Practices of Disciples: Live Faithfully
Gettysburg Presbyterian Church
III John 1-8
April 3, 2011

         I’ve been reading Gospeled Lives, a devotional book by John Indermark, which our small group has been discussing.  Last Tuesday we talked about Herod, who played a part in the horrible chain of events on Good Friday that led to Jesus’ execution.  You may recall that Pontius Pilate sent Jesus to talk with Herod, who was excited to meet him, not because he was interested in his message, but because he hoped Jesus would do some kind of sign for him- you know, a God trick of some sort.  But Jesus didn’t perform any miracles for Herod and didn’t even answer the false charges that were leveled against him.  So Herod joined with Jesus’ accusers and mocked him, treating him with contempt, before sending him back to Pilate.
          Indermark portrays Herod as a “dabbler” in Jesus.  A “dabbler” is someone who toys with religion, looking for ways it might entertain or serve them, but having no real commitment to it.  That’s the difference between a disciple and a dabbler.  A disciple has made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ, and is faithful to that commitment.
          We’re continuing our series on “Practices of Disciples.”  So far we’ve looked at “Study Regularly,” “Pray Daily,” and “Witness Boldly.”  This morning we move on to “Live Faithfully.”  I’ve selected a passage from III John.  I doubt you’ve ever heard a sermon from this obscure 15-verse letter before, but here we go!
         1  The elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
         2  Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, just as it is well with your soul.
         3  I was overjoyed when some of the friends arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the truth, namely how you walk in the truth.
         4  I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth. (III John 1-4)
          This is a personal letter from “the elder,” traditionally believed to be the Apostle John, to a young church leader named Gaius, which was a very common name in those days.  We know nothing else about Gaius except what we read in this brief letter.  But I’m impressed with him because of his faithfulness in several areas.
          First, we’re told that he was faithful in the truth. “I was overjoyed when some of the friends arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the truth...” The early church worked hard to sort out the truth of Christian beliefs.  They didn’t have the entire New Testament yet and they struggled to understand some aspects of Christian doctrine.  False teachers often came on the scene attempting to pervert the basic gospel message.  The apostles frequently warned against this false teaching.  In response to the temptation to compromise his beliefs, Gaius was faithful to the truth.  And John is overjoyed by this.
          Although our situation is very different 2000 years later, there are still some significant challenges to the truth of the gospel that we face today. 
In her book, Almost Christian: What the Faith of American Teenagers is Telling the American Church, Kendra Creasy Dean explores the religious faith of American teens.  Relying on a landmark study by Christian Smith, she finds that most Christian teens espouse a set of beliefs that she calls “Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.”  Sadly, she believes they are learning these beliefs from their parents and churches!  Moralistic Therapeutic Deism.  It’s moralistic in that it believes that God only wants people to be good, nice, and fair to one another.  Those who do this go to heaven.  Salvation is based on our deeds.  It’s therapeutic in that the central goal of life is to be happy and feel good about yourself.  God is on-call to help you when you’re in trouble or need to feel better about yourself.  It’s Deism, in that it believes in a creator god who watches over the world, but isn’t involved in it, except to help us resolve our personal problems.  Moralistic Therapeutic Deism. 
While there are some parallels with authentic Christianity, MTD falls far short of the real thing!  The God of Christianity   is actively involved in the world he loves, determined to bring his fallen creation back into right relationship with him.  God doesn’t exist to serve us when we are feeling badly.  Rather, we exist to serve the God who made us and has designs and purposes for each of our lives.  The power of sin is very real in our world, and when we fail to be the people God created us to be, God calls us to repentance and obedience to his Word.  And we are made right with God, and gain entry into heaven, not be being nice to one another, but by accepting the sacrifice of his Son, Jesus Christ on our behalf, which we will celebrate in the Lord’s Supper in a few minutes.
John calls us to be faithful to the truth, in the midst of the watered-down “gospels” which surround us- “gospels” like Moralistic Therapeutic Deism, relativism, individualism, materialism, and naturalism.  Be faithful to your beliefs about Jesus Christ and about Christian morality.  Stand up for them when you have opportunity.  Keep in mind that you may pay a price for doing so.  As writer George Orwell reminded us, “In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act.”   But that is what we are called to do as part of living faithfully.
