Today we take a look at our prayer of confession, assurance of pardon, and the response of passing the peace. So we begin with the testimony to Christ at the start of 1 John 1, and the response of confession described in 1 John 1:9. Listen for God’s gracious word to us in 1 John 1: 1-10
1 We declare to you what was from the beginning,
what we have heard,
what we have seen with our eyes,
what we have looked at
and touched with our hands,
concerning the word of life--
2 this life was revealed, and we have seen it and testify to it,
and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father
and was revealed to us—
3 we declare to you what we have seen and heard
so that you also may have fellowship with us;
and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you,
that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him
while we are walking in darkness,
we lie and do not do what is true;
7 but if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves,
and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just
will forgive us our sins
and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we have not sinned,
we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The word of the Lord.
Thanks be to God.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
It’s a saying attributed to Socrates, that great teacher and philosopher, when he was on trial for corruption of the young and impiety. That makes him sound like quite a criminal unless you know that the corruption was the teaching of philosophy and the impiety was against the pantheon of Athenian deities. Found guilty, his friends urged him to flee, but instead, “faithful to his teaching of civic obedience to the law, the 70-year-old Socrates executed his death-sentence, and drank the hemlock, as condemned at trial.”[1]
The corruption of the young, of which Socrates was admittedly guilty was the teaching of philosophy to young people. He taught through dialogue, with questions that prodded his students to carefully examine their beliefs, morals and values. Encyclopedia Brittanica says of Socrates’ crimes: “When young people first hear philosophical questions about the traditional moral standards they have learned from their parents and their community, and when they see that it is difficult to defend these orthodoxies without falling into contradiction, they are prone to reject all traditional morality and to become essentially lawless. For this reason, philosophy may come to be seen as a dangerous and disreputable pursuit. … Socrates prides himself on addressing his questions to every Athenian—no one, in his view, is too young or too old for the examined life—and he freely acknowledges that the young love to see their elders embarrassed when they are unable to defend their beliefs.”[2]
Rather than give up that careful and thoughtful examination of beliefs, Socrates chose to die. Hence the saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
John Calvin agreed with him,
“since in every sacred assembly we stand before the sight of God and the angels, what other beginning of our action will there be than the recognition of our own unworthiness? But that, you say, is done through every prayer; for whenever we pray for pardon, we confess our sin.
Granted.
But if you consider how great is our complacency, our drowsiness, or our sluggishness, you will agree with me that it would be a salutary regulation if the Christian people were to practice humbling themselves through some public rite of confession.”[3]
Of course, what separates Socrates and John Calvin, apart from about two thousand years, is the singular message of Christianity: the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Verses one through four of 1 John 1 are more than verbal throat clearing. They echo the first chapter of John’s gospel in their assertion of what the gathered community has seen and heard and touched and known from the beginning – the Word made flesh, the Son of God who transcended death.[4]
So it is because of Jesus Christ that we confess.
But why, you may ask? Why confess if we have been forgiven?
John Calvin, and the voice of the Reformed tradition, answer easily:
we do not confess in the hope that forgiveness will be granted;
we confess as a response to the forgiveness that has already been granted.
Calvin asserts that “repentance not only immediately follows faith, but is produced by it” (Calvin’s Institutes, 3, 3, 1). Thus, the prayer of confession in worship is always preceded by a reminder of God’s promise to “forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Still, Calvin warns of two errors to be avoided:
First, it’s erroneous to believe that God’s grace comes to us
because of anything we do (even praying a prayer of confession).
Second, we are mistaken if we think “grace is a reward or divine response to us”
because it is always and only the free gift of God (Institutes, 2, 3, 11).”[5]
Confession is not given in hope of grace;
it is offered up as a response to grace.
That’s why we can say together, with assurance,
“In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God!”
And that is why our next response is to give glory and honor to God, and to share Christ’s peace. That peace we receive is not something we gin up through our pious prayers of repentance.
Even though confession is good for the soul, it does not generate that peace that passes all understanding. Our relief, and our peace, come from the grace of God, whose grace precedes our prayers.
Acknowledging this, we turn to each other, to share Christ’s peace.
This is much, much more than a greeting time!
It is a time when we acknowledge that our need to forgive
is just as strong as our need for forgiveness.
This is nowhere more apparent than in church life.
There’s a story that a pastor and a session member once had a heated argument over a seemingly minor worship detail. The pastor was distressed over their inability to work out their problem.
