John 14:23-29
Jesus answered him, "Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. "I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
John again?
I thought we had a new lectionary.
And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.
OK I’m not even going to try to understand that one. . .
How about the rest of this pericope. . .
We are, of course, among those who love Jesus.
And, we are loved by the Father.
Does this passage say that our being loved by the Father is dependent upon our keeping Jesus’ word?
Hmmm
Of course, we want to have Jesus and the Father make their home with us. . .
And, we need the Advocate to teach us everything and to remind us of all that Jesus has said to us. . .
Now, help me here, what did he say?
Is that the question when dealing with this text?
Again. Thought we had a new lectionary.
Given that my New Church (Never Admit Limitations Church) has been so slow in this matter, I guess we’re dealing with John 14 this time around.
“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives.“
When engaging this lesson from John 14, I always conclude that the most fruitful question here is to wonder how it is that the world gives, and how it is that Jesus gives differently.
It is in our DNA to suspect that the difference might best be discerned by looking to the cross.
. . .
Speaking of peace, David Lose had some nice comments in his - now seemingly weekly - column “Dear Working Preacher”
. . . [Jesus] promises peace – not merely the cessation of disturbance but instead a confident expectation and hope about the future.
With that, I wish you peace.
5 comments:
The wind outside right now must exceed 40 mph. By a lot. This is one windy part of the world, and folks here say its not nearly as windy as the rest of the gol dang state. . .
We weren't talking about the weather?
Oh. Sorry.
A couple quotes.
Let judges secretly despair of justice: their verdicts will be more acute. Let generals secretly despair of triumph: killing will be defamed. Let priests secretly despair of faith: their compassion will be true. - Leonard Cohen
We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness. - Thich Nhat Hanh
It is very windy here too, so don't feel so bad.
I don't usually like to preach "the thread" that ties the texts together, but with these readings from John, I'll stoop to anything. I saw a post from Brueggemann that got me thinking about "home." Lydia wants them to stay at her home. Revelations points, in some fashion, to the holy city as home for all the nations. Jesus promises that he and the father will make their home with us.
I'm not sure what to make of all of this but the last two times I've preached this set of texts I've focused on being troubled, peace not like we usually think of it, and so on. I gotta do something else.
I wonder if something could be made of the 1.Hope of home (Rev.), 2. the promise of home (Jesus) and 3. our response of creating home for others (Lydia). Just wondering.
Speaking of home makes sense to me.
A couple things one might wonder.
Could you title your sermon "Homeland Security"?
Never mind on that one. . .
I think of the saying that "you can never go home again. . . " which speaks to the fact that once you leave a place, it is pretty difficult to go back.
Then again, we all know, "there is no place like home."
And, the best one can do is to hit a home run.
If Jesus and the Father make their home with us, we might well say that we are always at home.
At Home in the Gospel. . .
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This Sunday is confirmation Sunday so I like to use verbal cues. I think I'll bring my Garmen and entitle my sermon "The Holy Spirit: Our GPS (Global Positioning Spirit) and talk about the Paraclete, the one who walks along side of us." I also like Stoffergren deal about "keeping the word" as one who "holds dear or considers important" only of course because we are held dear.
David L is so gifted- you're right Phil.
Steve and I are in the process of setting our trip to Fly to The Stewardship conference. If my brother in law has great tickets to the Twinkies do you want to go with us Phil?
Bummed out about Dillon- talked to folks there after seeing some Dillon folks at State musical in Helena. Those who want to stay in the ELCA are throwing in the towel and found a home in the Prebyterian church there, which is good. Still think I'm going to write back to Joel- who speaks the truth to him- I think they're afraid of him! Sad deal- all that sweat and blood trying to get them back into the Synod and ELCA and now he pulls them back to an isolated,island mentality. Guess they voted against Joel's recommendation and went with the AALC- they don't ordain women and there main seminary is located at the LCMS seminary in
Fort Wyane? Oh well, got to let go of it and do something constructive , but still pisses me off. sorry to hear Chester is leaving, Pete- hingham and kremlin had over 50% to leave but not the 2/3 they needed. God is bigger than our mess!
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