Sixth Sunday of Easter                        John 14:23-29                         May 9, 2010

In summer of 1975, prior to my senior year in High school I was preparing to leave for Germany for a year as an exchange student.
On the day of my departure my family and I were standing in the airport terminal saying our goodbyes.
That was back in the good old days when folks without tickets could wait with you in the boarding area.
My mother was a puddle of tears.
My sisters were a mixture of tears and excitement, as they were looking foreword to taking over my bedroom while was out of the picture for a while.
My father, the stoic one of our family, stood calm and extended his hand to shake mine and said, "Well, do your usual fine job."
Initially I wasn't sure what that meant, but over time I came to understand that what my father was saying was: "Make us proud, as you have always done."

I don't know if my father knew how much those words have come to mean to me.
My hunch is that he had no idea the impact those few words would have and that I would remember them 35 years later.

Parents say a lot of things to their children.
Some of those words are memorable, some are not so memorable, some are not mentionable and some are just plain goofy.
As a parent I have come to realize that some times there are words that we have said that we wish we had not said.
And of course there are those words that we know we need to say more often, words like "I love you", "I forgive you", "Please forgive me" and "I love you" (we can never say that enough!)

What we say to our loved ones: be they our children, our parents, or our spouses -- are so important.
What we say to those we love on a daily basis, as well as what we don't say, speaks volumes and sometimes has a far greater impact on those we love in ways that we might never know or fully appreciate.

In today's Gospel reading we have Jesus talking to his disciples.
The setting is prior to his crucifixion and he is preparing them for his anticipated departure.
What he says to them may not have made much sense at the time, but eventfully they too come to understand the magnitude of his words and their implications to them and to all who would follow.

He tells them-Those of you who love me will hang onto the words I have shared with you and abide by them.

Those of you who love me will know the presence of my Father in your lives.

Those of you who love me will also know the presence of the Spirit in your life, and the Spirit will keep my words and my love alive in all that you do.

And you will discover that with the help of the Spirit and my word guiding your life—you will have a peace that will help you through the trial of this life.

Like I said, I suspect the full magnitude of these words were lost on the disciples upon first hearing, but in time they began to make sense—much like some of the words our parents spoke to us when we were young and only came to appreciate once were older and gained a bit more maturity and perspective.

In some ways it might be like the bumper sticker I saw years ago that said something to the effect—"When I was a teenager I thought my father was an idiot. Now that I have my own children I realized the man was brilliant!"

So what is Jesus telling us?
To begin with he is telling us---Those of you who love me will hang onto the words I have shared with you and abide by them.

What does this mean?
One of the things you need to know about John's Gospel is his emphasis on love.
For John -- love is the basis for everything.
+ God the Father's love for Jesus.
+ Jesus' love for the Father.
+ God's love for all of humanity and all of creation.
+ Jesus' unconditional love for all people.
+ Our love for God and our love for our neighbor.

For John—love is huge—it is the heart of the Gospel.
To love Jesus is to love your neighbor.
And in turn—loving your neighbor is one way to show your love of God.
To not love your neighbor is to turn your back on God.
Or, as 1st John points out, "Those who say, ‘I love God', and hates their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen." (1 John 4:19-20)
Another aspect worth understanding when reading John is his emphasis on the necessity of obedience.
Obedience is the only proof of love.

In the midst of this context John tells us that we are loved and assuming we love Jesus we will strive to be obedient and we will hang onto and cherish Jesus' words and they will shape and guide our lives.

That makes sense doesn't it?
If we know that someone loves us -- it affects our lives in a variety of positive ways.
If we know that we are important to someone -- we tend to have a bit more self-esteem and self-respect.

The opposite is also true.
If we live with the belief that nobody loves us or that nobody values us and cares about us or trusts us—chances are our lives will be lived out in such a way that reflects complete disregard for others and our actions might very well be self-destructive and harmful to others as well.

Perhaps the key to this is the understanding and the belief that we are loved.
Because I believed that my parents loved me—
I more often than not tried to be respectful of their wishes even when I might not have fully understood the rationale or appreciated the boundaries.

Because I believe that family and friends love me –
I know that I am less likely to make a fool of myself in public and embarrass them.

Because I believe that my wife loves me –
I know that I am going to try very hard to not do things that might cause her to question my love for her.

