Thoughts on 1 John 4

We went to a concert the other night. They had a speaker called Michael Frost who was an Australian. We won’t hold that against him since we beat them in the rugby tri-nations. If we had lost it would be a whole different matter.

Anyway, he told a story that I will try to relay.

The scene is a German concentration camp. A number of prisoners had tried to escape and had been shot on the spot. The Commandant ordered all the prisoners lined up outside. He announced that 10 prisoners would be selected at random and executed. The Commandant started reading out the names.

The story is from the point of view of one prisoner. He started praying that his name would not be read out.

The first name was read out. It was not him. The second. And so on. This was the longest period of his life, knowing that his life hung by a thread.

Finally the tenth name is read out. It is his. He falls to the ground, screaming! Begging! He has a wife and young children. He begs for his life. The German soldiers start to drag him towards the group of nine other men.

Just then a man breaks ranks and steps forward. He asks to speak to the Commandant. This man is known as Father. He is a Jewish Catholic priest. He is know throughout the camp for his generosity. He gives food to those who have more food than he does. He gives blankets to those who are warmer than himself.

The Commandant motions him forward. Father says to the Commandant that this young man with a family is strong and will do much more work for the Germans that himself. He is now weak and old. Why don’t they take him instead and spare the young man.

The Commandant replies that he supposes ten prisons is ten prisoners and accepts the offer. Father is lead away with the nine other prisoners. They are locked up and starved to death. No use wasting a bullet. When the other nine die and only Father is left, the Germans shot him because he is taking too long to die.

The war ends and the young man survives the concentration camps. He returns home. The story of what Father did spreads and becomes well known. Eventually many memorials to his brave action are made. But the first one is made in the back garden of the young man.

This young man knows something many of us forget. He knows that his life was bought with someone else’s. He saw it happen with his own two eyes. He knows his life is not his own. Every day, every minute does not belong to him. It was paid for and is owned by the Jewish Catholic priest called Father.

I guess the question that springs to mind from this story is “Do we realise the same has happened for us?”. This amazing act of love has been show to us in what Jesus did. We celebrate and commemorate this with communion each week. But does it actually make a difference in the way we live our lives? It should!

1 John 4:7-21 discusses this. 1 John 4:11-12 really are the core of this passage.

9 God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. 10 This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. 12 No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.

God loved us. He sacrificed His only Son for us. As the verse says, this is real love. It emphasises that it was nothing we did. It was not that we loved God. It was not that we did anything to deserve it. He just loved us.

So how should we respond to this love? Well verses 11 and 12 set this out. Love each other. It goes on to say that His love is bought to full expression when we do this. We show God’s love by loving others.

I want to make some points about this and how it works out in out lives.

1. Stop trying to win God’s favour. You can not do this.
2. Know that God loves you. Accept it. Why fight this by trying to do stuff off your own back. Just accept it. Would you not accept a present given to you by your earthly father (or mother or someone you love)? No! So accept this gift.
3. You will have doubts. We all do. When you face doubts, this is a time of testing. Pray that God will let you be tested. And pray that he will sustain you through that test because during that time your faith will be built up. Seeing God use you to bring Him glory is hugely faith building.
4. There are so many arguments about theology and science and whatever. Look, none of that matters. If all you had is the verses above and no other information you would do alright.
5. Stop judging others and yourself. Our natural tendency is to “put people in boxes”. Just stop doing that. It is not loving.
6. Forgive others (and yourself while you are at it). God has forgiven you (and others) so you should share this forgiveness around.
7. Know that you have nothing. Absolutely nothing you think you possess is yours. If you can’t give something you possess away then it actually possesses you. We collect so much stuff. Cell phones. Computers. iPods. Cameras. Cars. You name it. If these things are more important to you than another person or are more benefit to another person than they are to you then give them away.

So there are some thoughts on 1 John 4.