Deo Gloria
Sermon for May 17, 2020
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: John 14:15-21
Theme: Victorious Living Empowered by the Spirit
- Obeying Jesus’ commands
- Having the Spirit as our Counselor
- Being loved by the Father
When someone has been defeated, how do they act? Often you’ll see them walking around with their head hanging down and a sullen look on their face. They tend to shuffle their feet or at least walk more slowly. If you talk to them, they don’t have much enthusiasm in their voice. And their outlook on life tends to be rather negative, on just about everything.
So now contrast that with someone who has been victorious, someone who just won a big game or hit a homerun or received a big promotion. Their head is held high. They’ve got a look of joy and excitement in their face. They’ve got a spring their step. They’ve got an air of confidence about them and a positive outlook on life, on just about everything.
So which one are you—the person who has been defeated or the one who has been victorious? As Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, I would submit that we are the second. We are victorious, not because we have won some amazing victory but because Jesus has. He has won the greatest victory of all, the victory over Satan and sin and death. And he shares that victory with us, his followers. Because he is victorious, we are victorious too.
So what does that mean for our daily lives? Does it mean we always walk around with a smile on our face and a spring in our step and a positive outlook on everything? Probably not. In fact, that might be a bit challenging in the midst of a coronavirus pandemic. But still, being followers of Jesus, our victorious Savior, does make a difference in our lives, a tremendous difference. And in these verses from John ch. 14 Jesus helps us understand how. Being victorious in Jesus means living in a new way, living in obedience to his commands. It means having the Sprit as our Counselor. And it means being loved by the Father.
“If you love me,” Jesus says, “you will obey what I command”(v. 15). Wow! Jesus doesn’t mess around, does he? He doesn’t leave us wondering. He doesn’t leave room for doubt or confusion. He just lays it right on the line: “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Notice he doesn’t say, “You should obey what I command” or “You have to obey.” He simply says, “You will. You will obey what I command.” The word Jesus uses that is translated “obey” literally means “to guard and keep.” Think of your wedding ring or maybe the ruby necklace your grandmother gave you. Do you just leave things like that lying around the house or do you just throw them on the floor when you’re not wearing them? Of course not! Those things are special to you. So you guard them. You treasure them. You keep them in a special place so you don’t lose them. That’s the picture here. Because we love Jesus, we love what he tells us too. We treasure it. We guard it. We keep it. We obey it. It’s very special to us. Whether it’s his command to love one another as he has loved us or his command to go and make disciples of all nations; whether it’s his promise to give us eternal life or his promise to be with us always to the very end of the age—we love those things. We treasure them. We hold on to them. We obey them. We follow them, because what he says is very special to us.
So how do you react to Jesus’ words in v. 15: “If you love me, you will obey what I command”? Do you react the same way I do—a little embarrassed, a little ashamed? I mean, I don’t know about you, but I haven’t always looked at what Jesus says as special. Sometimes I’ve just plain ignored his Word or taken his Word for granted. And I know I haven’t always done a very good job of obeying his commands either. I haven’t always loved him with all my heart and all my soul and all my mind. And I haven’t always loved my neighbor as myself. I haven’t always been kind and patient toward others. I haven’t always given God my first and my best. I haven’t always been concerned about sharing his Word with others. Truth is when it comes to obeying Jesus’ commands, I’ve failed. We all have. We’ve broken his commands time and time again.
And we expect to live in the Father’s house someday, that wonderful place we heard about in last Sunday’s gospel lesson? Fat chance! Because of our sins, we deserve to be banished from the Father’s house, shut out and locked out forever. And that’s exactly what would happen except for one thing: our Savior Jesus and his love for us.
Because of his great love for us, our Savior Jesus left the Father’s house and came into this world to be our Savior. Because of his great love for us, Jesus laid down his life for us on Calvary’s cross, suffering the punishment we deserved so that we might be spared, that we might have forgiveness for our sins, peace for our souls, and might live with him one day in the Father’s house. Without Jesus we would be lost. But because of him, because of his death and his glorious resurrection, we are saved. Forgiveness is ours. Salvation is ours. Life is ours—both now and forever. It’s all ours thanks to Jesus Christ our Savior.
So how do we express our gratitude to him for what he has done for us? By obeying his commands. “If you love me, you will obey what I command.” Sounds so simple, doesn’t it? But it isn’t. It’s a struggle. You know that, and I know that too. Living a godly life and striving to obey Jesus’ commands is a struggle. It’s battle each and every day.
And that’s why Jesus says what he does in verses 16+17. He promises to send someone to help us. “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—the Spirit of truth.” The word Jesus uses for Counselor literally means “someone who is called to your side for assistance.” Maybe you had a friend like that in school. Whenever you had trouble with your homework, you’d call up Jimmy or you’d call up Susie and they’d come over to your house and help you with your homework. That’s sort of what the Spirit is like: someone who comes to our side to help us. Jesus had told his disciples that he would soon be leaving and returning to the Father; but he would not be leaving them alone, to fend for themselves, to fight this daily battle and live a Christian life by themselves. No, he was going to ask the Father to send someone to help them—a Counselor, a Comforter, an Encourager, a Helper—the Holy Spirit. Jesus doesn’t leave us alone either, to fend for ourselves, to fight our daily battle alone. He also asks the Father to send someone to help us—the Holy Spirit.
