Why do you love God? Why
did you choose to devote your life to him? As seminarians, it's
important that we ask this question of ourselves continually. Why do
I love God? It's very easy to forget why we are here and what we are
doing here. In the midst of our studies and conversations, we can
find that we have fallen in love with the idea and the topic of God,
but are slowly forgetting our love for God himself. Likewise, we can
be overcome by doubts and questions, forgetting that his love is
never in question. So, the answer to why we are here depends on our
answer to that question: Why do I love God?
In Psalm 116, the
psalmist begins, “I love the LORD
because he has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy.” However much
we learn about God, it all rests on this point: that God sent his
only Son to die on a cross for our sins. Everything we can ever know
about him is encompassed in the incarnation, crucifixion, death, and
resurrection of Jesus Christ. The vastness of his knowledge and depth
of his mystery are only magnified by the fact that he came to dwell
among us and took our sins upon himself so that we might live in him.
If God is so far beyond our understanding that we cannot hope to
grasp even a whisper of his truth by our own efforts, how then can he
love us enough and desire to be with us enough that he would take on
flesh and the full penalty of sin on our behalf?
The perfect
being, above all thought and imagination, which we call God, is
beyond what we can fathom. He is above all human reason and is
himself the fullness of truth which no human life can comprehend in
all its years. But it all still comes back to the fact that “while
we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” The more we think about
that fact, the more it exceeds our understanding. We continue our
studies not because we have moved beyond the basics of the Gospel,
but because we are still seeking to understand the fullness of this
truth: that “God so loved the world.”
We shouldn't
think too highly of ourselves because we know big words and can name
important people. All of what we do here is still only for the sake
of looking deeper into what has already “been proclaimed in all
creation under heaven.” After all of our studies and all of our
training; after the years of hard work for our degrees and accolades,
the only answer we have to give to those struggling in our midst, we
learned in Sunday school: Jesus. That's the root of why we're here.
“The LORD
preserves the simple;” the psalmist writes, “when I was brought
low, he saved me. Return, O my soul, to your rest; for the LORD
has dealt bountifully with you.”
The genius
of the Gospel is that it is so accessible that the most simple person
can understand it, but it is so complex that the greatest thinkers
can spend a lifetime examining it. It's simplicity preserves God's
people by grace through faith. It's complexity reveals the fullness
of God in all truth. In this tension, we must remember to rest our
souls in the God who has dealt bountifully with us. When we become
overwhelmed by doubts and confusion, as inevitably happens the deeper
we go into the study of God, we must remember the truth of who God is
and what he has done.
Our psalmist
writes, “for you have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from
tears, my feet from stumbling.”
What we know
is that God is true—not as a theory or a proposition—but as one
who loves us. So we can say with the psalmist, “I believed, even
when I spoke: 'I am greatly afflicted'; I said in my alarm, 'All
mankind are liars.'”
We cannot
trust in our own wisdom but must turn to the knowledge of God in
Christ. There, we see the fullness of his being and his love. He has
chosen to reveal himself to us in this way. What other reason do we
have to be here? What other reason is worth the time, money, or
effort that we put into our ministries? It's not only the study of
God or the shepherding of his people. It's falling in love with him
day by day, more and more inching closer to an understanding of that
love, only to find that with each step, we are able to see that his
love goes so much deeper. And we have an opportunity here to share in
that love with those around us. We can “lift up the cup of
salvation and call upon the name of the LORD,”
and “pay [our] vows to the LORD
in the presence of all his people.” Let's rejoice together in his
love and seek his love more fully in our studies and in our lives.
Part of life, and growing
up, is learning to distinguish between our needs and our wants. What
we want isn't always what's best for us. What we need isn't always
the most enjoyable thing. Our relationships with our parents, our
friends, our selves, and God influence the hierarchy of desires and
needs within us. Which relationships we hold in highest esteem will
determine which wants we hold of greatest value. If I care the most
about the relationship I have with my parents, my desires will be for
things that please them. Mostly, that's, a good education, a
high-paying job, and a stable lifestyle. If I care most about the
relationship I have with my friends, my desires will be for things
that please them. These can vary depending on the crowds you're
involved in. Sometimes it can be dangerous like excessive drinking
and vandalism. Other times it can be good, like the desire to be kind
to everyone and going on adventures together. If the relationship I
care most about is my relationship with my self, I will want things
like fame and fortune as my greatest desires. All of these first
three relationships—family, friends, and self—can be influences
for good or bad in our lives, but don't answer our deepest needs.
Today, I want us to think about the one relationship that can
properly mold our desires and needs to be one and the same. The
relationship we have with God, if it is the greatest influence on our
lives, will give us desires that not only satisfy us externally and
physically, but internally and spiritually.
If I were to ask you
right now, “what is your greatest desire,” what would it be?
Health? Love? Family? Money? Would it be for somebody else? Would it
be for the whole world? God asked Solomon that very question. Our
Scripture today says, “At Gibeon the LORD appeared to Solomon in a
dream by night, and God said, 'Ask what I shall give you.'”
Solomon's response to God depended on his relationship with God. It
depended on him putting his relationship with God as higher than
anything else. It was greater than his possessions, than his kingdom,
and even greater than himself. In fact, Solomon shows that all of his
other relationships are dependent on his relationship with God.
First, Solomon talks
about his relationship with his father, David. Solomon says to God,
“You have shown great and steadfast love to your servant David my
father, because he walked before you in faithfulness, in
righteousness, and in uprightness of heart toward you. And you have
kept for him this great and steadfast love and have given him a son
to sit on his throne this day.”
Solomon sees that his
father was a man who walked “in faithfulness, in righteousness, and
in uprightness of heart toward God.” He recognizes his father's
greatest virtue: that he had a relationship with God. For the parents
here, remember that how you lead your life will have an influence on
your children. The way you show your own values and desires will
influences the desires of your children. If parents show a love of
money, the children will value money. If a parent shows a love for
certain sports teams, the children will value those sports teams. If
a parent shows a love for their spouse, the children will value
marital love. If the parents show a love for God, the children will
value a relationship with God. Solomon was influenced by his father's
relationship with God. So he desired a relationship with God.
