(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
There were problems in John’s religious community. Some had left the community to walk by a different spirit. John had to struggle against this movement. He uses the letter to fight against the dissidents.
I find it hard to preach against a third party. I do not think e preach well when we preach against them unless we include us. I think our best preaching is done when we preach against ourselves.
Here is how John managed this challenge. He said that we can test the spirit. Only the Spirit that comes from God an acknowledge Jesus as Lord. No other spirit can do that. We have no choice other than choosing God’s Spirit or the spirit of the world.
If I keep the commandments of God, then I remain in God and God in me. If I profess Jesus Christ come in the flesh, then I have God’s Spirit in me. If not, I do not. Furthermore, if I do not have God’s Spirit, then I have the spirit of the antichrist. I must listen to God, not to the world.
Today, as in John’s day, there are many movements afoot demanding our attention. The Internet, for example, provides much good to us, but it can also offer false promises. Wealth can provide many benefits, but wealth by itself will not bring us to heaven. Fame can allure us away from God. Pornography can easily entice us. With all that go wrong with our associations, I cannot preach against vice unless I preach to myself against vice. The forces you face in life are the forces I face in life; the challenges you have, I have. I cannot warn you unless I warn myself.
I think this is where John was coming from. He knew the forces active in his community; he knew the appeal of other spirits; he knew the struggle to listen to the Spirit of God. If he said to test the spirit, it was because he had tested his own spirit. If he had spoken with affection about his community, it was because he had a home in the community, it was because they shared their faith in Jesus Christ and so much wanted all to share the same community.
We come to the end of the homily with the question, “How am I (not how are you) listening to God’s Spirit in my life today?