Does Your Life Suggest God Is Of First Importance To You?
Fifth Sunday of Easter
Light of Christ Anglican Church
The Rev.
Michael J. Moffitt April 28, 2024
Recently I read an article that posed the question: “If you were arrested for being a Christian would there be enough evidence to convict you?”
This isn’t a new question. Actually Billy Graham was quoted as asking the question, but I don’t think it originated with him either. In today’s world the question may prove more difficult to answer unless the question is answered, “What does it mean to be a Christian?”
During Lent we had a brief study after every Tuesday Night Soup Supper. We considered the problem of “Cultural Christianity” which normally refers to situations where people identify as Christians but do not actually practice a Bible based worldview of Christianity. Often there is no belief in the Bible having ultimate and moral authority, but it’s seen as only one of many books offering guidance or directions for a happy life. They often appreciate Christian values and the broader Christian culture, but they do not seek to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and usually don’t see a need for one. Even atheist Richard Dawkins calls himself a Cultural Christian who does not believe that God exists but that the principles of Christianity make for a better society.
Well let’s see what God’s word tells us about what it means to be a child of God and a follower of Jesus Christ. As a side note, it’s helpful to remember that throughout history and up until today those who have faithfully followed the commands of God in obedience to the authority of scripture, have been the minority and often suffered persecution for their beliefs.
This morning I want to compare the message that God spoke through Moses in Deuteronomy 4:32-40 with our Gospel reading from John 14: 15-21. Our goal is to remind ourselves that the race we are running towards the prize of eternal life with God comes with instructions. The word of God is quite clear on what it means to run the race and receive the prize. To ignore that is to forfeit the prize, which has dire consequences.
Let’s begin by considering Deuteronomy. This is the last book in the section of the Bible called the Pentateuch, which are the five books normally attributed to Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. During the wilderness wanderings of Israel, Moses wrote down the words given him by God so that this chosen nation would know about the God who went with them, showed them miraculous signs, provided for them in amazing ways, and went before them to defeat pagan nations who attempted to stop them.
These words were written to encourage Israel to faithfully follow the God who was their creator and protector and to trust that where He was leading would be a greater blessing than they could conceive of.
Deuteronomy was written as the children of Israel were preparing to enter the Promised Land. Moses was writing to the second generation of the exodus. Their faithless parents had died in the wilderness as a punishment from God for their arrogance and constant disobedience. God spared their children in order to preserve a holy people and to maintain the promises made to their forefather Abraham. Moses was not going to be allowed to enter the Promised Land, so before he died he restated God’s law in order to guide them into covenant renewal under Joshua. He wanted to exhort the new generation to avoid the sins of their parents and to commit to the law of God so that they would experience his blessing, instead of his judgment. What God was offering was his love and favor, but it would require that they remained faithful to his commands. Deuteronomy is best understood as a series of addresses from Moses calling Israel to remember God and their experiences under the leadership of Moses. In this morning’s passage he reminds Israel of all that God had done in their midst.
Moses was asking Israel to think back to all that they had heard about God since he created man on the earth and to remember all that God had done before their eyes and spoke into their hearing. Had they ever before heard of any god who spoke to his people in such profound ways or who rescued them from other nations like God did for Israel?
Moses encouraged them to remember the experience of hearing the voice of God thundering from Mount Sinai speaking to them from out of the fire and smoke. Did any other nations experience their gods like this? Had they ever heard of any gods choosing a nation to show special favor to or who defended them from other nations? From the very beginning of time who had ever heard of such a thing and yet Yahweh, their God had revealed himself to them in so many ways in signs and wonders, and in war. He had struck terror into the hearts of their enemies and with a mighty hand and outstretched arm had performed these things before their eyes. God had proven His love for Israel so many times and even other nations had been in fear of Israel’s army because of the favor of their God.
In verses 36–38 Moses reminded them that God demonstrated his power and glory through his mighty presence and drove out before them nations who were greater and mightier than they were. He did that so they could take possession of all that God had promised to their forefathers, beginning with Abraham.
Their response to all that God had done for them should come from what they knew about Him and what he had commanded them to do. There should be no hesitation on their part to follow God if they would only consider what he had already done in their midst and on their behalf. Moses sums it all up in Deuteronomy 4:39–40,
“Know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other. Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you, and that you may prolong your days in the land that the Lord your God is giving you for all time.”