Solomon then moves on to
himself. He continues his prayer, “And now, O LORD my God, you have
made your servant king in place of David my father, although I am but
a little child. I do not know how to go out or come in.”
Solomon recognizes his
place with God. He knows that God is in charge of his life and God
has established his throne. He calls himself a little child,
recognizing who he is in the sight of God. He has no experience of
ruling a kingdom and knows that he needs guidance to do so. His
relationship with God is what determines his understanding of
himself. He understands that God is the authority in his life. Only
by God's guidance can he find the right path.
This path is the path not
only for himself, but for those around him. He prays to God, “And
your servant is in the midst of your people whom you have chosen, a
great people, too many to be numbered or counted for multitude. Give
your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people
that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern
this your great people?”
His relationship with
others, and how he acts toward them, is governed by his relationship
with God. He knows that his people and the rule he has over them, are
a gift from God. His relationship with them is dependent on his
relationship with God. If he does not follow God's guidance, he will
not be able to act rightly among the people.
We are not rulers of
kingdoms, but the relationships we have are defined by God in the
very same way as Solomon. All life comes from God. All true love
comes from God. If we don't recognize God in our relationships, that
is the first step to ruin. Our values are skewed when we begin to put
our relationships with others above our relationship with God. If God
is not at the center of our relationships, then he will also not be
at the center of our desires.
Because Solomon defined
his relationships with his father, with himself, and with his people
by his relationship with God, he answered God's question rightly. God
told Solomon, “Ask what I shall give you.” And after recognizing
God's sovereignty in his relationships, Solomon replied, “Give your
servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I
may discern between good and evil.”
Understanding our needs
comes from understanding our relationship with God. What
relationships we invest ourselves in will inevitably shape our
desires. Only by investing in the relationship that fulfills our
needs can we conform our needs with our desires. In Psalm 119, the
psalmist shows himself to be an example of this. He prays to God, “my
eyes have failed from watching for your salvation and for your
righteous promise.” Though he claims, “I have done what is just
and right,” he pleads to God, “turn to me in mercy, as you always
do to those who love your name.”
Following God and
understanding our relationship with God means knowing our need for
his mercy and love. The psalmist writes, “Deal with your servant
according to your loving-kindness, and teach me your statutes.” The
psalmist keeps his eyes to God and everything else in his life
follows from this. Defining our desires by our relationship with God
reveals his love and mercy in our lives. The more we focus on him,
the more we see our need for him and his faithfulness in fulfilling
his righteous promise to us.
We see in Paul's letter
to the Romans that when we realize our needs, that is when we will
receive grace. “The Spirit helps us in our weakness,” he writes,
“for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit
intercedes with sighs too deep for words.”
If we don't recognize our
weakness, our needs will not be met. God is there to provide for us.
He is there to lead us. He is there to strengthen us. But if we don't
turn to him, he won't force us to follow him. By acknowledging our
need for God, we open ourselves up to his provision. When we try to
do things on our own, we are not open to receiving what he has to
offer. But the moment we realize we can't answer our real needs on
our own, he is there to provide.
Solomon knew what was
right to ask because he knew what was truly valuable. He also knew
that only God could give him what he needed. He could not govern
God's people without God giving him the wisdom to do so. He could not
lead without God providing the way.
Like Solomon, each of us
needs to recognize God at the center of all of our relationships. We
need to see that he is the only one who can fill our real needs. “For
what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his
soul?” Solomon did not ask for long life or riches or the lives of
his enemies. He knows that the proper thing to ask of God is the
wisdom to live right by his teachings.
As Paul writes in his
epistle, “If God is for us, who is against us? He who did not
withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with
him also give us everything else? Who will bring any charge against
God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? It is Christ
Jesus, who died, yes, who was raised, who is at the right hand of
God, who indeed intercedes for us.”
We have an advocate. God
gives every good gift. His ultimate gift is redemption in his Son,
Jesus Christ, who died for our sins and rose for our redemption. By
giving his Son, he shows that he will give everything else we need.
If we turn to him, we know that we are justified in death. If we
trust in him, we know that we will receive the promise of new life.
When the world perishes, we can trust that what we have in God will
last to eternity. By faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit seals us
as his own forever. No other relationship in life can provide this
salvation for us. No other person or thing can fulfill our needs. No
worldly treasure will last for an eternity.
By abiding in God and in
his love through Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit we can
attain the forgiveness for sins and the salvation of our souls. If we
trust in him above our own power, our needs will be met. If we place
our relationship with him above our relationships with all others, he
will turn to us in mercy. If we love God more than we love the world,
we will enter into his eternal kingdom.
This sermon was preached at St. Paul's in Visalia, CA on Sunday, July 13th, 2014. Isaiah 55:1-13 Sermon Audio
Back in March, my home
diocese wanted to meet with me and a few of my fellow seminarians at
Trinity School for Ministry. They wanted us come down during our
Spring break and meet with them in Thomasville, Georgia. There were
four of us making the trip. We all packed up some clothes and piled
into my friend's minivan, and drove fifteen hours from Ambridge,
Pennsylvania. A local couple from the church in Thomasville offered
to room us for the few days we would be in town. When we got in at
around nine o'clock in the evening, we were very hungry because we
hadn't eaten very much along the way. We decided it would be good to
check in with the couple who was housing us before going out to get
something quick to eat. When they learned of our plan, the husband
pulled out his wallet and gave us his credit card. He told us there
was a nice restaurant down the way and that we should eat there. When
we got to this restaurant, the owner opened the door and greeted us,
saying the man had called ahead and told him we were coming. He had
already prepared a table for us before we got there. We went inside
and realized this was anything but the fast food restaurant we had
planned on going to. The tables were covered in white linens and as
soon as we sat down we had nice glasses of iced water set in front of
us. Looking through the menu, my friends and I very quickly realized
that this was a high-end steakhouse we had been sent to. I ended up
getting a ribeye, which was very good. During the dinner, my friends
and I were able to relax and be truly satisfied after fifteen hours
stuffed in a minivan. While we had originally thought we'd end up
spending our own money on some fast food, we were able to enjoy a
full, substantial meal without paying a cent.
