391. Thursday after Eighteenth Sunday after Trinity.
Lord Jesus, light of our life,
come and abide in us. Amen.
1 John 2, 4-11. He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. He that saith he abideth in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked. Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment, which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning. Again, a new commandment I write unto you; which thing is true in him and in you, because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now. He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him. But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
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“Darkness” means spiritual ignorance and blindness, malice and wickedness, and, finally, affliction, terror, and distress. Saint John speaks of the darkness of ignorance and wickedness, and of deceit and hatred, which holds sway in all hearts in which Jesus does not dwell. A terrible night of death came upon the earth when man fell. Love and the knowledge of God were extinguished in our soul, and were replaced by the blindness and wickedness of hell. Now, however, it is again true in the church of God that “the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.” What light is this? What should it be but Jesus Christ, the true God? And what is God but love? He that says he is in the faith and grace of Jesus Christ, and harbors hatred and malice, is a liar; he is in darkest darkness; he turns the kingdom of Christ into the kingdom of the devil. If you comfort yourself in the thought of Christ, while you at the same time are angry with your neighbor, you are in a sad and terrible condition. God help you out of the darkness before it is too late! For you walk in darkness, and know not whither you go. “He that loveth not his brother abideth in darkness,” says the same apostle, in 3, 14; and in our text he declares: “He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.” Can any earnest Christian read this without being humbled and made to confess that he still, alas, is far, far from being that which he ought? Yet, there is comfort also in these words: “I ought also so to walk, even as he walked.” Yes, this is my bounden duty, as my own innermost heart also tells me. The old commandment, “love ye one another,” is become a new commandment in you; and can there, then, in all the world be any man whom you hate? “No, by the love of Christ I pray for every man, and wish him well; and I cannot give up the fight before having learned this lesson.” This, my friend, is not darkness, but light. God’s commandment, “Thou shalt love,” is through Jesus become truth in you; you give it your assent; your knowledge and will coincide with it; you keep his commandments; you are in the kingdom of light; you are in Jesus, and he in you. Walk now in love; that you may shed abroad light more pure, more beautiful, more abundant, day by day! — God of love, grant us this mercy in Jesus Christ. Amen.*
Deluded souls that dream of heaven,
And make their empty boast
Of inward joys and sins forgiven,
While they are slaves to lust!
Vain are our fancies’ airy flights,
If faith be cold and dead;
None but a living power unites
To Christ, the living Head;
A faith that changes all the heart,
A faith that works by love;
That bids all sinful joys depart,
And lifts the thoughts above.
[Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal 212; listen here]
* Here the head of the family says a short morning or evening prayer in his own words, and closes with the Lord’s Prayer and the Benediction. This is to be done every day. If the stanzas are not sung, they may be read in their proper place before the impromptu petition and the Lord’s Prayer.