Remaining
Close to God
John 14:23-29
May 20, 2001
More than likely some members of our congregation have already totally freaked out this morning. Some of them are screaming, some of them are hunkered down and sobbing to themselves, some of them are acting out by becoming aggressive and petulant. Before you look around the sanctuary to try to identify these folks let me advise you that they are not here – they are in the nursery. No, I’m not talking about the nursery caregivers! I’m talking about those 0 – 2 year olds who are experiencing the pain of separation anxiety. In spite of our bright, pleasant nursery, the safety of the surroundings, and caring adult attendants our little ones probably are not happy for mom and dad to drop them off.
I’m
nearly forty years old and I can still remember being dropped off in the church
nursery at Fellowship Methodist Church (as it was known prior to1968).
I still remember the smell of stale soda crackers, the taste of grape
Kool-Aid, and the perfume of eau de diaper pail.
The reason these memories of the dim misty past when dinosaurs roamed the
earth come so easily to mind is that they are connected with the trauma of Mamma
and Daddy LEAVING ME in that dank basement nursery!!!
I didn’t know when they’d be back, if ever.
I was with grown-up people I didn’t know and kids I’m not sure I
liked. Surrounded by a roomful
equally distraught tots and large, squishy ladies I still felt utterly alone and
abandoned. I guess I survived and
coped, just like your children will, but I never enjoyed the experience. Looking back I’m sure that the nursery was brightly lit,
staffed with caring adults, and filled with stimulating toys – but the fact
that mom and dad weren’t there made it seem like a dungeon to me.
The presence of a mother and father in a child’s life represents love, security and a sense of well-being. So when they leave it creates fear and a troubled heart. “Where are you going? How long will you be away? Are you coming back? Who will take care of me?” (Sometimes I still get separation anxiety! I don’t mind going to the grocery store if Lisa is with me!)
That’s
precisely how the disciples are feeling in this reading from John.
The occasion is the Last Supper and Jesus is telling them that he is
going away. These grown men respond
with the same kind of questions that children ask when the parents have to leave
for a while. It’s also the question that the early church was asking.
It’s the same basic question that Christians ask today, “How
will I still close to God? How can I know that He is with me? Will he stay with me through an uncertain future?”
I
just read a story of a little girl who, when trains were popular transportation,
was taking her first train ride with her parents.
As
night fell, the mother took the girl, who was clearly anxious, and placed her on
the upper bunk of the sleeper. She told her little one that up there she would
be nearer to God and that God would watch over her.
As
silence enveloped the young lady she became afraid and called softly,
"Mommy, are you there?"
"Yes
dear," came the response.
A
little later, in a louder voice, the child called, "Daddy, are you there,
too?"
"Yes
dear," was the reply.
After
this had been repeated several times one of the passengers sharing their sleeper
car finally lost his patience and shouted loudly, "Yes, we're all here,
your father, your mother, your brother, and all your aunts and cousins; now
settle down and go to sleep!"
There
was a moment of silence and then, in hushed tones a little voice asked,
"Mommy, was that God?" [Adapted
from John M. Braaten, www.eSermons.com The Greatest Wonder Of All, C.S.S
Publishing Co., 1991]
Jesus
answers those questions for his disciples in the upper room and his disciples in
the multi-purpose room of E.E. Miller School.
I.
Our sense of togetherness, of closeness with God is directly related to our
obedience to Jesus Christ.
Jesus
replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love
him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. He who does not love me
will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my own; they belong to
the Father who sent me.” John
14:23,24
A.
Several things present themselves in this passage that relate to our
closeness to God. First of all LOVE
FOR JESUS IS NOT A FEELING OF AFFECTION FOR JESUS.
Many people think that they love Christ because they have some warm fuzzy
feelings about Jesus. They think
that this makes them a “good person” and that somehow they will go to heaven
because, as the Dooby Brothers sang in the 70’s “Jesus is just all right
with me…”.
1. It’s hard to find someone who doesn’t have some affection for Jesus Christ. There’s even an organization called “Atheists for Jesus”. (No kidding!) But Jesus says that just saying that you love him is not sufficient. A parallel passage is found in Matthew
“Not
everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but
only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in
your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’
Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you
evildoers!’ Matthew 7:21-23
2.
Love for Jesus can only demonstrated by obedience to Jesus Christ.
B.
Another thing that is evident
here is that our closeness to God is CONDITIONAL.
