By The Rev. Dr. Paul A. Leggett
Sunday, October 2, 2011 · World Communion Sunday
Sermon Text: John 14:15-24
Sermon Theme
Jesus makes the bold statement, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Yet isn’t this our greatest difficulty, that we cannot keep the commandments? In our sinful state God’s commandments bring death (Romans 7:10). Hasn’t Christ abolished the law with its commandments (Ephesians 2:15)?Jesus here is not speaking about how we receive salvation (by faith and not through the law, Galatians 2:16-21). He is rather talking about the life of discipleship. God’s love has been poured into our hearts (Romans 5:5). Having received God’s love and forgiveness in Christ we are called to follow him (John 1:43). There are three stages in loving Christ: accepting his promise of salvation, experiencing his presence in our lives, and living in his power. All the commandments are summed up in the call to love God and love our neighbor (Matthew 22:37-40). This is the key to life at its absolute best (John 10:10).
Sermon Outline
- Promise. The gospel is nothing less than God’s promise to a lost and struggling humanity. This promise is fulfilled in Jesus Christ (II Corinthians 1:20). John’s Gospel centers on God’s love for the world (John 3:16-17). This love is light in our darkness (John 1:5). It shows everything about us and yet affirms that we are accepted and loved by God (John 4:28-30). John asserts that God’s love is water that takes away our thirst forever (John 4:13-14). It is bread that always satisfies us (John 6:35) and truth that makes us free (John 8:32). These promises come from God alone and are realized in Christ in the love of the Father and the power of the Holy Spirit. The promises are unconditional in the sense that we can do nothing to earn them or be worthy of them. However they are not made in a neutral context. They confront us in a world dominated by the “father of lies” (John 8:44). Therefore we can never take them for granted.
- Presence. To receive God’s promises is to desire to live by them. To live in them is literally to live in the love of God. Apart from them we are too easily led by the desires of the world with their false promises (I John 2:15-17). Jesus assures us that if we love him we will keep his commandments. Before the disciples can even ask, how will they (and us) be able to do this, Jesus assures them of his continuing presence with them. This presence is revealed in several ways. First, Jesus promises us the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth (whom the world cannot receive, John 14:17). Second, Jesus also promises to be with us. He assures us that because he lives we also will live. This life includes the presence of both God the Father and Christ the Son (John 14:20-22). This presence is often experienced by us through other believers. When Jesus speaks of obeying his commandments he is not making a demand. He is not telling us that we should obey them (which is certainly true). Jesus however is saying that we will obey them because he is in us and we are in him. John, no less than Paul, does not believe that we are under the power and authority of the law. Jesus is telling us that if we love him in response to his love for us then we will be able to keep his commandments.
- Power. Judas asks a straightforward question. Why doesn’t Jesus just show himself to the world? In fact, Jesus says things to this effect a number of times in John’s Gospel (John 1:9, 12:32). However, Jesus is revealing himself to his disciples in the power of his love. Jesus is telling the disciples (and us) that his indwelling love gives us the power to reveal the Gospel to the world. Jesus’ power apart from his love would simply be a stronger version of the power which the world already knows (and fears). Jesus’ love empowers us to keep his commandments in the sense of their fulfillment in love (Romans 13:9). The tragedy of too many Christians is that we take the love of Christ for granted and we don’t realize the full power of that love. That love empowers us to show Christ’s love to anyone in need as well as to denounce and expose the prince of this world. It enables us to break free from the demands and illusions of this world. It allows us to give freely – our time, talent and money – to the cause of Christ. Jesus has revealed himself to us in his love. This love is often shown in surprising ways. We have the power to show this love and to receive it from each other. In this power we, like Jesus, can drive out the prince of this world and demonstrate the amazing love of Jesus in keeping his commandments joyfully and faithfully!
Questions for Us
- How does the fact that Jesus has promised to fulfill all our needs strengthen us in a difficult and uncertain world?
- How can we focus more on the presence of Christ in our lives? How can we spend more time with him (and other Christians who make up the Body of Christ)?
- What are some of the ways we experience the power of Christ’s love?
