3 John: Gaius

Today’s reading is 3 John 1.

While 2 John appears to be a letter written to a congregation, 3 John is definitely written to an individual: Gaius. As I consider this brief missive, I like to consider the people named and what we can learn from each of them. Let’s start by what we can learn from the letter’s recipient.

Gaius is a great example of hospitality. Brethren had come to the congregation of which Gaius was a part. Though they were strangers, Gaius demonstrated love for them. Love for strangers is the heart of hospitality. He received them, he loved them, he helped send them on their way with support for their journey.

He did not hold them at arm’s length. He didn’t keep them on the outside. He accepted them as brethren and showed them God’s love and support. John’s letter demonstrates this was more than just welcoming them as a guest in the congregation. Gaius had welcomed them to himself. He had not loved them simply by being part of a congregation that loved them, but he had individually demonstrated love and hospitality.

John says Gaius would do well to “send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God.” I know we struggle whenever Scripture talks about doing things in a worthy manner. We are so used to recognizing God is worthy and we aren’t, we struggle with doing things worthily. John is telling Gaius to treat the brethren, though they are strangers, in a manner similar to how God would treat brethren. He is to treat them in a way that measure’s up to how God would do it. In other words, as Jesus taught us to love one another the way He loves us, Gaius is to love these brethren the way God loves them.

And this gets to the real struggle doesn’t it. Love is easy to discuss and profess when we are having Bible class discussions about attitudes and even words. But what about when someone shows up who needs love manifested in a material, active way? Now it’s time to put our money where our mouth is. In 1 John 3:17-18, John had already written, “But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth” (ESV). Gaius had come face to face with an actual situation. Brethren had come, doing the work of the Lord, they needed financial, material help. Gaius had the ability and the means. He could have horded, but instead, he opened his heart. Instead, he loved.

Gaius walked in love. He walked in truth. The brothers, strangers though they were, testified to his walk. May we walk in truth and love like Gaius.

Tomorrow’s reading is 3 John 1.

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Give Yourself as Alms

Today’s reading is Luke 11.

Has this ever happened to you? Grab a coffee cup out of the dishwasher indicating “clean,” flip it over without really looking at it, get your coffee carafe, and start to pour. Then you notice. There is junk all inside the cup. What seemed pristine and sparkling on the outside is full of disgusting filth and grime on the inside. YUCK! Jesus said that was the Pharisees. However, Jesus doesn’t simply say, “Clean the inside.” He oddly says, “But give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.” The word translated “alms” is used nine other times in Luke/Acts. Every time it refers to merciful giving to those in need. In Acts 10, Cornelius’s alms were a memorial before God causing him to receive favor. In Acts 9, the term described Tabitha’s work among the widows of her congregation. In Acts 3, the lame man was asking for alms, but Peter and John healed him instead. With that in mind, Jesus doesn’t simply say, “Clean up your mind, purify your heart, and your behaviors will become clean.” He says, “Give as alms those things that are within, and behold, everything is clean for you.” The Pharisees were full of greed on the inside. Even if they gave alms externally, they did so with ulterior motives of greed and self-promotion. By contrast, Jesus says our internal things should be given away as alms. That is, if we give our very selves away in the service of others, then not only will we be clean, but everything will be clean for us. Jesus takes us a step beyond merely trying really hard to purify our thinking. We must direct our thinking, praying, mindset, attitude, outlook toward service of others. When we do, we and all we do will become clean.

Next week’s reading is Luke 12.