Walking

2 John 3-6

3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, in truth and love. 4 I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we have been commanded by the Father. 5But now, dear lady, I ask you, not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning, let us love one another. 6And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment just as you have heard it from the beginning—you must walk in it.

2 John is the shortest book in the Bible, containing only 13 verses (that’s why there is no “chapter” listed above). Really, though we call it a “book” of the Bible, it is, like much of the rest of the New Testament, a letter from one Christian leader to another.

There are two beautiful things to be found in these few verses:

1. Notice that the writer is addressing a female church leader (verse 5). While this won’t surprise some of you, because you may be used to the fact that the ELCA ordains women to ministry, some Christians need to be reminded and re-surprised that in the early church, women led gatherings of Christians. It was only years later that the Church started restricting the ranks of those who could lead.

2. Notice that the writer speaks as though ALL of the commandments (all 613 from the Old Testament, not just “the big 10”) are summarized in one: LOVE ONE ANOTHER. And it isn’t the warm-fuzzy-emotion kind of love the writer’s talking about… No, we are encouraged to “walk in it.” Live it. Breathe it. Make it a way of life, not just an idea in your head or an emotion in your heart.

May we each direct our energy today into walking in love – not into legalistic obsession with each of the 613 commandments (or even the 10 we all know) – because if you let God’s love flow through you to others, then you’re already fulfilling the commandments…

Prayer:

Holy One, give us the strength and openness to let your love flow through us to those who need it most. Amen.