Spiritual Affective Disorder 1 John 1.5 - 2.6 Sunday 15 September 2013
1 John 1.5-10, 2.1-6
1 John 1.5-10, 2.1-6
This is the message we have heard from
him and declare to you:
God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness,
we lie and do not live by the truth.
But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light,
we have fellowship with one another,
and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
- If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just
and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
If we claim we have not sinned,
we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in our lives.
My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin.
But if anybody does sin,
we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence--
Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
He is the one who turns aside God's wrath, taking away our sins,
and not only ours but also the sins of the whole world.
We know that we have come to know him if we obey his commands.
The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands
is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
But if anyone obeys his word,
God's love is truly made complete in him.
This is how we know we are in him:
Whoever claims to live in him must walk as Jesus did.
Gracious Father, God of truth
may the light of Christ your Son
expose our lies that we have not really done much wrong
and the lie that we cannot be forgiven.
Help me to speak clearly;
help us all to listen and respond to you.
The bright days of summer look as if they are gone
and the nights are getting longer and the days shorter.
This becomes a challenge to those who suffer from SAD
Seasonal Affective Disorder
where your mood gets low as the sunshine becomes less.
You can get a special lamp to counteract that effect
but what about Spiritual Affective Disorder?
That’s when for all our talk about being Christian
we lose the light of Christ, or it becomes dim.
Think about the things we do and say often without thinking:
are they darkness or light?
If we grumble and gripe, that is darkness, a true ‘gloom’;
if we give genuine praise and appreciation that is light;
if we criticise someone behind their back, that is darkness
if we always tell people what we think they would like to hear
even though it’s not what they need to hear
that, however well intentioned, is of the dark;
even though it’s not what they need to hear
that, however well intentioned, is of the dark;
but if we confront them in private about their fault
that, though costly to you and them, is light;
that, though costly to you and them, is light;
if we grasp at and demand to have more and more, that’s darkness
but if we give away gladly without needing thanks and attention, that’s light.
If we are negative and cynical, that is darkness
- hope and joy bring light.
- hope and joy bring light.
If we are obsessed by the failings of others, or burdened by our own faults,
either way that is darkness,
but if we rest humbly in Christ’s forgiveness that’s light.
Don’t we struggle to keep in the light?
Isn’t it so easy to slip into dark, shadowy ways of thinking and speaking and acting?
Not all of us are affected in our moods by the longer nights
but all of us are affected by spiritual darkness.
either way that is darkness,
but if we rest humbly in Christ’s forgiveness that’s light.
Don’t we struggle to keep in the light?
Isn’t it so easy to slip into dark, shadowy ways of thinking and speaking and acting?
Not all of us are affected in our moods by the longer nights
but all of us are affected by spiritual darkness.
John is calling us to face up to the dark effect of our sin.
God is indeed light, through and through, without darkness
but we human beings need the light of his Son to save us from our sin.
There were people around when this letter was being written
who thought they had no sin, having become Christian in some sense
or that they were now so super spiritual in their souls
that the sins of their bodies didn’t matter.
John was very aware that sin does matter
and what he writes is also relevant
to the very tempting compromises many of us make with sin
when we say,
‘Well yes, I do sin, so what, everybody sins.
Sure, God will forgive, that’s what he does.’
Sin matters a lot to the God who is light.
He hates it. It makes him angry. It needs to be dealt with.
And there is no special lamp to flick a switch on
and so deal with ‘Spiritual Affective Disorder’
Here instead are four things from this passage
which I pray may both challenge us about our darkness
and encourage us that we may and shall walk in the light.
1 THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IS NOT MYSTICAL BUT MORAL
2 THE CROSS IS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT
3 WE ARE NOT YET PERFECT BUT WE ARE FORGIVEN
4 AND WE ARE CALLED TO CHANGE HOW WE LIVE.
1 THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IS NOT MYSTICAL BUT MORAL
The difference between being mystical and being moral
is that mysticism is about intense and private spiritual experiences
which you can get in a variety of religions
and a mystical person can also be
a proud and a selfish and a very unpleasant person,
they may have all the right religious phrases
and yet be abusive and oppressive.
