How do we know if we know God?
January 22nd, 2023 – “How do we know if we know God?” (1 John 2:1-6)
As we continue our journey through 1 John, we are going to start by reading today’s passage in chapter 2 of 1 John. All of the Scriptures I read today come from the New Revised Standard Version. 1 John 2:1-6 – “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. Now by this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him,’ but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we know that we are in him: whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ ought to walk in the same way as he walked.”
I’ve entitled today’s sermon, “How do we know if we know God?” To begin answering this question, I want to tell you part of a short story by 19th century Christian author Leo Tolstoy, who is regarded as one of the greatest authors of all time. His story, entitled “The Three Hermits” is based on an old legend from the Volga District, the very region where our family lived in Russia! I invite you to consider the question, “How do we know if we know God?” as you listen to this story, which I’ve condensed for the sake of brevity:
A bishop was sailing on a vessel when a passing fisherman told him about some hermits who lived on a nearby island, describing them as holy men who there lived lives of prayer and contemplation for the salvation of their souls. Two years earlier, the fisherman had been stranded at night upon the island, not knowing where he was. In the morning, as he wandered about the island, he met three old men living in an earth hut. After having fed him, and dried his things, they helped him mend his boat.
“And what are they like?” asked the Bishop.
“One is a small man and his back is bent. He wears a priest’s cassock and is very old, so old that the white of his beard is taking a greenish tinge, but he is always smiling, and his face is as bright as an angel’s from heaven. The second is taller, but he is also very old and wears a tattered, peasant coat. Before I had time to help him, he turned my boat over as if it were only a pail. He, too, is kindly and cheerful. The third is tall and stern, with over-hanging eyebrows; and he wears nothing but a mat tied round his waist.”
“And did they speak to you?” asked the Bishop.
“For the most part they did everything in silence and spoke but little even to one another. One of them would just give a glance, and the others would understand him. The oldest one only said, ‘Have mercy upon us.’”
While the fisherman was talking, the ship had drawn nearer to the island.
“I should like to land on the island and see these men,” said the Bishop.
The captain tried to dissuade him, saying, “The old men are not worth your pains. I have heard say that they are foolish old fellows, who understand nothing, and never speak a word.”
“I wish to see them,” said the Bishop. “Please let me have a boat.”
So, the captain gave orders and the sailors helped the Bishop get to shore. They saw three old men: a tall one, a shorter one, and one very small and bent, just as the fisherman had said. The Bishop began to speak to them.
“I have heard,” he said, “that you, godly men, live here saving your own souls, and praying to our Lord Christ for your fellow men. I, an unworthy servant of Christ, am called, by God’s mercy, to keep and teach His flock. I wished to see you, servants of God, and to do what I can to teach you, also.”
The old men looked at each other smiling, but remained silent.
“Tell me,” said the Bishop, “what you are doing to save your souls, and how you serve God on this island.”
The oldest one smiled, and said, “We do not know how to serve God. We only serve and support ourselves, servant of God.”
“But how do you pray to God?” asked the Bishop.
“We pray in this way,” replied the hermit. “Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us.” And when the old man said this, all three raised their eyes to heaven, and repeated, “Three are ye, three are we, have mercy upon us!”
The Bishop smiled.
“You have evidently heard something about the Holy Trinity,” said he. “But you do not pray aright. You have won my affection, godly men. I see that you wish to please the Lord, but you do not know how to serve Him. That is not the way to pray; but listen to me, and I will teach you. I will teach you, not a way of my own, but the way in which God in the Holy Scriptures has commanded all men to pray to Him.”
The Bishop did not leave off till he had taught them the whole of the Lord’s prayer so that they could say it by themselves.
It was getting dark, and the Bishop rose and kissed each of the hermits, telling them to pray as he had taught them. As he returned to the ship, he could hear the three voices of the hermits loudly repeating the Lord’s prayer, with their voices and faces gradually fading as the ship sailed away.
The Bishop sat alone at the stern, gazing at the sea where the island was no longer visible, and thinking of the good old men. He thought how pleased they had been to learn the Lord’s prayer; and he thanked God for having sent him to teach and help such godly men.
Suddenly he saw something white and shining on the sea. At first, he could not make out what it was. He rose and asked the helmsman what it was. The helmsman looked, and let go the helm in terror.
“Oh, Lord! The hermits are running after us on the water as though it were dry land!”
All three were gliding along the water without moving their feet. Before the ship could be stopped, the hermits had reached it, and raising their heads, all three as with one voice, began to say:
“We have forgotten your teaching, servant of God. As long as we kept repeating it, we remembered, but when we stopped saying it for a time, a word dropped out, and now it has all gone to pieces. We can remember nothing of it. Teach us again.”
The Bishop crossed himself, and leaning over the ship’s side, said:
“Your own prayer will reach the Lord, men of God. It is not for me to teach you. Pray for us sinners.”
And the bishop bowed low before the old men; and they turned and went back across the sea. And a light shone until daybreak on the spot where they were lost to sight.