Our passage in Isaiah
opens with the call of the Lord, “Everyone who thirsts, come to the
waters; and you that have no money, come, buy and eat! … Why do you
spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that
which does not satisfy?” My friends and I were prepared to spend
our money on that which is not bread. Namely, McDonald's. Over and
over, we all spend our labor on that which does not satisfy. We put
our efforts into things that won't last. But God wants us to find
real satisfaction and wholeness. He says, “Listen carefully to me,
and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food. Incline
your ear, and come to me; listen, so that you may live.”
For me, the main reason I
don't typically “eat what is good” is because I just can't afford
it. I'm living on a student's income and don't have the money for
healthy, substantial eating. And typically, I want to eat something
that doesn't take a lot of effort to make. I don't have an hour to
set aside just for cooking. But this is exactly the wrong kind of
thinking. God says, don't waste your time and money on stuff that
won't help you. And in many cases, the things we put money and time
in to actually hurt us.
Instead of investing
ourselves, our time and money, in empty things that will never
satisfy, God invites us to be satisfied by him free of charge. It's
like he is offering to give us his spiritual credit card, and
pointing us to the right place to go in order to find a real meal. He
knows ahead of time that we will be there. And has set aside a place
for us. He will give us the living water of his Spirit which springs
up to eternal life. He brings us to his Table, where the price was
paid 2000 years ago so that we can come and eat and be satisfied. Are
we going to keep striving for satisfaction in this world, or will we
come to him and receive the eternal hope of salvation by faith?
God's promise isn't a one
time offer. Once you receive his gift, it is an eternal gift.
Whatever we gain in the world, however hard we work to achieve it, it
will be lost. Even if we put all of our efforts into our own gain, it
will only take us so far. We can only work so long until our bodies
give out. Michael Jordan was considered the best basketball player in
the world. Even now, he is considered to have been the greatest
player of all time. But if we set up a game between him and and a
player in the NBA right now, he'd most likely lose the match. Now, we
aren't basketball players, but I think the example still stands. Even
as the best to play the game, and working tirelessly his entire life,
day and night, to achieve that goal, it came to a very real end.
Instead of relying on our
own abilities, we can turn to God's promise and receive what he has
to offer, which is far greater than anything we can ever hope to
achieve on our own. And unlike the things we gain through our
efforts, what God has to offer will never pass away. He doesn't just
give us a room for the night and one good meal. His eternal gift
includes adoption into his family, to live with him as children of
God. In his letter to the Romans, Paul writes, “you are not in the
flesh; you are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you,”
and, “all who are led by the Spirit of God are children of God.”
His gift of satisfaction comes by his Spirit. He takes us into his
house, to carry his name, and feeds us from his own Table, as his
children. We are God's people by promise if only we receive him. And
we can't pay him back for this gift. In fact, there is no way we can
ever deserve what he gives us.
The grace of God acts
contrary to the way things are done in the world. In the world, if I
am offered a job, I have to go in and work to earn the my wages. An
employer won't walk up to me and just offer me a full salary with
benefits before I even show that I can do the job. But this is
exactly the way God works. Before you can ever prove your worth, he
has already invited you to come into his family. You don't need to
prove your worth to God before he gives you the full benefits of
being his child. You have been glorified
if you receive his Spirit. It has nothing to do with how you meet up
to his standard. If you say yes to God in Christ, he will give you
the full benefits as an heir to his eternal kingdom.
If he didn't act this
way, nobody would be saved. The free grace of God is the only way
anyone can enter into salvation. Nobody can earn God's love because
we are all broken by sin. But his free grace is the very thing that
draws people to himself. Psalm 65 cries to God, “to you that hear
prayer shall all flesh come, because of their transgressions. Our
sins are stronger than we are, but you will blot them out.” It will
always be God's grace that saves us, and only by relying on his free
giving of that grace can we be satisfied. “Happy are they whom you
choose and draw to your courts to dwell there,” the psalmist
writes, “they will be satisfied by the beauty of your house, by the
holiness of your temple.” God will satisfy us if we come into his
house. He will forgive our sins and give us the strength in his
Spirit to overcome our weakness.
Isaiah calls us to “seek
the Lord while he may be found, call upon him when he is near; let
the wicked forsake their ways, and the unrighteous their thoughts;
let them return to the Lord, that he may have mercy on them, and to
our God, for he will abundantly pardon.” God is calling us into his
adoption. He will care for us and feed us. He will satisfy us with
his glory. His Spirit will dwell within us, and lead us, as children
of God. By his Spirit, we can cry out to him as our Father in our
distress. This is the witness that we are children of God, that the
God who hears prayer has heard our cry and has offered this gift of
grace and continues to give us his grace. It is a covenant that he
has made with us. He is faithful and he will not break the covenant
that he has made with his people.
In Isaiah, he elaborates
on this covenant. He uses David as an example of the type of covenant
he will make with his people. He says, “I will make with you an
everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David. See, I made
him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the
peoples.”
Being made God's own
means also joining him in his mission to the world. By his grace, his
children are bringers of his grace to the world. “You shall call
nations that you do not know,” he says, “and nations that do not
know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, the Holy one
of Israel, for he has glorified you.” God is glorious. By being
filled with his Spirit, his glory has come upon his children. We are
glorified because we are one with him. His glory draws people to him.
By being filled with his glory, we also draw others to him. As
children of God by the free gift of grace, we invite others to join
us in his grace of adoption. This is his will for those he brings in
to his kingdom: that they glorify him. God's glory is shown in his
grace, so to glorify God is to share his grace with others.
Back in 2011 there was a
news story on CBS about a local business man in Reading,
Pennsylvania. This man went out every year around Christmas time,
giving people 100 dollar bills from his own pocket. Some years, he
gave out more than 100,000 dollars doing this. The CBS reporter
mentioned to the man, “you don't know what these people are going
to do with this money,” and asked him, “do you care?” The man
simply replied, “No, because one of the things that I do is I do
not judge.”
When Jesus shares the
parable of the sower, he gives the different scenarios that happen
when the seeds fall to the ground. One group of seeds lands on rocky
soil and sprouts up quickly, then dies from the sun. Another batch
lands among weeds and are choked out. But some of the seeds he
scatters land in good soil, and they bring forth grain. Sometimes, we
can't know what sort of soil the seeds are going to land in. As Paul
notes in 1 Corinthians, “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave
the growth.” We cannot judge who will or will not receive the grace
of God, we can only offer it freely to those we encounter.
