Truth, 27 October 2024, 2 John

Truth
Little Letters: 2 John
Kirk Schneemann
College First Church of God
October 27, 2024
 
Series Big Idea: Little letters can contain big lessons.
 
Big Idea: In a world where truth is often based upon feelings, Jesus is the truth.
  
When is the last time you sat down and wrote a
letter…with paper…and pen? For decades now I’ve been using electronic mail most every day, but occasionally I’ll search for a pen and stationery and handwrite a note or letter. I must confess my penmanship has declined from lack of use!
 
We’re spending the next four weeks leading up to the holidays looking at three little letters, small books contained within the library we call the Bible. They are often overlooked in favor of larger works such as the gospels, Romans, or Hebrews, but they are obviously important or they wouldn’t be included in what is known as the canon of scripture.
 
The book of 1 John is longer and may be examined next year, so we’re beginning with 2 John. All of these letters are at the back of your Bible, right before the book of Revelation.
  
This is a common first-century letter, probably written on a single piece of papyrus with one main theme, in this case truth.
 
What is truth? Pilate asked this question during a conversation with Jesus in John 18:38 and I think it’s brilliant! Like many words, truth has multiple meanings. It’s a complex idea that has been debated for generations. The Enlightenment in the late 17th and 18th centuries was the Age of Reason, emphasizing science and rational thought. Modernism followed in the 19th century with ideas of universal narratives and objective truth. Postmodernism philosophy challenged such ideas in the 20th century questioning truth itself leading to relativism.
 
I always liked the postmodern declaration, “There’s no such thing as absolute truth.” Is that true?!
 
Today it seems many define truth as whatever I feel, which is more than a little disturbing. People talk about “my truth” and “your truth,” but is everything truly subjective? What if I feel differently tomorrow? Is it any wonder our society is so broken and confused? We can’t seem to agree on anything because we’re drowning in lies, opinions, and emotions.
 
Before we look at today’s letter, I want to share with you my favorite definition of truth from the lips of Jesus.
 
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
 
Truth is not a bunch of propositional statements but ultimately it’s a person, Jesus! He’s the one we worship. He’s our authority. He’s the reason we’re here, not me, not College First, not the Churches of God, General Conference. Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
 
The little letter of second John begins…
 
The elder,
 
To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth— 2 because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever: (2 John 1-2)
 
The elder is likely John the Apostle. The “lady” is likely a house church or the female leader of a house church, with “her children” being its members or a daughter church. Notice the three mentions of the truth in these two verses.
 
Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love. (2 John 3)
 
The original Greek word for truth, aletheia, appears yet again, this time alongside his favorite theme of love. John is obviously offering words of introduction and blessing.
 
It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. (2 John 4)
 
There it is again…truth. John says only “some” of the church members are walking in the truth. Are you? The question is not do you know truthful things. It’s not can you win a Bible trivia contest. We’re not speaking of even intellectual assurance of the reality of Jesus. Even demons believe in Jesus. They used to work for him!
 
The question is are you walking in the truth? Are you following Jesus? Does your lifestyle resemble his?
 
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. (2 John 5)
 
Love one another (Mark 12:28-31; John 15:17; Romans 13:10; 1 John 2:7-11). This is so simple yet challenging, at times. It’s easy to love the loveable. It’s not hard to love someone who agrees with you. Jesus said plainly,
 
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
 
It’s no secret that Christians in our nation have not done this well, especially in the midst of cancel culture. For some, this political season is a real test. Democrats, can you love Republicans? They’re in the room! Republicans, can you love Democrats? They’re in the room, too. Let me declare emphatically both parties are deeply flawed, as are their representatives. I have preferences and opinions like everyone else, but contrary to what some have said, there is no perfect, godly party. We need to worship the Lion and the Lamb, Jesus Christ, not an elephant or donkey.
 
I encourage you to take advantage of the privilege of voting, not only for president but also other candidates and issues. Study carefully, which is challenging given the lack of truth in our media and candidates. It’s important to vote, but far more important to love, especially within the Church. This includes social media!!!
 