A true experience of Christ
may be spiritually intense (or maybe not that spectacular)
but it will also be moral in the best sense, good, pure true, Christlike.
In c2 vv 4 and 6 make the point:
that to say that we know Jesus and yet not do what he commands
is to be a liar
and whoever claims to live in him must walk, ie live, as Jesus did.
God is indeed light, through and through, without darkness
but we human beings need the light of his Son to save us from our sin.
There were people around when this letter was being written
who thought they had no sin, having become Christian in some sense
or that they were now so super spiritual in their souls
that the sins of their bodies didn’t matter.
John was very aware that sin does matter
and what he writes is also relevant
to the very tempting compromises many of us make with sin
when we say,
‘Well yes, I do sin, so what, everybody sins.
Sure, God will forgive, that’s what he does.’
Sin matters a lot to the God who is light.
He hates it. It makes him angry. It needs to be dealt with.
And there is no special lamp to flick a switch on
and so deal with ‘Spiritual Affective Disorder’
Here instead are four things from this passage
which I pray may both challenge us about our darkness
and encourage us that we may and shall walk in the light.
1 THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IS NOT MYSTICAL BUT MORAL
2 THE CROSS IS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT
3 WE ARE NOT YET PERFECT BUT WE ARE FORGIVEN
4 AND WE ARE CALLED TO CHANGE HOW WE LIVE.
1 THE LIGHT OF CHRIST IS NOT MYSTICAL BUT MORAL
The difference between being mystical and being moral
is that mysticism is about intense and private spiritual experiences
which you can get in a variety of religions
and a mystical person can also be
a proud and a selfish and a very unpleasant person,
they may have all the right religious phrases
and yet be abusive and oppressive.
A true experience of Christ
may be spiritually intense (or maybe not that spectacular)
but it will also be moral in the best sense, good, pure true, Christlike.
In c2 vv 4 and 6 make the point:
that to say that we know Jesus and yet not do what he commands
is to be a liar
and whoever claims to live in him must walk, ie live, as Jesus did.
Not for a moment is John saying that living a good Christlike life
qualifies you as a Christian
rather he is saying that the genuine life and light of Christ in us
is seen in the good that the Holy Spirit moves us to do
as the ‘fruit’ not the ‘root’.
qualifies you as a Christian
rather he is saying that the genuine life and light of Christ in us
is seen in the good that the Holy Spirit moves us to do
as the ‘fruit’ not the ‘root’.
As Jesus said in Matthew 5
we are to let our light so shine
that people see our good works
and give glory to our Father in heaven
ie they say not how good are those Christians
but how good is the God they worship who makes them shine like that
in lives that are so attractive.
How then do we find this pure moral light?
2 THE CROSS IS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT
In 1.7 John says that the blood of Jesus God’s Son cleanses us from all sin
and in 2.2 he says that Christ is the sacrifice that turns away God’s wrath.
That is why in our closing hymn we sing an important line:
‘by your blood I may enter your brightness’
The hymn writer is picking up on this verse
and also on Revelation 21.23 where ‘the Lamb' (the crucified Lamb) is the light of the heavenly city.
Who God truly is and how he regards us is focused in his Son
who died for us as the perfect sacrifice to take away our sin
and to satisfy the anger that God rightly has against our sin
as 2.2 ff point out.
The cross is the source of true, morally genuine, liberating, cleansing light.
Don’t let yourself be dazzled so to speak
by the bright flashy claims of spiritualities.
we are to let our light so shine
that people see our good works
and give glory to our Father in heaven
ie they say not how good are those Christians
but how good is the God they worship who makes them shine like that
in lives that are so attractive.
How then do we find this pure moral light?