The business man in
Reading walked up to a man sitting alone on a bench. This man's name
was Thomas, and Thomas was a heroine addict who had even sold his
young son's toys for drug money. But the night before this incident,
Thomas, an atheist, was encouraged by his girlfriend to pray to God
for a sign. When he was given the money, Thomas' first reply was “I
didn't earn that.” He was very emotional, seeing that somebody
would give so much to someone like him who had only ever acted
selfishly in feeding his own addiction. Thomas had spent his money
and his labor on that which does not satisfy. Only by receiving this
free gift, an answer to this atheist's prayer, could he be
transformed. He not only checked himself into a rehabilitation
center, but came to faith in the God who provides.
This is the power of
grace. If God only gave to those who deserved it, nobody would
receive his grace. And without his grace, there is no chance for
transformation. True, lasting transformation only comes through
grace. We know we can trust God if we turn to him because he has
already paid the price for salvation. He didn't wait for us to say
yes, but because he loves us, he sent Jesus his Son to die for us.
Because he loves us, he offers redemption and new life through his
completed work in the resurrection. Because he loves us, he offers
his Spirit of adoption to be his children, “and if children, then
heirs,” as Paul writes, “heirs of God and joint heirs with
Christ—if, in fact, we suffer with him so that we may also be
glorified with him.” Remember the words Isaiah writes, that
“nations that do not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD
your God, the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.”
Instead of wasting our
time and effort on things that do not satisfy, trying to find
fulfillment in the world, let's turn together to the one who does
satisfy. It has no cost and requires nothing of you to deserve it. It
is the transforming grace of God's invitation to eat and be
satisfied. Come to the waters of his Spirit and drink and be
glorified. Come and gain the eternal reward of life in him, which
will never fade away. Be part of God's work in the world because, as
the psalmist writes, when you are led by the Spirit, “you shall go
out in joy, and be led back in peace.”
I invite you now to
accept God's invitation. If it is for the first time or the
thousandth time, or the thousand-thousandth time, come and be
satisfied in his unending love at his Table. He has paid the price
for you to be satisfied in him. There is nothing you need to do to
deserve this gift, but to come and receive it. Come, and be
satisfied.
Commander Chris Hadfield
is best known as the astronaut who sang David Bowie's Space Oddity
from aboard the International Space Station. A video of this
performance went viral on the internet and he became an instant
celebrity. This past May, Commander Hadfield went on NPR during their
TED Radio Hour, which is an information program spawned from the TED
Talks series, an educational program covering a wide range of topics.
This particular show was titled “What We Fear” and the host of
the show asked Hadfield about his experiences going to the space
station and what fears accompanied those voyages. He recounts one of
his most vivid memories. He was watching a meteor burn in the earth's
atmosphere from the space station window. “Immediately after
admiring the beauty of it,” Hadfield says, he then recognized that
it was just a “dumb rock from the universe” that came flashing
between himself and the earth. He says that this dumb rock could just
as easily have been 100 miles higher and obliterated himself and the
rest of the crew on the space station—and there's nothing he could
have done to prevent this completely random event from occurring.
This randomness is what “sent a shiver [of fear] up [his] back.”
After
hearing this story, the host of the show asked Hadfield why he would
put himself in that kind of danger, “Why take the risk?” He asks.
Hadfield responded: “I think if you're going to take any risk in
life, if you're going to expose yourself to any danger, it's worth
asking why. For me, if I'm going to take a risk, I want it to be for
a purpose, I want it to have a reason and also something that I have
some control over so that I can help to be master of my own destiny
and fate at least to some degree.”
In
the reading today from the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus warns his
disciples of the danger involved in following him. “Behold,” he
says, “I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be
wise as serpents and innocent as doves.” He reminds his disciples
that “if they have called the master of the house Beelzebul, how
much more will they malign those of his household.”
Jesus
gives a similar teaching in the Gospel of Luke, where he says
“whoever does not bear his own cross and come after me cannot be my
disciple.” The life Jesus calls us to lead is one of humility and
self-sacrifice. Following Jesus means blessing those who curse you,
turning the other cheek to those who would strike you, and giving
your coat to the one who takes your shirt. Following Jesus means
standing up for truth, the truth of the Gospel, even when others
might revile you for doing so. Following Jesus means declaring the
one way to God and humanities utter incompetence in gaining salvation
by good deeds or personal righteousness. Following Jesus means
pointing out the sin of the world and recognizing the sin within
ourselves. And doing so means holding your reward in heaven in higher
regard than anything the world can offer. It inevitably means
offending those who deny the truth and receiving backlash for the
name we carry with us. Because the name of Jesus signals death to
those who are dying.
Talking
about Jesus with those around us could break apart close friendships
and cause a rift among family members. Saying there is one way to God
means you are intolerant or narrow minded. Sharing the Good News of
Jesus with others is forcing your beliefs onto them. In other parts
of the world, people are literally giving up their lives for the sake
of Jesus. People are being tortured and their homes burned to the
ground because they worship the God revealed to us in Holy Scripture.
There are young men and women being disowned by their parents and
kicked out of their homes because they profess faith in Jesus Christ.
And churches are risking imprisonment and death by meeting in secret
for the chance to worship the Lord together.
Following
Jesus is a risk. But it is a risk that we as Christians are all
called to take. The question we have to ask ourselves is the same
question that Commander Hadfield poses about his journey into space.
Why should we bother to take such a risk? Is the danger—or even
just the inconvenience—of the Christian life worth following Jesus?
I think that the first thing we need to ask ourselves, is whether we
have in Jesus a foundation strong enough for us to build our lives
upon. What is the promise of Jesus? Is it something worth giving up
everything we have to obtain?
After
reading these teachings of Jesus, we see that following him is not
about escaping suffering. The Good News of Jesus Christ is not that
we can live comfortable lives and avoid the troubles of this world.
The Good News of Jesus Christ is that he has come into the world to
take on our suffering. He has come to join with us in our pain. He
lived a fully human life so that we can take on a fully godly life.
