Fool and His Money

Luke 12:13-21

            It’s been awhile since I’ve seen the antics of Scrooge McDuck, the uncle of Huey, Dewey and Lewey, whose antics make us chuckle as he struggles and strives and comes up with ever-more ridiculous schemes in his effort to guard his vast store of gold coin and paper money. Those antics are good for a few laughs, but I wonder how McDuck’s hyperbolic hold on his money parallels our own tight grip of entitlement to the riches we accrue?

            As I stand before you this morning, my friends, I know that there is nothing that we, collectively, like talking about less about than money – at least in church. Truth be told, I, too,  get squirmy when the topic of money comes up in the lectionary, mostly because I know most of you get squirmy when it comes up in the pastor’s sermon.

And yet it is the one thing that Jesus talks about almost more than any other thing in the Gospels. If not always money per se, certainly our relationship with wealth and the impact that relationship has on everything else, especially how we relate to God and our discipleship in Christ Jesus.

            For all kinds of reasons, here in church we would much rather hear and talk about things that are relatively abstract and non-threatening – things like hope, love, peace, and joy. Those are great things to talk about. They are faith-related matters that make us feel good, and, since they are closely aligned with so much our experience with Jesus, we wonder why we need to talk about anything else.

And yet, while there are several ways to approach this text, they all point toward the money. Back when the movie, “All the President’s Men” was released, a line credited to one of the characters was, “Follow the money.” It is a phrase that entered a certain portion of our lexicon; it presumes that if you follow the money, you will find the source of corruption.

As we look at this text today we could say, “follow the money,” too – because the reason that Jesus so often talks about money and possessions is that there is something about material riches that distorts our view and changes us. It makes us defensive, suspicious of others, and self-protective. There is something about material wealth that makes it hard for us to hear the Gospel in all its risky, scandalous, radically reorienting glory, as good news.           

Then, we have passages like this morning’s, that push us to think about how we budget, plan, tithe and spend our money. What is our relationship to money, and how does it line up with our relationship to God? What does it mean to live, as Jesus says, “rich toward God”?

            Jesus continually challenges attitudes and behaviors and daily living and in ways that are sometimes uncomfortable, because they bump up against our modus operandi. Jesus calls his disciples to stretch and grow, when we would rather just be left alone and contented. We want to be comfortable and comforted, not challenged by our faith. Which makes me wonder if that is not part of the problem that Jesus addresses in our texts today.

In the verses from Luke’s gospel that lead up to our story today, Jesus was engaged in sometimes heated exchanges with Pharisees, scribes and lawyers. Jesus points out the inconsistencies between their professed righteousness and the way they actually live.

He shine a light on ways that, while patting themselves on their backs for being such good and holy Jews, they pass by opportunities to live justly, show mercy, and share the love of God that are at the core of the Law. 

Then a man comes to Jesus and asks him to mediate a dispute he is having with his brother over the family inheritance. He wants his fair share. Jesus doesn’t give in to his request but instead, uses this opportunity to address the topic of greed.

To a crowd that has gathered, to the Pharisees, scribes and lawyers challenging him, and to us today, Jesus then tells this parable.   In it, a man seems to be doing nothing more than preparing wisely for retirement, but Jesus uses the illustration to talk about greed, and then issues a warning, “So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.” Rich toward God? What exactly does that mean?

Is it an allusion toward tithing? Was the man not taking enough of his riches and giving them to the synagogue for the work of God to be done? Is that the problem? Is it a commentary on the man’s depending on his own ability to care for himself and not trusting enough in God? Or is it a statement by Jesus that those things that get us all tied up in knots are not the things about which Jesus concerns himself?

I mean really, in the big picture of things, many of the problems we concern ourselves with don’t matter. And, when you have all of eternity as your backdrop, it certainly changes your perspective.

The man went to Jesus for arbitration. He just wanted fairness. We, too, are often concerned about fairness in life. We, too, want to know that we receive a fair shake. But fairness of the kind that troubled the man and often troubles us, that of material equanimity, doesn’t seem to be Jesus’ concern. For Jesus knows that he will give us all we really need, through the cross.

Perhaps the man was as worried for his future as we, too, are concerned about our retirement years, or the kids’ college tuitions, or the maintenance of our homes and properties. Again, Jesus sees things differently.

It begins to feel a bit like Jesus just doesn’t get it.

