The Fifth Sunday of Easter

I want to focus on our reading from the First Letter of John this week and especially on two words, “liar” and “abide.” I think John’s meaning of ‘liar’ is explained in 1:8 with “we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.” “Liars” are not primarily those who deceive but are the ones who are deceived. So, the liars “who say ‘I love God,’ but hate their brothers or sisters” are not trying to mislead anyone by saying they love God but are simply saying what cannot be true. For John any knowledge of God will overwhelm you with the experience of God’s love and of his righteousness. Hating any part of God’s creation then becomes unimaginable. Thus, anyone who shows contempt or hatred for another person must not know God. Furthermore, the way the church is to assure the world of the truth of its message is by outwardly showing the love of God.

That brings us to the word “abide,” because according to John, we are able to love because “God’s seed abides” in us (3:9). The Greek word rendered as ‘abide’ is sometimes translated as ‘dwell’ or ‘remain’ by others. The way I unpack 1 John 4:16b, “those who abide (dwell, remain) in love abide (dwell/remain) in God, and God abides (dwells/remains) in them” is that by making the path of love that was displayed by Jesus the central focus of our lives, we demonstrate our devotion to God and to Jesus, and because of that, Jesus stays by us to help and guide us. John’s message in his letter is that the church is to stick to (abide in) the teachings of Jesus and to the path of love. And that the world will know the church is the representative of Christ by its love and its truth.

— Charles Fehrenbach