Notice also how Jesus refers to the Spirit. He calls him “the Spirit of truth.” Our world is full of lies, isn’t it? Full of distortions and deception and half-truths. We don’t need anymore of those. What we need is someone who will teach us the truth, someone who will tell us the way things really are. And that’s exactly what the Holy Spirit does. He teaches us the truth. He tells us the way things really are by leading us to know and understand and believe the truths of the Bible.
Through the Bible the Spirit teaches us the truth about our world and where we came from: that God created our world and all that exists. Through the Bible the Spirit teaches us the truth about ourselves: that we are sinful and desperately in need of a Savior. Through the Bible the Spirit teaches us the truth about right and wrong and how we are to live our lives. Through the Bible the Spirit teaches us the truth about heaven and hell: that they are real places and that people really go there. Through the Bible the Spirit teaches us the truth about Jesus: that he is the Son of God and Savior of the world, that he is the way to heaven.
But most of all, through the Bible the Spirit teaches us the truth about God and his great love for us, the truth expressed by Jesus in v. 21, “He who loves me will be loved by my Father.” Sometimes people have trouble believing and accepting that, though, don’t they—that God truly loves them? Sometimes I have trouble believing and accepting that—that God truly loves me. Perhaps it’s because their father left them when they were little. Perhaps it’s because they’ve been abused or mistreated over the years. Perhaps it’s because they’ve experienced heartache or tragedy in their lives, like those who have lost loved ones due to the Coronavirus. Or perhaps it’s because of our sins. Sometimes it’s just hard for me to understand and believe that God really loves me, that the God of heaven really cares.
And that’s where the Spirit comes in. The Holy Spirit comes alongside to help me, to help me see and understand and believe what sometimes is so hard for me to believe: that God really does love me. He does so by taking me into the Scriptures and teaching me the truth: that God has, in fact, always loved me, long before my life began, even before the world began. And because he loved me, he sent his Son to die for me. And because he loved me, he washed my sins away and adopted me into his family through the waters of Holy Baptism. And now because I am part of his family, one of his dearly loved children, he loves me even more. In love he promises to provide for me and care for me each and every day. In love he promises to protect me from harm and danger. In love he promises to be with me and help me in every time of trouble. In love he promises to hear and answer my every prayer. In love he promises to forgive me when I sin and restore me when I fall. And one day in love he promises to take me to his place to live with him forever. Yes, even though my family or friends haven’t always loved me, even though I have trouble loving myself sometimes, God really does love me, and he loves you as well. He loves us all with a love so great that it’s almost too good to be true—but it is true. The Spirit helps us understand that.
So how do we respond? How do we respond to God’s great love for us and all that he has done for us? By obeying his commands. “This is love for God,” the Bible says, “to obey his commands”(1 John 5:3). Sounds kind of familiar, doesn’t it? “If you love me, you will obey what I command.”
Imagine for a second that you lived in Nashville, TN and your house was in the path of one of the tornadoes that struck there back in March. You heard the sirens. You saw the tornado heading straight for your house. So you made a mad dash for the bathroom and moments after you climbed inside the tub, the tornado struck. Your house was literally ripped apart and the oak tree in the front yard along with a large section of the roof landed on top of you. Amazingly you were still alive, but you were trapped, pinned under thousands of pounds of tree and debris. You tried to move it yourself, but it was pointless. It wouldn’t budge. So you called for help, yelling as loud as you could, but no one answered. “Was anyone else around?” you wondered. “Was anyone else even alive?” Finally, after several hours, you began to hear voices. It was your neighbors. They were looking for you, calling for you, wondering if you were still alive. You called out and this time they heard you. Without delay they ran and got chainsaws and ropes and axes and anything else they could find. They worked feverishly to get you out of there. Finally, after another hour or two they were able to cut through all the debris and rescue you from your demolished house. Would you be thankful to your neighbors? Of course you would! You’d be very grateful, extremely grateful. You might even say to them, “You know, if there’s anything I can ever do for you, just let me know.”
This is the way you and I feel toward God. This is the difference, the real and dramatic difference God has made in our lives. You see, it’s not so much our love for Jesus that makes all the difference; it’s God’s love for us. It’s his love for us that has changed our hearts. It’s his love for us that has changed our attitude toward him and his Word. It is his love for us that inspires us to love him and to love others. It is his love for us that motivates us to obey his commands—not because we have to, because we want to. And even though we don’t do it perfectly, even though we often sin and we often stumble and fall, we keep on battling. We keep on struggling. We keep on striving with the Spirit’s help to express our gratitude, to show our love for him by obeying his commands, because that’s what loving Jesus means. And that’s how someone who is victorious in Jesus lives. Amen.