By Jared Warner
Willow Creek Friends Church
May 12,2024
1 John 5:9–13 (ESV)
9 If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
This has been a stressful couple of weeks for me and my family. Near the end of last week, my dad fell off a ladder and he would love that I am broadcasting that over the internet. Our family was worried because he had back surgery last year around this time. Then that same evening I received a call from my dad telling me that he taking my mom to the emergency room. It took a while for me to process what he said. My mom not him. My mom had what they call a widow maker heart attach. And the blockage was in a place where the arteries branch off to a couple of directions, this meant that she was going to need open heart surgery. We were all in shock. My mom had health issues but nothing that would have pointed to her heart.
I thank you all for your prayers through all of this. I thank God that we were already planning on having pastor Mwenitanda speak so we did not need to rush to figure out who could speak. That all being said my mom came through the surgery fine, she went home on Wednesday, but on Saturday she went back to the hospital. Her heart is fine, she was just retaining too much fluid so please continue to pray.
That was enough, but like many things within a community trouble multiplies. The Friends Meeting that I grew up in was celebrating their 150th Anniversary last Sunday. We just recently celebrated the 150th anniversary for our yearly meeting so this means just a few short years after Kansas Yearly Meeting began in Lawrence, Friends had settled halfway to the Rocky Mountains.
I had enjoyed listening to the stories from every family within our Meeting and within the surrounding community. I heard stories of tornadoes and floods, of farmers getting ill at critical times of the year and the people within the Meeting coming together to make sure their crops were planted or harvested. I heard stories that would make you swell with pride and break down in tears as you heard the hardship.
Mt. Ayr was settled by Gregory’s, Bales’, Stanfield’s, and Mendenhal’s. There were Windslow and Peterson’s and many others. Each family had a story to tell as to why they moved west, why they stayed, and why they continued. That small church in the middle of nowhere planted other meetings throughout the area. They promoted ministry, and they went on missions. I have enjoyed hearing the stories over the years, and as I look through various history and political science publications I can see how those few people one hundred and fifty years ago influenced a world in a manner beyond their size.
In 2012 Collin Woodard published a book called American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America. Mr. Woodard developed a map based on his research that depicts the boarders of these cultural nations that I have found to be fascinating. David if you will show the next slide I would appreciate it. You notice the light blue area through the center. This is where those families emigrated. And the next slide shows right on the edge of The Midlands and The Far West is where Mt Ayr is located. This light blue area on the map was is small in comparison to other areas, it does not contain a great number of people yet in American history these areas are significant. They stand between vastly different cultural ideologies. This light blue area is where the Friends largely settled, with a few exceptions. The Gregory’s did move to North Carolina before they moved back to Ohio and west.
I am off track. But it is important. Since Europeans have been in America, Friends have been here. We have sat between, quietly encouraging those around them. That is my heritage. My family settled on the boarder of the far west, and they wrote about it in their journals. Saying that one harsh winter they had to go farther west to hunt and just a few miles west, they spoke to the last English speaking individual for the next three months. My home town celebrated this rich heritage last week. But shortly after this celebration the pastor at Mt Ayr along with his family faced great loss, as their Father Bill Peterson passed away after battling Parkinson’s disease for twenty-eight years. My mom had a heart attach and Bill passed away, too much loss and stress during a time of celebration.
John tells us in his epistle, “If we receive the testimony of men.” If we receive? Often when we hear the word receive, we think of it as getting a gift, but in this sense of the word it is speaking about gaining knowledge or information. John is telling us to listen to the stories. Tell your story. Offer your story which is what testimony means. Let those around you know what makes you excited, what drives you crazy, what inspires you and what discourages you. Let people know what you trust and why. And on the flip side, listen. John is encouraging us to know each other.
Your story is important because it is your story. I can debate you on pretty much anything, but I cannot speak with any authority on you. I can make interpretations, I might even think you are fanatical at times, but when it comes right down to it your story your experience in life and faith can only be shared by you. You might not think you have much to say. I am just a small town country boy from the middle of nowhere, but guess what there is more to me than anyone thought. My life is just one that is connected to countless others, and each of those lives multiply throughout history. Your story is important.
