III John 1:1-14

So if I come… (v. 10a). Scholars have suggested that John was the leader of the church at Ephesus and very probably in a position not unlike our bishops today, also overseeing other churches in Asia Minor. This character, Diotrephes stands out in today’s reading – harsh, autocratic, dictatorial – yet seemingly the leader of a congregation not too far away from Ephesus in Asia Minor. Reading the whole letter in context, it seems that John’s friend and supporter, Gaius, is a member of Diotrephes’ congregation, and that John is hopeful of making an apostolic visit to that church to straighten things out there.

All this is timely, in that we just had a visit from our ADOTS Bishop and ACNA Archbishop Foley Beach. Although he had come for the installation service on Sunday, he had made it a point to have dinner with the Vestry and our new Rector on Saturday evening the night before. In essence he was making his own apostolic visit, “taking the temperature” of our congregation by seeking out our church leadership, doing exactly what bishops are supposed to do. His words to us on Sunday morning told us that he was pleased with what he saw, that we were moving forward just as he had expected, in God’s good grace. What a blessing it is to have someone like Foley Beach as our apostolic covering. Our congregation is blessed in so many ways; this is just one more!

Today is our last day reading through the epistles. Tomorrow we begin the book of Revelation where we will spend the final two weeks of 2021. That may be a new experience for some of you. Revelation is very different from all the other books in the New Testament. But we move on!

See also:

• December 30 (2020) / III John 1:1-8
• December 31 (2020) / III John 1:9-14

II John 1:1-13

Though I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. (v. 12) Very likely John wrote these words simply to reflect his warmth toward this lady (or this church body), especially the final phrase, …so that our joy may be complete. Face-to-face was much better for John than “paper and ink”. But I also thought of our time as a church body in COVID isolation last year when we were not able to gather together for weeks/months at a time, and finally how it was so wonderful to get back together again. I think back to that time with John’s words, …so that our joy may be complete. And our joy was complete, except for those who had chosen not to return just yet. Being together as a body is so much better than seeing a church service live-streamed or having a Vestry meeting with a Zoom connection. There is much to be said for being together, …so that our joy may be complete.

See also:

• December 28 (2020) / II John 1:1-6
• December 29 (2020) / II John 1:7-13

I John 5:1-21

Echo! Echo! Yesterday Archbishop Beach quoted two verses from yesterday’s reading. The first had to do with his first point, Jesus’ love for us shown in His incarnation: In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent His only Son into the world, so that we might live through Him. (v. 4:9) The second had to do with his second point, Jesus’ love for us shown in His sacrifice: In this is love, not that we have loved God but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. (v. 4:10) Sweet!

Three streams, one river… I commented on this “three streams, one river” approach to Christian history and practice in the second link below, that Michael Matlock had covered this topic in a 12/20/2020 sermon. He then instituted a Lenten series with a “three streams” teaching series in 2021, with himself covering the Evangelical/Scriptural stream, Mark Royster giving a talk on the Catholic/Sacramental stream, and Archbishop Beach giving the talk on the Spirit stream. I would encourage you to listen to those talks if you have never heard them. Then our Men’s Group started our own study of these “three streams” earlier this year. And as a side note, the first mention that I can see of “three streams, one river” was a sermon by the priest who officiated our wedding back in Northern Virginia in 1983 or 1984. Archbishop Beach is wholly on board with this approach for all ACNA congregations. We all could gain from each of these historical traditions as we incorporate them into our life and worship.

See also:

• December 25 (2020) / I John 5:1-5
• December 26 (2020) / I John 5:6-12
• December 27 (2020) / I John 5:13-21

I John 4:1-21

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. (v. 1) This verse caught my eye today – “…test the spirits to see whether they are from God”. I was trying to think of instances in my life when I have “tested the spirits”. A most obvious testing would be with respect to Mormon and Jehovah’s Witness beliefs, but I have never “tested” those spirits – I’ve simply taken the word of others whose positions I respect. For me the most “testing” that I have done has been with respect to liberal theology – in particular the upheaval in the Episcopal Church in 2003/2004 over the consecration of a gay bishop. There were many liberal issues that preceded this one particular item, but this consecration seemed to be the “straw that broke the camel’s back”. Tens-of-thousands of people in Episcopal churches left that denomination having “tested” those more liberal spirits, preferring instead our Bible-based, traditional, historical beliefs. St. Andrew’s people were part of that mass exodus.

