Presented to 11am River Street service of 614 Warehouse Mission 14 May 2017 by
Captain Michael Ramsay
To view a similar earlier version of this sermon presented to Swift Current Corps 08 May 2011, click here: http://sheepspeaks.blogspot.ca/2011/05/2-john-1-13-love-and-obey.html
Today is Mother’s Day: Here we celebrate
women as much as mothers in our community. All of us do have moms though and it
is a big deal when one becomes a mom.
My
mom had her first Mother’s Day in the hospital, I was born a couple of days
prior and in those days, apparently you were left in the hospital for a few
days after giving birth rather than these days in maternity where they seem to
have a quick ‘catch and release policy'.
I
remember when Rebecca was born, my folks were quickly in the hospital to see us
and Susan’s parents stayed with us for a while afterwards. When Sarah-Grace was
born my folks were kind enough to come and look after Rebecca while Susan was
in the hospital with baby Sarah-Grace. That was when we lived in the same city
as they did. Just prior to Heather's birth my parents came to our city for a
couple of weeks planning to help out after the baby’s birth - but apparently
Heather and the doctor disagreed as to what her due date was and she arrived
quite a few days late so my parents just got to introduce themselves to Heather
before they had to return home. And Rebecca actually had chicken pox at the
time so she had to wait to meet her sister.
My
mom always tells the story about how important it was to my dad that I was
born. It was so important that my dad actually come down to the hospital and
see me arrive, even though on that very same evening there was… a Stanley Cup
play-off game on. And it wasn’t just any play-off game, it was the final series
when I was born and no I wasn’t born in July. The finals actually used to be in
early May.
Today
we are looking at the passage where Samuel's mom - who doesn't live with him;
she only gets to see Samuel once a year - has a visitation. I can only imagine
what it is like for her. She had been trying to have a child for a long time
and then she finally has one and he doesn't even live with her. She only gets
to see him once a year. They would go to church. She would receive a blessing
and then she would go home. Later Hanna had other children who lived with her in
another city. They had other siblings in a blended family and I don't know if
they ever did know this brother. Samuel also had a blended family of sorts - he
had two older boys he was raised with - maybe they were even adults when he was
born but they were bad news. Even more then, I am sure Samuel and his mom both
looked forward to these quick visits every year for many reasons. I am sure she
probably cried too when they ended. Today Hanna is visiting little Samuel and
giving him a single robe that she has lovingly made for him as she does every
year - on these rare occasions when she sees her little child.
Because it is Mothers' Day, I thought we would
also look at 2 John. 2 John is a neat letter and this is how it opens: “The
elder, To the chosen lady and her children whom I love in truth – and not I
only, but also all who know the truth – because of the truth, which lives in us
and will be with us forever (2 John 1-2).” 2 John is addressed specifically to
a woman and her children. This seems very appropriate for today. And scholars who
like to research and talk about things tell us that either of the Greek words
‘chosen’ or ‘lady’ here, Electa or Kyria could also be translated as a proper
name, so the opening of this letter might be ‘to the chosen Kyria’ or ‘to the
Lady Electa’. This letter that we have in our NT is written to a very important
Lady in the church. [1]
One
more thing too: I don’t know how many people here know a little bit of Greek.
Do you recognize the word ‘Kyria’? The male form of this word ‘Kyrios’- do we
know, what that means? ‘Kyria’ means ‘lady’ and ‘Kyrios’, the masculine form of
the word, means ‘lord’ - like Medieval language, 'Lord and Lady' - and the word
is often used in the NT to refer to the Lord Jesus Christ himself.[2] This is
an important term of respect. This lady is a very important lady who heads up
the local Christian Church.
John[4] writes in this letter to her, 2
John 4-6:
It has given me great joy to find some of your
children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear
lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the
beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in
obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is
that you walk in love.
John
assures them and us that God desires us to continue loving and obeying Him. God
loves us and He wants us to continue experiencing that joy that comes from
loving Him and the author of this letter, the presbyter, the elder, John tells
the chosen lady that it gives him great joy to find some walking in the truth.
Now
this letter was probably – like most of the NT letters - circulated around the
churches in the Roman province of Asia. Do we know roughly what contemporary
country is the old Roman province of Asia? (Turkey). This Roman province of
Asia, Turkey, converted early to Christianity and ran as a near theocracy, a
government dedicated to the glory of God, for the better part of a millennium
(324-1453 CE): theoretically a millennial reign of Christ.[5]
The
legacy of this lady in Asia here and many of her children (biological,
spiritual, and otherwise) and her children’s children, and her children’s grandchildren,
and her grandchildren’s grandchildren and so on all experienced the joy and the
blessings that come from continuing to love and obey the Lord. This is exciting.
Because of the faithfulness of this lady and other women, many are faithfully
following Christ in our NT text today.
Because
Hanna trusted God when she gave up her son, God used her to bless a whole
nation. Hanna's little Samuel who stands before his mom in our OT text today
and who will soon be missing her for another year will go on to rule and judge
the whole country. God used Hanna. God used this lady in 2 John. God first
revealed Jesus as Christ to a vulnerable Samaritan woman who was living with
not her first man. The first people too who God ordained and commissioned to
share the gospel of salvation after his resurrection where Mary, Mary, and
Martha. These are each very different women from very different backgrounds who
God used mightily to share His news of Salvation.
From
history too I think of St. Monica of Hippo. No, just in case you were
wondering, St. Monica of Hippo isn't our Monica here and she isn’t a Hippo and
she isn't the patron saint of hippos. Hippo is the name of the Carthaginian
city she came from. St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine, also of Hippo.
