1 John 4:11-21
11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13 This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. 17 This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. 21 And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
I recently returned home after a long trip that spanned four states, 1,500 miles, and many hours spent with family. The main reason for our trip was to attend a wedding in Indiana for Sonya’s side of the family, and it worked out well to stop and see my family in Ohio on the way. We essentially spent our days catching up with relatives, kind of like two little family reunions. And Sonya decided that while we were that far, we might as well meet up with her father’s side of the family too. Her father grew up in Illinois.
In many ways, our families are quite similar. Most family members come from rural locations; many are still farmers. We have similar backgrounds, similar interests, and we all are Christians of one stripe or another. But that doesn’t mean we always see eye-to-eye. If you have family, you surely know that to be true. There are certain topics that we avoid if we want to keep the tension turned down. We all know the rules: never talk about politics or religion.
Last Sunday morning, after our little worship service, one of Sonya’s uncles sat down beside me and asked a loaded question: “What are we going to do about the junk happening at the border?”
I could feel the tension building in my body. This uncle is a part of a different denomination than I am. His church left Mennonite Church USA back before the major exodus of a few years ago. He went to a particular Christian college that is known for what I would call their extreme political ideology. I was on vacation, I didn’t want to get into a political debate with this uncle!
But I was surprised by how this conversation unfolded. This uncle was worried about the children who were being detained by our government. He was worried about the conditions in which they were living and the trauma that might cause. And he asked a very important question: What caused these families to flee their home countries? What can we do to make that situation better?
Don’t get me wrong, there is a time and place to discuss difficult things. There is a time and place to discuss the things that divide us. But I think it is just as important to talk about the things that unite us, the things we agree on.
I confess right now that I assumed that this uncle and I were not going to see eye-to-eye on the issues at the US/Mexico border. And because of that, I placed a label on him, and it probably wasn’t a kind label. It surely wasn’t a loving label. But again, when we actually sat down and talked through some of our concerns, it turned out that we actually had a lot of similar thoughts. After we set aside all the political rhetoric, and divisive language, we could actually follow Jesus’s commandment to love one another.
John has some pretty pointed things to say in our text for this morning. For instance, we read in verse 20, “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar.” And again in verse 21, “Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
Sometimes we say that the Bible is confusing and we use that as an excuse for not following the teachings of Jesus. We can’t use that excuse here. That was pretty straight forward.
Those who are the only child in their family don’t get off the hook here. John isn’t talking about your actual brothers and sisters, the people with whom you share parents and DNA. He is talking about other people in the church. I know that there was no such thing as a denomination back when John wrote this, but I don’t think I’m speaking outside of the spirit of this passage when I say that this surely applies to people in different denominations as well. I know, it is hard enough to get along with people in our own church, and our own denomination. How in the world are we supposed to love people with whom we have fundamental differences of opinions?
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. I often find it easier to get along with and even talk theology with people of different religions than to talk with some Christians. I’m not even sure why it is, but for me to talk to a Hindu about religion is easier than to talk with a Baptist. Perhaps it is because I don’t expect to have anything in common with the Hindu. They are reading a different holy book, worshipping a different god(s). But we Christians are studying the same text, reading the same words (though maybe a different translation), and worshipping the same God. So why is it that those other Christians just don’t seem to be able to get it right? (That was the sarcastic font, if you didn’t pick it up.)
Over the last number of years, I have reserved most of my theological criticism for group of Christians called Calvinists. Calvinism is not denomination; you can find Calvinist Baptists and Calvinist Nondenominational churches, etc. Calvinism traces back to John Calvin, a 16th-century reformer. Today, most churches with the word “reformed” in their name are Calvinist churches, along with Presbyterians, Congregationalists, and many others.
Calvin is probably best known for his writings on predestination. Much of his writings can be placed within a nice, easy-to-remember acronym: TULIP. It is how Calvinists use John Calvin’s writings that often leave me the most frustrated. They often claim that God causes all things that happen to happen, which necessarily means God causes bad things to happen. In my opinion, the Calvinist God is at best a jerk. At worst, I would say that the Calvinist God can come off looking quite evil. And some Calvinists call that evil good, because God caused it to happen, and God is always good.
You can see why I prefer to talk with the Hindus!
But here’s the thing. In 2014 I enrolled at Union Presbyterian Seminary in Richmond during my sabbatical. Remember the denominations that I said call their selves Calvinist? Presbyterians are one of them. But in my year of studies at Union, I realized that what I was exposed to as Calvinism was really only a small part of a very large system of beliefs. I don’t think I ever heard anyone mention TULIP while I was at Union. These weren’t jerks, these were good people! I was forced to engage scripture and interpretations in ways that I hadn’t seen before.
Much like my experience with Sonya’s uncle, when I sat down with these Calvinists I realized that we had a lot more in common than I had previously realized. I had allowed the labels to blind me, obstructing my view, keeping me from actually seeing people and the good in them and their theology. And to top it all off, earlier this week I read articles by John Piper, the granddaddy of American Calvinism, and James Martin, a Catholic priest, questioning the role of patriotism in our worship services.
It turns out that I share a lot of convictions with Calvinists and Catholics, with Methodists and Baptists.
For the next few weeks I want to spend time looking at the things that hold us together as the Church universal. I’m going to go on a tangent and come back to that statement.
