July 6 - Joy, not punishment
Scripture focus: From the very first day, we were there, taking it all in--we heard it with our own ears, saw it with our own eyes, verified it with our own hands. The Word of Life appeared right before our eyes; we saw it happen! And now we're telling you in most sober prose that what we witnessed was, incredibly, this: The infinite Life of God himself took shape before us. We saw it, we heard it, and now we're telling you so you can experience it along with us, this experience of communion with the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. Our motive for writing is simply this: We want you to enjoy this, too. Your joy will double our joy! This, in essence, is the message we heard from Christ and are passing on to you: God is light, pure light; there's not a trace of darkness in him. If we claim that we experience a shared life with him and continue to stumble around in the dark, we're obviously lying through our teeth--we're not living what we claim. But if we walk in the light, God himself being the light, we also experience a shared life with one another, as the sacrificed blood of Jesus, God's Son, purges all our sin. If we claim that we're free of sin, we're only fooling ourselves. A claim like that is errant nonsense. On the other hand, if we admit our sins--make a clean breast of them--he won't let us down; he'll be true to himself. He'll forgive our sins and purge us of all wrongdoing. If we claim that we've never sinned, we out-and-out contradict God--make a liar out of him. A claim like that only shows off our ignorance of God. 1 John 1 (The Message)
Confession, oddly enough and in spite of our preconceived notions is more about joy than punishment. Confession doubles our joy. Actually, I don't think it is the confession that creates the joy. At least for me, the confession brings release. The joy springs from those thoughts and beliefs that I hold fast to -- those ways of thinking about God and myself that free me to boldly go where I resist going -- to the place of rigorous, honest confession.
As we read 1 John 1, note the following:
- We are created for communion with God -- he isn't a distant, punishing presence.
- The motivation of God is so that we might be filled with joy (not fear).
- We are created for community -- and when one among us embraces joy, we all receive a blessing. So our ability to enjoy life is an interdependent experience -- we love as a team or we lose as a team.
- Communion with God provides the ability to experience community with others.
- In light of the above, confession of our own sins is an invitation to prove that we not only can say the right things but we can also live the right life.
Don't be like those crazy Galatians -- get a life!
Recommended reading: Judges 10-13
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