Jesus did not come so
that we can escape the troubles of this world. He came to take part
in our troubles.
The
life Jesus chose to live brought him to the cross. On that cross, he
died for the sin of the world. If we are called to be imitators of
the life of Christ, do not forget that his life led him to the cross.
The danger of following Jesus is that he himself was put to death.
But, we also know that his death was not in vain. On the third day he
rose again by the power of God the Father. His resurrection is the
assurance of our hope. We will also be raised up on the last day. And
our faith rests on that hope.
We
don't only rely on faith and hope to conquer our fears. We have the
promise of God. Jesus said that when he returned to the Father, he
would ask and the Father will send the Holy Spirit to mark us as his
own. This is the Spirit by whom “what you are to say will be given
to you.” Jesus says that this is “the Spirit of your Father
speaking through you.” This same Spirit the Apostle Paul later
calls “the Spirit of adoption … by whom we cry, 'Abba! Father!'”
The Good News of Jesus Christ is not to avoid the troubles of this
world. The Good News of Jesus Christ is that he has overcome the
world, and “the gates of hell shall not prevail against [his
church].”
After
his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says to the crowds, “everyone who
hears these words of mine will be like a wise man who built his house
on the rock. And the rain fell and the floods came, and the winds
blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been
founded on the rock.”
The
promise of Jesus is not that troubles will end once you begin to
follow him. The storm comes on both the righteous and the
unrighteous. But Jesus promises that he will be “with you always,
to the end of the age.” The incarnation of Jesus, his coming in the
flesh to dwell among us, is the sign of his promise to us. He lowered
himself from his throne in the courts of heaven and lived a life
where he had no place to rest his head. The Word of God through whom
all things were created stood outside the tomb of his friend Lazarus
and wept. The Author of life who is above death, submitted himself to
death's power and laid in a tomb for three days.
By
incarnation, he has revealed himself to us. Because we are unable to
understand the heavenly things, he came down and revealed himself as
an earthly thing. “No one has ever seen God,” the Apostle John
writes, but “the only God, who is at the Father's side, has made
him known.” This is the one we are following. Jesus is not just a
great man with great ideas. We follow very God of very God, who
reveals the truth in all of its fullness and invites us to share in
his glory.
Let's
ask ourselves: Is it worth the risk to give up everything we have for
the sake of Jesus? Is the cost of following Jesus worth the gain of
salvation in him? Commander Hadfield said that if he is to risk his
life, then what he does needs to have a purpose. Everything we can do
in this life has only a temporary effect. But in Jesus, everything we
do has eternal implications. We can have an impact on the eternity of
not only ourselves, but those around us.
Commander
Hadfield also says that if he is to take such a risk, he wants to
“have some control over [it to] … be master of [his] own destiny
and fate.” The problem is, just like with the meteor hurling
through the vacuum of space at a random trajectory, we can't be in
control of everything. But, we know the one who can. We know that we
can put our lives into our Heavenly Father's hands, and as Jesus
teaches, “not one of [the sparrows] will fall to the ground apart
from your Father. But even the hairs on your head are numbered. Fear
not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.” Jesus is
calling us to himself and assuring us of his love for each and every
one. Please hear his words of comfort: “I am the resurrection and
the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
We
can calm the fears of this life in the assurance of faith. But
following Jesus is still a call to radical self-surrender. Even with
the assurance of salvation, how can we face the wolves when we are
thrown in the midst them? How can we be sure that we won't freeze up
when the time comes for us to put our livelihood on the line for the
sake of Jesus—when the time comes to take up our cross and follow
him?
The
last time Commander Hadfield returned to earth, he did so aboard a
Russian capsule moving at about 755 feet per second. He says, “in
essence, you are riding a meteorite home, and riding meteorites is
scary.” But Hadfield points out that twenty years before they ever
got on this capsule, they learned everything they needed to know
about it. They learned orbital mechanics, they learned vehicle
control theory, and they went in a simulator until they could steer
and land the capsule within a fifteen kilometer circle anywhere on
earth. “So, in fact,” he says, “when our crew was coming back
into the atmosphere … we weren't screaming. We were laughing.”
What in any other circumstance would be a terrifying experience was
fun because the astronauts had been trained over the last twenty
years to operate the capsule to precision.
In
the same way, if you throw a sheep among wolves, they would rightly
be terrified. But if that sheep also happened to be equipped with the
armor of God—of truth, righteousness, and faith—and also happened
to be trained in wisdom and innocence, and also happened to have the
Shepherd standing by its side with his rod and staff, all of a sudden
those wolves don't seem so terrifying. The way to overcome fearful
situations is to be prepared for when they come. “Train yourself
for godliness,” Paul writes, “for while bodily training is of
some value, godliness is of value in every way, as it holds promise
for the present life and also for the life to come.”
Jesus
became incarnate to the whole world. We are incarnations of Christ to
those around us. By equipping ourselves with the Word of God and
being filled with his Spirit, we helpless sheep can face the most
daunting challenges we come across in the valley of the shadow of
death. Death poses no threat to those who are in Christ.
As we
go forth into the world, let us all ask this question for ourselves:
Is following Jesus worth the risk? Is his calling on my life worth
the danger that it will bring to my well-being?
Jesus
loves you. And he doesn't promise a comfortable life, but he does
promise a life of joy and a life with him even in your deepest
distress. He has shown his willingness to come and be with us in his
incarnation. He has shown the fullness of his love for us in his
death for our sins. He has shown faithfulness to his promises in his
resurrection from the grave.
Do not be afraid. Jesus has overcome the world and he cares for you.
You are precious in his sight, and as no sparrow falls to the ground
apart from the Father, you also who have faith can never be torn from
his grasp.
This sermon was preached at Prince of Peace on Saturday, May 24th, 2014.
One of my friends over at
the seminary has a five year old daughter named Norah. This past
week, Norah had a bit of a cold, and wasn't feeling very well. When I
walked over to their house, Norah was sitting on the porch with her
mother, cuddled up in her arms, as her mother was reading a book for
her. Even though Norah said had she wasn't hungry, her mother had
brought out some snacks for her to eat so that she would feel better.
