May 13, 2012

Last Sunday, our passage from 1^st John said, “God is Love.”  This Sunday, again from 1^st John, the text will affirm, “God is Light.”  These two images offer an alternative to the God-in-the-sky way of thinking about Divinity.  The take-home message last week was since God is “Love,” we can claim that love.  We love because we are first loved.  The take-home message this week will consider the idea that “God is Light,” and if “God is Light,” how do we live in the “Light” and not in darkness.

 

The text for Sunday (1 John 1:5-7, 2:7-11) puts an interesting twist on being in the Light.  People talk about Jesus and praise the Lord, and think they are in the Light.  But if people think they are in the light and do not get along with their sisters and brothers, they are kidding themselves.  They are in the darkness still.  If we dwell in the light, as God is Light, then we have love for one another.

 

The first letter of John, just five small chapters, is packed with principles to ponder—“we love because we are first loved,” “perfect love casts out fear,” “let us love not in us not love in word or speech, but in deed and truth,” etc.—many nuggets of truth.  In preparation for worship this Sunday, please read the book of 1^st John, read it slowly, read it in the “Message Bible” if you have a copy, and ponder its rich treasure.