John 14. 23-29
Faith begins and faith ends with god loving us!
It’d be so much easier, if we all began with a blank slate. If we started with a whiteboard where the only marks on it were ones we make here, now. Where the only option, the only alternative, was the one we put on it. It’d be so much easier if we could, finally, talk about all things religious and not just be in the same book or the same chapter, but on the same page. What a wonderful life this would be! Unfortunately, it isn’t. It isn’t and we aren’t.
The debate about nurture and nature aside, if we were born with a clean slate, it doesn’t stay that way, for long. From the very first breath, things get written on it. And soon enough, it gets covered with information. And trying to make sense of it all, we start to organize and classify. Concepts, they’re called. Way. Shape. Form. Concepts like colors and numbers and letters. We spend years of our life trying to figure it all out.
There are concepts. But there are also pre-concepts. That’s when we jump to conclusions, before we have all the information. And there are mis-concepts, when we just plain get it wrong. When we’ve filed the information away improperly. In the wrong files. With the wrong information. And it’s these last two – the preconceptions and the misconceptions – that cause the most problems for us, here in the church.
You see, we begin learning about faith, the moment we’re born. In fact, faith is the first thing we ever learn. Before we’re, even, baptized, the processing begins. Our first step: whether or not our parents are worthy of our trust. If they’re here with us, for us, then we trust. If not, we don’t. Do they change us when we’re wet? Do they feed us when we’re hungry? Hold us when we’re scared or cold? Long before we get to the bible, we’re already organizing all the chicken scratches, all the graffiti. And that organizing, eventually, becomes religion. It becomes faith, believing. And that organizing has a way of filtering how we see the world around us. It’s not a matter of seeing is believing. It more believing is seeing … and hearing … and feeling … the sermons … the bible … the water and bread and wine … Those concepts – especially, the preconceptions and the misconceptions – determine it all. So, it would be so much easier, if we all began with a clean slate. The same experiences. The same information. The same categories. But we don’t. And that makes being church … a bit more complicated … a bit more challenging … Like when we come face-to-face with a passage like the one, this morning, from John’s gospel.
Most of us, here in the good old U.S. of A. have grown up with a certain set of concepts. Some of us more than others. Pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. If it’s meant to be it’s up to me. Make your dreams come true. That’s what our world, our culture’s, been telling us. And the concept has taken root deep in our psyche. And it determines, to a large extent, what we believe here in the church. It’s the way we’ve organized what’s on the whiteboard. God’s up high and far away, looking down on us. Taking notes. Keeping score. And it’s up to us to get there. So, the focus has, always, been on us. Us reading our bibles. Us saying our prayers. Us going to church, every Sunday. It’s all about our commitment and our dedication. Our choice and our decision. And god doesn’t have much to do with it. God or Jesus or the cross. It’s dos and don’ts. Cans and can’ts. Shoulds or shouldn’ts. Sermons are down-to-earth and practical. Applying biblical principles to real life. And sacraments? Baptism? The supper? Well, they don’t matter much in the American church.
It’s as if this passage from John were meant for people just like us. “Those who love me,” Jesus says, “keep my word! And those who keep my word, god will love! Love and come and make a home with!” Makes sense, doesn’t it? It’s something we hear every day. And here it is. In chapter and verse. In red letters. Unfortunately, it’s not what Jesus said. It’s not what he meant. Instead, it’s the result of all those old preconceptions, all those old misconceptions, rearing their ugly heads, one more time. True religion, real faith, doesn’t begin with us. It doesn’t begin with us loving Jesus. It starts, instead, with Jesus loving us. It starts with Jesus loving us just as we are! That’s why we have to be born again. Faith requires it. Believing demands it. We need to start from scratch! Reorganize all the information on the whiteboard. Come up with a completely new way of understanding what life’s written there!
No. It’s not about loving Jesus! Faith is Jesus loving us! And then, it’s us loving each other because of Jesus! Loving just like Jesus loved! Loving just like Jesus loves! That’s the new paradigm – the new concept – for the church! We’re not here for what we do for god. It’s never been about what we do for god! Not first! Not foremost! That’s the old way of thinking. The preconception. The misconception. Faith is about what god’s done! About what god’s doing! Doing for us! Doing for the world! For the cosmos! The preconception, the misconception, is that god loves only the billion or so people who love god. The truth is that god loves us all! All seven billion! Jesus suffered for them all! Jesus died and rose for all of them!
You see the difference? We don’t simply glom onto the verses, onto the passages, that seem to say what we already believe! That sound like they teach what we already know! Instead, we return over and over, again and again, to the love god has for everyone! For everyone and for everything! Whether we already love Jesus or not! Whether or not we’ve, even, heard his name! That’s the power, the primacy, of the gospel! That’s the reason for Luther’s reform! God loves us! God comes to us! God makes a home among us! No strings attached! And because of that, we love, as well! Love just like Jesus! “It’s grace that brought us safe, thus far! And it’s grace that brings us home!” Just like the song says!
There’s only one thing that matters in this place. That’s god’s commitment – god’s not ours! God’s dedication! God’s choice! God’s decision! And it’s god’s dream – not ours – that changes the world! So, if you’ve come here looking for a way to apply Jesus teachings, biblical principles, to everyday life … You’ve come to the wrong place. But if you’ve come to hear good news! Good news of god’s love for us all! Well, my friends, you have found a home!