As she continued reading, Norah wrapped her arms around mother's neck
and dug her head into her shoulder.
When a child gets sick,
what they really want is just to be with their mom or dad. The
comforting scratch on the back or head gives them the assurance that
only comes from such a close and caring relationship. Even when I got
a pretty bad stomach bug last summer, I was laying in my apartment
thinking of how I really wished I had a friend to be with me, to help
me through my pain. Why do you think this is? Where does this need
come from to have others there when we're in pain? It points to a
greater truth about all of us: not only are we made to be in
relationship, but we need the love that comes from being in
relationship when we are at our weakest point.
While I think we can all
agree on this, what I want us to consider today is this: We all need
God because even right now we are already at our weakest point. We
are right now suffering from sickness and hurt. Jesus came to heal
that sickness, and what we can learn from this passage in the Gospel
of John about the True Vine is not just about how we can be and do
better, but why we need him if we want to be able to do anything at
all.
Jesus says, “I am the
true vine and my Father is the vinedresser.” He says, “I am the
vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it
is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”
Sometimes, we read this passage to mean that we need to do good
things, and that those good things come from Jesus. We think about it
selfishly, as if Jesus is giving us the secret formula for being a
good person. This makes us think the way we show our trust in him is
by doing more for him as proof of our love. Now, I do believe that
when we have faith in Jesus, it should show itself in what we do and
how we live. But, I think there is a deeper level to this that
shouldn't be missed. If you'll remember little Norah who I told you
about earlier; she actually had a ballet recital later on the day
when I went over to visit them. Norah had been looking forward to
this recital for months, and would have been devastated if she were
unable to go and perform. Her mother wanted her to go to the recital,
but wanted to make sure Norah would be healthy enough to do so first.
There was no way that without her mother's help she would have been
healthy enough to perform. Her mother gave her what she needed to
heal, but also kept Norah from doing things that would actually make
her sickness worse.
I think what we need to
realize before we consider what sorts of things we can do for Jesus
is that first and foremost: We don't abide in Jesus so we can do
more, we abide in Jesus because without him we can do nothing. We are
sick children in need of the love of our heavenly Father. It's
helpful to think of sin as a sickness. Being in sin is not the way
we're meant to live. The sinful life is not the healthy life. We were
made to be holy; we were set apart by God among his creation to be
made in his own image. We see Paul proclaim in Acts 17 that “[God]
himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything,” and
that we are “God's offspring” because he created us in his image.
This truth should be evident to us because as Paul says, “he is
actually not far from each one of us.”
A branch isn't separate
from a vine and a young child doesn't ever actually leave their
parent's house. All we as branches and children can do is disobey.
It's by our disobedience to God that sin enters into the world. We
were made to be the image of God, but sin distorts that image into
something nearly unrecognizable. Where there is meant to be love, we
have bickering and division. Where there is meant to be charity, we
have selfishness and greed. Where there is meant to be righteousness,
we have corruption and deceit. And this is in all of us. It's easy to
point to those around us and say “at least I don't do such and such
a sin!” But, we need to realize that it is all of us who are sick,
not in degrees as if sin had a scale for us to measure ourselves on,
but we are all terminally ill with sin.
This is why we read Jesus
saying “if anyone does not abide in me he is thrown away like a
branch and withers; and the branches are gathered, thrown into the
fire, and burned.” Sin blocks us off from God. It is a disease
which knows its own cure. And the only way it can continue to spread
and destroy is by keeping the branches away from their source of
life. When a vine is planted, it gives water to all of it's branches,
but when something blocks a branch's veins, it cannot give water to
the branch. Sin clogs our veins like a blood clot, keeping us from
the living water of the Holy Spirit which brings life. And so the
only thing left to do with a dead branch is to throw it away. Jesus
doesn't want us thrown away, so he calls us to abide in him so that
he can give us what we need to live. If we don't abide in him and
receive what he has to give us, we will die because of sin. Again, we
don't abide in Jesus to do more, but we abide in Jesus because we are
sick and helpless and without him we can do nothing.
“If you keep my
commandments,” Jesus says, “you will abide in my love, just as I
have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.” We
shouldn't think about keeping the commandments as appeasing God, as
if we could do anything to make him love us more than he already
does. He gives his commandments because that's what it takes to be
healthy. Norah didn't want to eat the fruit and cereal her mother
gave her, because her sickness was telling her she wasn't hungry.
When her mother said not to run around outside, it wasn't because she
didn't want Norah to have fun, but because she needed to rest in
order to heal. It is sin which tells us we don't want God's
commandments. Sin tells us we don't hunger or thirst for
righteousness. Keeping the commandments of Christ is part of the path
to healing from the illness of sin. When we love God and our
neighbors, we are being healed of the idolatry of self that sin has
placed in our hearts. When we give to everyone who has need, we learn
to let go of our earthly treasures which will be destroyed, and to
exchange them for the treasure of heaven—the love of God and
eternal life in his kingdom. When we rest on the Sabbath day or give
up our worries about this life, we are trusting in God's provision.
Because God is the only one who can truly heal our sickness.
We need to remember that
sin is more than just not being good, or not obeying God's law. It's
like a contagious disease that infects our human nature. We can try
to beat it by ourselves, but it's so deeply ingrained in our marrow
and flowing in our bloodstream that without the help of a true
professional, we can only battle the symptoms, but we can't treat the
disease. Sin isn't only in our actions, it's in our hearts. It's in
our anger, our lust, our greed, and our pride. And fight all you
want, but you will never overcome it on your own. We need the help of
God, the help of Jesus Christ, if we ever want to be healed of the
disease of sin. This is important: If we don't rely on God to heal
us, even if we follow his commandments perfectly, we are still only
treating the symptoms and not the disease. Selfishness, greed,
deceit, lust, and all of these things are not the sickness, but they
are symptoms of the greater sickness of sin. They are meant to be
treated, but only after the main treatment has already been made.
Otherwise, they will continue to spread from their source.
So now, our question is
this: how do we receive the treatment for the disease of sin which is
blocking us off from abiding in the True Vine?