But here’s the thing: while you and I see in part, Jesus sees the whole. While you and I are concerned primarily for our own temporal survival, Jesus sees an eternity stretched out before us. While you and I become mired in details and problems of our lives, the status of which takes center stage and overwhelm us, Jesus sees into the depth of our hearts and is concerned about our spiritual status.

While I am tied to the secular aspects of my life, Jesus is concerned with the sacred. It’s like Jesus is saying, “At the end of all earthly existence, where will these things be? God is waiting for you, why are you not generous with yourself in godly things? Why are you not rich toward God – focused on God – careful in your relationship with God – building up your relationship with God?”

In the original man’s question, is indication that this conflict with his brother is embittering his heart. His brother is only an obstacle between himself and what he truly wants. This tarnishes their relationship. Who do we see as obstacles rather than people in our world, when contemplating the gifts God has given us?

In the parable, the rich man is drowning in his own self-centeredness. What is his inner dialogue like? Everything is focused on “Me, myself, and I”. He neglects his human connection and has no need for God. His relationships are tarnished. They are beside the point.

God has generously provided him the means to amass the resources that now burden him. God has enabled him to accrue the means to care not only for himself but scores of others. Yet, he neither considers that reality nor acknowledges the source of his blessing. Like Scrooge McDuck, he is willfully absorbed in his material wealth and all it can do for him. He has no need for God. But then God comes along, with a view of the long game and says, “You fool. Your game is up. This very night your life is being demanded of you. Now, what?”

When Jesus concludes his lesson here with his allusion of being “rich toward God,” he is inviting us into that radical reorienting of our lives that Jesus is all about – “radical” because it is not minor, it is not unimportant or inconsequential. This radical reorientation is essential to the Christian life.

God has given us more than we could ever ask for or desire. The children who attend VBS this week will hear about that as they are contemplating the galaxies and planets and the infinite creative genius of our God.

So, perhaps being “rich toward God” is truly living with an awareness of God’s wonderful creative work. Maybe it involves being absorbed in living in a way that acknowledges that it is not “about us” at all, and that the goal of life is not the acquisition of material wealth but living every day mindful that in Jesus, God has given us all we will ever truly need.

Perhaps living “rich toward God” means guarding against greed; a willingness to see ourselves as beloved of God and therefore rich in the most important way possible – eternally in relationship with the divine.

In this radically reorienting relationship, perhaps being “rich toward God” means acknowledging that even our hard-earned carefully preserved wealth comes from God and belongs to God.

Living rich toward God could mean deepening our relationships, prioritizing our human interconnectedness over our technological connectedness, and our human bonds over our personal gain or the bonds of asset management.

Living rich toward God could mean spending more time mindfully connecting with the divine and discovering the riches of deep and abiding relationship with Jesus.

What would we do differently if we knew that tonight our very lives would be demanded of us? How and with whom would we desire to spend our final hours?

                       

             

           

Powerless, Distracted and Frenzied Without Jesus

Luke 10:38-42

The year our daughter Victoria made her Confirmation, Hurricane Floyd arrived just ahead of the company we were expecting, three days before the worship service and family celebration to mark this milestone in her faith life.

As with every milestone in the lives of our children, friends and family had been invited to the house the help us celebrate. That meant that I was already in prep mode to offer hospitality not only to those who would join us for dinner on Sunday, but also for those who were traveling from out of state to stay with us for a few days.

The hurricane arrived full-strength on Thursday. Our power went out sometime Wednesday night, and by Saturday morning, it was still out. Those who had traveled to see us were getting to know each other real well, since no power also meant no running water.

Finally, early Saturday afternoon I made the decision that there was no way, even if the power came back on in the next hour or two, that I could be ready to entertain the next day.

It was not possible to have the house cleaned, shopping done (we had lost a lot of our food from refrigerators and freezers which would now need to be cleaned out), food prep completed, etc. – especially since we were expected at the church in a couple of hours for rehearsal and dinner.

Fortunately, a local restaurant was able to accommodate us, and we were just moved our party there for the next day. That allowed me to put off the mad cleaning that would take place once the power came back, on which it finally did that night. It also released me from the burden of  shopping, food prep and serving, and that led to the greatest gift of all: I was able to visit with our guests and enjoy them in a way that I couldn’t have done if I’d been kept busy with all the usual hostessing duties the day of Victoria’s Confirmation. I think some of you can probably understand what a relief that was, and how that new learning has influenced my party prep. I still go a little crazy preparing for entertaining, but I am also determined to be able to it in such a way that I am allowed the ability to spend more time with guest than I have before.