We know who St. Augustine was, right? Much of western Christianity has been
interpreted through the lens of his theology. I don't know if any of us have
read a book or two of this ancient Carthaginian Christian academic. He wrote,
most famously, ‘Confessions’ and ‘Of The City of God’. Augustine was one of the
most important people to early Christianity and he was not originally a
Christian. He was a pagan but his mom, Monica, prayed for him every night. She
prayed for him every day. She prayed for him faithfully. St. Monica prayed for
her son and she actually lived to see him transformed into a new creation as a
follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. What a Mother’s Day present that would have
been for her, if they had Mother’s Day back then, to see her son give his life
to over to God’s will to have him continue to love and obey the Lord.
The
same is true today of anyone who has ever prayed persistently for someone they
love and then seen them come to the Lord. And the same must be true of Samuel's
mom as she sees him grow up from a distance to be one of Israel's greatest
prophets and its last judge and the lady (Kyria Electa) in 2nd John today as
some of those she loves are continuing to walk in love and obedience to the
Lord (2 John 4). If we love God and love
Christ, we shall show it by keeping His commands (John 14:15, 21; 15:10; 1 John
5:2–3). As we do, we will naturally love our neighbour for ‘he who loves his
neighbour has fulfilled the law’ (Rom 13:8).[6]
But,
sadly, there is some bad news in 2 John
here too for as sure as some of Kyria Electra's spiritual children are
continuing to walk in love and obedience to the Lord some are not. Some are no
longer walking in love and obedience to Christ (cf. TSA doc. 9). Can anything
be more sad for someone who loves you? After all, what good is it if one you
love gains the whole world and yet forfeits her very own soul (Matthew 16:26,
Mark 8:36)?
Some
of this lady’s spiritual children, who were raised in the truth; some of this
lady’s spiritual children, who saw the power of our resurrected Lord; some of
this lady’s children, who experienced the blessings of growing up in the church
and maybe even a loving Christian home;
some of these people – Verses 7-11 – some of these people she loves have fallen
prey to deceivers and antichrists who – Verse 7 – say that Jesus Christ never
came in the flesh (TSA doc. 4).
This
lady is like a mother duck watching her children fly towards a wooden decoy
only to be shot down by the evil one and delivered to their end in his dogs'
teeth. This is tragic. John warns us, Verse 8, “Watch out that you do not lose
what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully.” Be careful not to
let your ducklings walk towards the devils decoys, If we know the story of Eli, who is the priest who raises Hanna little
son - Eli's own children (even though they have everything) walk away from
obedience to the Lord and later, sadly, so do Samuel's own children, Hanna's
grandchildren.
I
think there are many ways that we can fall into the trap of inviting the enemy
into our lives and feed the hounds of Hell in this day and age who will endeavour to pull us away from love
and obedience. I think there are many ways we can abandon our ducklings,
leaving them open to attack, as the enemy is prowling around (1 Peter 5:8).
That is sad because God really does love
us and He really does love our friends and He really does love our children
-spiritual and otherwise- even more than we love our children and God wants us
to continue to walk in love and obedience so that we too can be safe from the
enemy; so that we too can be saved. So, as we read the Bible with others; as we continue to pray for; and as we continue
to pray with others; and as we continue to walk in love and obedience to our
Lord then -who knows- maybe even our loved ones who are presently not walking
in love and obedience to our Lord; maybe even now they will recognize the
decoys of the enemy before it is too late, turn and be saved. After all that is
why God sent his one and only Son so that whosoever may, will turn and be
saved. John 3:17 tells us that Jesus did not come into the world to condemn
that world but he came into the world that the world might be saved through
him. God loves us even more than anyone else ever could. So this is my prayer
for us today on this Mother’s Day. If there are any of us who are not right now
continually walking in love and obedience to the Lord, I pray that we will turn
(repent) and return to the safety of our Father’s nest. And I pray that if any
of our children have begun to wander astray after the many decoys of this world
that indeed they will turn around and be saved before it is too late.
Let us pray.
---
[1] C. Clifton Black, The First, Second,
and Third Letters of John (NIB XII: Abingdon Press: Nashville, Tennessee:
1998), 449. cf. also D. Moody Smith, First, Second, and Third John
(Interpretation: John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky: 1990), 139 and John R.
W. Stott, The Letters of John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove,
IL : InterVarsity Press, 1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 19), S. 210
[2] D. Moody Smith, First, Second, and
Third John (Interpretation: John Knox Press: Louisville, Kentucky: 1990), 142 As
a result many famous commentators take this phrase to refer specifically to the
church rather than to a certain lady. This may be the case but either way,
whether this lady referred to is a local church or whether she is a lady who
heads up a local church there is a very important message in this short letter
for us Cf. Glenn W. Barker, The Expositor's Bible Commentary, Pradis CD-ROM: 2
John/Exposition of 2 John/I. Introduction (1-3), Book Version: 4.0.2
[4] Cf. C. Clifton Black, The First,
Second, and Third Letters of John (NIB XII: Abingdon Press: Nashville,
Tennessee: 1998), 49 for a good discussion of this authorship.
[5] Cf. Steven Runciman, 'The Byzantine
Theocracy' (Cincinnati, The Weil Lectures, July 1977) and Medieval Wall, 'The
Rise and Development of the Byzantine Empire',
http://www.medievalwall.com/general/rise-development-byzantine-empire/
[6] John R. W. Stott, The Letters of
John: An Introduction and Commentary. Downers Grove, IL : InterVarsity Press,
1988 (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries 19), S. 210
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