John Piper in his book “Desiring God” wrote,
“If you don't see the greatness of God then all the things that money can buy become very exciting. If you can't see the sun you will be impressed with a street light. If you've never felt thunder and lightning you'll be impressed with fireworks. And if you turn your back on the greatness and majesty of God you'll fall in love with a world of shadows and short-lived pleasures.”
I think this is exactly what Moses is reminding Israel to remember as they enter into the land. Remember what you have seen of God; remember what you have heard from God; remember what you have experienced with God and remain faithful because of who God is. Be in awe and wonder that this glorious, all powerful and majestic God has reached out to you in love to establish a relationship with you as a nation. Have you ever heard of such a thing?
Moses who had dwelt in the of presence of God on top of Mt. Sinai for weeks at a time, who had beheld God in his glory and lived. Moses stood before the children of Israel longing for them to be as persuaded of the love, power, mercy, and character of God as he was. He was about to restate to them the law of God that had been given him by God on the mountain and they were to let it be written on their hearts, they were to teach it to their children and their children’s children so that Israel would never forget who their God was and all that he had done for them.
As we all know, as long as Israel remembered these things they prospered as a people but when they forgot, it only took one generation for them to begin the decline and eventually become like the pagan nations around them, and in many cases worse. Their God ceased to be even a memory for most.
They forgot but God didn’t. Because God remembered we are in the season of Easter and heading towards the celebration of Pentecost. We are celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ; we are deliberately remembering all that he taught about the resurrection. We are intentionally remembering that the promised kingdom did come to pass in the sending of the Holy Spirit. There are striking similarities in the words of Jesus in John 14:15–21 and the exhortation of Moses in Deuteronomy 4:32–40.
Let’s read again John 14:15–17,
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
Just like Moses, Jesus is equating love with obedience to his commandments. In verse 12 of John 14 Jesus promised,
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father.”
He wasn’t promising that they will do works that are greater in power and quality but in volume. He had only been in ministry for three years, but his church would continue on with demonstrations of power through the Holy Spirit and the authority of the name of Jesus if they were faithful to his commands.
So, when Jesus makes the statement that “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” it is not so much a promise as it is a definition of love itself. Jesus is not really referring to his ethical standards, which unlike Matthew, John doesn’t list many, but it is to be the response to the whole of Jesus’ teaching, including his way of life. As the Apostle John would later write in 1 John 2:6, “whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.”
The model that Jesus had given his disciples was that he was completely dependent on and obedient to the Father. He told them that he only did and said what he received from the Father. In doing this he is modeling the life of loving obedience to the will of the Father and that is what he is instructing his disciples to follow. Faith and love unite disciples to God and make it possible for them to do the “greater things” than Jesus because they will have access to all the resources of the kingdom of God. The promise then is that if you will pursue obedient love then “I will ask the Father and he will send you another helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive.”
Jesus, the divine presence on earth, was going back to the Father to be the human presence in Heaven on behalf of his chosen ones. The Spirit was to be the Helper, as opposed to the enemy who was the accuser of the brethren. The Holy Spirit would come to take the place of Christ with the apostles to lead God’s people into a deeper knowledge of the gospel truth. This would give them the ability and strength to be the presence of Jesus to those around them, so it would be as if Jesus himself was still present in his humanity.
At this point the disciples are distressed that Jesus is leaving to go back to the Father. The promise of the Holy Spirit being sent back as “another helper” didn’t sound like good news to the disciples. They didn’t want “another helper” they wanted Jesus. They had been his followers for 3 years and had seen and experienced amazing miracles—healings, and even the resurrection of the dead. They had seen Jesus do these things, why would they want anything else but Jesus? The problem was that they had nothing to compare with what Jesus was promising. It felt like abandonment, not the good news that Jesus was trying to convince them of. What did Jesus mean when he claimed that another or in the Greek, “Paraclete” would not only be with them but would dwell within them.
Jesus was promising that the “Paraclete” which means “someone who comes alongside another” but would not merely come alongside but would also dwell within them. Jesus calls him “the Spirit of truth” that would also be their teacher. The Holy Spirit would have the same value and quality as Jesus but there would be a difference that they wouldn’t understand until after Pentecost. Through the indwelling presence of the Spirit they will have a better understanding of the relationship that Jesus has with the Father. This was the same Spirit of God that Moses referred to in Genesis 1:2 that “was hovering over the face of the deep” at creation. This was the Spirit that descended down upon Jesus at his baptism and then drove him out into the wilderness to be tempted for 40 days and nights. This is found in all three of the Synoptic Gospels.
