“Called to Respond”        2012

1 John 3:16-24       John 15:9-17

 

1 John 3:16-2416We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. 17How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? 18Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. 19And by this we will know that we are from the truth and will reassure our hearts before him 20whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; 22and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him.

23And this is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. 24All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us.

 

John 15:9-17

9As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. 10If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. 11I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete. 12“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. 13No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14You are my friends if you do what I command you. 15I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. 16You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. 17I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.

 

I was out for a walk with my granddaughters one time.

                        A gust of wind came up, and one of them asked,

                                    “Papa, what causes the wind to blow?”

 

            They were still little girls,

                        and not wanting to pass up a “teaching moment”,

                                    I pointed up to a tree where the leaves were rustling,

                                                and explained that  when the leaves move

                                                            they are like little fans

                                                                        that cause the wind to blow”.

 

Fortunately, they knew better than to trust my explanation ---

            - but it led to a conversation about cause and effect …

                                    … that wet roads don’t cause it to rain,

                                                            but rather that the effect of rain

                                                                        is to cause the road to get wet.

 

Sometimes we mistake cause for effect in our theology and religion…

          … what we presume to be the cause

                   is really the effect of something else that came first.

 

For example,

            the religious authorities who opposed and rejected Jesus,

                        believed and taught that by obeying God’s commandments,

                                    by following their religious rules and rituals,

                                                and by avoiding contamination or influence

                                                            from those who were not religious enough…

            … they would please the Lord, and thereby

                        earn or deserve God’s favor, acceptance and blessings.

 

But if you go back and read the Old Testament,

            before God gave the 10 commandments to Moses at Mt. Sinai,

                        the Lord had already rescued them from slavery in Egypt.

            God’s favor, acceptance and blessings

                        came before they even knew God’s Law, much less obeyed it.

 

Notice how this is explained:            Deuteronomy 5:15

            Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt, and the LORD your God brought you out from there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm; therefore the LORD your God commanded you ...

 

And,  (Deuteronomy 24:18) 

            Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and the LORD your God redeemed you from there; therefore I command you to do this.

 

It’s called the priority of grace ---

            first God loved and rescued the Israelites from slavery,

                        then God told them how

                                    to live in response, obeying God’s Commandments.                

 

The priority of grace,

          first God loves us, then calls us to live in faithful response.

That is the central message of the life and teaching of Jesus.

 

That’s why he welcomed, ate and associated

            with sinners, tax-collectors and other outcasts.

                        He came to show them

                                    that they were loved and precious to God,

                                                they were welcome and accepted by God, à

 

            à and were not condemned to continue in destructive ways,

                        and to  reject and oppose  the intent and purpose of God.

Jesus came offering   the mercy and compassion of a second chance,

            in fact, as many second chances as you need!

 

The cause is the gracious love of God through Jesus Christ,

          the effect 

                   is that we can live in a grateful and faithful response;

                                           that having received acceptance, we are offeredà

                                                      a real and authentic relationship with God,à

 

à from there we are called to live out that gift of grace,

            that relationship   by striving to live within God’s will,

                        and within God’s intended purpose for our lives.

 

The problem is, sometimes we reverse cause and effect,

            as if rustling leaves cause the wind to blow,

                        or wet roads cause it to rain,

          -- or that by our good works,

                   we cause God to love us, to be merciful and bless us …

                             … as if God’s grace was

                                        something we can accomplish   for ourselves.

 

Scripture is emphatic and clear

            that first we receive the offer of God’s gracious love,

                   and only then are we called to respond with the obedience

                             of good works, discipleship and faithful lives.

As Apostle Paul explains:        Ephesians 2:8-10

            For by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing;   it is the gift of God-- not the result of works, so that no one may boast.

            For we are what he has made us…            

 

Or, 1 John 4:9-11,19

            God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him.  In this is love,    not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.  Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another.    We love because he first loved us.

 

Tragically,

            like the religious leaders who rejected and opposed Jesus,

                        it’s easy for us to get this backwards …

                                    … and suppose that our relationship with God

                                           depends on the fervency of our human performance…

…  that God will love us more if we are more obedient and compliant,

            and separate ourselves from contamination of this world.  

 

The cause is God’s gracious and infinite love for us,

      the effect is, that we are able to abide in Christ, we possibly  can obey:

John 15:9,12

            As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

                 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

 

So why does this reversing cause and effect matter?               

          What difference does that really make?

 

It makes a difference in how we perceive and relate to other people.

          If we reverse cause and effect,

                   then by our good works  we must earn God’s grace and mercy.

 

Then, rather than a joyful & grateful relationship through Christ,

    we are driven to perform, to get every detail just right,

            which is just a step away from destructive self-righteousness…

 

… which is just a step away from  us judging the worthiness of others

        according to our own standard of blind and harsh perfectionism,

                   which is to miss the mark of God’s love, grace and purpose.

