Our Sermons

Bible Passage: 1 John 1:5-10
Pastor: Pastor Schlicht
Sermon Date:  April 18, 2021

Franz Kline was an American Abstract Expressionist known for the bold contrast of his paintings. Using black brushstrokes on white canvases, Kline created pieces distinct from any other artist of his generation. The bold contrast of the darkness of black and the bright white gave his paintings a clarity and a simplicity that allowed many people to appreciate his work. I think that the apostle John would have been a fan of Franz Kline. The book of 1 John, which he wrote, is not painted in complex tones, but in bold black and white. He makes many either-or statements. He says that either you love the world or you love the Father, but not both (2:15). Either you know the Father and the Son or you don’t know either (2:22-23). Either you are a child of God and love your brother or you’re a child of the devil and hate your brother (3:10-12). There are other examples, but they all show that John is painting a spiritual picture in black and white. And this quality of his writing brings sharp clarity. He paints two options in bold relief so that if we are in the middle, we will be forced to commit to the truth or walk knowingly into error. 

The black and white contrast that we see in chapter 1 is light vs. darkness. As we walk through it, I pray that this section of God’s Word will prove to be as challenging and as comforting for you as it was for me this past week.

I’d like to go over the structure of this section quickly. As I see it, it’s very logical and straightforward. Verse 5 is the theological foundation. Verses 6–7 are the application. And verses 8–10 are a necessary clarification. So, let’s dive in.

Verse 5: The Foundation “This is the message we heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light. In him there is no darkness at all.” What does John mean that God is light? In this context it relates to God being truth. Light is related to truth here in chapter 1. So, correspondingly, when John says that “In him there is no darkness at all.” he’s saying that there’s no deception in God. There’s no small print. He is always honest with us and he will guide us in truth. “Let God be true, and every man a liar.” That’s the foundational fact: God is light.

Verses 6–7: The Application “If we say we have fellowship with him but still walk in darkness, we are lying and do not put the truth into practice.” This is the negative application of the fact that God is light. If God is light, but we are still walking in sin, (walking here doesn’t refer to a one-time mistake, but rather a pattern of living), we are really walking in darkness, in other words as he says we are lying. We are lying to ourselves if we say that we are walking with God. Because there is no darkness in him. Darkness cannot exist in the presence of light. That’s the bold black and white truth! John doesn’t let us say that we are Jesus’ followers but then remain in willful sin. He does not let us comfortably claim the title of light when we are harboring secretive sins. This deception in and of itself, John says, is darkness.

It reminds me of a time one summer before my sophomore year at Martin Luther College. I was at the highschool weight room in Seymour, WI. They had some community hours each weeknight. I was the only one in there until this giant of a man walked in. And before he even started his first set he began to cough. And to this day, it was the most violent cough I’ve ever heard. He held onto the squat rack and turned completely red. The fit lasted for a few minutes and I went over by him and was thinking I might need to call an ambulance when the cough finally subsided. He sat down on the ground and closed his eyes for a while. I asked him if he was ok. He said, “Ya, not the first time that’s happened.” I said “That was a little scary, are you sure you’re good.” And then he sighed and dropped his guard. He said, “I’m on gear, that just happens sometimes after injection.” Now I didn’t know anything about steroids. And I just said, “Man, that sounds like it is really harsh on your body.” He said, “Ya, I wouldn’t ever try it if I were you. But, I’m careful, I don’t drink and my diet is very clean, so it balances out.” I remember driving home that night thinking about how terrible that logic was. I mean it’s good that he wasn’t drinking alcohol on top of taking steroids, but not because it would balance things out, but simply because his poor liver couldn’t handle anything more. But just as I judged him for lying to himself about being healthy, I realize that I do the same thing spiritually. I think we all do.

We justify sin by looking at all the good stuff we’re doing. We try to walk in darkness and in light. “Yes, I have a pet sin, but I also go to church each week. It balances out. I’m good with God. I know I get angry quickly and yell at my spouse, but I’m faithful to them. It balances out. Yes, I know I drink too much and enjoy some really immoral content, but I volunteer at Eastside and give to charities. It balances out. Like that guy in the gym, we may look very strong in faith outwardly, but be nowhere near as healthy inside.” My friends, this is John’s black and white application: if you say you have fellowship with Jesus but still knowingly walk in darkness, you are lying to yourself and to him. And remember God is light, he is all that is true and he knows the truth. “Even darkness is as light to you.” The Psalmist says. (Psalm 139:12) If you are walking in sin, don’t try to tell yourself that your relationship with God is fine. It isn’t. We may deceive ourselves and others, but we can’t fool him.

