St Oswald’s Sermon 12th March 2023
John 14: 15-31 ‘The Promise of the Spirit’
And the Lord God commanded the man,
“You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; but you must not eat from the
tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will
certainly die.”
Genesis 2.16-17
Jesus said, “If
you love me, you will obey what I command.”
Do this and I
will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counsellor to be with you
forever – the Spirit of truth.
Similarly,
when Jesus tells the story of the wise and foolish builder we can learn the
importance of firm foundations.
Good foundations are essential and that is why it is important that we regularly return and reflect upon the opening chapters of Genesis.
God gave only one command.
Everything
else was provided, food, work, dignity, status, value – and as the narrative
progresses, God provides the perfect partner, bone of bone and flesh of flesh.
Did
they love God, would they keep this one command?
Sadly,
they didn’t pass the test and failed to keep this one command.
This
then sets up a recurring theme that will run throughout the whole of the
Biblical narrative.
Is
God able to find anyone who will keep his commands.
If we take the time to carefully study the Gospel accounts of Jesus, to meditate on them and chew them over, we will discover that Jesus is a son of Adam. Luke gives us that information in his genealogy, which he traces back through Joseph with Jesus as his adopted son, all the way back to Adam. Then at Jesus’s baptism Jesus is revealed as the unique Son of God. This is further confirmed at Jesus’ transfiguration.
Thus,
Jesus is both the son of Adam and the Son of God.
In
the Garden of Eden as well as the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which was
not to be touched, was also the Tree of Life.
In
their disobedience Adam and Eve fortified eating from the Tree of Life and were
pushed out into the wilderness, out of the Garden, out into death and decay.
Could
it be that in Jesus, the one who alone of all those who have ever lived,
remained utterly obedient to God’s will, could it be that in him we see the
Tree of Life from which by grace we are invited to eat and receive life – life
in all it fulness as we read in John 10.10.
O loving wisdom of our God!
When all was sin and shame,
a second Adam to the fight
and to the rescue came.
And
are we not once more faced with that same choice – to keep the commands as
Jesus asks us to, to choose life over death. To choose God’s will over our own.
“If
it be possible, let this cup pass by. But nevertheless, not my will be done but
yours.”
Familiar
words wrung from the lips of Jesus which we will hear as we continue our
journey with Jesus to Golgotha during this Lenten season.
But
how can we possibly do that?
How
can we possibly remain faithful?
“…‘Not
by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty." – Zechariah 4:6
And
Jesus promises this Spirit, the one who brooded over the waters of chaos
in the creation narrative, the one who inspired the Prophets, the same Spirit
that came upon Moses as he encountered God on Mount Sinai. The same Sprit that
led Israel as a Cloud and a pillar of Fire. The same Spirit that was called
Lady Wisdom and whose wise words were found in Israel’s wisdom literature,
particular in Proverbs and in the Works of Solomon, words of wisdom that led to
life.
The very same Spirit that came to rest upon the Tabernacle and then upon Solomon’s Temple.
And
that’s important for the whole of the story the Bible is telling us, from cover
to cover.
Chapters 14,15 and 16 of John’s Gospel are known as the Farewell Discourses. In these chapters, Jesus knows his earthly in ministry in the flesh is drawing to its end and he is seeking to prepare his disciples.
From
our reading this morning, John 14:30-31
‘I
will not say much more to you, for the prince of this world is coming. He has
no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the
Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me.’ (Note that obedience again)
However,
this is for their good he says, that he goes away, and by extension for our
good as well.
One
of the things John in writing his Gospel wants us to know is that Jesus is the
Jerusalem Temple personified.
The
Jerusalem Temple, the heaven and earth reality where God’s Spirit rested.
The
Jerusalem Temple which like the stream flowing from under the altar in
Ezekiel’s vision of chapter 47, starts as a trickle but becomes a mighty river
bringing life and health and healing to the whole world.