          In addition to being faithful to the truth, the writer of III John is even more impressed that Gaius is living the truth!  “I was overjoyed when some of the friends arrived and testified to your faithfulness to the truth, namely how you walk in the truth.”  (III John 3) To walk in the truth means to live in it, to follow it, to be a truly integrated Christian whose life reflects your beliefs.  In the movie, “The Matrix,” Morpheus says to Neo, “There is a difference between knowing the path and walking the path.”  That’s what John is saying here.  Faithful living calls us to walk the path.  And that demands consistency between what we say and what we do.
          Dicky Love, a Christian writer, once saw two bumper stickers on the same car while driving in Kentucky.  The first said, “Christians aren’t perfect, just forgiven,” implying that the driver of the car was a Christian.  The second said, “My kid beat up your honor student.”  Hmmm.  There needs to be some consistency between what we believe and how we live,
even when it’s costly.  Years ago, an African-American man named Rufus Kidd was working part-time at a loading dock for a trucking company.  It was hot, heavy work.  But he had just completed his Associate’s Degree in transportation and was looking for a full-time career.  He interviewed with the trucking company, which was seeking minority candidates for a new position.  He was thrilled when they offered him a job in sales.  It had a good salary, benefits, and job security.  Just what he was looking for.
But it would have forced him to give up his ministry with young singles at his church.  He believed he was called to that ministry, so he turned the job down.  That’s what living faithfully looked like for Rufus Kidd.  What does it look like for you?  Are there things you need to add to your life to be a faithful disciple?  Are there things you need to walk away from?
          Finally, John talks about helping others to live faithfully.  (SLIDE #6) In verse 4 he says, “I have no greater joy than this, to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”  He’s talking about spiritual children here- those he helped to become faithful followers of Jesus Christ.  I can identify with him as I think of kids I worked with when I was a youth director who have continued in the faith.  Some are pastors and missionaries.  Others are elders and deacons and Sunday School teachers in their churches.  Some are strong influences for Jesus in their places of work and communities. 
But a word of caution:  encouraging those we love to follow Jesus involves some risk.  Parents, if you had your children baptized, you took vows in which you promised to help them become disciples of Jesus Christ.  You, in essence, released them to Jesus.  And being a disciple of Jesus is often a difficult way to live.  In fact, later in this letter of III John we find that Gaius’ faithfulness puts him in direct conflict with a member of his church who wasn’t so faithful.  Being a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ is likely to put your child at odds with friends, teachers, and the standards of various organizations at one time or another.  It might change the direction of their career.  It might result in a call to ministry or mission service, which are not particularly high-paying or prestigious jobs.  It may lead them to protest government policies that are contrary to biblical views.  Following Jesus may be costly to our young people in ways we can’t even imagine.  But that’s the risk we take when we encourage our young people to follow Jesus Christ.
          John praises Gaius for being faithful to the truth, and for living faithfully.  He rejoices that his spiritual children are also faithful disciples.
          Before the colonialists imposed national boundaries, the kings of Laos and Vietnam were struggling to settle a border issue.  No one knew exactly where the line was dividing Laos and Vietnam.  So the kings agreed that those living near the border who ate short-grained rice, built their houses on stilts, and decorated them with Indian-style serpents were considered Laotians and would pay their taxes to Laos.  Those who ate long-grained rice, built their houses on the ground, and decorated them with Chinese-style dragons were considered Vietnamese and paid their taxes to that country.  The exact location of the home was not the determining factor.  Each person belonged to the kingdom whose cultural values he or she exhibited. 
That’s the way it is with us.  We live in the kingdom of this world, which values power, status, military might, wealth, self-sufficiency, comfortable living, and physical beauty.  But we are called to be faithful to the Kingdom of God, which values compassion, holy living, integrity, peace, justice, and serving the poor.  As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to live faithfully, according to the values of God’s kingdom.

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