Pastor Tom Johnson, May 25, 2014
The Holy
Spirit is with you. And you are with the Holy Spirit. Jesus is in the Father.
We are in Jesus. He is in us. We are united with the Holy Trinity in ways that
human language struggles to describe. To put it
another way, we are so interwoven together—God, you, and me—that we cannot be
completely separated.
This mystery is a lot like Jesus himself. He is a human being; he is God; he is one Person. It is like the mystery of Communion. We eat bread and wine at the Lord’s Table. We have a foretaste of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is the mystery of our Baptism. We are united with God himself. We bear the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are now part of God’s holy Family. We are the Bride of Christ. And Jesus is our Groom. We are one with God.
This is pretty deep stuff. But Jesus’ goal here is not that we be merely informed but transformed. He wants our character and behavior to reflect who we are. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” A relationship with God makes a real difference in our lives. If we really believe that Jesus was born, taught us to live a God-pleasing life, died for our sins, and rose again to assure us of eternally life—if we really believe that and love him for first loving us, then we will do his will—we will keep his commandments.
Sadly, a lot of people have lost interest in being part of a Christian community. And often the reason for that is the hypocrisy they have heard about or experienced themselves. Jesus himself was bothered by this. He quotes Isaiah 29:13 where God the Father complains, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” We say we love God. We sing his praises. The truth of God’s love for us may come out of our mouths but they have not transformed our hearts or have been extended to others by our hands and feet.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Is this a command? Is this a mandate? [Command tone] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”? Or is this a promise? [Promise tone]“If you love me, you will keep my commandments?” Yes, yes, and amen. It is what God prescribes, commands, and mandates—that we keep Jesus’ Word in our hearts and live his Word out in our daily lives. It also describes, predicts, and promises the transforming power of the Gospel.
That little word if is a mighty word! “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” It stares us in the face with unrelenting authority and anticipation. “If you love me…well, do you? Do you love Jesus? Do you love who he is? Does it put awe and wonder in your heart? Does it impress you that the eternal Son of God left his place of power and authority in heaven to become a human being? “Does it flip your lid that he is both God and human? Does it have any effect on our thinking and behavior that he first loved us? He took the initiative with us. ‘He suffered for sins one for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit’ our second reading says! If you love me, you will follow in the steps of Jesus.” And just what does Jesus command? He tells us, the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And the new commandment Jesus gave was to love one another as he loved us. If we love him, we will follow in his steps.
That word if can also be translated since. I looked up the word in my trusty lectionary and it says that this word is used to “denote what is expected to occur, under certain circumstances” (BAGD, p. 211). “Since you love me, you will keep my commandments.” I would like to think the ambiguity is intentional. Jesus means to convict us of our falling short of loving him and living out his commands. But he also means to encourage us with the promise that faith in him will result in good works. “Since you love me, you will keep my commandments!” Look at the words that follow. “I am asking the Father” to carry this out. He will send you “another Advocate” to be with you, to help you, and to strengthen you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” “I may look absent,” Jesus says, “but I’m only invisible to the eyes of our physical bodies—I will be visible and present to the eyes of faith.” “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” This sounds like more of a since promise than an if command. It is a description of the life of God’s children. We who discover a love for Jesus will uncover a life of renewal and transformation. We will live out God’s new creation!
Since we love Jesus, we will grow into what he commands. He sends the Holy Spirit. We have an Advocate and helper. He is with us. Jesus is in our hearts. We are in Jesus’ heart. Jesus is in the Father. Love binds us together. Love propels us forward. We now get to live out a new life of love for God and one another.
This mystery is a lot like Jesus himself. He is a human being; he is God; he is one Person. It is like the mystery of Communion. We eat bread and wine at the Lord’s Table. We have a foretaste of the Marriage Supper of the Lamb and receive the Body and Blood of Jesus. This is the mystery of our Baptism. We are united with God himself. We bear the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We are now part of God’s holy Family. We are the Bride of Christ. And Jesus is our Groom. We are one with God.
This is pretty deep stuff. But Jesus’ goal here is not that we be merely informed but transformed. He wants our character and behavior to reflect who we are. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” A relationship with God makes a real difference in our lives. If we really believe that Jesus was born, taught us to live a God-pleasing life, died for our sins, and rose again to assure us of eternally life—if we really believe that and love him for first loving us, then we will do his will—we will keep his commandments.
Sadly, a lot of people have lost interest in being part of a Christian community. And often the reason for that is the hypocrisy they have heard about or experienced themselves. Jesus himself was bothered by this. He quotes Isaiah 29:13 where God the Father complains, “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” We say we love God. We sing his praises. The truth of God’s love for us may come out of our mouths but they have not transformed our hearts or have been extended to others by our hands and feet.
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Is this a command? Is this a mandate? [Command tone] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”? Or is this a promise? [Promise tone]“If you love me, you will keep my commandments?” Yes, yes, and amen. It is what God prescribes, commands, and mandates—that we keep Jesus’ Word in our hearts and live his Word out in our daily lives. It also describes, predicts, and promises the transforming power of the Gospel.
That little word if is a mighty word! “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” It stares us in the face with unrelenting authority and anticipation. “If you love me…well, do you? Do you love Jesus? Do you love who he is? Does it put awe and wonder in your heart? Does it impress you that the eternal Son of God left his place of power and authority in heaven to become a human being? “Does it flip your lid that he is both God and human? Does it have any effect on our thinking and behavior that he first loved us? He took the initiative with us. ‘He suffered for sins one for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring us to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit’ our second reading says! If you love me, you will follow in the steps of Jesus.” And just what does Jesus command? He tells us, the greatest commandment is to love God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love our neighbors as ourselves. And the new commandment Jesus gave was to love one another as he loved us. If we love him, we will follow in his steps.
That word if can also be translated since. I looked up the word in my trusty lectionary and it says that this word is used to “denote what is expected to occur, under certain circumstances” (BAGD, p. 211). “Since you love me, you will keep my commandments.” I would like to think the ambiguity is intentional. Jesus means to convict us of our falling short of loving him and living out his commands. But he also means to encourage us with the promise that faith in him will result in good works. “Since you love me, you will keep my commandments!” Look at the words that follow. “I am asking the Father” to carry this out. He will send you “another Advocate” to be with you, to help you, and to strengthen you. “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.” “I may look absent,” Jesus says, “but I’m only invisible to the eyes of our physical bodies—I will be visible and present to the eyes of faith.” “They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.” This sounds like more of a since promise than an if command. It is a description of the life of God’s children. We who discover a love for Jesus will uncover a life of renewal and transformation. We will live out God’s new creation!
Since we love Jesus, we will grow into what he commands. He sends the Holy Spirit. We have an Advocate and helper. He is with us. Jesus is in our hearts. We are in Jesus’ heart. Jesus is in the Father. Love binds us together. Love propels us forward. We now get to live out a new life of love for God and one another.
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