Seen. Sin. Sacrifice (1 John 1:1-2:2)

Below is a talk I gave twice at different aged care facilities. In prepping for this talk I found a sermon on my podcast app from Wollongong Baptist Church by Rod Bayley. I was pleasantly surprised by learning that there was a Wollongong in WA as I thought there was just the one in NSW and also the talk was good. The last story in this talk I took from him and probably restructured my talk a little to fit his framework. So credit goes to him.

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Coming out of Easter the Prayer book has us spending some time looking at 1 John. and this is a great letter for it has been written so that we may know that we have eternal life (5:13). This is a good reminder for us all and a help for us if we think we might be drifting a little.
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John is writing to a church where there may be some wrong ideas of Jesus creeping in. There may have been an idea that over-spirtualised Jesus, that He really wasn’t human, but a spirit and that all who follow Him can overthrow their human elements and become a pure spirit. So John writes to correct some thinking about who Jesus is, so that we can know the right Jesus and have fellowship with him.

Seen

John writes to help reassure his people that what He has said about Jesus is true. John says after all he has heard Jesus, he has seen Jesus with his own eyes and has touched him. Jesus was a real person and John says he was there. This might have been helpful to the original audience, as they may not have seen Jesus or heard Him first-hand. They may have been a generation later, but John reassures them, he was an eyewitness and we can trust him.
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This is good news for us too. We haven’t seen Jesus, we weren’t there, there has been too much of a time gap for that to have been possible. But we have the writings of the eyewitnesses. And this is key in understanding Jesus. For Christians trust in the Apostolic witness about the risen Christ whom they had seen. That is how we get a right idea of who Jesus is. We trust what was seen by them.
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And John says, who He saw was the Word of Life. The message John writes about concerns eternal life. This is the good news, that we celebrate at Easter, that Jesus has risen and offers life to all, and John wants us to know that this is true, that this is possible and that in believing in Jesus we get eternal life and fellowship with God.

Sin

‌As John implores us to get a correct view of God, he says that God is light, in him there is no darkness at all (1:5).
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Martin Luther said, “There is no darkness in him, not even the slightest”. There is no “dark side” in our God! (cited in Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John (We Have a Basic Truth to Affirm)
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And for us, as Christians we are to walk in God’s ways, to walk in God’s light.
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God is pure, there is no sin in Him, and he wants all His people to be also free from sin. John then attacks a few ideas his audience may have had about sin. It seems that there were a group of people saying that they are free from sin, that they have not sinned. John says those who believe that are not telling the truth.

"Humanity has a sin problem. It is our most fundamental problem, and it affects everyone. Of course, not everyone agrees with this assertion." Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John Let God Be True and Every Man a Liar: A Mandate for Global Evangelization (1 John 1:5–2:2)
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When John Wesley was serving as a missionary in Georgia, he was much opposed by a who was the founder of the colony of Georgia. He had a reputation for pride and stubbornness. “I never forgive,” he once said, to which Wesley responded, “Then I hope, Sir, you never sin.” The Preacher’s Notebook: The Collected Quotes, Illustrations, and Prayers of John Stott (John Wesley on Forgiveness and Sin)
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This is also in our world today. Our society denies that sin is real, that we are good inside and that its not psychologically healthy to tell people that some behaviors a sinful. Writing in the last century G.K Chesterton said:

‌Certain new theologians dispute original sin, which is the only part of Christian theology which can really be proved… they essentially deny human sin, which they can see in the street. (Orthodoxy)

‌Just looking around we can see the effects of sin, and even looking within the church we can see sin still there. There is a tension in life of a Christian when it comes to sin, but John wants us to at least recognize there is a tension, that we can not deny sin. It might be like when you are pulling on a big church bell and it begins to ding. When you let go of the rope the bell still continues to ding, even when no extra force is applied. Sin will still continue to din, even though the hand has been removed, even though we have been free from sin and it has been taken away for us in Christ.
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The truth is we are all sinful, we are not like God, but the good news is

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. (1 John 1:9 NIV)

We can, through Jesus, walk in the light and in doing so we can have fellowship with one another.
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​Christians acknowledge sin but do not wallow in sin. Confession involves not only a wiping away of the old sins but the establishment of new righteousness. The faithful are both forgiven and cleansed. (Feasting on the Word: Preaching the Revised Common Lectionary: Year B, Volume 2 Exegetical Perspective)
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John Newton who once was a slave trader and went on to write Amazing Grace said (apparently - I can't find a direct source):

"I am not what I ought to be, I am not what I want to be, I am not what I hope to be; but still I am not what I once used to be, and by the grace of God I am what I am."

