Those who love me will keep my word- John 14

 







In our Gospel reading today Jesus says, “‘Those who love me will keep my word…”. … I would like to take some time to look at that. … When a lot of us hear that, there might be a bit of panic that arises in us. Do I really keep Jesus’ word? Do I really love Jesus?

It is important to define what Jesus means by “word”. Jesus says some things that we might have questions about regarding “keeping his word”. For example, In Matthew 5 Jesus says, 
“If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away; it is better for you to lose one of your members than for your whole body to go into hell” (Matt 5:29-30).
So, does this mean that if I love Jesus that I should pluck out my eye and cut off my hand? … This might be the case if what Jesus was giving us was a Law. But that isn’t what he’s doing. He isn’t giving a Law. He is teaching wisdom. We have to look deeper. …

What causes me to sin? Does my eye actually cause me to sin? Does my hand actually cause me to sin? … No. But, there are parts of my character that lead me to sin. There are thoughts I entertain that will lead me to sin. I should look for the actual root of my sin and be ruthless about tearing that away from me.

So, Jesus isn’t necessarily giving us laws, he is teaching us wisdom for living in the Kingdom of God. … Just because he isn’t giving us laws doesn’t mean it is any less serious. He is very serious about what he is teaching. We should take it very seriously. But this is wisdom and not Law. … And that means he will sometimes say shocking things by using hyperbole to make a memorable point. … This means that keeping Jesus’s word isn’t just about keeping a bunch of laws. … That might be easier, but Jesus isn’t after blind obedience to a set of laws. He wants our hearts to be transformed. He doesn’t want us to ‘not lie’, he wants us to become the kinds of people who don’t lie, and don’t even want to lie. He doesn’t want us to just ‘not murder’, he wants us to become the kind of people who don’t even act in anger towards others. He wants us to not just refrain from cursing our enemy- he wants us to become the kind of people who bless them and pray for them- Not through gritted teeth, but genuinely from the center of our being. … Jesus is wanting us to become a certain kind of person. He wants the central part of us, the part of us that chooses, to be aligned with God’s will, so that we want what God wants. This is what it means to keep his word, or his teaching.

Learning to follow Jesus’ teaching might feel a bit wiggly because it is wisdom and not law. So, we might justify ourselves in not following his teachings because we might say it isn’t clear. … But, just as a thought experiment, say he actually taught a set of clear laws. … Would we follow what he says? … What if obeying his law put friction between us and family members, or put us at odds with what is going on in society? … Would we obey what he says? … If we wouldn’t obey, then why wouldn’t we?

To call Jesus “Lord” means that he has the ultimate authority in my life. He has the right to direct my life. … Paul describes himself as a slave to Christ in his letter to the Romans (Rom 1:1). In his first letter to the Corinthians he says, “… whoever was free when called is a slave of Christ” (1 Cor 7:22). In Romans, Paul says, “I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God …” (Rom 12:1). To be a living sacrifice is to be completely turned over to God. We don’t belong to ourselves if we are living sacrifices. … In Paul’s 2nd letter to the Corinthians he calls Jesus the “image of God” (2 Cor 4:4). And again in Colossians 1 we see Jesus described as “the image of the invisible God” (Col 1:15). In our Gospel reading Jesus says that when he speaks, “the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me” (14:24). … Theologically, if we believe what the Bible says about Jesus, then there is no better authority to accept over our life. Jesus has a right to claim that authority in our life. … To call Jesus “Lord” means that we trust that he has access to knowledge that I don’t have and so we trust that his direction is good and true, even if I don’t completely understand it. …

If I am unwilling to follow his direction, then I can’t meaningfully call him “Lord”. It means that I have divided loyalties. I have something or someone that I am trusting more. If there is an area of my life where I am unwilling to be directed, then I don’t trust that what Jesus says is good and true in that area of my life. … Sometimes that happens without us really realizing it. It just sneaks in. … This is one of the dangers of consuming media. It shapes our norms and assumptions without us really realizing it.

So, Jesus has a right to claim authority over our life, but interestingly Jesus connects keeping his word with love. … Jesus appeals to love rather than his rightful Lordship. He doesn’t want us to follow his teachings because he is “the boss”, but because of love. He doesn’t want us to grit our teeth and do what he says as if he was a tyrant, and we are fearful of getting punished if we don’t do what he says. … He wants us to follow his teaching because we love him and trust him to know what is best- what is good, and beautiful, and true. … Jesus will not force himself on us. He gives us a choice. And that choice is given because love has to be chosen- it can’t be forced.

In choosing Christ, in loving Christ, then the door is opened to our life becoming a home for God. When we keep his word out of love he says that he and his Father “will come to them and make our home with them” (Jn 14:23). This will happen through the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Spirit will teach us to grow in love. The Spirit will remind us about what Christ has taught us. The Spirit will help us to live it. And in this we will find the peace we long for. St. Augustine says that our hearts are restless until they find their rest in God. The result of this indwelling of God in us, is that we will find a peace that goes beyond our circumstances. Jesus says, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid” (Jn 14:27). In the peace the world gives, our circumstances determine our peace, which makes it a very fragile thing. The peace that comes from Jesus transcends our circumstances. …

My goal with my children is not for them to merely follow every direction I give them- as if obedience itself was the goal. My goal is that they grow in love in a peace-filled and harmonious home. I don’t want them to obey me through gritted teeth- secretly and bitterly despising my directions. I want them to know that I love them and that I want what is best for them and all the members of the house. I also want them to trust that I have a bigger view- I have access to more information and can see further down the road. My directions for my children aren’t to merely exert control. I’m not going to be happy with robots who merely obey. I want to build a home where they can feel loved and become who God created them to be. I want them to flourish. I want them to realize their unique gifts and feel the joy of discovering and using their gifts- like a fish discovering they can swim, or a bird learning how to fly. Out of love, I want them to listen to my directions, so we can get to that place together.

I think that is what God wants for us. God knows who we were created to be and wants to create His kingdom in our life in a way that we can flourish. We are created to be in community- to have deep relationships- and his teachings show us how to exist in deep and lasting relationships- both with God and with one another. … When we learn to love Jesus in such a way that we trust his teaching enough to live it, then we will find peace that is unshakable and we will be free to be who God has created us to be. AMEN

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