Sunday, April 3, 2016

Today’s Reading  |  1 John 1:1–7      
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—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—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. We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

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. If we say that we have fellowship with him while we are walking in darkness, we lie and do not do what is true; 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. (NRSV)

Reflection
The beginning of 1 John sounds like an evangelistic call that might have rung from tents during one of America’s revival periods, “declaring” an eternal message about the word of life.

But note that the testimony is not intended to lead to belief or salvation. It aims at fellowship and joy. Words that appear to us to be about intellectual and propositional coercion concerning the “word of life”—heard, seen, looked, touched—in the original Greek have deeper layers of meaning that are really about understanding mentally and spiritually perceiving, physically coming to and visiting.

Through my work as a pastor tasked with evangelism, I have become increasingly convinced that verbal and propositional messages are insufficient for connecting people with the God we Christians experience through Jesus Christ. Instead, I believe that building joyful relationships with others and faithfully supporting communities in addressing their real needs are the real ways to make the true “life” that we know in Jesus evident to non-Christians. And I believe that the sharing of this real life is no less authentic if it does not result in a “conversion.”

In a short video about the programs that are supported by our community when we contribute to the One Great Hour of Sharing offering of the PC(USA), Pak Yadi—speaking about the $400 seed grant our churches helped to provide—had this to say:

“When we gather, that is the heart of the village. Because, by getting together and helping each other rebuild, those feelings of trauma can be overcome. Over ten years, we invited each other to stand up on our own, and we have found a new life. All of this came from that first seed grant.”

Is this not the word of life that was revealed to us in Jesus?

Prayer
God of new life, in Jesus you showed us what it is to share your life, fully and joyfully, with the world. Give us the courage and strength to do the same with our own lives, so that your Word might be made known to all the earth. Amen.

Written by Hardy H. Kim, Associate Pastor for Evangelism

Reflection and Prayer © Fourth Presbyterian Church

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