What a beautiful story! We each have much to learn about what it means to pray and what it means to know God.
Two weeks ago, Pastor John launched us into this series on 1 John, written largely to address the heresy known as Gnosticism, in which some claimed to have secret knowledge about God. We have a phrase in our culture today that makes much the same claim, a reference to something only a select group of people know and understand: “If you know, you know.” I wonder how often that statement is really true, though. In this day and age where many baseless claims are made every day, it’s easy for someone to say something like that, but much harder to verify when you hear it. We probably all realize that many in our culture claim to know more than they really do. “If you know, you know” also comes off as a dismissive put-down, when someone wants others to think that they know and understand something that others don’t.
We’re going to examine today’s Scripture part by part to try and answer our question today – “How do we know if we know God?”
Let’s read the first part of our passage again, 1 John 2:1-2 – “My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.”
Here we are told why this letter was written – “so that we may not sin.” And immediately, we are given the assurance that “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous, and he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world.” There is no doubt that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We needed to be saved! God knows that and loves us and provided our Savior, Jesus Christ, God-with-us.
Christian scholar theologian, Origen, who lived in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, noted: “In regard to the Savior, the word “advocate” (“paraclete”) seems to mean intercessor . . . because he intercedes with the Father for our sins.” Origen continues: “When used of the Holy Spirit, however, the word paraclete ought to be understood as comforter, because he provides comfort for the souls to whom he opens and reveals a consciousness of spiritual knowledge.”
Fourth century Christian theologian, Gregory of Nazianzus, says: “By what [Jesus Christ] suffered as man, he as the Word and counselor persuades the Father to be patient with us.”
Everything God created was good, holy, beautiful, and in order. The whole world became disordered because of sin. Jesus Christ, in being the advocate and atoning sacrifice for the whole world, not only illumines and sets right our lives, but also illumines and sets right the entire universe, the “universal restoration God announced long ago through his holy prophets” (Acts 3:21).
The rest of today’s passage, 1 John 2:3-6, tells us how we know that we know God: “Now by this we know that we have come to know him, if we obey his commandments. Whoever says, ‘I have come to know him,’ but does not obey his commandments is a liar, and in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection. By this we know that we are in him: whoever says, ‘I abide in him,’ ought to walk in the same way as he walked.”
How do we know if we know God? To emphasize its importance, John tells us the answer to this question in three ways:
- We obey Jesus Christ’s commandments
- We obey Jesus Christ’s word
- We walk in the same way as Jesus Christ walked
And the outcome? If we do these things, we know God and the love of God has reached perfection in us.
How does this sit with you? Some of us will hear this and immediately disqualify ourselves, thinking of ways in which we have been disobedient or places in which our love is far from perfect. Some of us may be checking off boxes in our minds, feeling like we’ve done a pretty good job following the rules. Some of us may feel so overwhelmed with these kinds of phrases, realizing that they’re far beyond our abilities to always obey or walk in the very same way as Jesus Christ walked. What are we to do?
There is a word that stands out in this passage through its repetition – “whoever” is mentioned three times, so that we will know who is eligible to know God. Sometimes it’s helpful to notice what is said by also noticing what is not said. The Scripture does not say, “those who have prayed the sinner’s prayer.” It does not say, “those who have been baptized.” It does not say, “those whose lives display the kind of fruit I or someone else thinks they should have.” It does not say, “those whom I or someone else thinks are qualified.” Let’s be careful to see what God actually said. In today’s Scripture, John writes, “whoever” three times so that we can have full assurance that every person can know God.
I want to comment briefly on the statement: “whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has reached perfection.” I think when we hear something described as “perfect” we tend to think of “flawless.” But John has already claimed that flawlessness is not a claim any of us can make. It might be helpful to think of God’s love as an arrow being aimed at a target bearing the label, “Knowing God” or “Knowing Christ.” As Pastor Nancy said last week, sin means “to miss the mark”; therefore, sin prevents that arrow from reaching the target. It has been said that sin is often “a failure to bother,” as in the story of the Good Samaritan, when the two who passed by the poor man on the road were fully able to assist him in his distress but simply couldn’t be bothered stopping to help.
In contrast, obeying Jesus’ commands, Jesus’ word, walking as Jesus did, is what enables that arrow of God’s love to reach the target. God’s love is perfect and complete. And in the mystery of God’s Kingdom, God invites us to participate with Him, to enter into the community of love that He is. And as we let ourselves be bothered more and more by the needs around us, as we respond more and more to God’s invitations with a “Here I am, Lord,” as we point our lives more and more in the direction of God, the result is that we get to know God more and more. Being flawless is not the thing. It’s the trajectory of our lives that’s the thing. What are we aiming for? Even better – who are we aiming for? We are aiming to know God, to know Christ. And as we obey Jesus’ commands, as we obey Jesus’ word, as we walk as Jesus did, God’s love reaches perfection in us.
