EMBRACING THE PRESENCE, POWER, AND PERSISTENCE OF GOD'S LOVE

EMBRACING THE PRESENCE, POWER, AND PERSISTENCE OF GOD’S LOVE

©Wendell Griffen, 2017

May 21, 2017 (Sixth Sunday of Easter)

New Millennium Church, Little Rock, Arkansas

John 14:15-21

15 ‘If you love me, you will keep^* my commandments. ¹⁶And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate,^* to be with you forever. ¹⁷This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in^* you.

18 ‘I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. ¹⁹In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. ²⁰On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. ²¹They 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.’

       How often have we heard, thought, or spoken these words:  If you love me, you will …?

        They are words spoken by parents and children.  They are spoken by lovers.  They are spoken by friends.  These words are spoken by people to others with whom they share, and cherish, intimate relationship. 

        If you love me, you will… 

        These words spoken by Jesus to his close followers and dearest companions the night of his arrest have been cherished for hundreds of years.  As with parents and children, lovers, and intimate friends, they are words of deep intimacy and tenderness.  They draw us into a mood of great passion, especially if we remember the situation facing Jesus and the others when Jesus spoke these words. 

Jesus told them he was about to be taken from them by his enemies.  They were struggling with the news that Jesus was about to die.  Then Jesus spoke with them about something he called “the Father’s house,” a metaphor Jesus used to introduce them to “eternal life.”  These followers of Jesus were being led into depths of faith and fellowship they had never imagined. 

Then Jesus spoke these words:  If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

  Notice the intentionality of this tender passage.  Notice how often we find the word “will” in it.

If you love me, you will keep my commandments…

And I will ask the Father…

And he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.

I will not leave you orphaned.

In a little while the world will no longer see me…

[B]ut you will see me.

[B]ecause I live, you also will live

… [Y]ou will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

…[T]hose who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.

It seems that Jesus was determined to burn some deep truths into the hearts and minds of his followers.  Those truths are:  (1) Loving Jesus inspires us to intentionally and relentlessly live according to the love and justice commandments of Jesus (that we love God with our whole being and love others as ourselves—meaning as neighbors); (2) Jesus will petition God (“the Father”) on behalf of all who live according to his love and justice commandments; (3) God (“the Father”) will, in love for Jesus, give all who live according to the love and justice commandments “another Advocate” as our companion; and (4) that somehow this binds us to Jesus, God, and the Spirit of truth  “forever.”

Jesus strained to impart these truths into their hearts and minds as he neared the threshold of his great struggle with the powers of human empire, politics, commerce, and religion.  With the deadly threat of religious jealousy, imperial pretension, and commercial greed lurking and approaching, Jesus assured his followers that his death did not mean their abandonment.  I will not leave you orphaned.  In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you will live. 

With the threat of death looming over him, Jesus spoke about living.  With the forces of empire bearing down on him to kill him, Jesus spoke about a relationship with God that would produce “another Advocate” to be with us “forever.”  With religious leaders scheming to produce false testimony against him and persuade Roman occupiers of Palestine to put him to death, Jesus spoke about “the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.” 

These are words of presence.  These are words of power.  These are words of persistence.  These words testify about the love of God for Jesus, the love of Jesus for God, and the relationship between God, Jesus, and the Spirit of truth. 

And, these words called the first followers of Jesus and all who followed afterwards to know that we are caught up in something that is powerful, deep, mysterious, and majestic.  …[Y]ou will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 

Because of love, we are followers of Jesus.  Because of love, we are one with Jesus.  Because of love, Jesus is one with God.  Because of that love, we are one with God.  Because of that love, we are one with the Spirit of truth.  Because of that love, we are part of all God is, all God hopes, all God loves, all God desires, all God is doing, and all God has. 

There is no deeper fellowship than this.  We cannot be loved more than this.  We cannot have any better life than life with and in God.  We cannot experience any greater truth than the truth produced by God’s love.  We cannot be associated with anything more powerful, more virtuous, more affirming, and more hopeful than God’s love.  Jesus is talking about what George Lucas termed “the Force” in the Star Wars science fiction movie saga.  In God, we are one with “the Force.” 

Jesus assures us now, as he encouraged the first followers on that long night before his arrest and eventual trial and crucifixion, that the powers of imperial politics, religion, and commerce cannot overcome the power of God’s love.  The powers of imperial politics, religion, and commerce will conspire against love and justice in our time and place, as they conspired against Jesus. 

The powers of empire—politics, commerce, and religion—will mass their forces against us.  History has shown this to be true time and again.  This is what happened to the prophets of old.  This is what happened to Jesus.  This is what happened to the first followers of Jesus.  This is what always happens to people who live according to the love and justice commandments of God. 

