John, in his three letters written from Ephesus during the last third of the 1st century, are written in a cyclical rather than linear style.  In a way they are letters written to a modern world saturated with sound bites, data bits, 140 word posts and video clips.   He addresses a range of themes that he expounds upon, puts down, then comes back to throughout these letters.  And while it is difficult to linearly pin John down, his writing is coherent and forms a beautiful tapestry and forceful reminder that our faith, while invisible to the eye, has a visible color, something observable, that ought to be beautiful- as worship back to God for his glory and as expression of God’s love to the world that people might know the Love of God that has been made known in the person of Jesus, his death and resurrection.  It is light that shows us color in the world and it is the light of the gospel that gives visual, concrete expression to our faith.  This color is our obedience, the particular, local and measurable outcomes of a life that is being changed by grace.  It is a kind of love that isn’t just words or talk but action and truth (3.18).  Without the light of the gospel illuminating our existence, the color of our obedience is muted, trying, strained and exhausted- like a painful 90’s wall color attempting to be vibrant in 2025.