Sunday, April 27, 2008
By pastor John Jorgenson
Understanding the gift of God’s Holy Spirit begins with our text this morning. If we do seriously love Jesus, as we have been taught, we begin to sense the profound and practical nature of this Spiritual Gift from God. This gift brings us to a deeper awareness of the unity Jesus brings into our personal daily lives, along with the peace and joy as Jesus promised.
For me, this text forms the fundamental basis for faith. To me it is clear, simple and logical and I am able to grasp and understand the implications of what Jesus intended and what is expected of me. The relationship established by God is the basis for the faith we have and Jesus teaches us that we are to share that insight with one another. That is what I would like to do with you this morning. For me it provides a deeper understanding of what love really is. Love is much more than expressing emotion or tenderness or gentle feeling. Love gives us a motivation. Love provides a meaning for an activity. Love provides a purpose for doing something.
The example set by Jesus is that this understanding of love is so fundamental, so basic and so critical to our lives that, as an effective teacher, He acted on it. Jesus was willing to be scorned, to be criticized, to be ridiculed, to be debased, to be exposed to shame and disgrace, to be tried unfairly, to be convicted in error, to be then severely punished, and finally to end His life in a most vicious manner simply to demonstrate to you and to me exactly what love is and what love includes.
In doing this Jesus taught that love is far more than my being enticed by some physically attractive person, my being intrigued by some clever idea, or my being very satisfied by some hot cinnamon buns with drippy butter. That which we love determines just who it is that I really am and just who it is that I am becoming moment by moment, in spite of whoever it is that God initially created and intended that I become and that which I do. Our object of love determines our image of our self, our motivations, our ambitions, the essence of self and just who we are and who we are becoming moment by moment. Love is the basis for our being. Love determines reality for us. Love shows everyone who it is that we are. Love is the essence of our lives.
That essence can be good or it can be bad. Greed, selfishness, power, reputation, wealth, and so forth all can be objects of one’s love and provide stimulus for activity and involvement. As we learn about them and the hold they have on us, we discover the potential that love includes. Every day as we read the news and watch television, we observe the results of becoming obsessed by these objects of love by people in our society and in our world. That which we love becomes our idol. That which we love becomes our God.
So then how do we know that has become our idol? How is it that we really express love? Jesus provides a simple answer. In our lesson Jesus said: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Jesus explained this thought early in His teaching. He defined how we express love. We are to Love God and to Love others as we love ourselves. Everything else grows out of this elementary and simple definition of love. God loves each one of us. God has been trying to get us to see that for a long time.
However, we, being the created people we are with all sorts of what we feel are independent abilities and our issues, kinda like to have things our own way, as we see it, I mean well, you know what I am talking about, we get sorta ornery and we want what we want sometimes. That suggests that greed, selfishness, pride, and so on, may have control over us.
So to lower that risk, Jesus had a gift that God had prepared. Knowing that this new attempt at clarifying the relationship God intends with each of us creates change and we need some support, Jesus gave us assurance.
“And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. You know Him because He abides with you and He will be in you.”
It is only as we begin to take seriously and act on what Jesus taught, that we really become aware of this new additional gift from God. This gift further enhances that special relationship we have in knowing and realizing that God created us and loves each one intimately, as a very special person. Jesus taught and promised that the person, who responds to God, will be supported by God’s gift of the Holy Spirit.
This becomes a challenging experience because it comes on God’s terms and not on ours. We receive it by faith. However, that is not so strange when we come to think about it. After all, we accept and enjoy the relationship we have in family and in friendships by what people say and do. This faith in others is what Jesus was teaching in this lesson to His followers and as well to us. This motivation comes from God as we express love and are obedient to God as Jesus taught.
Finally, what we have been considering this morning reminds me of a little song we all learned long time ago. I would like to change a word or two. My new adult version goes like this: Jesus loves me, this I know. He already told me so. All of us to Him belong. We are weak, but He is strong. Does Jesus love me? Yes, Jesus loves me. Does Jesus love me? He already told me so.
Amen.