Something like that – the frenzy – happens when Jesus comes to visit in the home of some friends, sisters Martha and Mary and their brother Lazarus. While Jesus hangs out in the living room discussing the weighty matters of life in the kingdom of God, Martha slaves away – possibly for hours.

Hospitality is a big thing in the region of Palestine Jesus and his friends called home. Martha is worried about getting everything just right, to honor her guests and to bring honor to her home. So, she worries:

·         Will the meat burn if she can’t watch it while at the same time peeling the vegetables and steaming the rice?

·         Has the wine breathed sufficiently?

·         Since extra people tend to follow where Jesus goes and some of those might be tempted to just “drop in” for dinner, is there enough food?

·         Are all the food groups covered?

            Martha’s anxiety over getting every detail right causes her to get a little snappish. After all, she has been left alone to tend to all these things, while there are perfectly good hands attached to that sister of hers who should be helping her with these things. They always prep and serve the food together when there are guests at their dinner table.

            Finally, her patience worn thin, Martha appeals not to her brother, who is “the man of the house”, and not even directly to her sister, who is sitting right there. No. She goes straight to Jesus, who she knows to be compassionate and caring and always watching out for the underdog. And today in her estimation, she is definitely the underdog. So, she complains to him. Since those are his calling cards, she figures he’ll stand up for her, and make her sister help her out.

            Well, Jesus doesn’t follow the expected script (when does Jesus ever)? He doesn’t take the underdog’s side, he doesn’t chastise Mary, nor does he whisper in her ear, “it’s alright, go help your sister now. There will be time to talk later.”

Instead, Jesus seems to ignore the fact that Mary’s ability to sit freely at his feet has disadvantaged her sister.

Instead, he seems to indicate the real problem lies in Martha’s behavior and not Mary’s. While Martha’s burdensome sense of obligation actually had deeply ingrained cultural roots that she did not ask for, Jesus didn’t confront the larger society as part of the problem either.  So, what gives?

            Perhaps it is choice. For, each and ever day, every hour of the day, we all have a million choices to make regarding how we spend our time, what we focus our energies on, and so many other things. Martha allows her sense of obligation and the burdens she has accepted, to control her choice to miss time with Jesus as opposed to focusing on what are daily obligations.  

            Now to be fair, of course, we should acknowledge that the systems and structures of culture and society surely created expectations, thrust on Martha. It is those that cause Martha excessive distraction and worry when truly, the most important thing in that moment  is that Jesus is in her house! Jesus is there with them, and what a gift that is!

Jesus points out that Martha’s bondage to all those expectations has kept her from benefi

ting from the one true thing in the world that is life-giving.

Responding to those demands is a choice, and, Jesus says, Mary has chosen a different and better way.

So, Mary and Martha are sisters, living in community with each other, a system in which cooperation is essential. And Jesus isn’t messing with that. Nor is he taking sides.

He is not favoring word over deed, worship over service or study over hospitality. Because the thing is, life together requires all these things.

But here is the thing that Jesus is pointing out to Martha – and to us – today; there is one thing that is the best thing that amidst all of the other things we are called to or are responsible for, cannot be let go, shoved aside not forgotten. And the story is about choosing that one thing, the best thing, and forsaking everything else for its sake.

The story is an endorsement by Jesus to be single-minded about that one thing; to be passionate and focused on that one thing – focus on Jesus.

Pastor Debie Thomas points out that the best thing is the single, mind-blowing treasure that Jesus offers us. “Jesus’ most evocative parables,” Thomas writes. “…..all point in this same direction. The pearl of great price. The buried treasure in the field. The lost sheep, lost coin, lost son. Christianity is not about balance; it is about extravagance. It’s not about being reasonable; it’s about being wildly, madly, and deeply in love with Jesus.”

I wonder if you’ve ever been in love, totally head-over-heels in love with another person? If so, perhaps you remember the burning desire to spend every moment with that person; to talk to him or her incessantly; to hear that voice that fills your heart with joy.

Perhaps you remember or imagine, that when you were so deeply, passionately in love, nothing else really mattered as much as that person and your relationship with her or him.

If you have never been in that kind of relationship perhaps you have dreamt about it – perhaps you still do. That kind of passion and devotion is a costly thing. It is all-encompassing. It messes with your routines, your assumptions about life, and the priorities that make up your life.