 That’s the hard application we need to hear but there is also a positive application of the foundational truth! Verse 7: “But if we walk in the light, just as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.” This is crucial. If you are willing to expose your darkness to God’s light, you will not be condemned! You will be cleansed! In other words, light overcomes darkness. Because of Jesus, the God of all truth does not condemn you in darkness, he shines the light of his love and dispels all your darkness. It is a beautiful metaphor isn’t it? Darkness, by definition, is the absence of light. Whenever light is present, it always overcomes darkness. And because of Jesus, because of his resurrection, we know that his light always overcomes our darkness. When the sun rose on Easter morning, the Son rose on Easter morning. 

It’s been a while since I’ve seen a good sunrise. But a few years ago on family vacation, I was up with my son Solomon in the morning when the sun was coming up. It was gorgeous. We went outside of the cabin and sat on the deck which overlooked a small lake. The light overcame the darkness as the sky lit up with a kaleidoscope of color. And when the top of the sun finally appeared, a wide ribbon of light spread across the lake and seemed as if it were directed right at us. My friends, this is like the light of Jesus’ love. It gives light to all the world, but when you see it, you know that it is directed specifically at you. May these words of absolution, the reality of Jesus’ love, dawn in your soul. May you trust now that his light truly overcomes your darkness.

Verses 8–10: The Clarification The wonderful application of verse 7 could play right into the hands of people who have a perfectionist view of the Christian life. Some people, then and today, think that if you’re really a Christian, you won’t fall into sin anymore. So John brings up a necessary clarification in verses 8-10: “If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” In other words, the claim of sinlessness is simply self-deception. Instead of denying our sinfulness, we should confess that it is real and ugly. Verse 9: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” If we step into God’s light and expose our darkness, his light will dispel it. Because light overcomes darkness.

This teaches us that mature Christians will grow in the understanding of the pervasiveness of sin as they grow in appreciation of Jesus’ light. To a great extent, this is a corresponding relationship. The more you understand sin, the more amazing the redeeming work of Christ is. If you stand in a room that is completely dark, when someone turns on the light, you can hardly open your eyes because it is so bright! The contrast of darkness heightens your appreciation of the light.

It isn’t just a matter of thinking through the 10 commandments, but if you were even just to take those commands and consider their full meaning you would be able to confess an entire book of sin each day. I can’t imagine how many times I sin even in a single hour. I’m going to take a moment here to confess some of the subtle ways I sin and see if you can’t relate: The ways I do not take up many tasks with joy. The way I fail to give thanks for so many things. The impatience, the constant return to thoughts of myself. The multitudes in pain, while I rush past unmoved. The lack of focus on heaven and my purpose as God’s child. The little worries, the lack of trust. The neglect of prayer. Those spontaneous tempting thoughts. The words spoken carelessly. The frequent inconsistencies of my life which have so often denied the truths I’ve taught to you and others. The fact that many of my limitations and inadequacies aren’t due to a lack of talent, but hours of misplaced desire and effort from childhood onward. The refusal of the gentle pleadings of the Holy Spirit. Contentment with faults in my temperament and character. The toleration of a lower standard of holiness than that to which God has called me. Even now I’m hopelessly ignorant of so many sins I’ve committed, and I know that this ignorance, itself, is too a result of my sin. Should I continue? I’m really good at sinning! Yet confession is not something I recoil from. It isn’t disabling or depressing, because the more honest I am about the darkness in me, the more thoroughly I appreciate the fact that light overcomes darkness, the more clearly I see the beauty of Jesus’ forgiveness.

My friends, the true penitence of a Christian does not mean we waste time brooding over past sins, nor does it unnerve or demoralize us in the endeavor to live according to God’s Word. I think of the apostle Paul, whose loftiest songs of thanksgiving and praise in the Bible are always accompanied and elevated by the contrast of his own sin, the deep undertone of his darkness. (Romans 17:24-25!) This is a healthy faith, not one which claims to have no sin, but one which lives in constant repentance and, simultaneously, overflowing joy in forgiveness. This is what it means to walk in the light. This is what it means to be honest before God, to be honest with ourselves. And as we expose our soul to God and allow the light of his Word to shine down the darker corridors of our hearts, we will never fail to walk with a constant sense of humility and a constant sense of amazement at the love of God. We will walk in the light and yes, even be the light of the world, reflections of the Risen Son. Amen.