1 John 5:11-13
The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all. Amen
Dear congregation,
Christmas is a time of reflection for many Christians. Reflection and pause are Christian habits that structure the everyday lives of many believing people.
How we eat every day, so we need spiritual nourishment every day.
And on Sunday a little more - a little fatter - like the Sunday roast. 😊
In addition to these daily and weekly reflections, there are the different festivals in the church year.
What concerns me about it: It doesn't stop. It's not enough to celebrate Christmas once and then you've done it for your life.
On the contrary, some people wish at the end of their lives: oh, at least celebrate one more Christmas.
Every Christmas we reflect on the birth of Jesus Christ and we reflect on the meaning that Jesus Christ has for our lives.
The writer of 1 John does exactly this: he reflects. The five chapters of this letter are based entirely on the desire that is summarized in the first verse of the letter: “What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have seen, and what our hands have touched, this we proclaim: the word of life"
And at the end of the letter is today's sermon text. There are three short verses:
11 And the testimony is that God has given us eternal life; and this life is in his Son.
12 He who has the Son has life; Whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I am writing this to you, so that you may know that you have eternal life; for you believe in the name of the Son of God.
The author has a clear goal in mind: “I write this to you so that you may know that you have eternal life, because you believe in the name of the Son of God.”
These verses are a great assurance: there can be no doubt about it: that you have eternal life.
Since the writer emphasizes this, we can conclude: people doubted it. “Eternal life!” brings us to a very central topic at the beginning of the year.
What does this eternal life look like? Or vice versa: what is the opposite?
A sermon is certainly not enough to deal with this comprehensively and adequately - but we can make a start.
Eternal – is a designation reserved for God in the Old and New Testaments. I also emphasized this in my sermon about time.
Time and eternity belong together and yet are opposite each other. God and man belong together and yet face each other.
Eternal life is and has often been reduced to personal life after death. This is understandable, because it bothers many people that this life is all that is available to us.
But in a certain way it is like this: in the Bible, too, the topic of eternal life is primarily about: What does that mean for this life - the thought of eternal life is a reflection on what is essential in our lives.
In the first letter of John, it is love for God and love for fellow human beings.
“Dear brothers, let us love one another; For love is from God, and everyone who loves is from God and knows God.” It is found in chapter 4:7
Or the most famous verse from this letter: “God is love and whoever remains in love remains in God and God in him” Chapter 4, 16b
Love is the key to understanding eternal life - and it is no wonder that we reflect on this love at the end of Christmas - because the birth of Jesus Christ testifies to the love of God.
John recognizes in love the possibility of community/unity here on earth and community/unity with God.
It is possible for love to be effective beyond the human boundaries of time and space.
We send Christmas greetings all over the world - we assure our loved ones: we are thinking of you. We are connected to you. Love remains - whether a son lives in Australia or in Faerie Glen.
That makes no difference to love.
And love is what survives death: love does not die with you. The person who is no longer there continues to be loved.
Eternal life and love are closely related. This is about the love that John sees in God.
There is the source of love.
Now it's no wonder that there are doubts about this. For no matter how perfect God's love may be, in the world love is only imperfect.
People also experience this more consciously during the Christmas season than during the rest of the year. Around Christmas, what is particularly noticeable is what is imperfect: there is still an unresolved argument in the family. There is poverty that has not yet been overcome. There are many loveless experiences –
The first Christians always doubted and doubts keep creeping into our lives:
“For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another and not act like Cain, who killed his brother!”
Johannes is neither naive nor unrealistic. From the beginning, the Bible makes us aware that there is good and evil in the world. In the world there is love and hate. In the world there is building and destruction.
And because it happens so quickly that we fall out of love. Because we get irritated so quickly. Because we are so quick to judge and reject others. Because hate has so many facets and still has a lot of power in the world, we cannot reflect on love often enough.
The beginning of the year is embedded in the Christmas season. At the beginning of the year, a reflection on what promotes life.
That is why the first letter of John was written:
And so I would like to assure you, us, at the beginning of this year: No matter how much we humans live in danger of falling out of love and stopping loving - with God it is different: love is eternal. God is eternal.
There is no: maybe and sometimes like this, sometimes like this: God is eternal - God's love is constant.
We will continue to celebrate our community and our community, our church services and need them to remain in love and to always reflect on love.
Let's do this!
So that we know that we have eternal life - it is given to us. It is a gift that cannot be exchanged or returned.
It is an eternal gift - love does not stop - it remains.
May it be a loving year for you personally and for this world - and may you be certain: we have been given eternal life!