Devotion to Jesus creates the same need for change, and for focus on Jesus.

Like many of us, Martha perhaps assumed she could invite Jesus into her life, but then carry on life as usual. Perhaps she assumed she could maintain control and the status quo over all the other things in her life, compartmentalizing them.

Perhaps she thought she could love Jesus but keep everything else the same, but then Jesus comes along and – snap! All her expectations are turned upside down too, and Jesus teaches her something about the cost of discipleship.

Mary, on the other hand, recognized that Jesus’ presence in her house required a radical shift. A wholehearted surrender was necessary, where every thought, action, decision and priority was rearranged according to this passion, this love, this relationship, because Jesus was no ordinary friend, no ordinary guest.

The work will always be there, but Jesus insists that every good thing must begin with him. It must begin with us at the feet of Jesus eagerly and earnestly seeking his teaching, his wisdom, his strength, and his blessing.

Jesus names Martha’s problem not as her devotion to her chores, but the fact that she was worried and distracted by many things. Those words – worried and distracted – indicate the ways we become fragmented and torn when we focus on things not of Jesus.

In her distraction, Martha couldn’t appreciate Jesus’ presence or learn from him, she couldn’t be fed with his wisdom and love. All she could do was question his compassion and care for her, “Lord, don’t you care?”

When we are unable to focus on Jesus, we become just as fragmented and torn. Other things in our lives take on a magnitude of meaning that is unhealthy, and impossible when we focus on Jesus.

Jesus knows that we, like Martha, like Mary, long to be whole. We long to delight in Jesus words, to sit at his feet and soak him in. We long for the healing and wholeness that comes from him yet all too often, distracted and worried by the other things we have to do and the other things in our live, we fail to truly focus and devote our attention on him. We make the choice to turn away; we choose the distractions.

Jesus invites us to sit at his feet, to seek passionate embrace with him - the “better thing” that he offers us – himself. Jesus invites us and he invited Martha to accept him as soothing balm, as the source of transforming peace, mercy, and love.

Jesus offers us so much and we need to passionately connect with Jesus; to be so attuned to him that it is his company and his presence that we seek in the quiet. Jesus offers himself as balm for healing, as bread for the journey, as wine for vigorously living in his discipleship.

Jesus invites us to immerse ourselves in the better thing as well. What will our answer be? Please pray with me.

O Lord Jesus, we long to sit at your feet and learn from you, yet we often get confused, distracted and worried over the many other voices and things that call for our attention. Help us to seek, follow, and cling to the “better way” – passionate life in and through you. Bless us in the work you call us to, so that we might find it a balm for communion with you, the bread of life. Grant us blessed awareness of your presence in life.

Amen.

           

           

           

The Fiftieth Day

Pentecost 2019 – Acts 2:1-21

            Imagine that you and I are among the disciples who have been regularly meeting together and have even gotten to spend some time with the risen Jesus during the fifty days since Easter. How might we relate all that happened on that Pentecost morning? Perhaps something like this: spoken as a 1^st century disciple

As we sat in the upper room on this 50^th day, it’s been ten days since Jesus ascended to heaven, but before he left us, in the days between his resurrection and now, Jesus said and did some pretty radical things, just like he did when he walked with us before his crucifixion.

From the very first night, the day we discovered his tomb empty, Jesus has returned to visit us and explain things to us, and tell us how we will do the work of his kingdom when he’s not here anymore.

But from that first night, Jesus told us not to fear but to be at peace. He told us many times that he would not leave us bereft and alone but would send and advocate to lead us into the way of peace.  

One night, soon after the empty tomb, a couple of the disciples were walking on the way to Emmaus and they met him on the road. They didn’t recognize him at first, he appeared to them as a stranger – but they told him all that had happened in Jerusalem. But that night, as he sat with them at dinner, suddenly, in the breaking of the bread, they knew with no doubt at all exactly who he was. He opened our hearts and minds to understanding the Scriptures that night, especially as they pointed to him as the Promised one of God.

Then, just like he had in the days before his death, he promised to send an advocate – the Holy Spirit - to equip us with gifts who would open us up like that, and would give us all that we needed to carry on his work, to tell everyone about who he was and why he came – what happened to him, and all that.

He told us that while we would never know the exact time when he will return and bring the kingdom to its fullness, until then, all the gifts we needed would be given and all he has told us will help do our work – the work he is giving to us.