In the famous thirteenth
chapter of first Corinthians, Paul writes, “If I speak in the
tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or
a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all
mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove
mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I
have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I
gain nothing.” No matter what we do, it is nothing of we don't have
love—just like treating the symptoms is nothing if you don't have
the treatment for the disease. And according to the apostle John in
his first letter, “by this we know love, that he laid down his life
for us.” The treatment for sin is love, and we love by not only
loving one another, but by being loved by God. We love because he
first loved us. We don't measure our salvation by how much we love
God or how much we do in his name, but our salvation comes by his
love for us and by what he has already done in Jesus Christ. Our
faith is just that: Faith. We have faith in God's love for us because
he sent his only son while we were yet sinners to die for us. Even
when we waver, his love remains strong. That is the assurance of
faith, not that we love God but that he loves us and will continue to
love us, not based on what we do or how we act, but because we are
his and he has made us in his image.
When Norah finally got to
her ballet recital, she was still feeling sick. But the dance was
only about a minute long, and she was healthy enough to follow along
in the routine with the other little girls in her dance class. She
was noticeably tired, her movements were slow, and it completely
wiped her out. But after the recital, her parents ran up to her and
told her what a great job she did. Because even as she was sick and
only had the talent that a five year old can muster, her parents saw
her on stage as a beloved daughter delighting in performing for them.
God does call us to
perfection, but he also delights in every attempt we make to love
him. When we do good things or even when we gather here in worship,
we aren't pleasing God because of our talent or devotion. We are
pleasing him because he loves us the same as he always has and
because he sees us through the loving eyes of a Father. We are
nothing more than sick children doing a one-minute dance recital
slightly off beat. Yes, we are getting over our sickness, but even if
we were completely healthy, we're not even as talented as a five year
old compared to God. God isn't impressed by us, but he loves when we
follow his commandments because he sees us through his eyes of love.
His commandments are for healing and life, not so you can boast when
you follow them but so you can know God more deeply and love him more
fully. When we love one another, when we love him, he sees what we
were always intended to be: images of God. And we cannot do any of
this if we don't abide in his love which we have through the life,
death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
God loves you and he
wants you to be healed from the sickness of sin. The only treatment
for this sickness is love and true love can only be found in him.
Abide in his love because you can do absolutely nothing on your own
to heal yourself. Even all that we do here is an unimpressive mess.
There is no way we can meet the standards of God. But that doesn't
matter. When we perform for him instead of ourselves or each other,
he's delighted in our awkward dance routines because he is our Father
and he loves us as a good father loves his children. And as it is
written, “every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may
bear more fruit.” The more we abide in his love, the more we will
see come out of it. But the first thing we need to do is abide in his
love and know that we won't be cut off from it by him. Only the
branches that have already died are cut off. But we have life by
faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, once for all, to
heal us of sin. Because he chose to die, now we, even if we die, will
live through him. He will raise us up on the last day and bring us
fully healed into his eternal kingdom. No branch that abides in the
love of God will see death. And we know we have the love of God not
because we are able to do great things in his name, but because he
has shown his love to us through his Son. If you believe in him,
abide in him, and live through him because he abides in you.
Yesterday, as I was waiting for lunch
to start, I was over in the bookstore reading one of the Calvin and
Hobbes collections Pam keeps under her desk. I'm sure most of you are
aware of the comic strip—thankfully not a collection of two
historical thinkers having a dialogue on civil liberties. It's the
story of Calvin, an inconsiderate, wildly imaginative, and reckless
child and his stuffed animal friend, Hobbes, who comes to life in
Calvin's imagination. Calvin likes to go on adventures in his own
mind, and he brings Hobbes along for the ride, often blaming the
stuffed tiger for the trouble he gets in when his parents come around
to discipline him. In other words, Calvin is a kid just like any
other kid you've probably met. I have a younger sister that's going
to be turning eleven this year, and I'm friends with enough of the
families in our community to know that children can be troublesome,
to say the least. In fact, the most discomforting sound in a
household of small children is actually the sound of silence. It's
usually a sign that they're up to no good. Most parents know that
quiet means it's time to start calling names to find out just what
sort of mischief is going on behind closed doors.
Now, if this is an accurate description
of children, then we need to consider how that might influence our
understanding of the teachings of Jesus in Mark which are taught
while a child is with him. It makes me think of the time last week or
the week before (they all kind of blend together at this point in the
semester), when Rebecca did the Scripture reading with her daughter
Naomi in her arms. I want us to hold onto that image while we go
through the teachings of Jesus this morning, because that's the same
thing Jesus was doing as he taught his disciples.
First, let's jump back a little bit in
our Gospel passage. I'll be starting from the story which drove Jesus
to pick up this child, where the disciples are caught arguing over
who was the greatest. Jesus uses the child to emphasize the point
that the one who wants to be the greatest must be the least. Does a
parent holding their child consider themselves greater or less than
the child in their arms? What comes first; the parent's physical toll
of holding and calming a child, or that child's peace? Jesus is
enacting the very lesson he teaches the disciples here by holding
this child in his arms. A child may want to be the greatest, but a
parent wants to serve. By his actions, holding this child in his
arms, he shows the servant leadership that is expected of his
disciples.
Next, John says to him that there was
another person casting out demons in his name and that the disciples
tried to stop that person because it wasn't one of them. But, Jesus
says no one doing mighty works in his name can do so for long and
still be against him. The child Jesus is holding is the example here.
The child doesn't fully know who Jesus is, but wouldn't it be
counter-intuitive for Jesus to use that as an excuse to not let the
child come to him? This is essentially what the disciples were doing
to this person casting out demons. They were saying, “you only sort
of know about Jesus, so you aren't allowed to know him at all.” No,
Jesus wants those who seek to find and those who ask to be given the
gift of Life.
This brings us to the reading for
today, “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me
to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung
around his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” By debating who
is the greatest, we are not only harming ourselves with the
corruption of pride, but we are harming those Jesus came to serve by
not also bending down to pick up the lowly and serve them in parental
humility. Paul calls himself a father to the Corinthian church
through the Gospel preached to them. All ministers are to serve the
church as a parent serves their child. I don't have children of my
own, but I can venture to guess that raising a child should bring to
mind your shortcomings before it does your merits as a parent. In the
same way, we must lead the people of God in full humility, knowing
that only by his grace are we able to be examples, and not by any
righteousness of our own. The infants of the faith can teach those
full-grown just as well as the other way around. By boasting about
greatness, we don't just distance ourselves from those we are called
to serve, but blind ourselves to the lessons they have to teach us.