We love to throw around phrases like the "unconditional love of
God". While God's active good
will is always directed towards human beings, regardless of their willingness to
love God back, there is no relationship - no togetherness - with God if we are
not living in obedience to Jesus Christ. If
my spouse is unfaithful I may still love her, but we will not have togetherness.
C.
We cannot know God or experience
his presence, his love, his direction in our lives if we live a life
characterized by disobedience. But
as we obey Christ God the Father and the Son come to dwell with us.
Don't feel close to Jesus? Are
you living obediently to Jesus? Or
are there some you refuse to love in direct contradiction to Jesus commandment?
Do you avoid the Lord's Table even though Jesus said, "Do this in
remembrance of me!"? Do you
find that just about anything has to power to keep you from worship, just about
anything in your life takes priority over time spent with God.
(Youth sports teams that practice or play during the main worship hour
are a real test of "keeping His Word"!)
II.
Togetherness with God, remaining close to God is accomplished in the
obedient believer’s life through the presence of the Holy Spirit.
When the Father and the Son come and make their home with us we
experience that presence through the Holy Spirit.
A.
Jesus uses a very powerful term here to describe the Spirit. In our text the word is translated “Counselor”, but the
actual term is paraklete. This
word literally means, “one who stands along side of” another person.
It was used in the ancient world to describe a defense attorney who stood
along side a person pleading their case. But
it is a richer term than that. The
Holy Spirit is God right with us to guide, protect, defend, comfort, and help
us.
B.
The Holy Spirit in our lives teaches us, teaches the church. Jesus said that he wouldn’t bring new revelation, but that
he would deepen our understanding of what he said and help us remember what he
said. That’s a great way to judge
and test whether the teaching we are receiving is indeed Spirit-led.
Does it constantly refer back to Jesus?
Is it consistent with the clear revelation of God present in Jesus
Christ? Does it introduce something
that contradicts the teaching of Christ?
C.
The Holy Spirit helps us remember the Bible!
III.
The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives gives us real peace.
The Hebrew word for peace, as we all know, is Shalom.
Shalom means so much more than the absence of strife or conflict.
It means wholeness, peace of mind, well being.
That’s the product of being close to God and that’s what we all
crave.
A.
But Jesus doesn’t over well-being the way the world does. The late Erma Bombeck reveals how the world of North
American consumerism offers peace
"I
did as I was told. I was fussy about my peanut butter, fought cavities, became
depressed over yellow wax buildup .... I was responsible for my husband's
underarms being protected for 12 hours. I was responsible for making sure my
children had a well- balanced breakfast. I alone was carrying the burden for my
dog's shiny coat .... We believed if we converted to all the products that
marched before our eyes, we could be the best, the sexiest, the freshest, the
cleanest, the thinnest, the smartest and the first in our block to be regular.
Purchasing for the entire family was the most important thing I had to do."
[ --As cited in Tom Sine, Live It Up! (Scottdale,
Pa.: Herald Press, 1993), 24.]
B.
The peace Jesus gives, the shalom he offers, is directly connected to the
reality that we never have to be separated from the God we love.
CONCLUSION:
All of these things come together in full intensity here at the Lord’s
Table. In this Eucharist
celebration we obey Jesus Christ by observing this meal.
By the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus Himself comes to us in these
elements of bread and wine. In this
meal we also recognize that Jesus is present in this gathered Body, the Church.
The presence of Christ is so intense in this celebration of the Sacrament
that amazing things happen. We
become aware of Jesus’ real presence. Some
receive healing. Some receive their
prayers answered right during communion. Some
are delivered from besetting sins. Some
have fallen into an ecstatic state as they are caught up to heaven in the
spirit.
Perhaps the most amazing
thing that I read lately was a story related by the late British philosopher
Gertrude Elizabeth Margaret Anscombe (d. 1/5/2001).
Dr. Anscombe tells of watching a mother explaining to her 3 year old
child that she was going forward to receive communion and that she would be
taking the body and blood of Jesus. She
explained that it was how Jesus told us to have him inside of us. When she returned to the back of the church where the little
child was standing the tot asked, “Is He in you?”
The
mother responded, “Yes.”
At
which point the child prostrated itself before the astonished mother.
Anscombe says, “I can testify to this, for I saw it happen.” [Adapted from Fr. Neuhaus’ “While We’re At It” column
in First Things, June/July 2001, No. 114, p.78]
“If
anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will
come to him and make our home with him.”
Do you want to be close to God, Christian brother or sister? Then come to this feast and he will make his home with you.
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