This advocate would even give us the power to carry the truth of who he is throughout Judea, including, amazingly, that wretched, unholy place, Samaria, and finally to all the ends of the world. Jesus means for us to share with everyone, so that everyone has the opportunity to believe in him.

Who could ever believe these things if it were not Jesus himself who told us they would happen? Who could ever believe that eventually his followers would live on every continent throughout the world? But I am getting ahead of myself.

Because, as we sat in the upper room pondering all these things and wondering about what God would do next, or whether those opposed to us would break into that room and do to us what they had done to Jesus, maybe what we should have been afraid of instead was about to happen.

We didn’t know what to think at first as the wind started howling. This wasn’t like any wind we had ever experienced before. It wasn’t outside the building where we sat huddled, but in the very room in which we were gathered!

Things got crazy then, with fire first appearing and then separating into many tongues which rested on each person there, and suddenly, before they even knew what was happening, the eleven were speaking in many voices and languages! I can’t even begin to describe what a powerful experience that was! The truly amazing thing was, all the believers gathered around could clearly understand what each one was saying, - every word – every foreign tongue, even if not in their own tongue!

The noise was incredible!

The cacophony that was created by all this was so loud and so strange it startled the unbelievers, who could not understand what was happening and claimed we were crazy or drunk or both.

But we knew we weren’t. We were altered alright, changed for sure, but in the very best way possible, freed from our fear and our ignorance through this blessing of the Holy Spirit of God for the holy mission God would give us. And we would never be the same.

But the amazing, wondrous, miraculous things did not stop there. Peter, the same one who assumed would lead us despite making some of the biggest blunders, always sticking his foot in his mouth – well, he began to speak.

He, who had never preached before, began speaking with power and authority about the person of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, who was sent by God into the world but who they (the unbelievers) had crucified. He spoke powerfully and convincingly for hours!

Amazingly, by the time Peter was finished, all those unbelievers – about three thousand of them, repented, confessing Jesus as Lord, and they were baptized.

 

The church we know today doesn’t look much like the one that was birthed that day, especially as it appears in the Western world; there were no specially-built churches with steeples or organs or pianos or band set-ups; nor large buildings with auditorium seating, fancy lighting, and screens like some churches have.

There were no little baptismal fonts like what we have now, and no fancy altars and pulpits such as we have come to expect in so many of our worship spaces. There were no committees or vacation bible schools or Sunday School programs for that matter. No pot-luck dinners, fund raisers, or youth groups.  

As Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber writes, “At the so-called birth of the church there were no ushers handing the Parthians a bulletin.   The Medes didn’t have a bake sale after the service.   It can be hard to see any resemblance at all from how we started to what we have become.  …. unless we look at the people.  In which case there is honestly no difference whatsoever.

“See, we still have fear and isolation in the church. It’s called sectarianism.  So nothing’s changed there.  And those people who did the whole speaking in tongues thing …well, obviously they are the Pentecostals.

“And that long list of how many different nationalities showed up must have been added by the first UCC’er bragging about their multiculturalism.  Nothing’s changed there. 

“Then there were those who witnessed this powerful act of God…this Pente-chaos and, in an attempt at intellectualizing it, all they said was “well what does this mean?” So, they were like, the first Lutherans.

“And the ones who said, “Those people are drunk” were perhaps some Evangelicals focused on the personal morality of others. So that’s not changed a whole lot.  

“Then finally there’s the nice but completely naive guy who says “O my gosh, there’s no way they can be drunk…it’s only 9 o clock in the morning.”  So, there we have what we like to call the Methodists.

“Nothing’s changed much,” Bolz-Weber continues.

“People are people. There are the emotional ones, the judgmental one, the naïve ones, and of course the ones like myself, who insist on categorizing and naming everyone as though people can be reduced to a label.  Honestly.

“So, there we all are even from the beginning.  Flawed, smug, confused, embarrassed and embarrassing…in other words the very people to whom God sends the spirit.”

I think Bolz-Weber has a point there. Just like that first Pentecost, God still surprises, shocks and amazes us by showing up, and never as we expect him to.

First, God doesn’t use perfect people to show us what godly love is like; that’s a good thing because if God needed perfect people to do this work that would rule a lot of us out, me chief among them.

Nor does God seem to care much if we are man or woman, straight, gay or queer, single or married, young or old, rich or poor, black, white, pink, yellow, brown, red, purple, polka dotted or striped. God just loves. That’s what God does, and that’s what God expects us to do.