The corruption of the young, of which Socrates was admittedly guilty was the teaching of philosophy to young people. He taught through dialogue, with questions that prodded his students to carefully examine their beliefs, morals and values. Encyclopedia Brittanica says of Socrates’ crimes: “When young people first hear philosophical questions about the traditional moral standards they have learned from their parents and their community, and when they see that it is difficult to defend these orthodoxies without falling into contradiction, they are prone to reject all traditional morality and to become essentially lawless. For this reason, philosophy may come to be seen as a dangerous and disreputable pursuit. … Socrates prides himself on addressing his questions to every Athenian—no one, in his view, is too young or too old for the examined life—and he freely acknowledges that the young love to see their elders embarrassed when they are unable to defend their beliefs.”[2]
Rather than give up that careful and thoughtful examination of beliefs, Socrates chose to die. Hence the saying, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”
John Calvin agreed with him,
“since in every sacred assembly we stand before the sight of God and the angels, what other beginning of our action will there be than the recognition of our own unworthiness? But that, you say, is done through every prayer; for whenever we pray for pardon, we confess our sin.
Granted.
But if you consider how great is our complacency, our drowsiness, or our sluggishness, you will agree with me that it would be a salutary regulation if the Christian people were to practice humbling themselves through some public rite of confession.”[3]
Of course, what separates Socrates and John Calvin, apart from about two thousand years, is the singular message of Christianity: the grace of God in Jesus Christ.
Verses one through four of 1 John 1 are more than verbal throat clearing. They echo the first chapter of John’s gospel in their assertion of what the gathered community has seen and heard and touched and known from the beginning – the Word made flesh, the Son of God who transcended death.[4]
So it is because of Jesus Christ that we confess.
But why, you may ask? Why confess if we have been forgiven?
John Calvin, and the voice of the Reformed tradition, answer easily:
we do not confess in the hope that forgiveness will be granted;
we confess as a response to the forgiveness that has already been granted.
Calvin asserts that “repentance not only immediately follows faith, but is produced by it” (Calvin’s Institutes, 3, 3, 1). Thus, the prayer of confession in worship is always preceded by a reminder of God’s promise to “forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
Still, Calvin warns of two errors to be avoided:
First, it’s erroneous to believe that God’s grace comes to us
because of anything we do (even praying a prayer of confession).
Second, we are mistaken if we think “grace is a reward or divine response to us”
because it is always and only the free gift of God (Institutes, 2, 3, 11).”[5]
Confession is not given in hope of grace;
it is offered up as a response to grace.
That’s why we can say together, with assurance,
“In Jesus Christ, we are forgiven. Thanks be to God!”
And that is why our next response is to give glory and honor to God, and to share Christ’s peace. That peace we receive is not something we gin up through our pious prayers of repentance.
Even though confession is good for the soul, it does not generate that peace that passes all understanding. Our relief, and our peace, come from the grace of God, whose grace precedes our prayers.
Acknowledging this, we turn to each other, to share Christ’s peace.
This is much, much more than a greeting time!
It is a time when we acknowledge that our need to forgive
is just as strong as our need for forgiveness.
This is nowhere more apparent than in church life.
There’s a story that a pastor and a session member once had a heated argument over a seemingly minor worship detail. The pastor was distressed over their inability to work out their problem.
“I suggest we go home and pray to God to grant us peaceful hearts,” she said, as the elder stormed out the door. After worship the next Sunday morning, the session member gave the pastor a warm and friendly greeting. “I took your advice,” he said. “I went home and said a prayer.” “Great!” said the pastor. “So did I! I prayed that God would grant us both peaceful hearts and a fresh start.” “That’s not what I prayed,” said the elder. “I asked God to help me put up with you.”
Presbyterian professor and theologian Teresa Eisenlohr
writes this about the passing of the peace:
“As we are forgiven, so we forgive.
This is … a good time to reconcile with those family members
who drove us crazy trying to get to church on time,
[or] church members with whom we have tensions,
or people we're not so happy to see.
What is acknowledged as most important between us
at this time in the service is the peace of Christ
that passes all understanding —and misunderstanding!”[6]
We begin worship with praise to God and singing - we’ll talk about singing in a couple of weeks!- and the weekly ritual of confession, pardon, and peace. But the scriptures, and 1st John chief among them, remind us that true fellowship with God and with one another is best sustained when we have confessed and found peace daily.
To do that in everyday life may seem a burden.
After all, we’re Presbyterian!
We don’t go to confession and wait for a priest to tell us we’re forgiven!
