1 John 3: 13-17
13Marvel not, my brethren, if the
world hate you.
14We know that we have passed from
death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother
abideth in death.
15Whosoever hateth his brother is a
murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
16Hereby perceive we the love of God,
because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for
the brethren.
17But whoso hath this world's good,
and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from
him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
Decades ago
when I was a college student I heard a knock on my door one night. When I
answered the door there stood a man with a jar wrapped in a printed paper. This
man told me he was taking up a collection for a poor family whose daughter had
recently passed away in order to help with burial expenses.
Although my
weekly diet consisted of three different flavors of Raman noodles I gave a
dollar toward His cause; after all that’s what good people do.
Four months
later there was a knock again. When I opened my door it was the same man with
the same jar and by some cruel twist of fate the exact same girl had managed to
die once more. In this world there is always someone trying to take for
themselves. When I lived by the flesh the answer was simple; I take care of me
and leave it to you to do the same.
The world
has no other source but the self so even when they do give in a charitable way
the core motivation is along the lines of doing what they believe shows that
they are a good person. Such giving is not acceptable if we are of the
household of faith. Obedient giving to prove our love for God and man is also
of no use.
Cain’s sacrifice
was to God but only to prove He was acceptable and for this reason it showed he
was not acceptable. The giving of a believer must start with a love that is in
no way self-seeking for love seeks not its own. True love has no pride for it
never lifts up its actions but by its actions lifts up others.
The book of
acts tells us that the early church considered all they had to be the common
property of all believers. Some have compared this to a communist thought but
in truth it is very opposite. In communism no individual own anything and a
government distributes to each their share. In the family of God there is no
individual for we are one and all things belong to all. It is for this reason
that if anything was held back for the self then the guilt was that one had
lied and stolen from God. As a husband and wife would find if you place
yourself as a self and then attempt to take from the family of God the results
are deadly.
My point in
this is not to speak to the economy of this situation but instead the necessity
of the selfless love of placing all others as your only concern and the
destructive result of the hatred for others witnessed by placing the self above
all.
Acts tells
us those who had little had no lack and those who had much had no excess. Paul
said of the gift going to Jerusalem to give shows the sincere love for the brethren
but also that it was not to be burdened that others would be eased. He instructs
to give as we propose in our heart.
Our giving
must not be done in order to receive but must be from a pure love that has no
thought of itself. When our motive is tied to our own benefit John concludes we
hate our brother. Why?
God declared
all who place their faith in Him are made one with Him and each other. When one
takes as for themselves they witness against themselves that they are not one
with God. They steal from their brothers what God has given. And by their separating
from trust in God they murder themselves.
This does
not mean believers are to have nothing. However those things we have are for
the purposes of our Father not our own. Consider the expensive perfume used on
Christ; when one said it should have been used for the poor Jesus said it had
been used for the propose it was intended for.
We are also
told to be wise as serpents and harmless as doves. Men driven by the flesh will
always try to take for themselves; we are to know the difference between the
need of our brothers and the lust of Adam. When men wanted to take Jesus and
make Him king it was not for the desire of having God’s messiah rule over them
but instead for the benefit they would receive from being the head nation of
the earth. The scripture says Jesus knew all men and so He slipped away from
them.
Just as
faith without works is dead so love without compassion is also dead. Love is a
motive of the mind and heart driving us to act to the betterment of our brother.
The action that we are driven to by love is called compassion. So John ask us
if we have this worlds goods and see our brother in need and we have no act of
compassion toward them how can we say we have the love of God alive in us?