Likewise, we should not cut off those
who may not fully understand from partaking in the power of Jesus
Christ. If Priscilla and Aquila had reprimanded Apollos for his
preaching instead of instructing him in the Gospel, his entire
ministry may have been erased from the Church's history. The duty of
the minister is the equip the saints for the ministry, meaning all
who come earnestly seeking after the name of Jesus Christ are to be
welcomed and brought up in the faith to share the Gospel and
encourage the saints.
Because Jesus Christ came to us when we
were still insolent children and patiently dealt with us, not as we
deserved, but out of his love, so we follow his example. By the
redemption in his blood, which sanctifies us to be a holy priesthood,
and by the promise fulfilled in his resurrection, which seals us with
his Holy Spirit, we are to share in the work which he has prepared
for us to walk in. Do the work set before you in the humility of
Christ, fully aware of your sin. Receive those who seek after God
with the love of Christ, knowing that you, also, were once lost. And
be purged of those evil things which would keep you from fulfilling
this call through repentance by the cleansing power of the Holy
Spirit.
By these things we remain in the light
and are the salt of the earth. In these things we have peace as the
family of God, adopted by the Spirit of Christ to be true children
and heirs of his kingdom.
There's a certain phrase
I've heard used a lot recently. It's mostly used when someone is
grieving or going through hard times, and it's a phrase I have some
trouble with. I know the good intentions behind it, but cannot
support its assumptions. It's a short phrase and it goes like this:
“Everything happens for a reason.”
This phrase is used
mostly as a comfort to those who mourn or suffer. It's used as a
reminder that God is in control and that he uses all things to serve
his purpose. But, its message has an ugly implication underneath. It
assumes that God is the cause of our suffering. Saying everything
happens for a reason is saying that God intends suffering. This
phrase comes about through an unwillingness to accept the
meaninglessness of suffering. We ourselves, at Trinity, have a
friend, a sister and mother to all of us at this school, who is
currently in the midst of suffering.
Martha is suffering from
leukemia and it's thrown this place into some shock. But, what amazes
me, and what shows the true Gospel in the midst of all of this, is
that even as we suffer together with her, we also share in her joy.
I've seen evidence of many visits to her on social media, and they
all have the same sentiment of love about them. Prayers are raised
not only for healing, but for her ministry at the hospital where she
is being treated. I've gained insight into how much Martha touches
the lives of those around her. And what amazes me most is to see her
still offering prayers and encouragement to others with selfless
vigor.
I don't believe
everything happens for a reason, because I don't want to blame God
for our suffering. But I can say that everything that happens can
serve a purpose. God might not have caused the brothers of Joseph to
sell him into slavery, but he used that act to save those very
brothers from famine. When “his disciples ask him, 'Rabbi, who
sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus
answered, 'It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that
the works of God might be displayed in him.”
The sufferings of
individuals are not easy for us to reconcile. But, our job isn't to
give a reason for suffering. We are called to take part in suffering
and share in the pain of those around us. Our calling is to point to
suffering and agree, “yes, this is wrong. This is not good.” We
can't justify evil with a “but God says...” or “but, you
should...” Evil is bad. It's also real. And that's something we
need to recognize, and not try to sweep it under the rug of phrases
like “everything happens for a reason” to make us feel better
about it. The only way you can combat suffering is by stepping into
it and taking on the full force of it's wicked affliction.
The Philippian church
could receive Paul's exhortation to rejoice because while he was in
Philippi, they saw the joy he had in the midst of suffering. They
knew that while he was in prison, he sang songs to God. They trusted
him because of his suffering on their behalf. Paul's own example of
this was in Jesus, and he wrote about it to the Philippians in his
epistle, that “though he was in the form of God, [he] did not count
equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing,
taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.”
Jesus didn't need to suffer, but he stepped down from his place in
the heavenly courts to take part in our suffering. The love of God
was shown in that he chose to lower himself to the utmost in order to
be with us. The most incomprehensible truth of the Gospel is the fact
that “the Word [who was with God and who was God] became flesh and
dwelt among us.” This is what draws us closer to him: the fact that
he came to us. “We love because he first loved us.” And not only
this, but knowing that we could not bear our suffering, he took our
suffering upon himself, lifted up on the Cross and dying, very God of
very God, as punishment for our sins.
This is the God we serve
and worship. Over the centuries we've cried out to him, begging for
an answer as to why we suffer the way we do. He didn't give a reason
to make our suffering more bearable. He didn't justify who he is with
our suffering, or even command us to stop complaining. He chose
instead to join us in our suffering. He came down, he walked among
us, and he died on a Cross.
In our passage, he says,
“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night
is coming, when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am
the light of the world.” When Jesus rose again from the dead, he
accomplished the work of God. He also assured us that the light was
still in the world and not defeated by the darkness. There is no
night, because the light of the world is risen. We need to trust that
the light is among us, and we can still do his work as long as we
have the light.
Our community at this
school has been attacked by darkness. Martha is still in the hospital
and still going through treatments, but the darkness cannot overcome
the light. The light defies understanding, because light in the
darkness is joy in the midst of suffering. The light is continued
encouragement and prayers for others in the midst of personal need.
The light is the Gospel. It's the truth that we serve a God who did
not reason away our suffering, but came down and joined us in the
midst of it. He took the punishment for sin upon himself when it
wasn't required of him. Others reason that this couldn't have
happened. It was Judas on the Cross because no prophet could demean
himself so much. Or Jesus was clearly just a man because the God of
the universe wouldn't stoop so low as to make himself like us. But
for those whom the light has cured of blindness, we see his suffering
and we worship him. We worship him because he didn't tell us that our
suffering is alright. He didn't tell us that it was all part of his
plan. He didn't tell us to deal with it and stop complaining. He
didn't do any of these things, but he came to us, he wrapped us in
his love, and he says to us continually, “Abide in my love.”
