Every now and then we read about a story of someone laying down their life to save another person. They jump in the cold water to rescue someone, but they don’t make it out alive themselves. Or they intervene in a fight and they end up getting shot stopping it. Or the firefighter who rushes back into the building to save someone, but never again emerges from the building, but is able to pass the survivor to safety. If I were the survivor of one of these types of events, I would truly owe my life to that other person.
We owe our lives and wellbeing to scientists and researchers who discovered and invented vaccines and medical treatments which have saved the lives of hundreds of millions of people. Some medical personnel traveled from safe places to treat Ebola victims and they themselves succumb to the disease. There are times when someone says “Take me instead,” and they end up dying.
As we walk through Good Friday and Resurrection Sunday, we remember Jesus who laid down His life for us. Innocent dying in the place of the guilty. And this act defines what love really looks like. If we ever doubt God’s love for us, we can always look at the Cross. If we wonder what we should do to love someone else, we can look to the Cross.
John writes this exact thing. We ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Jesus-followers. And then he gives us one example of what that laying down process would look like in practical terms. It would be voluntary wealth redistribution. I see a fellow Believer in need and I have the means to meet the need, I do just that, I meet the need. I don’t wait for someone else to do it. I don’t fill out a government form. I meet the need. I take my wealth and make it their wealth. I take my food and make it their food. I take my clothes and make them their clothes. I take my car and make it their car. I sacrifice and they benefit.
For John, if we don’t do this, we don’t have the love of God. Pity for John is not a feeling but an action. John doesn’t care if we have to blow our nose because of the tears that come to our eyes as we think about the plight of the poor. John wants action. Words are cheap.
So where do your words of pity turn into action? Has your heart been touched but you haven’t acted? It is this area of disconnect that John puts His finger on in our text. If we claim to follow Jesus, our actions must follow our convictions. We must help meet the needs of our fellow Jesus-followers. We must!
The Arnold Journey 