The Apostle Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2:10 that the Holy Spirit will teach us the deep things of God and Jesus tells them that these days are coming in John 14:20, “In the day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.”
I know that this was hard to hear when Jesus revealed this to them. While he was with them, he was standing outside of them. They could see him, hear him, touch him, and be touched by him. But in truth, during Jesus’ ministry there was distance between them. Essentially Jesus is telling them, “As long as I am with you, I can’t dwell in you. But when I go back to my Father, when I send back ‘another counselor’, he will indwell you and be with you forever.”
The disciples greatest fear was that when Jesus went back to the Father they wouldn’t know him as well. The truth was that when he ascended back to the Father the Spirit of Truth would dwell within them. In that sense Jesus and the Father will abide within them as well. That is one of the great mysteries of the Bible but is at the very heart of Christianity. It’s so important that Paul writes in Romans 8:8-9,
“Those who are in the flesh cannot please God. You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him.”
Jesus in coming to earth ushered in the kingdom presence and through the Holy Spirit the disciples were to continue the mission that he had begun. The Spirit would also give them the power to overcome and undergo the trials and persecutions that would come in opposition to the divine kingdom coming to earth. Jesus tells them that they will struggle, and it will happen because “the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him for he dwells with you and will be in you forever.”
Again, we see a similarity between Jesus’ word in John 14 and the exhortation of Moses in Deuteronomy 4. Jesus was announcing that the divine presence would inhabit, live within those who chose faithful obedience to the commands of God. Now it would not merely be God dwelling in the midst of His people like with Israel in the wilderness, but God dwelling within his people through the power of the Holy Spirit. God’s holy presence would now be within his people in a way never before known or conceived of. Who had ever imagined or heard of such a thing?
The next statement firms up the relationship with the Father that Jesus is securing for them. Let’s read John 14:18–20,
“I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
Can you see the promise here? Jesus isn’t suggesting that he and the disciples will merely agree on ideas or have similar feelings, they will share life and a common purpose together. The invitation of “follow me” that began the journey for the disciples continued all their lives and then would continue for all eternity. The love was to be reciprocal: “he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him.”
We are invited into the same love that unites the Father and the Son. In his ascension Jesus was not merely departing and returning to his previous life with the Father but He would stay united in power and love with his disciples as they come into an eternal relationship with the Trinity. Who could have imagined that God would offer those whom he had created a relationship with him that is so complete so intimate?
The apostle John affirms this promise found in the words of Jesus long ago. He had lived in the joy of the relationship with the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as it had been the source of his strength and power as an apostle. The thing is that it also took everything he had, and yet it gave him everything that he wanted and needed. He had been used of God to grow the early church and continued this passionate proclamation of truth up until his death. Jesus so profoundly changed his life that proclaiming the gospel message was his life. I can imagine that he felt the same way as Moses when he declared to the children of Israel the necessity of obedience to the commands of God in Deuteronomy 4. Rightly understood the offer was peace and blessing with the Lord of the universe.
What John and Moses understood, they knew deeply and were hopeful that their readers or listeners would see the awe and wonder of their message. The reason for the believer to be obedient to God’s commands is not a prerequisite for salvation, but the response and definition of love itself. Jesus wasn’t referring to his teachings on ethics, which John doesn’t record many in his gospel, but to the whole of his teaching, especially seen through how Jesus lived his life and who he lived it for.
That’s the question before us this morning, isn’t it? For whom and for what do we live our lives? Are we living before God as an expression of our love for him? Is he the primary focus of our thinking and do we seek to bring glory and honor to God through our decisions and actions? Fortunately, these questions are rhetorical and I’m not asking for you to give me the answer but to join me in bringing these questions before God in prayer. Do we really want to see revival and the Holy Spirit being poured out in power in our midst? Does it sound inconvenient or a lot of trouble? Have you ever noticed that in God’s word, both Old and New Testament that when ordinary people encounter God everything changes in their lives?
Ordinary people like Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Gideon, the disciples…etc. Their encounter with God raised them up allowing them to do amazing, seemingly impossible things. God brought them a more amazing life than they could have ever imagined, and he now gives us their examples as encouragement to pray and seek his will. I wonder what the possibilities are for us?
Let’s pray.
