1. Remain in Christ

We continue the series of lectures from the Epistles of John in the Sunday service today. Schisms impacted the early church of which John writes. Some believers, who followed false teachings, provoked conflicts then left the church. They became known as Gnostics who denied the Incarnation of Christ. They also rejected the salvation of humans, redeemed through the Cross of Christ. Therefore John condemned them decisively: “They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us” (1 John2:19).

And to the believers who remained, he appealed, “As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him” (1 John2:27.) “Remain in him,” means to remain in Christ. But what does it signify precisely? John explains in the following verse, “And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming” (1 John 2:28).

When we finish our earthly life we will encounter the last judgement. The criterion of the verdict, is whether we lived by following Jesus’ teachings faithfully, or not. The essentials of Jesus’ teachings is to live by loving each other: “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:12-13).

Jesus implied that to love one another, goes so far as to die for one’s friends. And John, interprets that teaching in his letter : “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John3:16).

Are you ready to die for your brothers and sisters? That is an extremely difficult question to answer ! Naturally we think we cannot die for each others’ sake. Nevertheless, John compels them to do so, because they have become God’s children.

The creation story of Adam and Eve recorded in Genesis, symbolizes well the nature of human love. God, the creator of man, also created woman, as his unique partner. When the man saw her for the first time he cherished her so much that he said: “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman, ‘ for she was taken out of man.” Adam loved Eve as his better half. Nonetheless, when he was accused by God because of his sin of eating the forbidden fruit, he responded: “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”

He put the responsibility of his guilt back upon the woman of whom he once said: “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. The Bible teaches us through these verses from Genesis, how human love is vulnerable and unreliable. Human love is give-and-take.We love as long as love offers us advantages, when the same love begins to cause certain inconveniences, we break up.

John declared, that those who were loved and changed by God can go beyond such human instabilities and learn to love others more authentically. He continues: “No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:9).

But, “No one who is born of God will continue to sin” does not mean Christians do not sin: “If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives” (1 John 1:8-10).

Christians also commit sin. Then why did John gave those seemingly contradictory statements ? To be God’s children does not assure that we remain blameless during our earthly experience. James remarked in his letter: “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be” (James 3:9-10).

We are sinners. So much so, it is impossible to pretend to be God’s children. In spite of that, we are called to be God’s children, and we are compelled to lead a life which is deserving of the title. Because God’s seed, given by the Spirit, remains in us, through which we combat our own sins. All humans commit sins. But there is a crucial difference between Christians and non christians. Christians recognize their sinful existence and repent, whereas non christians will not confess their sins. Thus, they continue to commit sin repeatedly, without regret or remorse.

At the very moment of repentance, Christians experience purification. John says,"Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:3). As he taught, we will be purified and changed by remaining in Christ, the Son of God.

2. Be purified by remaining in Christ

Today’s invocation verse is 2 Corinthians 3:3, “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Even though the church at Corinth was founded as a fruit of Paul’s preaching, there were always conflicts inside. Zealous believers looked down on those whose faith does not seem strong enough, and the rich distinguished themselves from the poor. Moreover, differences of interpretation from teachings caused disagreements among factions. Some thought Paul, the founder, was the real leader, and others considered Apollos, the successor of Paul, to be the best. The state inside the church apparently did not deserve to be a community of God’s children. Nevertheless, Paul continues to call the church, ‘God’s church,’ and the believers, ’saints.’ “To the church of God in Corinth, together with all the saints throughout Achaia” (2 Corinthians 1:1).

Our Shinozaki church is similar to the church of Corinth. But, regardless of our state, it is ‘God’s church.’ Why do we speak with such certainty? Please reflect together upon this question. The Ten Commandments, given as the old law was written on stone tablets. But we humans, could never fulfill that law. Therefore the new law was given, written on spiritual tablets inside our own heart. So Paul said, “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life” (2 Corinthians 3:6).

The new covenant of the Spirit was written in the heart of those who came in contact with God’s love. Such people cannot remain as they were before. As long as our love is earthly, we risk betraying our beloved-ones by seeking gain. In contrast, God’s love leads us to sacrifice our life for others, even those who might betray us. Because Jesus sacrificed Himself for us. Once we know the facts we cannot continue the same self-centered life.

As an example, I’ll tell you a story about Gajowniczek, whose life was changed by a man named Kolbe, through his act of God’s love. Maximilian Kolbe was born in January 1894, and he was ordained a priest of the Catholic Church. Between 1930 and 1936 he took a series of missions to Japan. After the missions, he went back to his homeland, where he was arrested by the German Gestapo in 1941, due to his anti-Nazi activities. He was imprisoned in the Pawiak prison, then transferred to Auschwitz I .

Though Auschwitz is readily known as a concentration camp for Jewish people, originally it was established to detain Polish people who refused to collaborate with the Nazi regime. Naturally, detainees tried to escape from prison at any given opportunity. A case occurred in July 1941. A man from Kolbe’s barracks vanished, an incident which prompted the deputy camp commander to pick 10 men from the same barracks to be starved to death, in order to deter further escape attempts. One of the selected men, Franciszek Gajowniczek, cried out, lamenting his family, and Kolbe volunteered to take his place. After 17 days of dehydration and starvation Kolbe died.*

Saved by Kolbe, Gajowniczek survived his imprisonment and was freed from the camps three years later. Gajowniczek revealed his story, and publicaly testified what Kolbe had done to save his life. That very act of Kolbe was a real axample of practicing Jesus’ teaching: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34).

Jesus died for our sake, an unselfish act which makes us recognize just how deeply God loves us. Therefore, we are compelled to love each other like He loves us. Gajowniczek lived to tell his story, after witnessing Kolbe’s holy sacrifice. At a certain moment in time we also knew God’s love through Jesus’ self-sacrifice, and became humble to call Him, ‘my Lord, my God.’ Jesus loves us so much!! Through His love our old life dies, and a new life is born within our hearts. Recognition of that transition should encourage us to act with love.

Of course, the majority of us as ordianry humans, cannot sacrifice our own lives to save our brothers or sisters, but we can choose a life similar to Gajowniczek, by witnessing to the divine love of Christ. Besides, we can always do whatever we are capable of doing: “If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth” (1 John 3:17-18).

We are called to witness God’s love, not only on Sunday, but every day of the week, like ‘the salt of the earth and the light of the world’. We come to church to meet our Lord, then we go back to spread ’salt and the light’ in the secular world.

Last week, Pastor Mizuguchi remarked in his sermon address that the Ten Commandments were not written in a negative imperative, but in the indicative future. Those who are allowed to enter into God’s kingdom will not kill, commit adultery, steal, nor exploit, because such acts would be impossible. That was the very essence of the law. It should be the same for us too, because we have entered into the Christian Community through Jesus. We cannot harm anybody any longer, as Paul said: “Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:10).

All who meet Jesus will be changed into a new state of existence, new beings, who cannot hurt their neighbors. We are always on the pathway to that state, but as long as God’s seed is within us, and we stay in Jesus’ love, we will continue to be purified and changed.
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Reference:
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximilian_Kolbe