In preaching about 1 John 2.15-17 ‘love not the world’ Kingsley Barrett says: The old King, Edwin X of Northumbria to whom the Christian missionaries came, compared the life of the human being to the fluttering of a bird for a moment out of the dark, cold, rough night into the light and warmth of the house, then out again, and into the cold rough night. If only that moment of light could last! If only we could root ourselves deeply in the world and be at peace! And if only its best and happiest moments could be persuaded to linger…. and this text reminds us all too clearly for our comfort, that this longing for security and bliss in the present moment is incompatible with the Christian faith, and is doomed to inevitable frustration. The world passes away, you can never be at home— here.”
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