God doesn’t care if we are perky or fussy, beautiful or just average, tall or short, skinny or generously proportioned. God loves us just the way we are and offers himself for our salvation, and then uses us to serve the whole world, sharing the good news of this astounding grace.

God doesn’t care if we are eloquent or totally trip over our tongues when we have to talk in front of people. God uses us anyway.

God doesn’t care if we get squeamish at the first sign of a paper-cut or whether we are battle-hardened, having accompanied others through the deepest wounds imaginable, through the Holy Spirit God gives us the gifts we need to be the embodiment of the hands and feet of Jesus – with hearts full of compassion and love.

            God’s Holy Spirit is not stopped by closed doors – including the doors to our own hesitant and doubting hearts.

            God apparently doesn’t care on whit whether we are rich or poor (although Jesus does caution us that what we treasure reveal where are hearts are focused).

God doesn’t really care if we’re liberal or conservative, centrist, libertarian, or green-party. We may struggle with this one, truth be told. But God doesn’t. As long as we unite in Christian love, service, care and compassion, and continue to call out evil, injustice, oppression and bigotry, God’s okay with whatever we want to call ourselves; because God knows our most fundamental identity is Child of God. God knows this because God made it so.

            To help us with this, God sent Jesus that all might have life in his name, and then sent the Holy Spirit, that the life he gave might grow and share the good news of his mercy and grace.

            The Holy Spirit’s job is huge – and so when she came, she came in whirlwind, and fire and powerful signs and wonders. Today we celebrate the enlivening, empowering, creative, faith-giving, unifying work of the Holy Spirit.

Where do you feel the Holy Spirit moving in your life? In this place? In the world?

We rejoice that Jesus did just what he said he would, by sending this advocate this force of the divine, to be the wind under our wings, the one who prays with and for us in sighs too deep for words, brings us to faith and then strengthens us in the Word.

And today we celebrate the Holy Spirit who stirs things up, because the mind of the Spirit is the will of God, willing us to that abundance of life God desires for those in this world to have. It’s sometimes a challenging reality, as the equanimity in God’s vision often upsets the apple cart, leads us into turbulence, and takes us to places we’d rather not go. This Holy Spirit sometimes consumes what was, in order to make room for what is to come. And that’s a good thing.

As you look around and see the Holy Spirit at work  in the world, or look inside and see her transforming you, and especially as we look at this church and see God’s presence and work through the Holy Spirit enlivening our work together, let us give praise for that fiery Spirit and blessed wind. Through God’s mercy an the work of the Spirit, we pray that this church would soar to places we never imagined possible, doing God’s holy work. Amen.

Coloring Outside the Lines

Each week we have a Wednesday evening service at the church I serve. Often I will deliver reflections on one of the lessons I will not be preaching on on Sunday. Sometimes I will reflect on one or another themes that my preparation for preaching the upcoming Sunday has turned up. But this coming Sunday's lectionary offers a choice of texts for the Gospel, so this Wednesday, my homily was based on the gospel text we will NOT hear on Sunday.

 

John 14:23-29

Jesus speaks of his word in our text today. Just what is the “word” of Jesus? Jesus’ word is truth.

But then that begs the question: What is truth?

Here is truth – the gospel of John has spoon-fed it to us over the past several weeks.

The truth is that God is love. The truth is that God loves us and that God loves the whole world. The truth is that God desires that all people know the life-giving mercy and grace made possible in Jesus Christ.

The truth is that the love of God is for all people.

The truth is that Jesus shows us and calls us to servant love – love that places the needs and good of the other before our own.

The truth is that if we follow the first and most important commandment, to love God with all our being ; to love God above all else and then to follow that with loving our neighbor as ourselves, then God makes God’s home with us. 

But there are so many competing voices in our world who want to define the truth of Jesus by their own self-serving vision of holy hierarchy, where their own needs and desires, status, prosperity or whatever it is that is most important in their lives must be met and anything that threatens or impacts acquisition of the same creates fear and animosity. Those voices all too often seek to place boundaries like lines on God’s love, and color it in.

When I was little, I loved to color. I’m not sure that kids today color the way we colored. It was a major activity and we had loads and loads of coloring books and crayons – good, old0fashioned crayons – in our house to prove it. I was a perfectionist even then. I abhorred coloring outside the lines. So, I discovered that if I outlined the portion of the picture I wanted to color first, then I was more likely to be able to keep within the lines of the picture and not cross the crayon boundaries I had created.