The last time I was in Ohio, I spent time working with my brother on his home. We haven’t worked side-by-side for a few years, so we ran into a few obstacles along the way. Nothing major, just some issues of flow and decision making. If you have ever worked on a construction site, you know that one of the biggest and most-important decisions to be made is…what to listen to while you work. Perhaps the biggest challenge is who gets to choose the radio station. (I had to listen to NASCAR radio on a recent project in Virginia. That one drug a bit.)
I asked my brother what he usually listens to. I’ve been away from Ohio for 14 years now, and when I left, he was listening to a lot of N Sync and Britney Spears. He assured me that was no longer the case. He listens to a lot of talk radio now, and that didn’t really appeal to me. I asked what was popular in rural Ohio, and he said that a lot of people like the modern pop-country music. You know, the kind where the farm boy occasionally breaks out in a rap. Think “Old Town Road.”
We both agreed that was not appropriate for our work environment.
He asked what was popular in Virginia. I told him we obviously love our Statler Brothers and Blue Grass music. That didn’t appeal to him.
Finally, I said, “How about Johnny Cash? Everyone loves Johnny Cash?”
And I was right. Everyone loves Johnny Cash. Young, old, urban, rural, who doesn’t love Johnny Cash?
That’s why I’m calling this sermon, and this sermon series, “Johnny Cash Theology.” I want to spend the next few weeks looking at what we agree upon. I’ve done some similar series before, but I want to do this one with a guiding document known as the Apostles’ Creed.
We Mennonites don’t tend to be a credal people, but if you go to a United Methodist Church, you will likely hear the Apostles’ Creed read on a regular basis. Don’t get hung up on the word “creed.” It may make you think of a high church worship service, or maybe a boxing match. But creed is simply the Latin word for believe. The Apostles’ Creed is number 712 in our blue hymnals, and I invite everyone to read along together. (read the creed)
The Apostles’ Creed is often divided into 12 articles, which means we could spend the next three months looking just at this document. I’ll instead combine some of the articles as we go along. The Creed traces back to the early church, probably written within the first 100 years after Jesus, and has been used throughout most of church history. Tradition tells us that each of the 12 disciples, under the influence of the Holy Spirit, contributed one of the articles of the Apostles’ Creed. I don’t know if that is true or not, but it is an interesting thought, and that is why it is called the Apostles’ Creed.
Who wrote the Apostles’ Creed isn’t really that important to me. I’m more interested in what it has to say. That’s why we will be walking through this statement of faith, taking or time to consider just what it does and does not say.
Before we start looking at the Creed next week, I want to share how I’ve learned to approach theology by looking at something that has been helpful to me and I know to others. I’m borrowing it from Greg Boyd, as well as from Bonnie Kristian, both authors and pastors who have been influenced by and influential in 21st-century Anabaptism. Boyd suggests that we view theology as a concentric circle; think of a target with multiple rings. The closer something is to the center, the more important it is. In the very center of that target is Jesus. This shouldn’t surprise any of us, Jesus is the center. I am a Christian first, and Jesus is the center of all that we do, including how we do theology. It is the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that is central to our lives as Christians.
The next ring out is bigger, and it captures more. Boyd calls this circle “dogma.” Dogma is a fancy word for basic beliefs. This is where the Apostles’ Creed comes in. Baptists, Presbyterians, Mennonites, Methodists, Catholics, you name it are going to agree with the Creed. Now, someone check for me, what does the Creed say about the divinity of Christ? Nothing! It doesn’t go into details. It doesn’t say how, when, or even if we are to be baptized. Which line talks about predestination? Or what about atonement theology—how are we saved from our sins? These are not addressed at all in the Apostles’ Creed.
Those issues fit into the next circle; they are doctrinal differences. This is where denominations start to pick and fight, and ultimately divide. When, how, and if we are to baptize falls into this category. Predestination vs. Freewill falls into this category. I’d say whether or not a Christian can participate in war falls into this category. How we read and use scripture falls into this category. Anything that denominations separate over fall into the category of doctrine.
Finally, the outside and least important circle Boyd labels as “opinion.” These are things that are not directly stated in the Bible, like do animals go to heaven when they die, and the age of the earth.
This model is helpful for me, because there are things that I don’t think we should be wishy-washy on. Jesus is the center of my faith. I believe in God the Father, almighty maker of heaven and earth. If you believe the things that are found in the Creed, I consider you a brother or a sister. And the further we get from that center, the less it should matter. My faith isn’t built upon whether or not Lassie is in heaven, nor is it built upon the earth being 6,000 or 4.5 billion years old.
I come back now to my conversation with Sonya’s uncle. If he and I started in on issues like immigration protocols and practices, we would surely have our differences. Those are opinions. But what did we agree on? We agreed on the value of human life and that children and other vulnerable people need help, protection, and care, regardless of whether it is in their home country or along the US/Mexico border. That’s doctrine, maybe even dogma.
Over the next few weeks we will be looking at the doctrines and dogmas of the Church universal, looking at the things we can all agree upon, and why we maybe don’t always agree on other things. We are going to be doing some Johnny Cash Theology, because I believe we can all agree on two things. Jesus is our center, and everyone like Johnny Cash.
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