Call to worship and welcome
God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.
What has come into being in Jesus was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Let us worship God as Christians have done throughout the ages, in listening to God’s word, praying for ourselves and each other, and singing songs of praise
Hallelujah, Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed.
Hymn: 376 I know that my redeemer lives
Prayers of adoration and confession
From Psalm 67:
Merciful God, be gracious to us and bless us
and make your face to shine upon us,
so that your way may be known upon earth,
your saving power among all nations.
We praise you with all your people across the world.
Let all the nations be glad and sing for joy,
for you judge the peoples with equity
and guide the nations upon earth.
With all your people across the world, we praise you, O God;
You are our God, and you have blessed us, in the wonders of creation,
and most of all the gift of your son.
We praise you and adore you, today, and all our days to come.
Amen
The prophet Isaiah tells us:
He was wounded for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the chastisement he bore made us whole,
and with his bruises we are healed.
All we like sheep have gone astray;
we have all turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. (Isaiah 53:5-6)
So let us confess our sins.
Almighty God, creator of us all, we confess before you and each other all the times we have failed to live as you would have us live.
The times when we have done wrong, and the times we have not done right.
The times when we should have been silent, and the times we should have spoken out.
The times when we have taken for ourselves, and the times we have not given to others.
The times when we have glorified ourselves, and the times we have put others down.
In the name of Jesus Christ our saviour, we ask you to forgive all our sins, and we ask you to cleanse us and change us, so that we can serve you, and be your witnesses to the world.
Amen.
The prophet Ezekiel tells us that God desires not the death of a sinner, but that all should turn to him and live.
So hear again the words of Jesus “Your sins are forgiven”
Thanks be to God.
Hymn: 106 Now thank we all our God
Bible readings:
John 20:19-29
19 When it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and his side. Then the disciples rejoiced when they saw the Lord. 21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” 22 When he had said this, he breathed on them and said to them, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained.”
24 But Thomas (who was called the Twin), one of the twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord.” But he said to them, “Unless I see the mark of the nails in his hands, and put my finger in the mark of the nails and my hand in his side, I will not believe.”
26 A week later his disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you.” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here and see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it in my side. Do not doubt but believe.” 28 Thomas answered him, “My Lord and my God!” 29 Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.”
1 John 1:1–2:2
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.
2:1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2 and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Sermon: Walking in the light
Our second reading today comes from John’s first letter, and the style of John’s letters is different from the letters of Paul (with which we’re most familiar), or from the letters of Peter, Jude, James and the writer of the letter to the Hebrews.
The thing that marks John’s letters isn’t careful argument as we’re used to from Paul, nor is it the passionate outpourings of ideas which we might expect from Peter. Instead, the thing that really stands out John’s letters is love. God’s love for us, and how we respond to that love. And that reflects how we see John portrayed in John’s gospel.
As well as talking about love, John often contemplates theology: How we understand God. How we understand who Jesus was and what Jesus accomplished. But John’s theology is hardly dry and academic – it comes from his love for God, and his personal relationship with Jesus. And it was personal – he was a disciple of Jesus, he was a witness to Jesus’ resurrection.
And it’s as a witness that John writes this letter, “We declare to you what was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, and what we have looked at and touched with our hands.”
He leaves no room to doubt what he’s about to share. He’s heard it. He’s seen it. What he’s talking about is real. I can imagine John as a witness in court, declaring: “I swear that I will tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.”
He also says, “We declare… we have heard… we have seen”. That’s not him using the “royal we”, it’s him numbering himself with the disciples. What John declares, what John has heard and what John has seen and so on… isn’t just what he says, heard and saw, but it’s what the disciples heard and saw.
Even if you’re not familiar with John’s first letter, you’re probably familiar with the opening of John’s gospel – it’s well known, and it’s a standard Christmas reading “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” And the opening of his gospel moves on very quickly from talking about the Word, to talking about light – he says (John1:4-5) “in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.”
Light and darkness are important concepts for John, and that importance is reflected in his letter.
In verse 5 he says “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.”
That can be uncomfortable, and it’s certainly not the way the world thinks these days, but John tells us that it’s a stark contrast. There is light and there is darkness. There is no light in darkness, because if there were, it wouldn’t be dark any more. And similarly, you can’t have darkness in light.
God is light, says John, in him there is no darkness at all.
So just like you either have light or darkness, you either have God or no God.
Some people will try and have a little bit of God, but it doesn’t work that way. Some people will say “well, I do lots of good things, so I should be right with God”, some people will happily write on a census form that they are Christian, but their lives won’t reflect that.
John sets us straight, though, verse 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;
If your claimed faith isn’t reflected in how you live your life… then it can’t be real faith.
So John tells us what real faith is like “but if we walk in the light” John says “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”.