 

It’s the difference between living our lives

          driven by fear, guilt, obligation and frustration

                  or experiencing the peace and joy that God intends for us.

 

If we lose the sense of wonder, trust and gratitude

          that God loves and blesses  an underserving sinner like me…

… then I will run myself and others around me  ragged and weary with

          trying to somehow earn or deserve, that which is already mine –

                   God’s grace, a gift already   freely given by Jesus Christ.

 

Jesus said: John 15:15

            I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends…

 

Jesus is making a critical distinction here.

      A servant is valued mostly for what they successfully accomplish

                        The one who does more work, is worth more to the master.

 

But not so for a friend,

            for a  friend is valued for the relationship that they share;

                        by how open, how caring, loyal and how close they are.

 

When Jesus chooses and calls us,

            it is not for our gifts and skills, or the work we might do.

Its not for our amazing talents, abilities or dedication;

            but for love; that God’s gracious love can flow through us,

                 in order to form us into a church, the body of Christ,

                        a loving and caring fellowship that reflects God’s grace.

 

Jesus said: John 15:13-14, 9, 12

            No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.

            As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love.

                 This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

So we are called

            to reach out to all people with the love of God in our hearts;
                        which means  we put their interest and good ahead of ours.

            It is dropping our defenses, our pretensions, our attitudes,

                        and resolving to love others, the way that Jesus loves us.

 

It is loving others amid and despite their mistakes and rough edges

          it is allowing room for grace and another second chance.

 

Consider with me, 

            what if that were our primary and defining drive and motivation

                        the force behind all that we did, believed, and said?

 

Suppose that rather than trying to prove anything to anybody,

            instead, it all was done in joyful and grateful response

                        to the promise and grace we have been given  by God;

          … how could that change how we viewed ourselves and our lives,

                            and how would that change our treatment of other people,

                                      who are also  infinitely precious and loved by Jesus?

 

It’s not so that we ourselves can earn or be worthy of God's love,

            but done in faithful response to love we've already received…

… that is

          the sort of community the Spirit calls and equips us to become.

 

A young woman had severe cerebral palsy

            and had spent most of her life in an institution.

                        Her sister brought her home to live with their family,

                                    and she began coming with them to church.

 

One Sunday, when some new members joined the church,

            she came to me after the service, and eventually I understood

                        that she wanted to join, she wanted to be a member.

 

I already knew what Jesus would have had to say about that,

            but I wondered

                        how much of the gospel could she possibly understand,

                                    and how would I teach the faith and prepare her

                                        to speak about faith to the Session with integrity?

 

Her communicants’ class went on for several weeks,

            and working our way through Psalm 23,

                        I tried to teach her about Jesus, the Good Shepherd,

                                                and with crayons and sheets of blank paper

                                                            she illustrated the 23^rd Psalm.

 

When she came to the Session and described what her drawings meant,

                        it was an amazing and powerful moment of grace.

                                         She had learned and understood God’s love

                                                way beyond anything I had ever taught or said.  

 

Honestly, even after she joined the church,

        at times she could still be stubborn, difficult and disruptive;

                                    but always she was loves and she was one of us ---

                               -- she experienced and taught  God’s gracious love

                                      through the welcome of that little congregation.

            I believe   that church   helped her discover her best,

                        by loving her as the child of God and grace  she truly was.               

 

 

To abide, is to love as Jesus loves,  is to see as Jesus sees. 

       who sees us for who we could be, who God has created us to become;

                        and who comes to us with grace  and mercy  and compassion.

 

            It is in response to God's grace and mercy that we are called

                 to reach out to all people with the love of God in our hearts,

                           to drop our defenses, our pretensions, our attitudes,

                                    and resolve to love other people,  as Jesus loves us…

… and because we are loved and believe it,

      we can love, and serve with joy, and bring out the best in others.

 

Bruce Larson tells a wonderful parable about this   and the Church:

            You ever feel like a frog?  Frogs feel slow, low, ugly, puffy, drooped, pooped.  I know – one told me.  The frog feeling comes when you want to feel bright but feel dumb, when you want to share but are selfish, when you want to be thankful but feel resentment, when you want to be great but are small, when you want to care but are indifferent.  Yes, at one time or another each of us has found himself on a lily pad, floating down the great river of life.  Frightened, disgusted, we’re too froggish to budge.

 

            Once upon a time there was a frog, only he really wasn’t a frog – he was a prince who looked and felt like a frog.  A wicked witch had cast a spell on him.  Only the kiss of a beautiful maiden could save him.  But since when do cute chicks kiss frogs?  So there he sat, unkissed prince in frog form.  But miracles happen.  One day a beautiful maiden gathered him up and gave him a great big smack.  Crash!  Boom!  Zap!  There he was, a handsome prince.  And you know the rest – they lived happily ever after.

 

So what is the task of the Church?  Kissing frogs, of course!