Purified in Hope

April 14, 2024 homily on 1 John 3:1-7 by Pastor Galen

“Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

“He’s Still Working on Me”

When I was growing up we sang a song in Sunday School entitled, “He’s still working on Me.” The song goes like this:

There really ought to be a sign upon the heart,
“Don’t judge him yet, there’s an unfinished part.”
But I’ll be perfect just according to His plan
Fashioned by the Master’s loving hands.

He’s still working on me to make me what I ought to be.
It took Him just a week to make the moon and stars,
The sun and the earth and Jupiter and Mars.
How loving and patient He must be, He’s still working on me.

The theme of this song, and of these first few verses in First John chapter 3, is that our lives are in many ways a construction zone, as God is at work in us, forming us and shaping us more and more into Christ’s likeness, making us more perfect in God’s love.

Children of God

First John 3 starts out by reminding us that we are children of God. This is who we are. This is our identity. We have been adopted into the family of God, and God claims us as God’s own. We can rest secure in our identity as children of God. Nothing will ever change that. And yet, we are not all that we were meant to be. We are still a work in progress, and God is in the process of forming and shaping us into Christ’s likeness.  

When God created humans, God gave people the freedom to choose good or evil. God created a beautiful world for us to live in, and people had everything they needed. There was plenty to go around. And yet, as people, we chose to pursue our own selfish interests rather than trust in God’s goodness and follow the path God laid out for us. As humans, we continually put our own self interests above the good of others, and of the world, and of creation. Humanity’s self-centered decisions continually lead us down a path toward destruction.

The Rescue Operation

If we go way back to the Hebrew Bible, what Christians often refer to as “the Old Testament” we see that God mounted a rescue operation, sending judges, and prophets and teachers throughout history to instruct God’s people, and to try to get us back on the right path. But it wasn’t enough. As humans, we needed someone who could get down in the dirt and mire with us, and who could pull us out of the pit–someone who could clean us off, and bandage up our wounds, and give us a second chance at life. We needed this someone to set an example for us, and show us the right way to go. 

And so God sent Jesus to come down into our world to rescue us from the path of destruction, to set us on the right path. Jesus loved us so much that he gave his life for us, and in so doing he set an example for us of what perfect love looks like. But this rescue operation does not end with us as individuals, because God loves the whole universe. John 3:16 says “God so loved the world,” which refers to the universe and everything in it! And God invites us as God’s people to be a part of this rescue effort, this ongoing construction project. Even as God is working in us, God is also working through us to bring goodness and peace and harmony in this world. 

And so God is not finished with us or our world. There is much more that God wants to do in us and through us. God sees the potential in us, and God wants us to be all that we were created to be. And so God continues working in us and through us, continuing to fashion us by the “by the Master’s loving hands” as the song says, as a potter fashions a lump of clay and turns it into a beautiful piece of pottery. 

And so First John 3 says, “Beloved, we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

Now this language in First John 3 of being made pure may be rather startling to different ones of us, for different reasons:

1. Some of us, beaten down by the trials and temptations of this life, have given up hope that we will ever become more like Christ.

2. Some have fallen into patterns of sin that feel comfortable to us, and we have little to no desire to change. 

3. Others feel that they’ve already achieved perfection, and blame everyone else for the problems they face. 

But First John 3 does not let us fall into complacency, nor does this passage allow us to think too highly of ourselves. In fact, if you think you’ve achieved perfection, be careful, because that could be a sign of pride! May I remind us that back in 1 John 1:10, we were told, “If we say that we have sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us” (1 John 1:10). God will continue to be at work in us, refining us, right up until the moment we meet Jesus, which is why First John 3 says, “when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2).

No Room for Complacency 

But just as these verses in First John 3 leave no room for pride in our own goodness, nor will they allow us to grow complacent, for we are told, “Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. You know that he was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. No one who abides in him sins; no one who sins has either seen him or known him” (1 John 3:4-6). Oof! Talk about a punch to the gut! 

The Message paraphrase of Scripture says it this way: 

All who indulge in a sinful life are dangerously lawless, for sin is a major disruption of God’s order. Surely you know that Christ showed up in order to get rid of sin. There is no sin in him, and sin is not part of his program. No one who lives deeply in Christ makes a practice of sin. None of those who do practice sin have taken a good look at Christ. They’ve got him all backward (1 John 3:4-6 MSG).