If we’re doing the right thing, if we’re living our lives as God wants us to – if we’re walking in the light, as John puts it – then two things happen.
Firstly, we have fellowship with one another – and I think it’s worth noting that he puts that first, because lots of people jump straight to the second thing. But we have fellowship with one another, as we are walking in the light. We are not alone – we’re walking with each other, while we’re walking with God.
And then we get to the second thing John tells us happens when we walk in the light: the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
He says “cleanses” not “has cleaned”: Because the cleansing we receive isn’t a one-off thing, it’s an ongoing thing, and ongoing process. The blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. It cleans us from sins past, sins present, and will clean us from sins into the future as well.
If we are walking in the light, what’s wrong with our lives - the darkness - is removed. If you were here on Good Friday, we heard the story of Jesus’ death as it’s told in John’s gospel, and you might remember that Jesus’ last words from the cross were “It is finished” and we reflected that what was finished was the initiation of the Kingdom of God. The mission of Jesus to pay the price for all that is wrong with the world was completed in his death.
So we have to wonder, does that mean that if we’re followers of God, we are free of darkness and sin? Well, I don’t know about you, but my experience is that that is not the case. You know that old bumper sticker “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven”?
That’s what John’s talking about here.
We don’t get to walk in the light with God because we’re perfect or because we’re good people. We get to walk in the light because of Jesus.
The temptation though, is to think – or even say – that because we’re Christians, because we go to church, we’re good people.
And while, as we all grow in the knowledge and love of God, we will be transformed, we will become more like Jesus, as John tells us in verse 8 “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.”
Several years ago, I was visiting a church and taking a service, and while I was chatting to people after the service a fellow approached me, and said “Richie, why do we confess our sins in every service? We’re all older people here, and none of us sin much. I don’t think we have anything to confess most of the time.”
Now I don’t know if it was a genuine question - if he was actually asking why. Or if perhaps he’d decided there was no need to confess and was hoping that the visiting preacher would agree with him? Or maybe he was testing me, to check that my theology agreed with his?
I think it was probably the last one, and I don’t remember exactly what my answer was, but I do remember I ummed and ahhed a bit to start with. Whatever I said, though, I know I didn’t put it as well as John does here in verse 9: “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
But if we don’t admit that something’s wrong, how can we expect it to be fixed? And if we don’t make an effort to change, how can we expect our lives to be fixed?
As we mature as Christians, as we walk in God’s light, we will be transformed, we will be made “better”, if you like, but again, we won’t be perfect this side of the new creation.
But if we confess the sins we commit, we will always find forgiveness. Of course the other side of that is if we do not confess our sins, we will not find forgiveness
So in verse 10, John adds “If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
Again, Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven. Though there’s often been an expectation that Christians are perfect. Or at least better than non-Christians. Indeed, I think the most common criticisms of Christians is that they’re hypocrits. Or rather, that we’re hypocrits.
Jesus, told the people that “… the Pharisees sit on Moses’ seat; therefore, do whatever they teach you and follow it; but do not do as they do, for they do not practice what they teach.” (Matt 23:2-3).
The Pharisees were saying the right things, but not doing the right things.
We need to make sure we’re not doing the same.
It’s heavy stuff, isn’t it? It’s tough confronting our failings, as a society, as a church and particularly as individuals. I think we all know, though, that there are things wrong with our world, our society, our church, and our own lives.
But in the face of all that, we can be reassured and we can be confident, as John says “the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.” and “we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”
John brings this all up right at the beginning this letter. It’s hard stuff to deal with, but it’s necessary. And it’s the background to everything that comes later in John’s letter.
John’s not writing to be harsh. He’s not threatening sinners with fire and brimstone.
He’s writing this as he said in verse 4 “…these things so that our joy may be complete.” Or, as you’ll see in the footnote “… so that your joy may be complete”.
When I was asked the question about why do we confess our sins, I ummed and ahhed but explained why. But I pointed out that whenever we confess our sins in church, we also remind ourselves that we are forgiven.
Because the emphasis isn’t on the sin, it isn’t on the darkness, it’s on forgiveness and light. The forgiveness and light that God offers us through his Son.
And he calls us to follow him, to walk in the light. And remember, if we do sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.
Amen.
Offering prayer
Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us,
let us use them:
whoever contributes, with generosity;
whoever gives help, with enthusiasm;
whoever does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness. (Romans 12:6, 8)
And we pray:
Bless our gifts, Lord God,
and grant that our offerings to you may be for us
a sign of a greater giving:
the offering of our time and our talents,
our loyalty and our love,
indeed, the offering of our whole life
for the service of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.
Hymn: 517 Alleluia, sing to Jesus
Benediction
Go, as people who know God’s love and forgiveness.
Go, to walk in the light.
Go, to love and serve the Lord.
Go, with the blessing of God almighty, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
Amen