Sermon Tone Analysis

One of the funniest things to witness in this world is peewee soccer.

The whistle blows and all of these children run to the ball and commence to frantically kick one another’s shins.

There’s crying and falling and screaming, and of course that one kid who’s just laying in the grass making grass angels, and the goalie is trying to get her mom’s attention when she should be paying attention to the 2 foot tall striker coming her way.

But eventually some of these kids learn the basics.

They progress up the ladders of rec.

leagues.

They learn more advanced technique and strategy.

They learn teamwork and running plays.

They join the varsity team and learn even more.

At some point, of course, she recognizes that she’s not going to be the next Ronaldo or Messi, but she keeps practicing and learning and working and maturing, and continues moving in that direction.

Sure she fails at times, blunders her way through collegiate tryouts, takes a really long time to learn some techniques, but she keeps pressing on.

Why?

She knows she’s not going to be a star.

Why does she keep at it?

Because somewhere along the way, she fell in love with the sport.

She keeps at it because she loves it.

You may even catch her saying, “I can’t imagine my life without soccer.”

The life of the Christian is not all that different, and this is what John picks up in our text this morning.

This is a passage about growth, pressing on, and falling in love.

Let’s look at the first two verses.

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.

3

John is the realist that we all need in our lives.

Listen to the flow of this argument, because it is beautifully in touch with the reality of life.

10 If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin.

But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

The gist of his argument is: you can’t say you don’t sin, but you shouldn’t sin, but if you do sin…it’s confusing, but that’s life isn’t it?

Like, I always wondered what the dude thought after Jesus healed him and told him to “Sin no more.”

Like, what do you say to that? “Oh, yeah, definitely Jesus.

That was the last time time for sure.”

But then, surely Jesus knew that the guy couldn’t fulfill that charge.

So why say it?

We struggle with the tension between the severity of sin and the scandal of God’s grace.

If we lean too far into the grace and forgiveness of God, do we actually permit sin?

But if we lean too far into the severity of sin, do we deny the work of Jesus on the cross for our sins?

We’ve probably experienced both of these in our lives before.

The student who says to himself, “it’s okay if I cheat just this once, God will forgive me,” has certainly gone too far to one side, as has the church that shuns the teenager who finds out that she is pregnant.

So how should we think about sin and grace in the context of the Christian life?

Think about it like this.

It is often the case that a student begins to act out or struggle in school when their home life is in turmoil.

In contrast to that, students who’s home life and family situation is secure and stable tend to do better in school.

There is something about having secure footing, a stable launching off point, that encourages us to grow.

I would never dream of climbing a cliffside in tennis shoes and a tank-top.

Not in a million years.

But if I had climbing shoes, a helmet, pants, and of course climbing rope and a person to belay, than yes, I’d try my hand at scaling a mountain side.

Because I’ve got a secure and stable ground.

This is exactly what John is talking about in this passage.

It is not good to sin.

It is never a good thing.

It is never anything but harmful to us and to those around us.

Christians should strive to not sin.

Jesus tells us to “sin no more.”

Christians should strive to not sin, but when we do, we are not without hope.

I’ve heard people say that it is hopeless to live a sinless life.

While it is true that we have no hope to live a sinless life, it is not true to say that we have no hope.

Because we have a secure footing and a stable ground, because we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

When we sin, we are not hopeless.

To be an advocate is to come alongside someone who needs help.

It refers to the one who appears on another’s behalf.

Our secure footing that we have as Christians is that Jesus, the Messiah, the righteous one, has come alongside us in our sin, and is appearing before the Father on our behalf.

Now, listen to that again.

Jesus, the Messiah, the righteous one is appearing before the Father on our behalf.

That isn’t a metaphor.

That isn’t a figure of speech to describe God’s love for us.

This is actually happening right now as we speak.

Jesus, the Messiah, the righteous one is with the Father advocating for you.

It’s sounds too good to be true.

Too outlandish.

Too far-fetched.

And yet it’s plain as day.

Jesus himself told his disciples that when he went to the Father he would send to them an advocate, the Holy Spirit.

But he didn’t say he’d send them just any advocate.

He said that he’d send another advocate, because Christ himself is the first.

What greater and more secure a footing could you possibly want to launch into following Jesus with everything you have and are than the Son of God advocating for you personally before the Father?!

And so we see the face of Jesus saying to the newly healed man, “Go and sin no more,” and it isn’t the cold face of a judge ready to strike the gavel at the next whiff of wrong doing, and so we move about in fear.

No! We see in the face of Jesus as he says, “Go and sin no more,” the face of our advocate, sitting at the Father’s right hand, speaking on our behalf, and giving us the confidence to live for him and press on even when we fail.

So what exactly is Jesus saying to the Father?

Like, he can’t be talking us up to the Father, right?

It’s not like he’s trying to get the Father to ignore our bad qualities and focus on our good ones right?

“I know she’s angry and stubborn and stingy, but Father, look at what wonderful pies she makes!” “I know he seems pretty rough, but he’s really sweet once you get to know him.”

Jesus’ advocacy isn’t that we’re innocent, nor is he trying to persuade God that we’re mainly good.

He is our propitiation, John says.

He is our atoning sacrifice.

On the cross he was our substitute, and so he advocates for us by acknowledging our guilt before the Father, and presenting his work on the cross as the grounds for our acquittal.

And the Father sees the work of Jesus presented on our behalf, and he says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

And amazingly, he’s speaking those words to us.

When sin defeats us

What greater and more secure a footing could you possibly want to launch into following Jesus with everything you have and are than that?

And it is with that in mind that John moves into the second part of his argument.

And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments.

4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected.

By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The advocacy of Jesus gives us the secure foundation to launch into following him with everything we have and are.

We do not need to be afraid of failing in that pursuit.