Sermon from June 5th, 2022

Over the past several weeks, you and I have been talking a lot about “both/ands”, haven’t we? It started when we discussed the need to not just proclaim the Gospel, but to both proclaim AND LIVE the Gospel. Then we talked about the need to not just listen to Jesus, but to both listen to AND FOLLOW Jesus, if we want to be counted amongst one of His sheep. Our attention then turned to the fact that if we truly want to understand what it means to have our identities solely as the beloved sons and daughters of God, to truly know “who we are and whose we are”, what it means to find true peace, that we are called to both love Jesus AND KEEP His word. Then last week, we talked a bit about the synergy of our heads and our hearts, how we have to be willing to not just have Jesus speak TO us, but to also empty ourselves at His feet, to have him pray FOR us. Live AND proclaim the Gospel. Listen to AND follow Jesus. Love Jesus AND keep His word. Let Jesus speak to AND pray for us. Seems like a lot, doesn’t it? A checklist of things that, let’s be honest, on our BEST days, we can do, what 50% of? 75% of? Maybe it seems overwhelming 1 to you. Maybe it seems like one more thing that is set up for you to fail at. Maybe it seems impossible. And then Jesus comes along today and adds more to the list! “If you love me, you will keep my commandments”, He says. More stuff, Jesus?! Really? But before we get to the point where we throw up our hands and quit, listen to what my study bible says about it: “Carefully note what Jesus actually says. If we love him, we will obey him. Jesus does NOT say if we obey him, THEN he will love us.” Let me repeat that part. Jesus does NOT say if we obey him, THEN he will love us. “The Gospel turns everything right side up. We can do nothing to earn or maintain a relationship with God. Our obedience merits us nothing; but our obedience is an essential affirmation of our love for Jesus. It is by JESUS’ obedience that we are saved, and it is by OUR obedience, compelled by love for Christ, that we express our gratitude for so great a salvation.” Nothing in there says anything about being perfect, does it? Nothing about having to do “all the things all the time”, in order to earn God’s love, does it? But it does say that we are to be obedient. An obedience that is in itself the expression 2 of gratitude for how much God loves us. An obedience that is the result, or fruits, of an honest and earnest love for Christ. An obedience whose engine, whose driving force, is the Holy Spirit. Think about back when you were in school. When the teacher is in the class, everyone is on their best behavior, for the most part right? Obedient to the expectations of the classroom in regards to behavior. But what happened if that teacher had to leave the room to go “down to the office” or to the copy room or anywhere else that had their physical presence outside of that confined space? What typically happened in that classroom? If it was like the schools I attended, what happened was nonsense, right? Shenanigans. Up out of your seat, talking to your friends, completely ignoring those same expectations of obedience that were being observed before then. Imagine how easy it was for the disciples to be obedient to Jesus’ teachings when Jesus was physically present with them. But now Jesus, in order to save the world, has to go away. Has to be “out of the classroom” so to speak. And knowing that on our own and left to our own strength, we cannot keep his commandments, he tells the disciples (and us) that He will ask God to send “another Helper” (another because Jesus was the first, right?); send another Helper 3 to be with us…forever. The Spirit of Truth to be with us, to reside inside of us, to guide us and remind us and rebuke us and convict us and encourage us and love us. To aid in our obedience to God. Not to make it easy, but to make it easier. To show us those places that need to be strengthened. To show us those places that need to be straightened. This promise of the Holy Spirit is the promise of God’s love. Ed Bethea texted me yesterday, and part of what he texted was Romans 5:5 that reads in part, “God has poured His love into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.” We have a lot of names for the Holy Spirit. Counselor. Defender. Advocate. Helper. But in reality, the Holy Spirit is love. He takes up residence in our hearts, and is there constantly. Put your hand on your chest. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out. Every breath in. Every breath out. God’s love. God’s love. God’s love. Is there any coincidence that any time we are with someone, and they are upset, or agitated, or having a spell, or having a moment, or whatever phrase you want to use, that we tell them what? Just breathe. Look at me. Just breathe. Focus on me. Just breathe. Why? Because we want them to “calm down”. We want them to be at peace. 