Sunday, May 26, 2019 ~ Sixth Sunday of Easter

Sermon: “Loving, Living, and Serving with God”

Gospel Lesson: John 14:23-29

© 2019, Dr. Tamilio

John 14 is often read at funerals.  That’s because it contains that memorable verse in which Jesus says, “In my Father’s house there are many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”  (Some translations read, “In my Father’s house there are many mansions…”)  In the passage that I just read from John 14, the operative word is “love.”  “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching,” Jesus says.  “My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”  There is so much to say about this passage.

In his typical fashion, John has given us a verse that seems to sum up the Gospel.  The great German Reformer, Martin Luther, claimed that John 3:16 (“For God so loved the world…”) was the Gospel in miniature.  There are several such verses in John.  Chapter 14 verse 23 is another one of these.

Think carefully about what Jesus is saying here.  If we love Jesus, we will follow (or obey) his teachings.  If we do that, not only will God love us, but he and Jesus will make their home with us.  Footnote: God loves us unconditionally, whether we follow Jesus’ teachings or not.  But that is not the point of this verse.  It is not about conditional love.  It is about experiencing God’s love as disciples of Christ.

Next month, I will deliver the Congregational Lecture at the Annual Meeting of the National Association of Congregational Christian Churches in Cleveland, Ohio.  Interestingly enough, the theme of this conference is quite similar to the one we are using for our Capital Campaign.  Based on Matthew 6:21, “where your treasure is, there your heart will be also,” the Annual Meeting is entitled, “Jesus: the Heart of It All.”  In my lecture, I will be looking at some of the gifts we have inherited from our Puritan and Pilgrim forebears, and how those gifts can equip us for ministry well into the century before us.  I am focusing on three things: Covenant, Faith, and Service.  (I will make copies available for everyone after the meeting.)

In the section on service, I explore the question, “Why do we engage in outreach as Christians?”  This sort of begs the question, “Can you be a Christian and not engage in service?”  The author of the Letter of James would say no.  He believes that “Faith without works is dead.”[1]  That is not what I am talking about, though.  I am looking at what it means to be a Christian, and how that relates to outreach.  In that section of my presentation, I tell the following story.

I remember back in 1992 or ‘93 when I met with the Church and Ministry Committee of the Essex Association of the Massachusetts Conference of the United Church of Christ to be taken In Care.  In the NA, local churches ordain ministers.  In the UCC, Associations (groups of local churches) ordain, so when students enter seminary they are mentored and evaluated throughout the process — hence, they are taken “In Care” of the Association.  When the Church and Ministry Committee first meets with a prospective candidate, they ask all kinds of questions.  They want to know about your background, your faith journey, why you want to become a minister, and so forth.  One of the ministers on the Committee, the Rev. Dr. Jim Tedesco, asked me why I wanted to be an ordained minister.  I said something to the effect of, “I want to help people in ways that I can’t as a professor alone.”  (Up to that point, I wanted to just be an English professor.)  Rev. Tedesco had a follow-up question: “Then why don’t you just become a social worker?”  I was a bit shocked by what I took to be a hostile response at the time, but obviously his question remained with me — and it was a valid query.  Even though he didn’t say it, upon reflection I knew he meant there’s nothing wrong with being a social worker, so why not do that if all I want to do is help people?  He was looking for a theological answer.

We minister to others, because when we do so we are ministering to Jesus himself.  Remember the story of the judgment of the nations at the end of Matthew 25?  The sheep and the goats are separated from each other.  They are judged.  The sheep enter eternal life and the goats face eternal damnation.  Why?  Because whenever the sheep fed the hungry, clothed the naked, welcomed the stranger, and visited the sick and imprisoned, they did it to Jesus.

If we want to follow Jesus, we must go and do likewise.

And then there is that curious part of verse 23 that says if we do such things, God will love us, and he and Jesus will make their home with us.  As I said before, God’s love is unconditional.  God loves us no matter what we do.  But what does it mean that God and Jesus will make their home with us.

When we think of our home, we think of the place where we hang our hat and the people with whom we break bread.  Jesus is there, but do we acknowledge it.  Is there a cross somewhere in your home?  Is there a Bible?  Do you and your family pray together?  Not just before meals, but at other times.  What about in the morning?  Before bed?  At 3:10 on a Saturday afternoon?  Is the presence of Jesus acknowledged in your home?  Because the truth of the matter is that all the characteristics of a family come from and are supported by Jesus.

A little boy named Danny lived with his family in a homeless shelter.[2]  One day someone asked him, “Don’t you wish you had a real home?”  Danny’s reply was wise beyond his years.  He said, “We have a real home.  We just don’t have a house to put it in.”

A house and a home are very different.  A house is just a physical structure, made perhaps of brick or wood or stone.  It can be large or small.  It may not have people inside.  If a house does not include persons, the house is not really a home.

By contrast, a home is a haven of shelter, acceptance and unconditional love.  It includes at least one person.  In a home, each person’s value is unlimited, and their mutual commitment is forever.  Any decent contractor can construct a house, but only God can build a home.

Do you follow Jesus?  Do you serve others in his name?  Do your open the doors of your house wide enough for him to enter and turn it into a home?  It all beings here [point to the heart]: in the heart and in the soul.  Remember that line from that movie Field of Dreams: “If you build it, he will come.”  Well, if you open it [point to the heart] he will come, and will dwell among you, and will love you, and will live with you, and will bless you and yours with a wealth beyond anything material.  Just let him.  Amen.

[1] See James 2:14-26.

[2] This illustration is adapted from Bill Bouknight, “Just a Thought.”