Pentecost 9 (NL3) John B. Valentine
1 John 5:1-12 July 25, 2021

“VICTORIOUS FAITH”

I take as my text this morning just one little snippet from our reading from 1 John ... chapter 5.

The second half of the fourth verse .... that line that reads:

“And this is the victory that conquers the world — our faith.”

"AND THIS IS THE VICTORY THAT CONQUERS THE WORLD — OUR FAITH"

And to help you wrap your head and your heart around that little snippet of biblical text ... and what John the letter-writer is trying to tell us with those words ... I’m going to need to have you think for just a minute about ..... THE OLYMPICS!

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Now ... now ... now ...

Don’t go jumping to conclusions!

I KNOW that the Games of the 32nd Olympiad are upon us:

• And some people are making these 2020 ... errrr ... 2021 ... Tokyo Olympics all about COVID-19 ... and whether it’s wise to be holding this international spectacle at all.

• And some people are making these games all about free speech ... and whether Olympians should have the right to political demonstration on the medal stand or not.

• And some people are just trying to figure out which channel their favorite events are on on the Idiot Box!

But at the end of the day ... I hope and pray that these games end up being less about the sideshows and the controversies ....

And more about the games themselves ... and those athletes who have devoted years of their lives to those briefest moments of opportunity ... in hopes of winning a victory ...

A victory ... a victory not unlike that of which John is speaking about in that snippet of text which I cited.

You see ... obviously ... every athlete wants to win ... WANTS to claim the victory ...

But wanting to win an Olympic medal ... and winning an Olympic medal ... are two different things entirely.

And John seems to indicate in that text which Ed read for us this morning that wanting to win eternal life ... and winning eternal life ... are two different things entirely as well!

So maybe this text is an invitation for us to look at exactly what it takes for an Olympic athlete to actually be able win a victory of the sort which will be celebrated on those medal stands in Tokyo over the next couple of weeks ....

And see if and how their life experiences as world-class athletes might speak to our life experiences as people fo God.

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Obviously ... one of the things that every Olympic athlete needs is good genes ... right???

Not jeans of the Levi’s or Wrangler or Lucky variety ...

But genes of the 23-and-Me ... DNA/RNA variety.

Trust me on this one ... folks ...

• As one without an abundance of those fast-twitch muscles which equate to explosive energy ...

• As one without a modicum of that kinesthetic intelligence which folks amazing skiers and dancers and gymnasts and the like ...

• As one who has never been accused by anyone of being particularly athletic ...

I know full well that there’s a certain amount of genetics that goes into every world-class athlete.

You see ...

• No matter how hard I might train ....
• No matter how many hours I might put in in the gym ....
• No matter how much money I might spend on lessons and coaching and the like ...

I am painfully aware that I could never ... NEVER ... hit a golf ball 300 yards on the fly or run a sub-twelve-second hundred meters or jump up and down on a balance beam ... because its not in my genetics.

And where ... pray tell ... do we get our genes from??? From our parents ... right???

Our genes are something we’re born with.

And while I’m NOT telling you that the writer of First John knew the details of kinesthetic intelligence and the genetics of short twitch muscles and all ... I find it really curious that this morning’s lesson began with the assertion that we have good genes!

Seriously ... how did that lesson begin??

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God.”

It’s as if John wants to remind us that ... on account of the one who called us and claimed us as God’s own ... that we have good genes ... that we have the right genetic makeup to win the final victory ... because our gene pool has something in common with the One whom the Bible calls “the pioneer and perfecter of our faith.”

And THAT ... my friends ... is good good news!

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But it doesn’t just take good genes to take your place on the medal stand ... and it doesn’t just take good genes to share in the victory which conquers the world either.

No .... another component ... I suspect .... in every successful Olympic athlete’s is good coaching.

Bethany and I were watching a Giants game the other night ... one of those games where they came back in the ninth inning to beat the Dodgers ... hee-hee-hee ...

And we happened to catch a couple of those post-game interviews.

