“I’ve got something to say to you”

By Rev. Michael Stonhouse

Meditation – Wednesday, April 19, 2023

1 John 2:12-17 (Forward, p. 80) CEV p. 1286

This letter from St. John could well have been sent to any group of people today, particularly to a family, community or congregation. In it, there are portions addressed to specific audiences, as well as to the group as a whole. To the children he mentions two things:

-that their sins have been forgiven

-and that they have known the Father

To the parents, he mentions just one thing, but does so twice: ‘you have known the one who was there from the beginning’

And to the young people, he mentions a particular thing twice, ‘you have defeated the evil one,’ but adds something the second time around, ‘you are strong,. God’s message is firm in your hearts.’

Now, it bears out pausing for a moment to consider just why John would mention these things in particular:

-it may be that children, not yet ‘accustomed’ or resigned to sinning have a stronger sense of their sin and guilt, and need reassurance that they are forgiven. I know that I, for one, was ‘blessed’ (or cursed) with a tender or sensitive conscience, and so was easily burdened with any sense of wrongdoing, even if barely anything.

-and it may be that they are in particular need of having a kind of heavenly ‘comfort’, especially if this comfort is missing at home. I know that in my family aunts and godmothers often functioned in this way. They were the ‘go-to people’ when we needed to talk, needed to confide in someone who wasn’t a parent.

Parents? Well, knowing the One who has always been here, whether Jesus or God, is vital—the rock on which they have built their lives and upon whom they can always trust.

Young people - the overcomers: yes, it is vital that they know that they can actually ‘pull this off’, that they are strong. And, it is a rather helpful bit of advice from John that they are probably strong simply because God’s message is firmly established in their hearts.

And then there is the general advice, the advice to the entire group:

-loving the world and its things is incompatible with loving God;

-in particular, he mentions three things that flow out from loving ‘the world’:

-foolish pride

-selfish desires

-a desire to have everything we see (that is, covetousness and discontent)

-none of this, he says, comes from the Father

-and indeed, he tells them, all of this will one day disappear

-however, if we obey God, we will live forever.

I cannot help but think just how very relevant this advice is for our advertising, and our media in general—and indeed, all of society, constantly barrages us, bombarded, with messages that we ‘don’t have enough’, that we are somehow ‘insufficient’, and that we ‘need’ this particular item. Or, that we will somehow be ‘better’, more successful or good looking—or whatever—if we have or use this product. And, of course, if we do have it or use it, or have ‘measured up’ in some other socially promoted way, then we can feel superior or proud of ourselves.

In my baptismal preparations of parents, I often speak of the four idols that our society promotes as its objects of affection:

-appearance – if you ‘look good’, you are good;

-intelligence – smarter, the better;

-possessions (having ‘stuff’) – if you have more, you are somehow better;

-position (measuring up): ‘you’ve made it’

What I tell the parents is that you are loved, valued and accepted regardless of these things. You are loved, valued and accepted unconditionally, just as you are. You don’t have to be something, have something, or do something in order to measure up, in order to ‘earn’ God’s love. You are loved regardless. And, what a wonderfully freeing, liberating message that is, one that we all need, every one of us. Amen.

Forward notes: “I am writing these things to you…” (verse 1a)

“Remember writing actual letters? Before email? Before texts? One of my greatest aches during a major move was losing the letters my grandmother wrote to me. I can still see them in my mind’s eye, but oh, how I wish I still had them.

“Letters matter. When I think about letters I’ve written and received, some were love letters, but the focus was on a person, and naturally, most of those relationships have faded. But love letters from God never go by the wayside—unless we let them.

“Just as I read my grandmother’s letters and heard her love for me, letters in scripture also remind us of God’s love and concern for us. What if we went back to reading these long-ago letters and inserted our name in the beginning? Dear Kim, I am writing these things to you. Love, God. What a difference that might make!”

Moving Forward: “Write a letter (an actual one on paper!) and send it to a loved one.”