John, the Apostle

The Apostles in Acts

Love is the Answer

1 John 3:16-18

Series Slide

Good morning and welcome to worship on this Labor Day weekend.  I know that some of you are wanting an update on Evan. Well, he did not have his procedure. He will be seeing a specialized ENT called a Neurotologist to have his surgery.  We’ll let you know how to pray for him when that time comes.

But today, we are in week 5 of our series on the Apostles in Acts. We have heard from Stephen, the first martyr of the Church whose martyrdom caused the Gospel to spread from Jerusalem. We have seen the Apostle Philip, whose work sent the Gospel to Africa… We have heard about Paul, whose work sent the Gospel into Europe. And, last week, we have learned about Barnabas – the generous, courageous, encourager of the early church.

Today, we are looking at John, the Apostle.  So, as we dive into the story of John, let’s pause for prayer.

<Prayer>

Sermon slide

As we look at the apostles in Acts, John is an interesting one… John is credited with writing 5 Books of the New Testament: his Gospel, his Revelation, and the Three Epistles that talk about Jesus being the Life, the Truth, and the Way.  But in Acts, there are no actions or activities accredited to John alone.  It’s surprising to me that the “Disciple Jesus Loved”…

The disciple that Jesus gave the responsibility of caring for his mother…

The disciple who was known to the High Priest in John 18… according to that passage, he had the clout to tell the High Priest's servant to let Peter in with him…

With all that, this important disciple had no specific action attributed to him in the book of Acts.

In fact, you never read his name in Acts that it isn’t related to one of the other Disciples… In Acts, we find him as John, the brother of James, or we see him in the 3 specific events of Peter and John found in Acts 3, 4, and 8.

We know John was one of the important leaders of the church.  Paul mentions him in Galatians 2:

Galatians 2:9-10

James, Cephas and John, those esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles, and they to the circumcised. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been eager to do all along.

Paul considered John a pillar of the church! Yet no action is attributed to him alone in the early church.

Sermon Slide

One thing we know is that John believed in the idea of love.  In fact, in the 5 writings attributed to him, the word for love is mentioned more than 80 times.  For John, love was the answer… as it was for Maewyn.

Who was Maewyn… let me share his story with you.

At age 16, Maewyn wasn’t really sure if he believed in God or not.  Life was good for this young man, the grandson of a Priest and the son of a Deacon on the main Island.  He worked hard, but had his freedoms, until the raiders came through looking for slaves.  He was captured and sold into slavery and carried away to an island.  It may have only been about 2 hours by boat, but that seemed like an eternity to Maewyn.

Maewyn soon found favor with his new owner and worked hard to care for the slave master’s animals.  It was in this God forsaken land of Pagan worship that he began to be drawn to God.  He knew the prayers from his youth.  His family had raised him to know God, he just had to realize that God was there and accept God for himself.

How often do we do that, though… we know, intellectually, that there is a God, but we don’t realize how much we need God until something drastic happens in our lives. Then, we come back to God, realizing that God had been there all along. 

Often, something drastic has to happen to move our faith from our head to our heart.

Something did happen to young Maewyn.  He went from knowing of a God, to seeking to know God.  He began praying as he walked the cold lonely hills with the animals.  He began to pray as he slept in the dark, damp, and dank slave quarters he now called home.  Then, one night it came to him in a dream… He saw one that he would later recognize as a Saint of old coming to him, telling him that it was time to go home and that his ship was awaiting him.  He awoke from his dream and he knew God was calling him to go… so he went.

As I think of his story, I wonder how often we know that God is calling us to do something, to go somewhere, to serve in some way, only to let something stand in the way, maybe it’s someone’s opinion, our own doubt, or maybe it is our fear… often I think it’s fear.

But young Maewyn didn’t let fear stand in his way.  He had to have been afraid as he rose from his pallet on the floor, walked out the door, crossed the countryside, much of which belonged to his slave master, and boarded a ship back to the main island. 

Somehow, by God’s grace, he made it safely to his home.

