Augustine and First John (4)

 

            Continuing in Augustine’s First Homily on First John:

 

“Let’s remember our focus in this homily, ‘God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all.’ Let’s also recall that John wrote in order that his readers might, “have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with God the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.’

 “But if God is light, and in Him is no darkness at all, and if we must have fellowship with Him, then it stands to reason that the darkness in us must be driven away, we must have light created in us, for darkness cannot have fellowship with light.

 “Consider what John writes, ‘If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth…’ [1 John 1:6].”  Augustine.

 Augustine goes on to say that this presents us with a dilemma that can lead to discouragement. We know that God is light, we know that we are darkness. We know that we live in sins and iniquities. We cannot help ourselves. This conundrum can create “desperation and sadness” because, “There is no salvation save in the fellowship of God.”

 The Bishop then asks, “Do we have any hope?”

 In the previous reflection Augustine quoted Psalm 34:5, “They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed,” and then he said, “You will not be ashamed by this Light…” Once again, Augustine points his hearers and readers to the True Light; all of our hope, all of our salvation, everything we need is in God in Christ. Augustine does not want our attention to become fixed on ourselves, but rather on Jesus Christ. He does not want us to obsess over our sin and darkness, for then we will despair. Augustine wants us to look in the direction that we are called to live, to look down the road of our calling in Jesus Christ.

 “Let us hear [God’s Word], because if we do hear His Word He may give us comfort, and hope, and strength so that we don’t give up as we run this race. For we are running a race to our own country, but if we don’t think it’s possible to finish the race, if we don’t think it’s possible to cross the finish line, then we just might give up.”

 Then Augustine assures us that it is the will of God that we finish the race, and that God will keep us safe as we run, and that He will provide for us.

 “But He whose will it is that we finish the race, in order that He may keep us [guard us] safe on the race course, feeds us [as He guards us] in the way [on the race course].”

 The Apostle John is writing in order that his readers may have fellowship with him and the Trinity – that we may, in Christ, share in the Life of God. There is a problem however, God is Light and we are in darkness; sin is darkness and darkness produces sin. As we respond, by the grace of Christ, to the Light of God our sin is revealed “What shall we do with this sickness, with this evil, with this spiritual cancer which is destroying our souls?”

We are faced with two dilemmas, the sins we have committed and the people we are. What is the point of having my sins forgiven if I keep on living a life of sin? If I continue to live in darkness I will continue to live a life of sin, if I continue to live a life of sin how shall I have fellowship with God? If I cannot have fellowship with God then how shall I have salvation? For as Augustine writes, “There is no salvation save in the fellowship of God…Fellowship with God must be had, otherwise we have no hope of eternal life…”

As Augustine ponders First John he counsels, “Look to Him, the One who forgives your sins, and your faces will not be ashamed!” He then says, “God is the One calling you out of your country to His country, and He has laid out the Way for you to run; He will guard you on the Way and He will feed you on that Way, and He will be there to greet you when you finish the race.”

Consider how Augustine is presenting the structure of First John in his first homily; the Incarnation, God’s purpose, God’s nature, our dilemma, God’s certain salvation for us in Jesus Christ, our assurance of God’s love and Christ’s provision, and our ultimate destiny. Just as John does in his letter, Augustine is painting a cosmic picture for us to live in, one that stretches from eternity past, touching down on earth, and into eternity future. The calling to share in the life of God, to have fellowship [koinonia] with God and one another, far surpasses the frankly mundane question of, “How can I live a better life today?” This calling strikes at the heart of who we are – why God created us, what our purpose is, and exalts the glorious redemption and inheritance that we have in Jesus Christ.

Where are we drawing our source of life today? Who is our source of life? Is living in the Light of God our Way of Life? Who can we invite to share this Divine Life in Jesus Christ with us?