“If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater.”
I mentioned Bill. I knew Bill my entire life. But only in the last few years did I really get to know him. Like so many people he did not share his story. At times he was ashamed of his story, scared to share it because of what people might think. But once he began to tell it, I was amazed at just how blessed he truly was. I listened to him share how God preserved his life on multiple occasions. And if certain events would not have happened the way it did he would not have become a father, and his son would not have become the pastor of that church. He struggled, do not get me wrong, but his story of God carrying him through the struggle brought tears to my eyes.
I heard his testimony. I have heard and shared stories of my mom and her faith. I have shared stories of my grandma, my grandpa, my dads and my own life. All of these stories have inspired me. Many of these stories have influenced my path of life and faith. But John tells us the story of God is even greater.
When I look at that map, I am often reminded of why they moved. During the hours we waited in the hospital as my mom was in surgery, my dad told us stories of his ancestors. The Gregory family moved west on several occasions but in each move they had a mission. They wanted to build a godly community. They moved in a period of time when Friends or Quakers did not have clergy or pastors, so to have a meeting each person had to participate in the ministry. This family as a whole moved west to plant meetings and to build communities filled with hope. They would help the indigenous peoples if asked even at risk of their own lives. They would help other pioneer families even if they were not part of the Friends Meeting. They lived what they believed. They lived their lives with God as the driving factor.
We have our testimony yes, but where is God?
I read once about a debate between a theologian and an atheist. This debate was billed as the once for all debate to prove which side was right and which was wrong. The atheist came out and gave his opening argument and then yielded to his opponent. And this theologian slowly came forward, looked at his notes and said one word. Israel. He then sat down.
This exchange went on for a while and each time the theologian would say that one word, until finally the atheist demanded a reason for that answer. What did the theologian then say? He told the story of God, through the testimony of Israel. As he began to speak of this one nation in the midst of empires, this tiny seemingly insignificant nation, that has existed, been conquered, were restored and conquered again and again. After thousands of years this small nation should not exist and yet it does.
The witness of God is greater.
This nation rose and fell, they clung to God and they often turned away. For thousands of years through hardships and surplus this nation remained even while the empires that once conquered them were swallowed by the dust of the earth. Mankind has tried to silence that name throughout the ages and yet it remains.
The witness of God is greater.
What is God’s witness? At Babel God confused the languages and the divided the nations among the sons of god, but he chose one nation to be his inheritance, Israel. He did this before the man who would become Israel was born, before his father was born. He chose that one nation before the grandfather Abraham even knew who God was. This one nation emerged out of nothing. Abraham was a childless man well into his golden years. When most people would be watching their grandchildren play, Abraham the father of a nation, the light to the nations did not have a son to hug. He was older than my great grandfather when he had his son Isaac.
The witness of God is greater.
I will not go through the whole story, Abraham did become a father, Israel did emerge as a people but only after they collectively called to God and emerged out of slavery. They saw, they experienced the witness of man, and at Sinai they became the people for God.
Notice the word, I said for instead of of. Israel just like the people of today had to receive the testimony of God. They had to listen and receive before they could become. And they struggled with this. Aaron, Moses’ own brother, watched as many among Israel turned from God and worshiped a golden calf. Time and time again the people would move toward and away from God.
Even then the witness of God is greater.
Israel fell to Assyria, to Babylon, to Persia, to the Greeks and the Romans. All these competing ideas surrounding them and yet God remained. And in the fullness of time God called a man named John to become a voice crying out in the wilderness, “Make straight the ways of the Lord.”
John was just one prophet that emerged from these people for God. He stood on the banks of the Jordan telling the people to repent for the kingdom of God was at hand. Repent because God is right here within our reach. The crowds came from all over to listen to this man teach and one day he looked out into the distance and saw a man approaching. John stopped in the middle of what he was doing looking off toward that man and he changed what he had been saying. Instead of saying, “repent for the kingdom of God is at hand,” he said, “Behold the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!”