Beloved, know that if we love Jesus, we will live according to his love and justice commandments.  If we live according to his love and justice commandments of God as revealed in the life of Jesus, we will live contrary to the powers of imperial politics, imperial commerce, and imperial religion. 

If we live according to the love and justice commandments of God as revealed by the life of Jesus, the powers of empire will first seek to seduce us away from following the love and justice commandments of Jesus.  In the same way that Jesus was tempted in the wilderness by Satan and offered “all the kingdoms of the world” after his baptism by John the Baptist (Matthew 4:8-10), some people who would desire to live according to the love and justice commandments of God as revealed by Jesus are enticed away from that living by offers of wealth, fame, popularity, influence, and other aspects of imperial success.  In the parable of the sower Jesus described these people as seed that fell among thorns which “are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life, and their fruit does not mature” (Luke 8:14).

If we do not succumb to the seduction efforts the powers of imperial politics, commerce, and religion will attack us, accuse us, seek to divide us, threaten us, and otherwise seek to discredit us.  This is what happened to Jesus throughout his ministry.  The powers of imperial religion accused Jesus of not being sufficiently devout because he dared to follow the love and justice commandment of God by healing people on the Sabbath, welcoming and loving people religious imperialists called unworthy, and throwing in his lot with women, children, immigrants, and other marginalized people.  The powers of imperial religion and imperial commerce and imperial politics accused Martin King, Pope Francis, Dorothy Day, Fannie Lou Hamer, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, Malcolm X, James Baldwin, Maya Angelou, and countless other prophetic souls of not being righteous, patriotic, practical, or business minded. 

When seduction efforts fail to entice away from obeying the love and justice commandments of God and when efforts to discredit us fail, expect the powers of imperial politics, commerce, and religion to strike at our very existence.  This is what happened to Jesus.  This is what happened to Martin King.  This is what happened to Medgar Evers.  The powers of imperial politics, commerce, and religion ultimately resort to violence when efforts to entice and discredit followers of the love and justice commandment of God fail.  They will use violence, secretly and openly, to try to stop the love and justice movement of God.  They will bomb churches, mosques, synagogues, and other places where God is praised, revered, and where followers of God gather.  They will defund Planned Parenthood.  They will attack clinics where women receive health care.  They will send government agents to conduct raids, engage in terror tactics, and threaten followers of God’s love and justice commandment. 

Jesus knew this would happen!  Jesus knew that the powers of imperial politics, commerce, and religion will try to seduce us, discredit us, and destroy us.  Jesus knew this because Jesus experienced all these tactics.  In the face of all Jesus knew about the powers and practices of imperial politics, commerce, and religion, Jesus comforted his closest followers—and comforts us—with the promise about what God will do.

According to Jesus, when the powers of imperial politics, religion, and commerce confront and threaten us, we are not alone.  According to Jesus, when the powers of imperial politics, religion, and commerce work to divide us from one another, we are not alone.  According to Jesus, when the powers of imperial politics, religion, and commerce threaten to take our lives, we are not alone. 

I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.  This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him.  You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.  I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.  In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.

We are not orphaned.  We are not alone.  We are not forsaken. We are not helpless.  We are not powerless. 

No!  We are people of God’s love.  We are the sheep of God’s pasture.  We are prophets of love, justice, hope, peace, and truth.  We are followers of Jesus.  The Spirit of God is with us.   We live according to the love and justice commandments of Jesus.  We are one with God in Jesus.  The forces of imperial politics, religion, and commerce cannot see who is with us, but we are not alone.  The forces of imperial politics, religion, and commerce can and will try to seduce us, discredit us, and destroy us, but they cannot overcome us because we are not alone. 

We are one with Jesus.  Jesus is one with the Father.  The Father is one with the Spirit and Jesus.  We are part of that deep and powerful oneness.  We are part of all that is love, all that is truth, all that is hope, all that is peace.  We are part of God!  We are part of God!  We are part of God!

Because Jesus lives, we live forever in God.  Because Jesus lives, we live forever in the power and company and comfort of the Spirit of truth.  Because Jesus lives, we know that Jesus is in God forever, and we are in Jesus forever, so we are in God forever! 

We are in God now.  We are in God in sickness.  We are in God in seasons of struggle.  We are in God in our ups and our downs.  We are in God whether we are comfortable or suffering hardships and heartaches.  We are in God.  We are in God.  We are in God forever! 

Now! 

Tomorrow!

Always!

Forever!

Living and gracious God,
through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ
you have brought us out to a spacious place
where we are called to live as those redeemed.
Empower us by your spirit to keep your commandments,
that we may show forth your love
with gentle word and reverent deed
to all your people. Amen.