The Jerusalem Temple which according to Isaiah and many other Prophets and the Psalms would be the place from which justice and peace would flow and that Gentiles would flock to so that they may learn of God’s ways.
That
was in Jerusalem – that was a magnificent piles of stones, much beautified and
extended by Herod over a 40 year period.
But
it was geographically located, fixed, in one place.
During
his earthy ministry Jesus is fixed, in one place geographically.
But
the time is coming Jesus says to the woman at the well, when you will not
worship here on Mount Gerizim, or in Jerusalem, but you shall worship in Spirit
and in Truth.
But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he
will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will
speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. John 16.13
And this from Mark 14.58…
“We heard him (Jesus) say, ‘I will destroy
this temple made with human hands and in three days will build another, not
made with hands.’”
Three days after Jesus was destroyed by human hands, God raised him up without human hands.
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The Jerusalem Temple built by human hands was destroyed by
human hands in AD70 - and has never been rebuilt.
Judas (not Iscariot) is confused by all this talk about
going and not being known by the world.
“But Lord, (Judas said) why do intend to show
yourself to us and not to the world.”
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my
teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our
home with them.
Jesus will
be known to the world through his faithful and obedient disciples, then and
now.
And if you
remember nothing else today take this verse and tuck it away deep in your
heart, imprint it upon your mind, write it in your diary, on your calendar, wherever
you will see it regularly.
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My
Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.
But note the
choice – and the lure of the world as it is organised outside of God’s will and
purposes….
For Jesus
continues…
Anyone who
does not love me will not obey my teaching. These words you hear are not my
own; they belong to the Father who sent me.
And we are back in the Garden and the test, to keep the
one command.
We all face a choice for Jesus is either Lord of all, or
he is not Lord at all.
Adam and Eve were placed in the Temple Space, the Garden
of Eden, and they were animated by God’s Spirit to be God’s image bearers to
the world and to become Royal Priest in God’s Temple.
Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust
of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man
became a living being.
Today we have an opportunity to get our second wind, a
second breath, to be reanimated by God’s breath, the Holy Spirit.
And then, having been animated by the breath of God, we
move from being in the temple to being the temple.
Do you not know that your body is a temple of
the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not
your own.
1 Corinthians 6.19
And from Ephesians 2:19-22…
You
Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens with everyone
else who belongs to the family of God. You are
like a building with the apostles and prophets as the foundation and with
Christ as the most important stone. Christ is the one who holds the
building together and makes it grow into a holy temple for the Lord. And
you are part of that building Christ has built as a place for God's own Spirit
to live.
And this temple is mobile, not geographical located, not fixed in one place. And this temple offers all that the Jerusalem Temple offered and more. Wisdom, love, grace and mercy and peace and forgiveness. Justice, loving kindness. A heaven and earth reality. Heralding and pointing towards the great day when we will rejoice to see the Great Wedding Banquet of the Lamb with the Church as the Bride.
And this temple is fulfilling the mandate of Genesis 1.28
‘God
blessed them: God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and
subdue it…
Reiterating the Great Commission of Matthew 28
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Jesus said, “If
you love me, you will obey what I command.”
Well, do we?
Jesus summarised those commands in this way; “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
Adam and Eve failed to keep the one command.
Jesus gives as a summation of all his teaching two commandments and the promise of the Spirit to help us keep them - all it requires on our part is a willing, humble and a contrite heart to reach out and say as did Mary, "I am the Lord's servant, may it be to me as you have said."
Let us pray…
Holy Spirit, living breath of God,
Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Bring the presence of the risen Lord,
To renew my heart and make me whole.
Cause Your Word to come alive in me;
Give me faith for what I cannot see,
Give me passion for Your purity;
Holy Spirit, breathe new life in me.
Holy Spirit, living breath of God, Breathe new life into my willing soul.
Should like to see the ‘live’ version in context follow this link.
Worship and prayer - St Matthew and St Oswald's with Overslade (m2o.org.uk)
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