Imagine if you had been sitting among the people that day. Hearing those words. Watching a man that boldly cried to everyone from the priests to the fisherman to repent, stand almost speechless. You watched as the man that silenced the prophet approached. You watch as the prophet falls before him and pleas that he should be baptized by him, instead of the prophet baptizing this man. This man the Lamb of God as John described him, takes John by the hand and says, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” So John baptized this man we know as Jesus.
As Jesus emerged from the water we are told that the Spirit of God descended like a dove and came to rest of Jesus, and a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”
The witness of God is greater.
Jesus leaves John, and he begins to gather disciples and they go and teach. They worship, and provide those in need with food and healing. There is great excitement throughout the land. And then one day while Jesus was withdrawing to an isolated place he takes his closest friends up onto a mountain to pray. His friends watch as Jesus prays, they see him change before their eyes and they notice Moses and Elijah, the law giver and the father of sons of the prophets stand with him. As the three commune with one another, a cloud surrounds them and a voice speaks to the disciples as they observe this lifestyle of prayer and transfiguration before them. That voice says, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
The witness of God is greater.
This Jesus soon is arrested and charged with crimes. He is executed on a cross even though the governing official over the land found him to be without guilt. He faced injustice with us and for us, because so often we as humankind are willing to do evil with the hope that good may come from it.
What has the story of God been to this point? He will call a people, make them into a nation, he will preserve that people through the ages, and that he would make them into a light for all nations. His story is that through this nation this people God would take away the sins of the world. John proclaimed that on the banks of Jordan. And the voice of God confirmed it. The disciples saw the law giver and the father of the prophets with Jesus on a mountain, the law and the prophets the entire teaching within Torah stood with Jesus on that mountain, and the voice of God confirmed yet again, “This is my beloved son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.”
But the story of God seemed to be overshadowed by the testimonies of men. Jesus this beloved Son, hung on the cross, and was buried. The story seemed to be over before it began. Except on the third day the story restarts. The one that was once dead has risen. Suddenly for the next forty days the disciples who Rome and the Sanhedrin expected to quietly disperse began to meet together again.
For forty days after the resurrection Jesus reminded them of what he said and the disciples eagerly listened to him. He reminded them of his new or renewed commandment, or teaching to love one another as he has loved them. They wanted Jesus to restore the kingdom, to bring about everything they had hoped. They wanted him to complete the story. But Jesus taught them one last thing.
“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father as fixed by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth.”
As he said these things. As the disciples eagerly kept their eyes on him, they saw him lifted up into the clouds. They stood there staring, in utter confusion. What had they just witnessed? Then two men spoke to them, they were dressed in white robes and they said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”
We do not know nor are we to know the end of God’s story. You will probably tell me we know the end because John wrote about it in Revelation. Yes, we do not fully know, we only know what God has revealed to us. This is his story and he is inviting us to participate. We are invited to participate in a story that has been emerging before our eyes from the first breath breathed into our first parent until the today. And likely into tomorrow. A story of how God so loved the world that he would not give up.
I can look on a map and see the testimony of generations. Generations like my father’s ancestors that moved west to build godly communities. Or like my mother’s ancestral grandmother that boldly preached in a time when women were not widely accepted outside of Friends as ministers. I stand here today because I have received the testimony of men and women, I have listened to what God has done in the lives of my grandmother, my great uncle, for Bill. I have watched my father and mother live their lives before me and I have received their words too. I can look at a map, but more than that. All those stories I have told, only mean something to me. Most of you probably have not heard about any of the people that settled in that little township on the edge of civilization. They are like countless lives throughout human history, that come together. We have received a greater story. A story that calls each of us to love one another. A story that encourages us to share our sorrows and our joys. A story that says that hope is alive and that we can have it if we believe.
The story continues. Jesus rose from the grave, and he met with his disciples. He ate with them and taught with them, He breathed on them and told them, “Peace be with you. As the father has sent me, even so I am sending you. Receive the Holy Spirit, If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.”
John tells us that he wrote the words of scripture we read today that you may know that you have eternal life. That you may know that you have received and participate in God’s larger story.
What is your story?
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