Back in our church in Richmond we had a rector who said that he did not believe in Hell, that he could not believe that God would subject someone to eternal damnation. Although that rector moved on to another parish, the discomfort remained for Carol and me. Our difficulties had more to do with the national Episcopal Church than with that local body, but we did not see others in that body testing the spirits of that higher leadership and we ended up leaving that church and joining St. Andrew’s. Individually I/we found ourselves testing that more liberal theology in more personal ways, with our own disagreements with friends and relatives. We even lost dear friends (a married couple) over a stance that we took in direct opposition to where they were headed. But we’ve also seen strengthened relationship when our common bonds brought us closer together.

…test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.

See also:

• December 23 (2020) / I John 4:1-11
• December 24 (2020) / I John 4:12-21

I John 3:1-24

The word “brother” appears eight times in today’s reading, plus three times in yesterday’s reading. No doubt, John is referring to “the brethren” – his (our) brothers and sisters in Christ. But I also read it as my own brothers. I have five brothers from my yours-mine-and-ours family: two full brothers, one half-brother, and two stepbrothers. Here is part of our reading from yesterday: Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. Whoever loves his brother abides in the light… (vv. 2:9-10a) I can’t say that I’ve ever “hated” any of my brothers, but I have been and remain closer to my full brothers than to the others. But this past April Carol and I visited one of my stepbrothers in Florida. Of anyone in our family he has been the most isolated. No one had heard from him for about three years before Carol and I knocked on his door. We spent maybe an hour and a half with him, having a McDonald’s lunch that we had brought and just chatting. I came away from our time with him with a Holy Spirit love for him that I’ve never had before. We’ve stayed in touch by e-mail and have reconciled him somewhat to the rest of the family. All it took was our willingness to take that first step.

John suggests that we “…lay down our lives for the brothers…” (v. 16b) and that we provide for our brothers when we see them in need (v. 17) Here my mind goes to our Avanza families. We have so much and they have so little. Yes, these Hispanic kids are blessed (as are we) by our two-hour time blocks with them once a week. But still their family needs – physical, spiritual, and emotional – are great. Would that we could do more…!

See also:

• December 20 (2020) / I John 3:1-9
• December 21 (2020) / I John 3:10-15
• December 22 (2020) / I John 3:16-24

I John 2:1-29

For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. (v. 16) I can’t say that this entire verse is well known, but certainly those three items that are offset by dashes certainly are! A couple of comments… The two occasions of the word “desires” (in the ESV) are often translated “lust” (as in the NASB), and to me the word “lust” seems more odious, more sinful than “desires”: …the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and pride of life. I commented on these three sinful items last year (in the second link below) and had one understanding. But reading this year I saw something different, something much more personal that I won’t go into except to mention that for each of us, those three sinful traits that are mentioned may embody for each of us particular sin(s) in our lives that encompass …all that is in the world…, that is, all that is sin in our lives. Something to ponder: what is …the lust of your flesh …the lust of your eyes …[the] pride of your life?

See also:

• December 17 (2020) / I John 2:1-11
• December 18 (2020) / I John 2:12-17
• December 19 (2020) / I John 2:18-29

I John 1:1-10

Sin. My Study Bible pointed out that the word “sin” and its variations occurs 27 times in this epistle. Today we have it five times in these few verses (7b-10). As we read on we will see that John uses “sin” as both a noun and a verb – as a noun 18 times (both singular and plural) and as a verb 9 times.

It’s interesting to consider the singular and the plural of sin as a noun. Here is an excerpt from today’s reading: …the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins… (vv. 7b-9a) I get the sense that “sin” in the singular is more corporate –a comprehensiveness, an entirety within ourselves (If we say we have no sin), but also in a more global sense (cleanses us from all sin). Sin in the plural refers more to individual acts, as we see in the last two occurrences of the word in the verses quoted above. And as I ponder further it seems like “sin” in the singular is (a) what Jesus’ death on the cross was all about, cleansing the entire world of all sin for all time and (b) for each of us, the cleansing that happened at our initial “conversion”, whenever that was. By contrast, “sin” in the plural is what we deal with, where we are on a daily basis. Any thoughts on all that…?