Because I believe that Jesus loves me –
I will strive not only to abide by his words, but I will also strive to love my neighbor as Jesus has first loved me.
I also believe that because of God's love for me –
My life is shaped and directed toward loving those things that God loves as well.

Let me put it this way…my mother was an artist.
Our home was filled with both her original pieces of art as well as pieces of work from those who she admired and respected.
When I would come home at the end of each day from school it was safe to assume that I could find her down in her studio working on something.
As a kid I spent my fair amount of time hanging out at art shows—considerably more time than any of my friends anyway.
I'll admit, some of the time I was less than enthusiastic, other times I looked forward to going and browsing around or simply sitting with my mom's stuff watching people admire her work.

When it comes to artistic expression I did not inherit that particular gene, my sisters got those.
But what I did get was an appreciation for art and a desire to be surrounded by art.
As a result both my office and our home has a variety of original paintings, prints and photographs.
As a result I get a bit nostalgic when I come across an art fair and I know that if I were to walk up and down past the booths I could tell you exactly what my mother would get excited about and what she would turn her nose up at—yes, she had become something of an art snob over time—or maybe because it is Mother's Day I should simply say, she was opinionated and passionate about what she liked and disliked.

In other words, when you know someone, when you spend time with someone, when you have something more than a casual relationship with someone, you know what they value, what they are passionate about—in short—what they love.
Hopefully those of you who went out looking for a Mother's Day cards and gifts had no trouble knowing what to get Mom today.
You knew what would cause her to laugh or get emotional.
Hopefully you knew her likes and dislikes and you knew just the right card when you found it.
Why?
Because you know her and love her and you know what she loves.

The same is true with our relationship with Jesus.
I believe it is safe to say that Jesus is looking for more than a passing acquaintance with us.
Jesus wants us to move from knowing about him, to truly knowing him as a friend, a brother, your Lord and your Savior.
He is hoping that we will be drawn into a relationship with him so that we will come to trust him with our lives and we will know him deeply enough that we come to love those things that he loves and in doing so, our lives will reflect his.

So what does Jesus love—besides you and I?
I believe Jesus loves our neighbors, our brothers and sister—both those near and far.
He loves those who are struggling and who are in need of mercy and kindness.
He loves those have no one to love him or her in return.
He loves those individuals who are hungry, tired, homeless, neglected, imprisoned and friendless.

I believe that Jesus loves it when we tell others about him, when we share stories about him, when we name drop his name in our conversations, both aloud and silently within our heart's.
I don't believe that Jesus is as self-conscious as most of us tend to be.
I believe that many of us would probably get embarrassed if we knew that others we talking about us all the time.
For some of us it is our Northern European roots that cause us to get uncomfortable when others speak well of us—we are afraid it will cause us to become overly prideful and we know that too much pride is a sin, at least that what we were told.
I don't believe Jesus has a problem with that.

Jesus loves it when we tell his story to others, when we talk about what a difference he has made in our lives.
Jesus loves it when we gush about him and what to share this relationship with others.

Maybe that's why we get excited about baptisms, like the one we had last week.
We know that with a baptism come the promises of parents and godparents and a host of others who are willing to share the story of how Jesus has shaped and guided their lives.
With every baptism there is the start of a new relationship with Jesus.
+ A relationship that will grow in love and obedience to God's word.
+ A relationship that will reflect the Father's love to all people.
+ A relationship that will provide a spirit of peace and joy.

And lastly, I believe that Jesus loves it when we place our trust in him, when we realize God is ultimately looking out for us and has a whole lot more to offer than the world has to offer.
I believe Jesus loves it when we realize that it is not about us, that we are not the center of the universe, that the world does not orbit around our wants and desires and our fickle passions.

Placing our trust in him is always a big step, it often goes against our natural tendencies, but the benefits are heavenly.

Maybe that's why we gather as a community of faith, to be reminded that we are loved, even when we are not so loveable,
+ That we are forgiven, even when we don't deserve it.
+ That God has marked us with the cross of Christ forever, and we are claimed, gathered and sent forth for the sake of the world.

As children of God you and I are loved and empowered to love our brothers and sisters, our neighbors in need.
And Jesus loves it when we love our neighbor.
Jesus loves it when we share his love with others.
So let us leave here this morning committed to welcoming God's love in our lives and sharing that love with all who we meet.
And this would be a good thing.
Amen

Pastor Stephen Blenkush
Zion Lutheran
Milaca, MN
www.ZionMilaca.org

 

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