Notice here the language of “making a practice of sin.” Of course we all mess up, and we make mistakes. Of course we all fall into temptation and do the wrong thing from time to time. But when we become habituated to sin, and when we do something over and over again to the point where we no longer feel any remorse for doing it, we need to watch out! Because then we are walking down a road that leads to destruction. 

Even then there is still hope. Back in the first chapter of First John we read, “If we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1 John 1:9). If we find that we have strayed from the path, and we’ve fallen into wrongdoing, we can rest in the assurance that if we confess our sin, and turn away from our wrongdoing, then God will certainly forgive us. But we cannot just keep willfully sinning and expect that God is going to forgive us. That is not true repentance.

This is why in our Methodist tradition we talk about three types of grace: Prevenient, or preventing grace, that first draws us to God. Saving grace, that saves us and redeems us. And sanctifying grace, that makes us more and more into the image of Christ. 

Living in a Construction Zone

Now this imagery of a construction zone, and the truth that God is still working in us and in our world, may or may not be appealing to us. The reality is that living in a construction zone is not always fun.

When Eboni and I were engaged, my parents gave us money to buy a house. We bought a fixer-upper in Southwest Baltimore, and I moved in a few months before our wedding and started renovations. Some of the plaster walls and ceilings were falling down, and so we patched up what we could. But a couple of the walls and ceilings were so bad that we decided to just take all the plaster off and expose the brick walls and the wooden ceilings. It ended up looking pretty neat in the end, but it was a very dusty, messy process. The only room in the house that we weren’t working on was the bedroom where I was sleeping, and I tried my best to keep the dust out. I put towels around the door to try to prevent the dust from getting in, and I showered before entering the room so the dust wouldn’t come in on my hair or body, but no matter what, the dust found a way in anyway. 

After that experience, I decided that I never wanted to live in a “construction zone” again! And yet, I have to say that it was indeed worth it in the end. The house looked so much better when we completed the work than when we began, and we have very fond memories of living in that house for the first four years of our marriage. And in truth, the construction projects never really ended. About a year after we were married we turned the office into a nursery so that we could welcome our first child. And every house we’ve lived in since that has always required some ongoing work. 

And so, having lived through various construction projects, I started thinking about some takeaways that I learned that might help us as we live through God’s ongoing “construction projects,” as we are being “fashioned by the Masters’ loving hands” and as we live in the midst of a world that is in the process of being renewed and redeemed.

1. Be careful not to judge yourself or others too harshly. Remember God is still working on each and every one of us, and there are still many unfinished parts! When our house was in the process of being remodeled, I used to tell visitors and guests to ignore the dust and dirt, and to imagine what it will be like when it’s all fixed up. In the same way, we need to ask God for a holy imagination to see ourselves and others through the lens of who we will become when we finally meet Jesus face to face.

2. We need places of rest and renewal. Just as I did my best to keep the dust and dirt out of the place where I slept, in the same way we need times and places where we can pull back and spend time being refreshed and renewed. This is especially true if you live or work in a place where you are actively engaged in acts of justice, or mercy, or compassion. It’s important to have times and places where you can be refreshed and renewed.

3. Lastly, I would remind us that just because life gets messy, doesn’t mean that God is not at work. In fact, sometimes when life gets really messy, that is when God is doing the deepest renovations projects! And so if it feels like the dust is flying everywhere, if it feels like things are even being chiseled away from your life, know that God can bring something beautiful even through the messiest of situations, and God can use even the most difficult trials of our life to purify us and make us more and more into the beautiful likeness of Christ. 

 So take heart that God is still working in us and through us! Know that “we are God’s children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). Amen!

Questions for Personal Reflection:

1. Identity and Purpose: Reflect on your identity as a child of God. How does this shape your understanding of who you are and your purpose in life?
2. Transformation Journey: In what ways do you see God at work in your life, shaping and transforming you into Christ’s likeness? Can you identify areas where you have experienced growth and areas where you still need growth?
3. Patterns of Behavior: Are there any patterns of sin or behavior in your life that you’ve grown comfortable with? How can you actively seek God’s help to break free from these patterns and live more aligned with God’s will?
4. Living in a Construction Zone: How do you respond to the idea of living in a “construction zone,” where God is continually at work in your life, even amidst messiness and challenges? What attitudes or perspectives can help you embrace this ongoing process of transformation?
5. Rest and Renewal: Evaluate the rhythms of rest and renewal in your life. Are you intentional about carving out time and space for spiritual refreshment? How can you prioritize rest and renewal in the midst of life’s busyness?