4 As you and I talked about a few weeks ago, our lives, our communities, our country, our world is anything but peaceful. We get wound up in discussions and decisions and distractions and deadlines and disagreements and so you may be thinking to yourself, “Yeah, I hear you Pastor Marc that I need to Live AND proclaim the Gospel, and Listen to AND follow Jesus, and Love Jesus AND keep His word, and Let Jesus speak to AND pray for me, but if you could see my to-do list and hear these thoughts in my head, and feel these feelings in my heart, and understand this pressure that I’m under from folks all around me, and the guilt I feel that I keep making the same mistakes over and over again, you’d understand that this obedience stuff is really, really hard for me right now.” To which I say, look at me. Just breathe. Look at me. Just breathe. Listen to me. Just breathe. Friends, our obedience to God has nothing to do with lists, or checking off boxes, or gold stars, or perfection in behavior or perfect attendance in worship. It is most certainly not about a bunch of “have tos”. Instead, it’s about slowing down enough that we come to understand that the Creator of the Universe wants all of us, and all of our “stuff”. It’s about taking that deep breath and knowing and believing that we can bring all of our discussions and decisions and distractions 5 and deadlines and disagreements to the foot of the cross, and leave them there. It’s about knowing that we are in a community that we can trust will hold us accountable while at the same time maintaining confidentiality of hard conversations. It’s about knowing that regardless of our dings and dents, that God has chosen to take up residence inside of us. And friends, it’s about realizing that as we allow more of our lives to be turned over to the Holy Spirit, what we discover is that our obedience to Jesus and the keeping of His commandments becomes less work and more natural. We are more fully able to discern those places and people and things and habits we should stay away from. We find that we are able to Live AND proclaim the Gospel, Listen to AND follow Jesus, Love Jesus AND keep His word, and Let Jesus speak to AND pray for us without having to think about it because it has become such a natural part of our lives. In a bit, we’ll have our communion meal as a family. What a perfect opportunity for us, as we come to God in repentance, seek God’s forgiveness, and acknowledge the price paid on our behalf by Christ Jesus, to open ourselves to a fresh indwelling of the Holy Spirit. To humble ourselves before the altar and to say to God, “thank you. I know I can’t stay obedient myself, so thank you for the Holy Spirit, that dwells within me.” 6 As we prepare for the feast to come in a few moments, I want you to hear the words of Bernard of Clairvaux, a Benedictine monk that lived in the 1100s. I read it this week, and thought, “Man, I want my sisters and brothers to here this.” It was written, literally, like 1000 years ago, and yet in one way or another, speaks to everyone in this room. See if you find him speaking to you, and where you may be right now in your faith journey. Let his words of invitation for the indwelling of the Holy Spirit also be ours this morning. Let his cry, be our cry. He wrote this: “Come, Holy Spirit, and bring from heaven a ray of your light! Come, you father of the poor, your giver of gifts, you light of the world, the blessed comforter, the dear guest of the soul, and the sweetest refreshment.; you, our repose in labor, our coolness in heat, our comfort in affliction! O, most blessed Spirit, fill full the hearts of your faithful people! Without your influence there is nothing in man which is not weakness and guilt. O, cleanse that which is sordid; water that which is dried up; heal that which is wounded; bend that which is stubborn; cherish in your bosom that which is cold; guide that which is wandering; and grand unto your servants, putting their trust in you, the merit of your righteousness; grand them final salvation; grand them everlasting joy! O Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto you.” 7 Lord, hear our prayer, and let our cry come unto you. The great thing about faith in God, friends, is that it keeps us undisturbed in the midst of disturbance. The Holy Spirit that Jesus promised in the Scripture reading and that we celebrate on this Pentecost Sunday will always be with those that believe. I’m reminded of Hebrews 13:5, which recounts God saying, “never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” God says, “I will never leave you.” Not for any reason; not our sin, not our selfishness, not our stubbornness, not even our waywardness. Hear God speaking that to you this morning. No matter where you are in your walk with the Lord. No matter what you are facing. No matter what questions or doubts or concerns you may have, God never leaves you. Breathe In. Breathe Out. Breathe In. Breath Out. Feel the presence of the Holy Spirit within you. Loving and leading you down the path of obedience. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Amen. 8 9