Widow Makers or ?

Trinity II   John's First Letter ch. 3:14-18

" In the kingdom of love there is no competition; there is no possessiveness or control.  The more love you give away , the more love you will have..." John O' Donohue in A Book of Celtic Wisdom

   We have also heard "it is more blessed to give than to receive"  If the truth be told we do not act that way very often.  We try and retain all we can and keep all we can so that we are full of it.  Literally we are sometimes and we find it hard to not control and possess in this life.

   I.  John says in our letter that an evidence of our love is life. " We know that we have passed from death unto life because we love the brethren." 3:14a   " Crossed over"- the New English Bible. ( this reminds me of the crossing of the Red Sea by the Israelites---And " Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the LORD caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided Ex. 14:21) ( I was rather pleasantly surprised by the movie " of Gods and kings" which depicts this in an astounding fashion )  Love is the evidence of eternal life John says.  That is also what we hear in Galatians 5.22 " The fruit of the Spirit is love"   In other words we have eternal life John says and we are showing that we do have it by our good choices of love for ourselves and others.

 We know John has already said the opposite.  2:9,11  " he that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now"  " But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes." " Light and love, darkness and hatred belong together"  , said John R.W. Stott, the evangelical Anglican on this passage.

Remember the false teachers John was addressing in this letter. They were called Gnostics because they believed in the superiority of knowledge alone for eternal life. John bears down on this idea in a very reasoned way.  He says that knowledge of Jesus, the doctrine is important , but that the Christian life is lived in a body and that body we have must demonstrate a loving spirit.  Bishop Ignatius of Antioch in the early church describes them in his letter to the Smyrnaeans. " ..Having quoted the 'new commandment...that ye love one another' ..he goes on, ' Do ye, therefore notice those who preach other doctrines, how that they affirm that the Father of Christ cannot be known, and how they exhibit every envy and deceit in their dealings with one another. They have no regard for love."-Stott in I John

II." We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren." 3:14  The opposite is true in 3:14b " He that loves not his brother abides in death."  John 5:24 says it this way, " Verily, verily  , I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life." 

I was over at Home depot the other day looking for a saw to cut some big tree pieces that had fallen in our yard after the storms.  They are slowly coming into piles and being cleared.  I found the saw I wanted.  I had to ask where they were.  The person helping me said, " Oh, that one is the widow maker."  What?  In other words he was saying that saw would kill me.  I would not have life. Some people are widow makers too John says.  They have not passed over and they show it in their conduct of their relationships. " The flesh lusts against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would." Galatians 5:17 ( " But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another" 5:15)

I trust we are not widow makers in our conduct with others and ourselves.  We are only proving our lack of life John says. We are abiding in death instead and have not passed into eternal life by hearing His Word and believing in Christ .  These are strong words but John is directing them at such members in the church he was addressing that were not acting in loving ways.  They thought that their knowledge was enough and it made them special, but John says this is not a Christian practice, knowledge of Christ without love for all.

III.  Lastly, John says that the essence of love is self-sacrifice 3:16-18, the self sacrifice of Jesus and our emulation of that in our love for others

" Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.  But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?"

" Love is positive, seeks the other person's good, and leads to activity for him, even to the point of self sacrifice." Stott

We see the need , do not pass over it, but we meet the other's need.  Of course this does not always have to be just in material goods.  It may be something else is called for.  A humble spirit of imitation of Jesus is called for in our speaking , and in our praying, and in our relationships.  So much in our world is harmful to our attitudes.  We must take a page out of the NT instead of the TV guide.  " Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." Philippians 2 :4

It may also mean yielding to others in our own opinions which is most difficult to do...in things that are not of the essence, for ex., what color is the carpet? etc............

Conclusion----In the kingdom of love there is no competition; there is no possessiveness or control....there is only God, His Light, His Son and His Life.  And His Love for Him and all others is the evidence of that possession in our own hearts and individual lives and relationships.

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.