‌Christians can walk in the light and be a light to the world, not being deceived at who they are. So John writes all this so that we can have a right understanding of our sinfulness and of God’s light.

Sacrifice

‌John then circles back to make sure that we can have a right understanding of Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross. He wants his readers to not sin, but knowing that they might he wants to reassure them that Jesus is both out advocate and sacrifice. To deal with our sin problem “we cannot find it in ourselves. We need an advocate. We need an atonement. We need another.” (Akin, D. L. (2014). Exalting jesus in 1,2,3 john (p. 21). Holman Reference.)
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Jesus advocates for us. He hears our confessions, He argues our case before the Father, He speaks on our behalf as our representative and “God continues to embrace us through Christ, who forever resides by his side. (Burge, G. M. (1996). Letters of John (p. 94). Zondervan Publishing House.). The Holy Spirit is also called our advocate. This means we have a helper in our heart and a helper in heaven. God is doing all that He can to help us in this life to carry us home.
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Jesus is also our sacrifice. He died in our place, where He took on all our sins and the sins of the whole world. It was Christ's death on the cross that turned away God’s anger on sinners. God’s wrath that was on sinners was directed towards Jesus, who took our place and experienced it on our behalf.
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And not just for us, but also for the whole world. This means God’s hand is not too short in saving. All can be saved, no one is beyond God’s reach.
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In 1912 there was this Finnish girl Anna, one of 21 children. When she was 18 she was persuaded by one of her sisters to come to America where that sister had married. So her American brother in law paid $50 for her one way third class ticket aboard the Titanic.
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When the boat hit the ice berg, they thought something was wrong, but not sure. She dressed and made it to the deck and listened to the music playing. One story goes, that on the second last life boat to leave a sailor saw her, got out of his seat and placed her in that life boat. As she sailed away she heard explosions and knew what a grave tragedy took place.
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Every year, on the anniversary of the tragedy, (which was on Monday (the 15th April)), she would tell her 7 children about her memories of the ship. She repeated many times; "I'll never understand why God saved one poor Finn while all those rich people drowned." (Anna Sofia Turja | Titanic Database Wiki | Fandom, Rod Bayley told this story and I looked it up afterwards.). Every year she would remember the sacrifice that that unknown sailor did for her, giving up his seat so that she could live.

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As Christians we do this every year with Easter. We remember what Jesus did as our atoning sacrifice for us. This is the greatest news, which we should be reminded of and be retelling. We have eternal life because of what Jesus did for us in our place, take our spot for us. He has dealt with our sin problem and we can rest in the completed work of Christ.
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Luther said:

if we cling to the Word that has been made known, we have this treasure, which is the blood of Christ. If we are beset by sins, no harm is done. The blood of Christ was not shed for the devil or the angels; it was shed for sinners. Accordingly, when I feel sin, why should I despair, and why should I not believe that it has been forgiven? For the blood of Christ washes sins away. The main thing is that we cling simply to the Word. Then there is no trouble. (Luther, Lectures, 228 cited in ​Exalting Jesus in 1,2,3 John Do Not Lie to Others (1 John 1:6–7)

May we trust in the eye witness accounts of who Jesus is. May we have a right understanding of our sin and that God is light, and may we know the deep truths that Jesus is our advocate and sacrifice for our sins.
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Let us walk in the light of Christ's presence, confessing our sins with a contrite heart, and embrace the redemption offered to us through His sacrifice. For in Him, we find hope, forgiveness, and everlasting life.