First John Empires in Conflict

Kingdoms in Conflict 1 Jn.2:15-17 “I invite you to keep this question before you: What are you after? And what would it mean to eat the real food of covenantal faithfulness, to receive and accept it, to live it and give it, to be transformed and weaned away from the stuff that only makes you more hungry?” A Gospel of Hope by Walter Brueggemann And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Col.1:9-14 Why does John warn believers against loving the world and the things of the world? Consider the context of 1 John Loving the world, keeps us from loving both the Father and others Why? Where it all started For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food (the desire of the flesh), and that it was a delight to the eyes (the desire of the eyes), and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise (the arrogance; presumptuous speech of life; means of living; sustenance, maintenance, substance, goods), she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Gen3:5-7 Where it all started For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. Gen. 3:5-7 What had happened here? They “messed” with the design of God, which was very good. Therefore, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that “an idol has no real existence,” and that “there is no God but one.” I Cor. 8:4 What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. I Cor. 10:19-20 In loving the world and the things of the world, we give power to them and they become our god For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts… Rom.1:21-24 And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” Gen.3:8-13 How can you love a God you’re afraid of? Do we accuse and blame one another? Are we afraid of trusting one another? What is the solution? Cain spoke to Abel his brother. And when they were in the field, Cain rose up against his brother Abel and killed him. Then the Lord said to Cain, “Where is Abel your brother?” He said, “I do not know; am I my brother's keeper?” And the Lord said, “What have you done? The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground. And now you are cursed from the ground, which has opened its mouth to receive your brother's blood from your hand. When you work the ground, it shall no longer yield to you its strength. You shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth.” Cain said to the Lord, “My punishment is greater than I can bear. Behold, you have driven me today away from the ground, and from your face I shall be hidden. I shall be a fugitive and a wanderer on the earth, and whoever finds me will kill me.” Then the Lord said to him, “Not so! If anyone kills Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold.” And the Lord put a mark on Cain, lest any who found him should attack him. Then Cain went away from the presence of the Lord and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. Gen.4:8-16 But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem…and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel. Heb.12:22,24 Vengeance or Forgiveness…Conflict or Reconciliation “Our society hungers always for more: more body surgery, more cosmetics, more cars, more beer, more sex, more certitude, more security, more money, more power, more oil . . . whatever. This hunger for more is a true sign that we do not trust the goodness of God to supply all of our needs…” W. Bruggeman What causes quarrels and what causes fights among you? Is it not this, that your passions are at war within you? You desire and do not have, so you murder. You covet and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel. You do not have, because you do not ask. You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions. You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. James 4:1-4 “When we do not trust in guaranteed abundance, we must supply the deficiencies out of our own limited resources. We scramble to move from our sense of scarcity to an abundance that we imagine that we ourselves can supply, all the while frantically anxious that we won’t quite make it: It is necessary to erode the holy time of Sabbath for the sake of productivity, given our sense of scarcity grounded in distrust.” W. Bruggeman A pre-election message Mt.6:19-34 A question we must address: What does it mean to seek the kingdom of God? The location of our treasures is not the point of Jesus’ message, but rather the nature of the treasures. And the world is passing away along with its desires (and its treasures), but whoever does the will of God abides forever. I Jn.2:17 Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands, and that he had come from God and was going back to God, rose from supper. He laid aside his outer garments, and taking a towel, tied it around his waist. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples' feet and to wipe them with the towel that was wrapped around him. Jn.13:3-5 For the whole law is fulfilled in one word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you bite and devour one another, watch out that you are not consumed by one another. But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. Gal.5:14-16 “I invite you to keep this question before you: What are you after? And what would it mean to eat the real food of covenantal faithfulness, to receive and accept it, to live it and give it, to be transformed and weaned away from the stuff that only makes you more hungry?” A Gospel of Hope by Walter Brueggemann Father, we pray that we may be filled with the knowledge of your will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to you: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to your glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. Col.1:9-14