I would guess that every Christian knows John 3:16 – for God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son so that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. It is such good news and encompasses the whole Christmas and Easter season. But I also think that our reading from John’s letter today is something that everyone one of us should know also. Whether or not you memorise it – it is something that you should know. In fact it should be something that you cherish because it is so remarkable – so promising – so comforting: See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are.
John really hammers it home – THAT IS WHAT WE ARE. Not something we strive for – not something that we try to achieve. THAT IS WHAT WE ARE – children of God. Do you believe that? There are no ifs or maybes – no question marks – THAT IS WHAT WE ARE. The almighty God – the one who created the heavens and the earth – the one who, as the song goes – flung stars into space – we are his children.
Just think what importance the world puts on children like Prince William – son of King Charles the third. You, a nobody in the eyes of the world, pale that into insignificance as you are a child of God. Not a servant – not a slave- a CHILD of God. So why are we, as Christians, so maligned? Why are we so put down – so disregarded – so ineffective in the world today? Well, John tells us why:
The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him – that is – God and his son, Jesus Christ our Lord. The world has a different relationship with God as Jesus once pointed out to his disciples.
If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. (John’s Gospel)
It can become quite disheartening at times being a Christian if we listen to the world’s view of Christianity and the Church. So, what we are to do is to not listen to the world but to listen to what God says: And, as John goes on further, he says: Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when Jesus is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is.
And that’s what we need to keep remembering: We ARE children of God NOW. When Jesus is finally revealed to the world so will we. So we are to remain strong. We are to remain positive. We are not to let the world tell us who we are but let God tell us who we are.
So the challenge for us as Christians is that if people cannot see in us that we are children of God – that we are special in the eyes of the world then we have to live as Children of God.
There is a well know quote that says: Be careful how you live. You may be the only Bible some person ever reads. So Jesus today commissions us as to how we are to live as we go out into the world as his Children. Jesus said, “Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.
You are witness of these things!
We are commissioned to witness to everything Jesus taught and lived. His unconditional love – his sacrifice – his new commandment – love one another as I have loved you and by this everyone will know that you are my disciples. An amazing challenge to live out what Jesus has done for us so that the world may know.
It is incredible that the world hates Jesus – the one who sacrificed his own life for us is so despised by so many. And the worst thing that we can do as Christians is to return the hate and anger. Because then we are no different to the children of the world. That’s why Jesus has asked us to live differently. Repentance and forgiveness.
Be examples of the one who while experiencing the worst that humankind can do to him musters his strength to plead to his Heavenly Father – Father forgive them for they know not what they are doing. Look at the world today and how it responds with hate and opposition. The protests – the anger – the vile comments – the cancel culture. How are we Children of God if we don’t act in the same way that the Son of God reacted. As John says in one of his other letters – how can we love God whom we have not seen if we cannot love our brother or sister whom we can see.
It is a challenge being a Christian in society today. But no one will be able to attack you for living out what Jesus has asked us to do. To proclaim forgiveness of which we are witnesses. How are we witness? Because we have been forgiven by God as Peter said to the crowd today: Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out.”
Our human nature finds it very easy to retaliate in times of attack, like James and John who wanted to call down thunder on the Samaritans. But we are called to live to a higher standard that was set by Jesus. To love our enemies. To pray for those who persecute us. To turn the other cheek. Or as Paul says – To repay evil with good. Or as Peter says – treat them with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.
People think they know what the Christian faith is about but it’s only by what they have experienced from Christians. As our actions may be the only Bible that some people will ever read let us make it a best seller.
Let us live as children of God for that is what we are.