2 THE CROSS IS THE SOURCE OF LIGHT
In 1.7 John says that the blood of Jesus God’s Son cleanses us from all sin
and in 2.2 he says that Christ is the sacrifice that turns away God’s wrath.
That is why in our closing hymn we sing an important line:
‘by your blood I may enter your brightness’
The hymn writer is picking up on this verse
and also on Revelation 21.23 where ‘the Lamb' (the crucified Lamb) is the light of the heavenly city.
Who God truly is and how he regards us is focused in his Son
who died for us as the perfect sacrifice to take away our sin
and to satisfy the anger that God rightly has against our sin
as 2.2 ff point out.
The cross is the source of true, morally genuine, liberating, cleansing light.
Don’t let yourself be dazzled so to speak
by the bright flashy claims of spiritualities.
We need to keep asking of any spiritual movement or system
even those that claim to be Christian
where is the cross in all this?
Is this belief or practice consistent with the crucified Lamb
who is the light of the heavenly city?
An old hymn says
‘There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin.’
Does the way we live and worship
actually say that there is some other than Jesus good enough
or that we ourselves are actually good enough
or that there’s no need to pay a price for sin
because as the false teachers in John’s time suggested
we don’t have sin, or it doesn’t matter that much?
The only way to deal with Spiritual Affective Disorder
is to keep coming into the light of the crucified and risen Christ
and day by day and moment by moment
thanking him that he was good enough to pay the price of sin
and committing yourself to take up your cross and follow him.
This doesn’t give us complete perfection in this life
but it does assure us of complete forgiveness
3 WE ARE NOT YET PERFECT BUT WE ARE FORGIVEN
The opening verse of c 2 sums up
the tension we will always have this side of heaven.
John is clear that Christian should not sin
‘I write this to you so that you will not sin.’
He is also clear that we do sin but we also have a Saviour from sin
‘But if anybody does sin,
we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence--
Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.'
People sometimes wonder why their struggle with sin becomes worse
after they have committed to Jesus.
The answer is simple.
It is not that you are more sinful than you were before you became Christ’s;
it is that through the light of Christ searching the hidden corners of your life
you now become more and more aware of how sinful you actually are
and stuff you didn’t bother about now before becomes a burden to you
as you begin to realise in the light of Christ
just how much it grieves and displease your heavenly Father.
‘There was no other good enough to pay the price of sin.’
Does the way we live and worship
actually say that there is some other than Jesus good enough
or that we ourselves are actually good enough
or that there’s no need to pay a price for sin
because as the false teachers in John’s time suggested
we don’t have sin, or it doesn’t matter that much?
The only way to deal with Spiritual Affective Disorder
is to keep coming into the light of the crucified and risen Christ
and day by day and moment by moment
thanking him that he was good enough to pay the price of sin
and committing yourself to take up your cross and follow him.
This doesn’t give us complete perfection in this life
but it does assure us of complete forgiveness
3 WE ARE NOT YET PERFECT BUT WE ARE FORGIVEN
The opening verse of c 2 sums up
the tension we will always have this side of heaven.
John is clear that Christian should not sin
‘I write this to you so that you will not sin.’
He is also clear that we do sin but we also have a Saviour from sin
‘But if anybody does sin,
we have one who speaks to the Father in our defence--
Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.'
People sometimes wonder why their struggle with sin becomes worse
after they have committed to Jesus.
The answer is simple.
It is not that you are more sinful than you were before you became Christ’s;
it is that through the light of Christ searching the hidden corners of your life
you now become more and more aware of how sinful you actually are
and stuff you didn’t bother about now before becomes a burden to you
as you begin to realise in the light of Christ
just how much it grieves and displease your heavenly Father.
It is then that we begin to appreciate how good it is to have
‘one who speaks to the Father in our defence--
Jesus Christ, the Righteous One’.
What do you think Jesus says to the Father about us:
‘Let John Faris off this time, he does a few good things.’?
No, no no.
