Family in Faith

Now, growing up in a family, I don't know about you, but you've probably experienced like me the phenomenon called the family meeting. In my family, my dad would call a family meeting by turning off the WiFi router and then waiting in the room in which it is located. And sooner or later, everyone was there trying to fix the problem. But you know why we have these family meetings, right?

People are starting to get it now, like, oh, that's what he did. It's pretty smart. You know why we do family meetings, right? It's to discuss really important things.

It's to ask some questions or have a debate about the direction that the whole family might be heading in. So you may have had a mum or a dad call this meeting. You may have had a grandfather or a sort of, you know, an older person call the family together in this way. Today, we're going to be studying a passage in the Bible which is kind of like a big huddle of family members coming together and sitting together and hearing what granddad John has to say. The person writing it is the apostle John, who was a disciple of Jesus.

He was writing to a church in which he was addressing people at various stages in life, and he's addressing a family, his Christian family. And as we read this passage, I want you to imagine the apostle John was at this stage. Historians and scholars say about between 80 and 100. So he's pushing, you know, that lifespan. And he calls these people together, and he speaks with such tenderness and he speaks with so much love to these people. And we've been studying that up until now, and now he specifically addresses a few people. And he's like, guys, huddle up.

I want to share some important things with you today. And so in our passage in particular, he calls this meeting together and he addresses people of different stages in life: older people, middle age or younger people, and then children. And he wants to tell us this, that in God's family, there are all kinds of people. There are mature, spiritual people.

There are slightly immature people. People that are strong, people that are vibrant with their faith, people that are struggling with their faith. And he's going to give an encouragement to each person, even here this morning, in whatever stage you find yourself in. So we're going to turn together to 1 John 2:12-14. 1 John 2:12.

And this is written in a beautiful, poetic way. This is not just a letter. This is something artistic. It's got poetic meaning involved in here. He says, I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name.

I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God lives in you and you have overcome the evil one.

So far the reading. Now, if you don't know what's going on here, that's okay. That's why I'm here. We're going to work this through. What we do find here is a poem.

And because it's a poem, it's got poetic licence. You may have read this and said, well, where are the women at? It's only talking about men here. Does that mean that John's not interested in women? No.

It's not that at all. It is used for poetic licence. We don't find an overt attention on gender, but rather on the stage of life, on age. That's what's in play here: age, stage in life, maturity.

So we know this, that John doesn't talk about simply to children who are, you know, 12 or under. He refers to in other parts of his letter to his audience as dear children. And so his audience would have been all the people that could have read what he was saying. So dear children is a children in the faith sort of categorisation. And he has three things to say here to three groups of people.

Fathers in the faith, young men in the faith, and children in the faith. We're going to start from the oldest and work down to the youngest: fathers. There are two verses. There are two verses that John uses when talking about fathers: verses 13 and 14. I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. In verse 14, I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning.

Both verses are identical, right? There's nothing going on here. Now just like my dad, who in his old age is starting to repeat himself, so we find the same line repeated. But this is not done because John's forgetting.

In fact, my dad would probably say he has to repeat himself because we didn't listen the first time. He has to say it twice for that reason. The repetition is intentional. There's an emphasis being made here. The main message about these fathers in the faith is about knowledge.

You have known Him. You have known Him. Now maybe our P and G friends here can tell us a bit about this, but is there still a strong system within your culture of fathers and grandfathers having to be listened to. There's still that respect culture, right?

Yeah. Why is that respect there for them? Because of their wisdom, right? Partly, it's because of their wisdom.

They have lived longer, therefore they know more. And this has been the case in cultures for hundreds of years. It's been assumed that older men and women have gained wisdom, have gained knowledge and insight from their age and their life experience. And here, John is saying, fathers in the faith, those who have maturity and have lived long lives with Christ, you know something important. You know something important.

What is this knowledge? You have known Him. You have known God. One of the greatest tragedies of Western culture is the gradual sidelining of our older people. Watch any TV show today and look at how old people are portrayed.

Look at Grandpa Simpson in The Simpsons. Look at Frank Barone in Everybody Loves Raymond. Or The King of Queens or whatever. Think of most comedy shows and the old person are the ones who are poked fun at. And in these stereotyped characters, a word that never comes to mind when you think of them is the word respect.

They're the opposite of respect. They're bumbling fools. It shows us what we think of older people, but that is to our loss. Because even on a non-spiritual level, everyone wants a wise granddad, don't they? Everyone needs someone who knowingly will sit with you and listen to you and then impart great wisdom.

Even if you've never had that, even if you've never had a father or a grandfather that could do this, I bet it's something that you would like to have if you could. Older men, older women in the faith, those who have walked with Jesus for a long time, your knowledge, your experience of God is invaluable to the church. This is the family meeting that John is saying. Guys, one another, this is what you impart: your experience, your long years with the Lord is precious.

