When
one sits down to write a letter, or a sermon, or an essay, it is generally with
an audience in mind, and a more or less clear purpose for the document. Who is
going to read it or hear it? What do we wish to happen for them by their receiving
our message? Unlike some writers, whose intentions we have find between the
lines, the authors of both the First Letter of John and the Gospel of John
(possibly the same person) both made their intentions clear.
From
First John, right at the beginning of the document:
…we declare to you
what we have seen and heard so that you also may have fellowship with us; and
truly our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. We are
writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
From
the Gospel, at what may have been the original conclusion:
…these are written
so that you may come to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and
that through believing you may have life in his name.
The
heart of the message is the sharing of the Easter message, belief grounded in
what “we have seen and heard,” a belief that brings life to the believer, binding
all believers together in holy fellowship. Our joy is made complete when others
share with us in that fellowship.
This
begs the question, of course, of what we mean by “fellowship.” This English
word is a weak translation of the Greek word koinonia, which may also be understood as “sharing” or “communion.”
It has to do with having things in common. We heard in Acts how the
post-Pentecost church held all their possessions in common, ensuring that none
of their number would be in need. Some Christian sects such as the Hutterites have
attempted to emulate this material way of living into koinonia, but these groups have always been a small minority of the
Body of Christ.
It
seems to me that the essence of the Acts story is not so much the pooling of
possessions, as it is the commonality of purpose among the earliest church. By
ensuring that none of their members were in need, the church was able to mobilize
everyone for mission. No one was distracted by worry about where their next
meal was coming from.
What
drew them together was the Easter Gospel—“My Lord and my God,” as Thomas exclaimed
on beholding the Risen Christ. What held them together was the shared purpose
in proclaiming this message to the world, bringing other people into the same
communion with God and each other in which they rejoiced. The more people who came
into their fellowship, the more their joy was made complete.
Joining
any organization involves signing on to the organization’s vision, and then sharing
in the group’s work. Becoming one with the Body of Christ is no different. What
is the basis on which we invite people into this joyful communion? John’s answer
in the letter is that we are to “walk in the light.” It seems clear from the
verses that follow that walking in the light means being honest about
ourselves, and about our condition before God, confessing our sins so that we
may be made clean. John will not permit us to claim to be without fault:
If we say that we have
not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
The
basis of our sharing in God, and with each other, is not shared purity, or shared
doctrine, or even shared behaviour. It is shared honesty, the acknowledgement
of our shared humanity, our need for God’s forgiveness. It calls us to be
vulnerable and available to each other, opening up to each other, sharing our
fears and our hopes with each other, leading each other on as we walk together
in the light.
We
come together, and invite others to be together with us, not on any qualification
or achievement of our own, but on Christ’s achievement on our behalf. He died
and rose so that our sins might be forgiven. God asks nothing of us other than
to confess our need for forgiveness, and then joyfully to accept that
forgiveness.
The
Easter Gospel is a message of joy—the most profound joy that could ever be
proclaimed. The root of that joy—the foundation of our fellowship—is the
recognition of our need of God, of our former estrangement from God and each
other, and our willingness to continue “walking in the light,” shedding light
into all the dark corners of this world, so that others may come to know the
light of Christ.
When
Jesus stepped into that locked room, he greeted his disciples with “Peace be with
you,” and then showed them his hands and his side. He shared his woundedness,
his humanity, his very self, inviting them to build his peace by likewise sharing
in our own woundedness.
And
so we walk together in the light, sharing our need of God and our need of each
other, bound together in his name by our shared humanity and our shared
redemption, calling others to walk with us in the way of joy and peace.