‘Forgive your child, Father – he is not perfect,
but as he looks to me, my death covers all his sin.’
This light of Christ which is not mystical but moral
finds its source in the cross, the perfect sacrifice
for us who are not yet perfect but are forgiven.
4 AND WE ARE CALLED TO SEEK TO CHANGE HOW WE LIVE.
back to 1.9
‘- If we confess our sins,
he is faithful and just
and will forgive our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.’
It is important to understand that we are to confess our ‘sins’
particular ways in which we have failed, not just a general sense of ‘sin’.
We don’t have confession boxes here.
We don’t have a requirement of confessing to a clergyman
but have we over reacted negatively to the whole idea of confession?
The Bible is clear that sins need to be recognised and confessed
by each of us to God, privately, regularly.
There may be difficult things where a confidential conversation
may be of great help
but most of the wrong things we do simply need to be brought directly to Jesus
out of darkness into the only light that correct and cleanse and change.
Things like irritability,
indifference to others,
idolatry – giving your attention inappropriately
to another person, a political or a religious belief, a sports team,
or whoever or whatever consumes your life (and it will consume you)
or the examples of darkness I gave earlier:
grumbling and griping;
criticising people behind their backs;
telling them what we think they would like to hear
rather than what they need to hear.
grasping at and demanding more and more;
negativity and cynicism ...
it is all darkness, each thing is a sin which we need to confess and renounce
and find complete cleansing through the blood of Jesus God’s Son.
And then his Holy Spirit will grow in us the good works
that people will see and give glory to our heavenly Father.
genuine praise and appreciation;
confronting people sensitively their faults ;
giving away gladly without needing thanks and attention,;
radiating hope and joy
resting humbly in Christ’s forgiveness.
In those ways we reflect the Father’s glory and give light to the world.
LORD:
some of us are in denial that we have sinned or that our sins matter;
may your light so shine to expose that lie
and make us deeply aware of how wrong we are.
but others are well aware of their sins
but are in denial that they can ever be forgiven.
May your light expose that lie also.
Shine to soften hard hearts and heal broken hearts
through him alone can speak to you O Father in our defence
for he alone has turned your wrath away in his sacrifice for us.
The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
by each of us to God, privately, regularly.
There may be difficult things where a confidential conversation
may be of great help
but most of the wrong things we do simply need to be brought directly to Jesus
out of darkness into the only light that correct and cleanse and change.
Things like irritability,
indifference to others,
idolatry – giving your attention inappropriately
to another person, a political or a religious belief, a sports team,
or whoever or whatever consumes your life (and it will consume you)
or the examples of darkness I gave earlier:
grumbling and griping;
criticising people behind their backs;
telling them what we think they would like to hear
rather than what they need to hear.
grasping at and demanding more and more;
negativity and cynicism ...
it is all darkness, each thing is a sin which we need to confess and renounce
and find complete cleansing through the blood of Jesus God’s Son.
And then his Holy Spirit will grow in us the good works
that people will see and give glory to our heavenly Father.
genuine praise and appreciation;
confronting people sensitively their faults ;
giving away gladly without needing thanks and attention,;
radiating hope and joy
resting humbly in Christ’s forgiveness.
In those ways we reflect the Father’s glory and give light to the world.
LORD:
some of us are in denial that we have sinned or that our sins matter;
may your light so shine to expose that lie
and make us deeply aware of how wrong we are.
but others are well aware of their sins
but are in denial that they can ever be forgiven.
May your light expose that lie also.
Shine to soften hard hearts and heal broken hearts
through him alone can speak to you O Father in our defence
for he alone has turned your wrath away in his sacrifice for us.
The sun will no more be your light by day,
nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you,
for the LORD will be your everlasting light,
and your God will be your glory.
‘Dear Lord, three things I pray:
‘Dear Lord, three things I pray:
to see you more clearly,
Richard of Chichester, 1197–1253
Isaiah 60:19.