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. (2 John 6)
 
I believe obedience is Jesus’ love language, and that obedience is first and foremost to love. In one conversation,
 
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. 24 Anyone who does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to the Father who sent me. (John 14:23-24)
 
How did we get so distracted, so easily offended, so divisive and judgmental?
 
Now after talking about truth and walking in love, the purpose of the letter is announced.
 
I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. (2 John 7)
 
Jesus is fully God and fully human, something of a mystery, but clear from scripture. Throughout history some have said Jesus is God but not human, while others believed Jesus was human but not God. He is both!
 
Wake up, Church! There were deceivers then. Many! There are deceivers now. This is why we need to study the scriptures. We need to know what it says…and what it doesn’t say. I want to establish trust with you, but always fact check my words with scripture. The Bible is our final authority, not me. I’m human, sinful, and capable of error, though I have committed to preaching the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help me God!
 
Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. (2 John 8)
 
Watch out! I must confess throughout my life I’ve been trusting…to a fault. I’ve been naïve, believing everyone has pure motives, good intentions, and speaks the truth. I have grown in this area, praise God, but I still have growing to do. I need to be vigilant, think critically, examine the fruits, and protect the flock that God has entrusted to my care and that of the Elders (that’s you!).
 
Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. (2 John 9)
 
It’s sad this has to even be said, but this is how cults have been started.
 
If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not take them into your house or welcome them. 11 Anyone who welcomes them shares in their wicked work. (2 John 10-11)
 
We want to promote hospitality (more next week!). We want to welcome anyone who is seeking after God, but deceivers who deny the scriptures are not welcome here, especially if they have an agenda to influence others. False teaching is contagious!
 
I have much to write to you, but I do not want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete. (2 John 12)
 
This little letter is meant to tide them over until they can be together in person.
 
The children of your sister, who is chosen by God, send their greetings. (2 John 13)
 
Sister might refer to a woman or likely a sister-church.
 
So What?
 
In a world where truth is often based upon feelings, Jesus is the truth.
 
Know Jesus, know truth.
No Jesus, no truth.

Honesty & Contentment, 6 October 2024

Honesty & Contentment—Commandments 9-10
Words of Life: Jesus on God’s Top 10
Kirk Schneemann
College First Church of God
October 6, 2024
Exodus 20:16-17
 
Series Big Idea: Jesus had much to say about God’s Top Ten list.
 
Big Idea: Contentment and honesty honor God and bring us satisfaction and peace.
  
If the legend is true, the first billionaire in the USA, John D. Rockefeller, was once asked, “How much is enough?” to which he replied, “Just a little bit more.” 
  
Today we’re concluding our five-week series on the Ten Commandments through the eyes of Jesus. Throughout history, many have tried to obey God’s Top Ten List perfectly, though only Jesus has been successful. They contain four commandments—not suggestions—relating to loving God:
 
No other gods
No idols
Don’t misuse the name in word or deed
Delight in sabbath rest
 
The final six related to loving others, which can sometimes be more challenging than loving the LORD.
 
Honor parents
No murder
No adultery
No theft
 
and todays two
 
no lying
no coveting
 
or put another way, honesty and contentment.
 
I want to take them in reverse order so we will start with contentment.
 
“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” (Exodus 20:17)
 
This is clearly a heart issue, but that’s how sin starts. Temptation is not sin, but sinful deeds begin with sinful desire. I like Rob Lacey’s rendition in The Street Bible:
 
No. 10: You won't drool over your mate's wife, his house, garden, staff, equipment, gadgets or anything he has and you don't.' (Exodus 20:17, The Street Bible)
 
On average, USAmericans encounter between 4000 and 10,000 advertisements every day, including tv, billboards, online, and product placements. That’s a lot of marketing! Is it any wonder our brains are filled with impulses to buy more? I have a degree in marketing, and I’ve discovered many commercials are designed to make us discontent! How’s that for messaging? Add to that the highlight reels people post on social media and it’s no wonder some of us feel like we need “just a little bit more.”
 
Obviously, this isn’t a new struggle since the commandments were written thousands of years ago.
 
“Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? (Matthew 6:25-27)
 
Do you worry? I do! I’ve struggled my entire adult life with a scarcity mentality, yet God has provided. Heather had to put a sign in our bathroom that said, “Pray about everything. Worry about nothing” from Philippians 4:6.
 
“And why do you worry about clothes? See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. (Matthew 6:28-33)
 
Jesus doesn’t say we’ll get everything we want, but if we seek first his kingdom and righteousness, He will provide for our needs. Another time he said,
 
Then he said to them, “Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions.” (Luke 12:15)
 
Do you have possessions or do your possessions possess you? Paul wrote to friends and said,
 
I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that at last you renewed your concern for me. Indeed, you were concerned, but you had no opportunity to show it. 11 I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:10-13)
 
This was written in prison! If you can be content in prison…and the secret was Jesus. Christ gave him strength. God was his provider, his source, his life.
 
Maybe the greatest solution to discontent is to count your blessings. What do you have? Don’t wait until next month to give thanks.
 
Greed is not good. It can lead to theft. It violates the tenth commandment. Don’t covet. It can even lead us to lie.
 
The 9th commandment says,
 
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. (Exodus 20:16)
 
The specific context seems to indicate a trial during which someone testifies. In the culture, you were guilty until proven innocent, you could be convicted on the testimony of one witness—except among the people of Israel—and the death penalty was in play.  
  
Since 1989, there have been over 3000 exonerations of wrongfully convicted individuals in the U.S. and according to the outstanding movie Just Mercy, for every 9 people who have been executed in the U.S., one person on death row has been proven innocent and released, a shocking rate of error. False testimony is a factor in around 60% of exoneration cases.
 
False witnesses were brought into Jesus’ trial!
 
But the command is not limited to a courtroom where we are to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. In place of the Hebrew word for “false testimony” found here, “shaqar,” Hosea used a word, kachash, which applies to any lie when we listed several of the commandments in Hosea 4:2. Your lie might not result in the wrongful death of someone, but it can do tremendous harm…to you and/or others.
 
Nobody likes to be lied to, but more than the momentary tension it creates between two people, trust is shattered, something that can take years to build and seconds to destroy. To make matters worse, lies often compound. It sometimes takes a lie to cover a lie to cover a lie to…who can keep track of all the lies?!
 
Why do people lie? I submit to you that they want something and see deceit as the path…toward something they want, whether it’s a person (adultery), a product (stealing), the absence of a person (murder), or simply wanting to save face.
 
I believe there is only one time I lied to my wife in more than 34 years of marriage. She asked me not to reveal some confidential information which I shared with a friend. I denied revealing it before fessing up. I felt terrible…more for the lie than spilling the beans.
 
It has been said that honesty is the best policy, and the 9th commandment would agree. Is there ever a time to lie? The subject has been debated, but there’s nothing like the truth…even when someone can’t handle the truth!
 
Maybe you’re thinking, “I never lie.” Is that true or is it a contradiction?!
 
Do you gossip? Do you listen to gossip? Have you ever told a “little white lie?” There’s no such thing! People lie on resumes, nearly 50% of the time according to a survey of nearly 3 million job applicants. They lie on their tax returns. I even heard a rumor that presidential candidates are capable of false statements!!!
 
To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. 32 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)
 
Jesus always spoke the truth, but he even claimed to be the truth.
 
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)
 
Truth is not only the absence of lies, it is more than statements of fact, it is a person!
 
So What?
 
Contentment and honesty honor God and bring us satisfaction and peace. This is what happens when we play by the rules, when we obey the LORD, when we focus on others rather than ourselves, when we have an attitude of gratitude, and when we follow the Golden Rule. Perhaps the final six commandments can be summarized in Jesus’ vision for his followers.
 
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35 By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)
 
The Ten Commandments were difficult for the Israelites to follow, yet Jesus raised the bar and made them virtually impossible to follow, reminding us of our need for a Savior. How has Jesus loved us? He gave us everything, even his own life. He died in our place to offer us reconciliation with the Father, forgiveness of sins, freedom of peace, hope for the future, and the joy that comes from being clean and right with our Creator.