And my beloved rightly pointed out that those players seemed to be saying the same things in the course of their interviews:

• “We just kept grinding” ...
• “We kept the line moving” ...
• “We’re just focusing on the game that we’re playing right now” ....

Stuff like that.

And she was quick to note that it seemed a little bit trite.

But while those sports cliches may sound a bit trite ...

They also reveals the fact that those players are actually listening to their coaches ... and appropriating their teachings.

Not just ‘hearing’ them ... but actively ‘listening’ to them.

And ... believe it or not ... those very same Giants ARE listening to their coaches and have the best record in Major League Baseball at the moment!

And ... from the way I see it ... listening to the coach ... taking to heart the coach’s message ... is vital for every successful athlete ... EVERY successful athlete ....

Be your event physical ... or mental ... or spiritual.

But again ... there’s good news in this! We have GREAT coaches!

Guys like Saint John and Saint Paul ...

Gals like Esther and Ruth ...

And ... of course ... the greatest coach of all ... Jesus of Nazareth.

And each of those coaches ... all of them ... in their own way ... are singing off the same script ... “Love!”.... “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength and mind” ... which you effectively DO by loving your neighbor as yourself.

This is precisely the point that this morning’s text is trying to make for us:

“Everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments.”

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You know ... I think that we in the Church often get into a whole lot of trouble on this point.

We try to overthink that message.

We try to make it WAY harder than it is.

We want to dive into the details and ask questions like “But who exactly is ‘my neighbor’?” ... and “What is the truly loving thing to do to them?”

• And so we somehow justify not really loving the DACA teenager who has grown up in this country and has no other nation to call ‘home’ ...

• AND we somehow justify not really loving the oldster who is out-of-step with political correctness through no fault of their own.

• We somehow justify not really loving the homeless person who has set up an encampment by the side of the freeway ...

• And we somehow justify not really loving the young fellow who has fallen under the sway of methamphetamine ...

• And we somehow justify not really loving the brash “Karen” who insists that her right to bear arms will not be infringed ...

• And we somehow justify not really loving the wealthy corporate executive who seems to make oodles of money off the sweat of everyone else’s brows.

You see ... by labeling others as ‘illegal’ or ‘crazy’ or ‘messed-up’ or ‘pushy’ or ‘stupid’ or ‘wrong’ on whatever count ... we subtly justify NOT loving them.

Heck ... we EVEN use it as an excuse to not really love those who self-identify as being part of the people of God!

But ... at the end of the day ...

That message we heard from John last week about love being “that’s what it’s all about” ...

That message you hear from Jesus in every nook and cranny if the Gospels ...

THAT message is THE message that the Head Coach wants to get through to us.

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And finally ... there’s the issue of practice ... hard work ... “obedience” as this morning lesson puts it.

As an athlete you may have won the genetic lottery .... and you maybe have the best coaches ...

But if you’re not willing to “practice, practice, practice” ... it don’t amount to a hill of beans ... for you’re NOT going to win that medal.

And ... perhaps in a similar way ... we as people have God HAVE won the genetic lottery ... and we as followers of Jesus HAVE all the best coaches ...

But without obedience ... perseverance ... “practice, practice, practice” ... it’s all for naught.

Love-talk without love-action makes us noisy gongs and clanging cymbals.

Are we going to get it right every time we practice?

Not by a long shot! (Do you think Simone Biles never fell off the balance beam???)

Are we going to enjoy going to practice every single day?

I’d be lying if I told you that you will! (Do you think Katie Ladecky always enjoyed getting up at 4 in the morning to go to the pool?)

Are we going to get injured while practicing?

Yeah ... that’s going to happen on occasion too! (Do you think Damian Lillard never got hurt during training camp?)

But here's the promise of Coach John .... and Coach Jesus himself ....

You HAVE the right genetics and you HAVE the best coaches ...

If you want to win that victory ... you just need to practice, practice, practice!

• It’s called faith.
• It’s called obedience.
• It’s called love.