Our passage today tells us that we know God if we keep Jesus Christ’s commands. What exactly are his commands? Are we supposed to keep every law and ordinance and rule and regulation in the Bible? There are a lot of different views about this, and this very thing has been the source of many divisions, ancient and recent, in the body of Christ. Whose voice are we to listen to? I put it to you today, and weirdly this has become almost revolutionary today, we are to listen to Jesus. The word “listen” is not a passive kind of listening, but actually means to hear and to obey. What did Jesus say?
Matthew 22:35-40 (NRSV) – “an expert in the law, asked [Jesus] a question to test him. ‘Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?’ He said to him, ‘“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” This is the greatest and first commandment. And a second is like it: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.’”
At the Last Supper, Jesus told his followers, “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:34-35).
Jesus’ commands, Jesus’ word can be summarized as: Love God, love people. Let’s listen to Jesus, hear His commands to love God and love people, and obey them.
Fourth century Christian theologian, Didymus the Blind, a student of Origen, said: “The person who really loves God keeps his commandments and by so doing realizes that he knows the love of God. Our obedience results in his love.” Christian monk, Bede, also known as The Venerable Bede, who lived in the late 7th and early 8th centuries, said: “The person who really knows God is the one who proves that he lives in his love by keeping his commandments. Love is the sure sign that we know God. We know that we are truly children of God when his love in us persuades us to pray even for our enemies, as he himself did when he said, ‘Father, forgive them.’”
Fifteenth century Christian theologian Ignatius of Loyola said, “Love ought to manifest itself in deeds rather than words.”
How do we know if we know God? It is not about what we say. It is not about what we know. We show that we love God by how we live and how we love.
I want to say a few words about the difference between imitating Jesus Christ as mimics and imitating Jesus Christ as followers. Obeying Jesus cannot mean simply reproducing the externals of his life and work as if he were a blueprint for our life today, or as if we were being invited to exercise nostalgia. Jesus was a carpenter; Jewish; male; an itinerant preacher; touched lepers, sinners, children, and women; didn’t deal with money; and died at the hands of political and religious leaders. I want to suggest that to obey Jesus is not to copy Him point for point as a mimic would. To obey Jesus is to make Jesus’ way of life our own, following Him by living in His Spirit in the manner in which he taught and lived, by the power of the Holy Spirit. It’s important, though, to realize that although we may not all die a martyr’s death, to make Jesus’ way of life our own by living in His Spirit by the power of the Spirit means that we will not live tranquil, uneventful lives. As when warm air and cool air bump into each other, there are going to be storms, like the one we experienced last week – sometimes there will be power outages, hail, downed trees, and even tornadoes. Similarly, when darkness and light bump into each other, there is going to be a lot of resistance, because those who do evil hate the light. Consider how Jesus was treated – he was misunderstood, rejected, humiliated, betrayed, falsely accused, abandoned. To obey Jesus is to face the possibility of this kind of treatment in our own lives, too.
We’ve all heard and possibly owned bracelets containing this question: “What would Jesus do?” Maybe a much better question is, “How can we be as free and as faithful to God in our day as Jesus was in his?” To obey Jesus is to become completely dedicated adherents and advocates.
Let’s allow God to stir our imaginations in the context of our own crises, community, and culture, so that our character and our conduct would be harmony with Jesus Christ today. To obey Jesus is to express the power of God’s love through invitation and inclusion.
Jesus lived a life of love, in obedience and surrender to the Father. We are called to be conscientious, credible, and creative, to become harmonies to Jesus’ melody. To obey Jesus is to live lives of love, in obedience and surrender to the Father – not by merely mimicking Jesus, but by having the same attitudes and values as Jesus while being creatively responsive to the needs of our day.
In imitation of his Father’s love, Jesus made inclusiveness the basic value for anyone who would be identified with him and his mission. Rather than keeping the mystery of the Trinity, a community of love, hidden, God the Father sent God the Son, Jesus Christ, to be among us, one of us, seen, heard, touched. It is part of God’s very nature to reveal and share this community of love. As we have been invited and included in this community of love, so we are to invite and include others. To obey Jesus is to make room in our hearts for everyone, especially to stand on the side of those who are marginalized, underserved, disregarded, ostracized, harassed, persecuted, or sidelined.
We can know God, and it’s important to realize that we don’t just know God once-and-done. We can know God, more and more, each day as we obey Jesus by reflecting the kind of life Jesus lived – a life centered on God, empowered by the Spirit, invitational of and inclusive of all people, living a life of love in obedience and surrender to the Father, being creatively responsive to the needs of our day, making room in our hearts for everyone, and standing on the side of those who are marginalized. We can know God, not by what we say or by what else we know. We know that we know God by how we live and how we love.
We are going to close today with a meditation on Christ Jesus via an inspirational video edited from a sermon by 20th century Californian preacher, S. M. Lockridge, better known as “That’s my king” but which could just as well be titled, “Do you know him?” As we watch this, let’s listen for God’s invitation to us – in what area of my life is God inviting me to know Him more? How is God prompting me to make Him known to others?
