Pentecost Sunday, 2010
Text: John 14:15-31
The Rev. Jerry Kistler
St. Stephen’s Reformed Episcopal Church
“Keep My Words”
When
you love someone, you hang on their every word.
I
remember reading about a priest in the Episcopal Church who was very devout,
saintly man but no great preacher. And yet, because he was so respected and so
loved, his congregation would cling to every word of his sermons, and would be
nurtured and fed, even if those words weren’t perfectly organized or dynamically
delivered. For when you love someone, you hang on their every word.
Think
back to the time you first met your spouse, or fell in love for the first
time. You cherished every word he or she
spoke. You read and re-read, and read again their letters to you, until you had
them practically memorized. You listened for every little subtle nuance. You
searched for hidden meaning. If you were really sentimental, you put his or her
letters under you pillow at night, because you wanted, in that symbolic,
sentimental way, to keep your loved-one close to you—to be near to them by
keeping their words near to you. When you love someone you cling to their every
word.
Jesus
said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My words.” He
said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My words, and
my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with
him.”
Now
it’s important for us to see that Jesus uses the word “keep” which has a
broader meaning than merely to obey, although it includes obedience. When Jesus
says that the person who loves him “keeps” his word, he means that that person
attends carefully to his word. He clings to it. He love it, He cherishes it,
and holds fast to his word. He places his whole trust and confidence in it, and he obeys his
word. If we love the Lord Jesus Christ, we hang our faith, or hope, our lives
upon his every word. We keep his words.
And
to those who love him and keep his words, Jesus promises that they will be
immersed in the life of the triune God. What had he just said? He had just told
his disciples, “If you love me, keep my commandments, and I will pray the
Father and he shall give you another Comforter, even the Spirit of truth.” Then
he said, “He that hath my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me:… and I will love him, and [I] will manifest myself to him.” Now Jesus says, “If a anyone loves me, he will keep my words, and my Father will
love him, and we will come unto him,
and make our home with him.
“Love
me, and keep my commandments, and the Holy Spirit will be sent to you. Love me,
and keep my commandments, and I will come to you. Love me, and keep my words,
and I and the Father will make our home with you.” When you love Jesus, you hang on his every
word, and you are immersed in the life of the Holy Trinity.
Today
is Pentecost, or Whitsunday as it’s typically referred
to in the Anglican communion. And it seems to me that when we think of
Pentecost we usually think of the coming of the Holy Spirit into the Church -
the sound of the loud rushing wind, the flames of fire, and the speaking in
tongues - as an event in itself, as an event disconnected from both Ascension which
precedes it, and Holy Trinity which we celebrate next week. But these events
and commemorations are all inseparably linked. You can’t have one without the
others, just as you can’t have one member of the Trinity without the
others. Pentecost is really about our
re-union and communion with the triune God. Ten days before, Jesus ascended to
receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which he now pours out upon his Church.
And by the Holy Spirit Jesus Himself comes to us. As he promised, He doesn’t
leave us orphans. He manifests himself to us by his indwelling Spirit. And
where the Son is, there the Father is also. For these three are all one God. If we have the Spirit we have the Triune God
- Father, Son, and Holy Spirit - dwelling with us. No matter how alone we may
feel in this world, God - the whole God - is with us. He hears our prayers and
he comes to our aid.
The
question then is, how do we participate in the Spirit?
How does the Holy Spirit operate in our hearts?
- By the words of Jesus. Jesus said, “My words are Spirit and they are
life.” By the words of Jesus the Spirit
of God awakens faith in our dead, unbelieving hearts. St. Peter says that it
was by the Word that we were born again. In baptism the Spirit through the
water with the Word enlivened us to God. Today, the Spirit through the words of
Jesus gives us to eat the spiritual food of the body and blood of Christ. The
Spirit through the Word forgives us in the absolution. The Spirit with the Word
confirms us in the laying on of hands.
The Spirit through the Word strengthens us, preserves us, chastens us, and
leads us always back to Christ and to eternal life in him.
Jesus
said, “Verily, Verily, I say unto you, If a man keeps
my saying, he shall never see death.”
Notice that here and in His other statements from our Gospel lesson,
Jesus doesn’t say, “If a man hears my
sayings he shall never see death,” or “If a man hears and agrees with my commandments, I and my Father will come to
him and dwell with him,” but rather if a man keeps my saying, if a man keeps
my commandments, he will have eternal life and live in the presence of God. We
must keep the words of Christ. We must keep His commandments to receive His
blessings.
But
the words and commandments of Christ are not burdensome. Jesus said, “My yoke
is easy, and my burden is light.” The commandment of Christ is first and
foremostly that we should believe on Him. The people asked Jesus, “What shall
we do, that we might work the works of God?” And Jesus answered, “This is the
work of God, that you believe in Him whom God has
sent.” The commandment of Christ is that we cease striving to gain heaven by
our own works and rest in His merits and upon His sacrifice. He commands us to
come to Him, to drink of the water He gives—the Spirit of Life— to eat His
body, and to drink His blood. He commands us to believe His works, His mighty
acts for our salvation. He commands us to continue in His Word that we may know
the truth and that the truth might set us free. He commands us to abide in His
love, to abide in Him, and His words in us. He commands us to love one another,
and to love Him by keeping these commandments. These are the sayings, the
commandments, the words of Christ, that if we keep them, he says we will be
immersed in the life and presence of the Triune God, Father Son and Holy
Spirit, and have the blessing of everlasting life and peace.
Brethren, if you love Him, keep His commandments, keep His words. Hang onto them. Give your whole attention to them. Be filled with them. Trust them. Obey them, for they are your life, and they are you peace by the power of the Holy Spirit who works through them. +