The competing voices that confront us in our daily lives are a lot like the coloring pages I created, and the theory behind my outlines. They declare that all God has drawn borders around us. God wants our individual happiness and well-being, and Jesus came to achieve that for us. Since Jesus died on the cross for it and for us, we’re all good, right? We can color away – just stay inside the lines.

And anything that might threaten our personal goal of happiness for ourselves at all costs – even the cost paid on the cross, is what extends past the lines, and induces deep fear in us.

Next week we will be observing the ascension of Jesus into the heavenly realm, and once again in our text tonight, Jesus is in preparation mode. Not preparing himself – but preparing the disciples for what is to come.

Following the crucifixion and resurrection, Jesus spent some time with his disciples in the time between Easter and the ascension. But this time, when Jesus leaves, they will not see him again on this side of glory. We will not see him again until his return.

After the ascension, no longer would Jesus walk in the world and continue to school his disciples as he has done since the resurrection.

That might have been a really scary realization for the disciples. Jesus is leaving them with an enormous mission, and it’s up to them to carry on this work of loving and caring and showing what godly compassion and mercy look like.

Jesus is leaving them with a message for those in the world that will be cherished by some and despised by others. It will be dangerous at times, and it will be challenging, but it’s a vital message and will also be work worth doing; and Jesus promises they will not be alone in it.

Once again, Jesus wishes the disciples peace. It is the thing that they need the most, perhaps because Jesus will be sending them to color outside the lines. Jesus eradicates the boundaries we place in order to keep our lives neat and pretty. They – and we – will need the peace of Jesus when we are going to color outside the lines. So, Jesus wishes them peace – so that their hearts will not be consumed by fear and grief once more. Indeed, they need peace, and they need faith. [which the Holy Spirit will grow in them as the Holy Spirit does in us.]

It might feel like a pretty tall order that Jesus is leaving them with, and that by extension, Jesus give to us. But Jesus reassures them that it really will be okay. Because Jesus doesn’t leave them – or us – alone. God sends the Advocate – that pesky and wondrous Holy Spirit, to guide us in the ways of truth, to us them, and to remind us of what it is that Jesus commands of us.

This promise that God will be sending forth the third person of this symbiotically working godhead, the Holy Spirit, is God’s investment in the continuation of the work of Jesus in the world.

This Holy Spirit will, teach, remind, console, empower, and enliven the work they – and we - will do in Jesus’ name . The Holy Spirit is, in fact, God’s power unleashed in us, enabling us to tell truth, to show love, to invite in, and to go out.

The Holy Spirit inspires us all to share God’s word.

The Holy Spirit empowers us to speak truth to the powers of the world.

The Holy Spirit gives each of us gifts to use to further the work of the Kingdom of God.

The Holy Spirit comes to us and goes forth from us in prayer, in sighs too deep for words.

Keeping Jesus’ word is the primary point of order for disciples, and will be the proof of our love for Jesus. It’s all about keeping Jesus’ word. And therein lies the rub, because we human beings are so good at deceiving ourselves, and convincing ourselves that keeping Jesus’ word as Jesus’ gave it is negotiable. It is hypocrisy to claim to know and love Jesus but to act in ways contrary to the ethic of love of neighbor and care for all people that Jesus himself illustrated with his life.

This text appears in what is known as the Farewell Discourse of Jesus. Because Jesus knows that following his word and speaking his truth will get us rejected at times, thrown out of the groups to which we belong at times, and will make us hugely unpopular at times. So, Jesus drives home again and again this truth: “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them”.

Because here’s the thing: abiding in Jesus’ love and keeping Jesus’ words are the only things that will make it possible to withstand the rejection that comes with believing that God really does love the whole world – that God loves all people, and all means all. Those people who are inside the drawn lines and boundaries of our society, and those who are outside. Those who keep the little world we try to create around us neat and clean, and those whose inclusion makes it a bit messy.

But Jesus reminds us that we are created for this, and so we are not left alone to be the hands of Jesus in the world. Jesus came that all people might have life in his name, and Jesus shines the light on us, as we carry out life-giving love and mercy through sharing the truth known through Jesus Christ. through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So, dear friends, we are encouraged, empowered, and strengthened through the Holy Spirit to keep Jesus’ words. We are not alone. The Holy Spirit will teach you everything and remind you of all the words Jesus has spoken to you. Let it be so.