Something More than Who We Are: Ps. 4; I John 3: 1-7
I have found that there is a bonus to wearing masks besides avoiding COVID and the flu, and that bonus is not being recognized at the grocery store. Let’s all admit it…we never look our best going to buy groceries. My friend even calls it “grocery store makeup.” It makes life easier when we can run in and run out and be incognito the whole time. The trouble is that being undercover is great for groceries but cannot apply to other parts of our lives; for instance, our faith lives. We should be recognized as children of God. I find, though, that this can be difficult. First John presents it as either/or—light or dark, good and evil. But I struggle with this because humanity just kind of “is” in many ways and not radically one or the other.
I have seen non-Christians choose what is good and moral. I’ve seen professed Christians choose what is very bad and evil at times. What makes a life of faith—the children of God—different? From I John we learn that it’s this redemptive work, this grace in us that compels us to act in accordance with the fact that we are God’s children. We are to be something more than who we are. We are to be like Jesus. Let’s look at a few of the very, very many ways we can recognize children of God in the world.
First, children of God have what we can describe as eager expectation, or hope, as a basis for their actions. I John 3:3 says, “And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure just as he is pure.” Over the years I have heard various interpretations of “pure” in Biblical terms. Some have attributed it to perfection like a spotless lamb. Some have said it directly references personal, physical, and sexual purity. Some have even said it means celibacy completely. However, I think the verses before give us a better context. These verses about what we will be like when Christ appears, “but we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is,” we are told in I John 3:2.
Purity here, talks about the purity of our relationship to God through the redemptive work of Christ. It’s less about our personal holiness and more about the clearness of our connection to God. Christ died for us, to redeem, and to give us that closeness of relationship—not servant, sinner, wicked, or acquaintance, but child of God living in this world. The purer and clearer the path or relationship between us and Christ, the less hidden and undercover we are in the world. An old hymn speaks to this closeness saying, “Nothing between my soul and the Savior. Keep the way clear, let nothing between.”
For the writer of John, sin is more about those things which come between you and your relationship with Christ: failing to pray regularly, holding a grudge that keeps you from forgiveness, hating enemies. The strength of your relationship to Christ is seen through how close you are willing to be drawn to Christ—“draw me nearer, nearer, nearer blessed Lord.” James 4:8 reminds us: “Come close to God, and God will come close to you.” That is how we remain pure and live into eager expectation and hope in God, through that close relationship.
Because of that clear connection between us and Christ, we ought to have a right spirit and, from that spirit, do what is right. Psalm 4 tells us to “offer sacrifices in the right spirit and trust the Lord.” We are given glimpses of this right spirit as it’s found in mercy, clean reputation, joyfulness, and peace. We are particularly told to check our anger. This is, perhaps, where we find out the truth of who is living as a child of God—no hiddenness, no undercover secretiveness. Is the spirit of God living in and acting through each part of us?
This is what truly separates the faithful from general humanity. In life, anyone can choose to do what is good and right. We can all understand ethics and finding the moral choice in a given situation. However, without God leading and guiding, life is moral anarchy. Each individual person is left to make good or bad choices on whatever belief system they have. (And everyone may end up with a totally different belief system.) For those who follow Christ, we have a right, or righteous, spirit, and we are called by God to do what is right. There is a clear and defined basis for what is right and moral. There is a book which tells us how to live Christlike in this world, and there is a call to follow God’s leading. It’s something more than who or what we are now left to our own devices.
I John 3:7 reminds us, “Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: when people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.” Faith does not stop at the foot of the cross. Faith goes out into the world living, serving, and showing the transforming power of God’s love. Faith, then, begins at the foot of the cross. This verse in 1 John hints as to the motivation for what we do, and why our faith is different than everyday life. We are reminded that what we do is through the righteousness of Christ. An ethical person does what is right because of their own personal ethical standards, which may change. A Christ-follower does what is right because God has called them to what is right and has called them never to stray from it. This is more than just being generally a good person—it’s a call to do what is right, just, and holy because of our Christlike love for one another.
I guess what I John 3 gets right to the heart of is motive. In many of the old police shows and crime mysteries, there was always talk about motive—the “why explanation” of the crime. We’ve always been curious about this: why does someone do it? I John 3 tells us we have a choice in life—to do what is right or to do what is wrong. The question we are asked is this: what is your motive for choosing what is right in this world? There can be many reasons: I’m a good person, my parents taught me, I learned it in the military or school. But here we learn that through that pure connection to Christ we are called to live as children of God in this world. That is the something more than who we are. We’re not just good people—we have a mission in faith given by a God who loves us and calls us to love and service.
We are told to search our hearts and souls for the motivation for how we live and act. An old hymn says, “Let others see Jesus in you.” Psalm 139: 23-24 says, “Search me, O God, and know my heart.” And the great Communion text in I Corinthians 11 reminds us that we should examine ourselves before God. The Bible is filled with points telling us to understand this right spirit and to be true to the motives we are given by our saving grace from God.
There are many times I’m happy to be undercover and incognito. Some of you have told me stories of running the other way in the grocery store when you’re on a mission to get out quickly. But our lives as children of God should never be hidden. We are called to be something more than who we are, and despite the black eye faith sometimes gets from misguided folks, it’s still something we should be proud of. Faith begins at the foot of the cross with Christ’s redeeming work. But, there is something more. Faith must go out into the world sharing that redeeming power, that right spirit, and our call to love unconditionally and sacrificially (just like Jesus) with the whole world. We are always near the cross, but always ready to take that cross with us in and for a world filled with people whom God loves.
Service Video: https://www.facebook.com/fccmacon/videos/768024883854774