The apostle John writes to long-standing Christians to tell them that you have a role to play in the church, God's family. Now you might say, I haven't really been a great Christian. I've actually really struggled in my Christian walk for these years. I've really wrestled with things in that time, but that, my friend, is the point. You've wrestled as a Christian with those things, and God never wastes a thing.

Not even your bad experiences or the lessons you've had to learn the hard way are wasted. Knowledge of the Lord, knowledge about your walk in faith is all part of that experience and knowledge. And so, fathers in the faith, that experience and knowledge is what you offer God's family. So the challenge I ask to, and this is not age-related, so you're not 70 and therefore a father.

You may be 30 and you've walked a long journey with God, or you may be 80 and you've walked a long journey with God. My question is, why waste it, this knowledge? Why waste it in retirement and isolating yourself from people by being away from them? Why believe the lie that you don't know enough or somehow that you're not old enough to invest in people's lives, to be an elder in this church? Why think that you are redundant?

Because it's not true. Fathers in the faith, mothers in the faith, I thank God for your wisdom. I thank God that you have walked a journey with Him, that He has shown you things about your life that can impart knowledge and healing and comfort and hope in the lives of many around you. Don't miss it. You have known Him.

Now before we're tempted then to go a little bit further and say, get all proud and say that this experience and this knowledge that you've gained over so many years has to do with how great you are, look at what John says: you have known Him who is from the beginning. You may know a lot, but you don't know all. You may know a lot, but you don't know all. You only point to the one who does know it all. Only the God who's existed before time and space, before time and space, before, well, in eternity has existed, He is only the one that really knows it all.

You may be old in years, you may be old in experience as a Christian, but you're not that old. So all the wiser Christians in a church will inevitably be the ones who steer the church, who guide the church, who make it go in a God-honouring direction. But like fathers in the faith can be like the steering rudder of a boat, of a sailboat, the steering rudder that keeps it on the right direction, the younger men, the younger people in the faith are the sail that pushes it along, which leads us to the next point: younger men. While we have these fathers in the faith that give direction, it is pretty useless to have a boat going on course if there is no wind to push it. If there is no sail to drive it along.

And so the main message that's repeated for young men, we'll put it up here, is one of strength and one of battle. Verses 13, the second half, and 14. I write to you, younger men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, young men, because you are strong and the word of God lives in you and you have overcome the evil one. We see this battle against God's enemy called the evil one, or we know him as Satan.

Now there's a movie that's a great one to watch, a Kevin Spacey movie, great actor, called The Usual Suspects. Has anyone seen that one? The Usual Suspects. Classic. Worth a watch.

In this movie, there's this awesome line Kevin Spacey says, that the greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing them that he doesn't exist. The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn't exist. Now the Bible says he does exist and that he is waging a war against mankind. But interestingly enough, John isolates young men in the faith as the ones who are particularly at struggle against him. Why?

Well, I think it's for two reasons. Firstly, because the younger men in the faith, younger women in the faith are more susceptible to Satan's influence because of their relative spiritual maturity. In other words, they're not as mature in their faith as older men are. But secondly, as John points out, they are strong. They are strong.

They are capable. In other words, these young men are targets because they are vulnerable, and if you get them, they have so much influence that it can be devastating. They will influence and devastate entire societies potentially. And I think our position in human history points this out in astounding ways, in scary ways. I heard a pastor this week talk about statistics in the US that shows that the least likely person you'll see in church is a young man, a young man between the age of 20 and 35.

The lowest demographic of people in church. This coincides with young men just in average normal day-to-day life walking out on responsibilities that have for centuries been an unwritten rule about who they are and what they should do. For the first time, he said in US history, more young men are unemployed than young women. More women are in university studying than men. More women have driver's licences than men, to get them to jobs, to get them asking and inquiring about jobs.

What is all this saying? It's saying that for the first time in their history, men are starting to pass the buck from the responsibilities that they have, that God has given them, that have often made men, men. They're chucking it off. And like I said, I think the consequences speak for themselves. Think of what a society looks like when men are good dads to kids.

Think what a society looks like when men are good husbands to their wives. Think of a society when men are good community leaders. Now think of all the stuff we see on the news day in, day out, and how many of those guys we see on the news are good dads, are good husbands, are good community leaders. I think the results speak for themselves and that is that Satan is winning the war. So his greatest lie may have been that he doesn't exist, but the second biggest lie that he gives is that we are powerless against him, and that's not true.

To the younger men in the faith, the apostle John, granddad John, says that you have the strength and you are able to overcome the evil one. Now what is this strength? What is this power to overcome that he's talking about? In short, it is the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the good news of what He's done for us.

Have a look at verse 14 and we have it up there still. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, you are capable, and the word of God lives in you. This is the good news of Jesus, that He has seen your broken life. That He's seen that you needed to fight against Satan, but instead fell into His temptations, into His trap. It's the word of God that says that while you were failing in this battle, however, Jesus Christ came and He fought that battle for you.