But we can adopt a spiritual practice that was developed by Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the order of Jesuits. The Examen is a simple five-step prayer that anyone can use any time, though St. Ignatius recommended it be prayed at noon and at night. I think for many of us, this is the perfect bedtime prayer. Here are the simple steps of the Examen:
1. Thanksgiving. Simply be grateful.
2. Seek God’s light to illuminate your thoughts. Ask for the Spirit.
3. Recognize and admit shortcomings and failures. With the light of God’s Spirit, take an honest look at the mistakes you’ve made this day.
4. Ask for forgiveness and healing. Trusting in God’s generous mercy, seek forgiveness and wisdom for the future.
5. Pray about the next day. Consider the day that is to come, and how God might help you in moments when you are tempted to fail as you did today.
Mark Thibodeaux, a Jesuit spiritual director, writes:
“To help me remember the five steps, I like to use a 5-Rs mnemonic:
Relish the moments that went well and all of the gifts I have today.
Request the Spirit to lead me through my review of the day.
Review the day.
Repent of any mistakes or failures.
Resolve, in concrete ways, to live tomorrow well.[7]
Relish. Request. Review. Repent. Resolve.
If we begin each day with a call to worship, saying,
“This is the day the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!”
we can easily end each day in fellowship with God and with one another,
through confession, pardon, and peace.
Then our daily joy can be made complete,
in lives of wholehearted worship.
After all, we’re Presbyterian!
We don’t go to confession and wait for a priest to tell us we’re forgiven!
But we can adopt a spiritual practice that was developed by Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the order of Jesuits. The Examen is a simple five-step prayer that anyone can use any time, though St. Ignatius recommended it be prayed at noon and at night. I think for many of us, this is the perfect bedtime prayer. Here are the simple steps of the Examen:
1. Thanksgiving. Simply be grateful.
2. Seek God’s light to illuminate your thoughts. Ask for the Spirit.
3. Recognize and admit shortcomings and failures. With the light of God’s Spirit, take an honest look at the mistakes you’ve made this day.
4. Ask for forgiveness and healing. Trusting in God’s generous mercy, seek forgiveness and wisdom for the future.
5. Pray about the next day. Consider the day that is to come, and how God might help you in moments when you are tempted to fail as you did today.
Mark Thibodeaux, a Jesuit spiritual director, writes:
“To help me remember the five steps, I like to use a 5-Rs mnemonic:
Relish the moments that went well and all of the gifts I have today.
Request the Spirit to lead me through my review of the day.
Review the day.
Repent of any mistakes or failures.
Resolve, in concrete ways, to live tomorrow well.[7]
Relish. Request. Review. Repent. Resolve.
If we begin each day with a call to worship, saying,
“This is the day the Lord has made! I will rejoice and be glad in it!”
we can easily end each day in fellowship with God and with one another,
through confession, pardon, and peace.
Then our daily joy can be made complete,
in lives of wholehearted worship.
Amen.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Socrates#Interpretations_of_the_trial_of_Socrates
[2] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Socrates/Socrates-versus-Plato
[3] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1960), 3.4.11.
[4] New Interpreter’s Commentary on 1 John 1:1-4
[5] Duba, Arlo “True Confession” Reformed Worship June 1999. Accessed online at https://www.reformedworship.org/article/june-1999/true-confession-ideas-recovering-true-spirit-confession-worship
[6] PC(USA) “Our Order of Worship. Author: Stricklen, Teresa Lockhart. Accessed online at PC(USA).
[7] https://www.loyolapress.com/our-catholic-faith/ignatian-spirituality/examen-and-ignatian-prayer/how-can-i-pray-try-the-daily-examen
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trial_of_Socrates#Interpretations_of_the_trial_of_Socrates
[2] https://www.britannica.com/biography/Socrates/Socrates-versus-Plato
[3] John Calvin, Institutes of the Christian Religion, ed. John T. McNeill, trans. Ford Lewis Battles (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 1960), 3.4.11.
[4] New Interpreter’s Commentary on 1 John 1:1-4
[5] Duba, Arlo “True Confession” Reformed Worship June 1999. Accessed online at https://www.reformedworship.org/article/june-1999/true-confession-ideas-recovering-true-spirit-confession-worship
[6] PC(USA) “Our Order of Worship. Author: Stricklen, Teresa Lockhart. Accessed online at PC(USA).
[7] https://www.loyolapress.com/our-catholic-faith/ignatian-spirituality/examen-and-ignatian-prayer/how-can-i-pray-try-the-daily-examen
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