See also: December 16 (2020) / I John 1:1-10

Hebrews 13:1-25

The author of Hebrews mentions our Christian leaders three times in today’s reading: Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. … Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls … Greet all your leaders and all the saints. (vv. 7, 17a, 24a) Remember them, obey them, greet them. In writing about “leaders” the author surely had himself in mind as one of those Christian leaders. So I wonder if the author (possibly Paul) was thinking of his own mistreatment at the hands of those for whom he had charge in the past or those whose conversions had been as a result of his ministry. It would be hard for a preacher to say “obey your leaders” without his/her listeners thinking that s/he was speaking of his/her own situation among them.

Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have… (v. 16a) No doubt most readers of this passage will think of donations of money or food or clothing or the like, especially given the conditions of that early Christian community in Jerusalem. Recall Paul’s own “collection for the saints” that he organized in Macedonia, Achaia, and Asia. But my thoughts in this verse went to our time and our talents. The writer begins this verse by encouraging his audience to “do good”, clearly a reference to their daily activities. So I read on that those in the body, the Church, need to be “plugged in”, to be active in their church body. And yes, it’s good for any Church to have more people involved in their many activities and ministries, but it’s also good for any individual to be more plugged in. Please note that I am not speaking to any of us on this RTNT list; we are plugged in. But there are others among us who could benefit the body and themselves with greater involvement. So if any of you have anyone in mind who could be more plugged in, think hard on how you could encourage that person to be more involved. I daresay, every ministry at St. Andrew’s could use more help!

See also:

• December 13 (2020) / Hebrews 13:1-8
• December 14 (2020) / Hebrews 13:9-17
• December 15 (2020) / Hebrews 13:18-25

Hebrews 12:1-29

Consider Him who endured from sinners such hostility against Himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. (vv. 3-4) These would be great verses to remember when we are tempted by those couple of temptations in which we often fail. We think of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness. But His time at Gethsemane was an even greater temptation. He knew that He was choosing between life and death. As He told Peter after Peter had taken his sword against the high priest’s servant, “Do you not realize that I could call on My Father, and at once He would provide Me with more than twelve legions of angels?” (Matthew 26:53) Jesus chose death. We need to think of Jesus’ suffering and death when those temptations come on. I do believe our resistance would be magnified!

See also:

• December 9 (2020) / Hebrews 12:1-11
• December 10 (2020) / Hebrews 12:12-17
• December 11 (2020) / Hebrews 12:18-24
• December 12 (2020) / Hebrews 12:25-29

Hebrews 11:23-40

In verses 33 through 38 our author leaves nameless those many Israelites who gained victories (10 notations), trusting in the power of God and the faith of the leaders whom they served. He also lists trials that they endured (8 notations) and adds two verses (vv. 37b-38) of people who chose to isolate themselves from society – some fleeing for their lives and others choosing an hermitic lifestyle as their means of being obedient to the Lord. He is covering some 1500 years of Jewish history as he recalls what they endured from the various nations who conquered them. All of these notations – the victories, the persecutions, the isolations – are the result of faith on the part of these Israelites.

I mention below that the author probably knew of similar victories and persecutions in the early Christian church, but did not bother to mention those. And today we also serve in faith a God who is active in the world. We watch and pray for (and occasionally participate in) the growth of the Church. We also pray regularly for the “persecuted Church”, largely in lesser developed countries of the world, but we also see attacks on the Church and its institutions in our advanced societies. We see the same faith-based realities in those 1,500 years before Jesus, in the first couple of centuries after His death and resurrection, and in our world some 2,000 years later. But we all know how it will ultimately end – with Jesus powerful over all! Come, Lord Jesus!!

See also:

• December 7 (2020) / Hebrews 11:23-29
• December 8 (2020) / Hebrews 11:30-40