By His death on the cross and His resurrection three days later, it means that not only did He overcome, but He's overcome for you on your behalf. And so for the first time, friends, for the first time, believe this. Anyone who places their trust in this message, in the hope of the gospel, you have freedom over Satan that you will never have any other way and you will never have had in the past before Him. You have overcome. You will overcome through Jesus Christ.

And so younger men in the faith, young women in the faith, what John is saying is take responsibility for this faith. Take responsibility for the calling that God has given you, for the direction God is asking you to go, the code by which you must live as a Christian. Take responsibility for it. This is not someone else's faith. This is your faith.

This is not someone else's family. This is your family. This is not someone else's income. This is your income. He has demanded these things of you because of your age, because of your capacity and capability.

Younger men, younger women, you will be the ones that God uses to grow His church. God doesn't make any apologies for that. He says in fact that He's empowered you to do it. And then we get to our third group, our children in the faith. Not all of us will be fathers.

Not all of us will be mothers. Not all of us will be very strong, but we've all been children at some point. And this is also the case for spiritual children. We are all children at some point. And so John writes to these babies in the faith.

And just like real babies today that need very compact, nutrient-rich milk, the essence of survival, that's what's happening here. Two simple things are written for the children in the faith. I write to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of His name. I write to you, dear children, because you have known the Father.

These are the essential, nutrient-packed truths of Christianity. Firstly, young children, people that are new to Christianity, people who aren't Christians, people who are struggling with their faith, this is what you need to know, granddad John says. You need to know, firstly, that you are forgiven, and secondly, that you have a Father in heaven. Friend, this is the basics of Christianity. You need to see a God who sees His relationship with you as a father-child relationship.

And the amazing thing is that no other religion or philosophy in this world views God as Father. Whether that is Hinduism or Buddhism as religions or whether that is secularism or atheism as philosophies, some religions and philosophies will see a relationship with a god or supreme being as a master-slave relationship. A master-slave: you do what I say. Others see God as a judge and you as a defendant. You have to continuously be rationalising and explaining to this God why you are worthy of His love.

But God's own word, that we believe as Christians, God gave us, God's own word describes Himself and His relationship with us as a father and a son, as a father and a daughter. And everyone needs a dad. Everyone needs a dad. The reminder from John is that you have one and that His attitudes towards you are of a fatherly love. He is protective over you.

He is kind. He is nurturing and correcting. He will defend you. This is the fatherly love of God for us. And that's why John writes to these children of faith.

Secondly, it doesn't help to have a father but to have done everything in your power possible to run away from him as far as possible. It doesn't help when you have a father and there's no relationship with him. That is what sin has done, however. It's what caused an enormous distance between God who is holy, God who is perfect, God who is love, and us who are not. It's caused this chasm between us.

But children of the faith, you need to be reminded that those deep regrets you have, the longing of your heart to be reunited with your Father, those things that have caused this separation, have been forgiven. It's being forgiven. And Jesus had to go to the cross to pay this. He had to take on the punishment that we deserved from a broken-hearted Father who had been deeply wronged by us. And Jesus died there on that cross, a physical and spiritual death that you and I should have died for our wickedness, for our rejection of Him, for our rebellion from Him.

But this sacrifice, we know was acceptable. This sacrifice was successful on God's side because three days later, as He promised, Jesus rose again from the dead, witnessed by hundreds of people, and for the first time in history, witnessed by these people, we see that God said, it is finished. It is forgiven. You are accepted. Forgiveness only comes from a kind heart.

Forgiveness only comes from a Father's heart, and so that's how we see God's relationship with us. And even for the most immature in faith, even for those of us who have a weak faith, who are struggling with doubt, the most flickering trust, the knowledge of a Father God who accepts you as His own, who accepts you, is the greatest hope and the greatest peace that you will ever experience. Fathers in the faith, mothers in the faith, our mature godly saints, you have knowledge and experience of God that needs to be shared. Younger men in the faith, the capable strong ones, you have a calling to be faithful to God and take the responsibility of blessing and growing and loving His church. And thirdly, children of the faith, just all of us really, find your peace and your hope in the Father heart of God.

Let me pray for us. Heavenly Father, we thank you for this truth that we have received, a gift that is invaluable, that we cannot even begin to comprehend its enormity. And so, Lord, we will spend the rest of our lives on Sunday mornings worshipping you and declaring, Lord, we are so thankful for it. We have been brought into a relationship with a Father who is good, despite how bad our fathers or grandfathers may have been. We know a Father who is good.

Father, I pray for strength for those of us who need to be taking responsibility for our faith, who need to build your family, your spiritual family, the church with it. I pray for our grandfathers and fathers in the faith who must now share this faith with others, who must guide and direct with great respect and gentleness. I pray for every stage of life in this church where we find ourselves, whether young or old, or that you may use us and grow us and develop us and give us courage to do these things. We thank you for your word to us. We thank you that it speaks to us even if it's hundreds and thousands of years old.

And I pray, Lord, that you will do in us what you see fit for your glory alone. In Jesus' name, amen.