He continued to follow God as he attended Seminary classes, became a priest, and served in the local churches.  As he was traveling, he was again captured, this time taken to the land of the Franks.  During his months of captivity there, he learned about the ways of the Monasteries.  But, once again, it was a vision that led him to escape and fulfill his calling to return to the land where he had once been a slave.  Taking on the name of Patrick, he crossed the cold English Channel and returned to Ireland.  Today, we call him St. Patrick and credit him with bringing Christianity to the Irish people.  He is said to have ordained hundreds of priests and baptized over 100,000 converts to Christianity.

But what could have made him return to the people who had enslaved him? What could make him want to offer Christ to these barbaric polytheistic pagans?

It is the same answer as to why the God of heaven would take on human form and give his life for you and me.

One answer, Love.

It is easy to say, “I Love You.”  It’s easy to say we have forgiven and love our enemies.  Forgiveness and love are great ideas until they are tested, right?  Maewyn – better known as St. Patrick lived out love and forgiveness… something that is harder than we would care to admit.

Words are easy, but the way we are known though, is through our actions.

We can say that we love those who are in need, but if we do nothing about it then our words are useless. 

We can say we care about the flood victims, but if we do nothing to help them, our words are in vain.

We can say we care about the cold, but if we do nothing for those without a blanket, then our words are wasted. 

We can say all kinds of things, but if we just sit in our comfy pews or cushioned couches, then we aren’t loving our neighbor… or as John puts it, “How can God’s love live in that person?”

If we don’t get that we are called to love as Christ loved, then membership in a church, or an organization, or a religion doesn’t really matter.  Oh, we can do good things with the Rotary, or Optimus, or Kiwanis clubs.  We can do good through the Red Cross.

But we are different.  We must be different.

You see, when we love as Christ loved… when we love, not in word or speech but in action and truth, we change the world.

“While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us… That proves God’s love toward us…”

“We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another.”

John was the Apostle known for his love.  But, he wasn’t always that way.  You do remember that he and his brother were once called, “Son’s of Thunder.”  To put it plainly, John had anger issues.  In Luke 9, after the people of Samaria rejected them, John wanted to call down “fire from heaven” to consume them.  That’s not the loving answer you would expect from John…

But, God was still working on him.  We need to remember, none of us are perfect… even though we are going on to perfection. John was still a work in progress… and eventually he got there… John became one who was consumed, not with hate, but with love.

All through his writing, John is challenging us to follow Christ… to love as Jesus loved.

St. Patrick followed Christ.  It was love that sent Patrick back to Ireland and it was God working through that love that changed the island, and in many ways changed the world.

One more story about love.

John lived through numerous execution attempts. Most famously, he was boiled in oil, but through divine intervention, he escaped. His exile to Patmos was a death sentence, but he survived. John was the martyr who survived.

After John had been exiled to Patmos Island and had written Revelation and his epistles, he was rescued by the church at Ephesus.  It was there that people would come to him to see the last living disciple who walked with Jesus.  One day, likely around 95 AD, as he was being carried on a litter into worship, the crowds pressed in on his weak body, begging for a word.  John waved his hands and the men carrying him stopped.  From the crowd a voice called out, “John, give us a word!”

John struggled up onto his weak and frail elbow to look out at the crowd, and he said, “Love one another.”  The crowd was silent until one man in the back yelled out, “You always say that.”

And John replied, “Yes, because if you love one another, everything else will take care of itself.”

Love is the answer.

What will God do through you as you let the love of God dwell richly in you?

Who is God calling you to love that you haven’t been able to love?

Now, Go and love, because if we love one another, everything else will take care of itself.

As these questions reverberate in our minds, I must say one other thing… we cannot answer these questions… we cannot love fully if the Love of God does not live in us.  We must accept Jesus Christ… the one who loved you enough to give his life for you… we must accept Jesus, the Christ, the Messiah, who lived, loved, died, and rose again… we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior.  If you have not yet done that… If you haven’t given your life over to God, through Jesus Christ, then come as we sing… or see me after the service… or come see me this week… do not delay.

And with that, let us pray…