Dead Man Walking in the Light

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Passage

John 1:1-10 - If We Say We Have No Sin

Conditions

Everyone was a little restless this evening on account of the fact that most of us didn’t leave the house all day (very cold). But we settled and began with the Shorter Catechism. This was engaging because we’ve been on a little break from it, and we just got some new pocket copies that are very inviting. 

Time

Plenteous. 

Catechism

Q. 31. What is effectual calling?
A. Effectual calling is the work of God’s Spirit, whereby convincing us of our sin and misery, enlightening our minds in the knowledge of Christ, and renewing our wills, he doth persuade and enable us to embrace Jesus Christ, freely offered to us in the gospel.

We had some fun imaging what it means for a calling to be "effectual." Many dogs we see out and about are good dogs. Dogs are good creatures. But some are not. Some don't come when they're called. An effectual calling of a dog woud be one in which the owner calls, and the dog comes. Immediately. Without any problems.

This turned my mind to Pelagius and Augsustine, whom we discussed briefly. Effectual calling raises the question our ability to come to God of our own effort. Ephesians 2:1 says we were dead. We imagined a man who had died in the desert. Shortly after dying he received a phone call. Ring, ring, in the pocket. This phone is no good to the man, because he's dead. He can't come to the phone right now. Because he's dead. It sounds a little dark, but the children laughed. What the man needs is something more than an external call, a voice outside of him. He needs a phone call in the heart. He needs a "Lazrus, come forth!" Which is exactly what the Lord give his people, at his appointed time.

Teaching

We began 1 John this evening. I decided 1 John because we had just completed Ephesians, and I wanted us to stay in a letter, but one not as theologically lofty. 

We focused on the darkness and the light contrast. I had an idea to draw something to depict the two sides of the passage. The left and right side of a page (portrait) I coloured black. The darkness. The path down the middle, the white, the light. Then I cut out two little characters to position on the page. 

To begin with I asked the children to listen to the passage read and to try to think of how they could tell the story with what I had drawn. This incentivised them to listen and we discussed their ideas after reading. Then we transitioned into my explanation, with the characters now named Augustine and Pelegius (sorry to any Pelagians reading this). 

The idea I had was to illustrate the difference between the two “If we say” stories. The one claims fellowship with God but walks in the darkness. He’s a liar. The other walks in the light and has fellowship with God. We were able to place Pelagius and Augustine in their appropriate positions. So far so good. 

But there’s a complicating factor. As we read on we discover that no one is able to say “We have no sin.” This means that the man in the light also has sin. Is that right? This was counter-intuitive for the children after the initial contrast. How can this work? The passage goes on to say that we must confess our sins to God who is faithful and just to forgive our sins. This opens up an opportunity to depict the Christian life and sanctification. 

Pelagius is in the darkness, he “walks” in the darkness. He remains there. And what happens if we do this? I coloured poor Pelagius in, which was more dramatic than I was expecting it to be. Pelagius was now indistinguishable from the darkness. But what about Augustine? Augustine walks in the light, but when his flesh gets the better of him he swerves into the darkness - into sin. This is to be expected, because none of us can say “We have no sin.” The question is, what does Augustine do when he swerves into the darkness? He confesses his sins and the Lord returns him to the light, cleansing him from all unrighteousness. 

So we end up with a depiction of Augustine travelling along in the light before swerving into the darkness, and then returning again to the light. This is the Christian life. But I wanted to go one step further. Over the page I depicted Augustine's whole life. Because he confesses his sins and continues in faith the stretches of time Augustine spends in the light get longer. And, by grace, Augustine's entries into the darkness become not deeper but shallower over time. This is the work of God in Augustine’s heart through the means of prayer, Scripture, the church, the sacraments, repentance and faith.

This is the path we are called to, the path of fellowship and light. We must not walk in the darkness. But neither can we claim to have no sin. Our task is to walk in the light as God is in the light, and when we sin to confess to God who forgives and restores. And to trust him with the long term project. 

We got more out of this than I expected, and I suspect the picture had a lot to do with that. 

Songs

O Come All Ye Faithful and Joy to the World.