"What is God Like" - John 14:15-21, 25-27
A Sermon by Alex Evans, Pastor
Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA
Sunday, May 17, 2020
John 14:15-21, 25-27
“What is God like?
We spend lots of time speculating about what God is like – at least some of us do. That first hymn gets us singing with ancient words about God: “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty.” . . . “Merciful and mighty – blessed Trinity.” That hymn remains so special to me: every time I sing I can hear my grandmother’s voice – a great church lady who loved God and loved serving in the church, and loved that hymn.
But what is God really like? If we are not careful, when we think about that question, we mostly get into big words and big concepts – omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign. Those are good and helpful terms but they often leave us with more questions about what God is like.
When we think about what God is like, we also realize a history of big debates about God – debates that have split the church, or even caused wars. We also build big theologies about God – Reformed theology, process theology, feminist theology, liberation theology, and more. Whenever we put a word in front of theology – we are advocating something about what God is like.
We have a timely passage today – again from the gospel of John – that gives us some succinct insights into what God is like. Listen – or read along carefully - as I read from John 14, beginning with verse 15:
15”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”
25”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.
This is the Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
The first thing I hear in this short passage is the steadfast loving care and faithfulness of God. These words come in a long chapter where Jesus keeps speaking with compassion and devotion for his beloved disciples. Right in the center of this passage is that promise – “I will not leave you orphaned.” Let those words sink in today.
What is God like? God knows us, cares about us – knows you, knows me, cares about you and me – so much that nothing can separate us from God’s steadfast love. We belong to God. God will never let us go.
We learn this in the story about the appearance of the rainbow in the sky following the massive floods for Noah and his family in the early stories of Genesis. God’s covenant with God’s people is foundational to life. We learn this in the stories of Abraham and Sarah, Moses and Miriam, David and Bathsheba – everything may seem lost and hopeless yet God turns it for good. We learn this through the prophets and the pains of relationship – God’s steadfast love is forever; the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting. The psalmist confirms – is there anywhere I can go to flee from God’s Spirit? “If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there.” No. No matter where we go, what we do, God’s loving presence surrounds us. “Even the darkness is not dark to you, O God” (Psalm 139).
And here Jesus says, “I will not leave you orphaned.” In other places, Jesus says, “come to me, all who labor and are heavily burdened, and I will give you rest.” Jesus says, “I am the first and the last and the living one. . . . Because I live, you also will live.”
What is God like? God makes us, shapes us, claims us, loves us forever – no matter what. We disappoint God. We fail and fall away. We get lost. We grieve and hurt. We get tired and discouraged. We even offend God. But nothing can separate us from God’s love – “I will not leave you orphaned.”
The second thing we sense in this short passage about what God is like is God’s helpfulness and support as we carry on in life. We are not just recipients of God’s loving care and steadfast faithfulness, we are helped and strengthened all along the way. Jesus says, “I will give you another Advocate, . . . who will abide with you and will be in you. . . the Holy Spirit, will teach you and remind you of everything I said.”
Who or what is this "Advocate"? Some versions of the Bible translate the Greek word as "Counselor." The word comes from the language of the courtroom --- an advocate who will stand with you, who will speak on your behalf. This Advocate/Spirit will ABIDE, will “make a home with you.” This Advocate – Jesus promises - will empower us to love one another even as Jesus has loved us. But more than that: through the presence of the Spirit, Jesus promises to be with the disciples – be with us - even after he goes away.
It is so easy, especially in these days, to feel all alone, and on our own and to become lonely and discouraged. Where is some comfort? Where is some hope? Well, we are not alone, or on our own. We have a Helper, a Counselor, an Advocate – an encourager – always and forever.
Once upon a time, there was a shepherd and a lost sheep. There was a woman and a lost coin. There was a father who lost his son. There was a blind man by the gate, a cripple man beside the pool, a demon-possessed person running around the cemetery, a woman who had been bleeding for 12 years, a mother whose son had died, . . . on and on. All these stories come from the gospels about Jesus healing, helping, saving, securing, showing what God is like. God is with us and for us – in good days and bad days, in life’s challenges and especially in most desolate moments of loss and despair.
The Advocate, the Helper, the Healer, the Spirit, the Encourager – “My peace I leave with you - do not let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”
Then there is another very important aspect of God – “if you love me, you will keep my commandments.”
Life as God’s beloved people, and life strengthened by God’s power, presence, and care, also means we live a certain way – keeping the commandments.
You know the commandments – love God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and love neighbor as you love yourself. Jesus said those are the great commandments. The commandments: worship God, do not make for yourselves idols, remember the Sabbath and keep it holy, honor father and mother, do not kill, do not commit adultery, do no steal, do not bear false witness. The commandments keep stressing how we live – with faithfulness, with generosity and kindness, with justice and compassion, with special attention toward the weak, the widows, the orphans, the vulnerable.
The great Dorothy Day put is succinctly. “It is not love in the abstract that counts.” We like to say we love the world, we love the workers, we love the poor, the oppressed. Day says “It is hard to love. It is the hardest thing in the world.” (See Daily Dig, May 12, 2020)
And yet this is what God absolutely expects from us: love with action, love with justice, love with deeds. “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” If you love me, you care enough about the planet to do something about its decline. If you love me, you will realize that we are NOT all in this virus together – some are really struggling, especially people of color and those closer to poverty. If you love me, you will actually tend to the weak and vulnerable. If you love me, you will sacrifice for the least and the suffering. If you love me, you will quit hoarding and begin sharing. If you love me you will do justice, love kindness, and walk humbly with God.
Some of you may recall the story from Greg Boyle and Homeboy Ministries. Greg Boyle is a Catholic priest who has devoted his life in care for the gangs in a neighborhood in Los Angeles. He created lots of programs and possibilities to redeem life for many troubled youth. One of the tutors at Homeboy, a tiny Japanese American woman named June, was teaching literacy skills, and helping many of the gang-recovering kids to fill out forms. One of the “homies” she was working with was named Fili. When the form asked for his height, he didn’t know how to answer - because he was confined to a wheel chair from gun violence. Sitting in his chair, he was about 3 feet. Ms. June asked him to extend his arms wide. She took out a measuring tape and measured from fingertip to fingertip. (see Boyle, Barking, p. 159)
“You’re six feet tall, “ she tells him matter-of-factly.
Our true height in love, our sense of life and faithfulness, our belonging to God, it seems, is measured in how expansively we can outstretch our arms, with generosity and love, with care for others.
We got lots of work to do in this area – “if you love me you will keep my commandments.”
In the last few weeks, many of us have been heartbroken by another nasty situation of racial injustice, most recently in GA. Another modern day lynching. Another travesty of aggression. The killing for a young African American. One columnist wrote about this recently with a challenge to white America. Is what happened in Glynn County GA an indictment on all white people? It is a terrible incident. But no; it is not an indictment of all whites. But, the columnist asks, what are white people doing “to dismantle a system of privilege” and injustice? What are white people doing to disrupt a system that “oppresses others?” “What are white people doing to help brothers and sisters be free” from the dangers of being shot while simply jogging in a neighborhood? “Black people are dying to know.” (L. Pitts, Miami Herald, May 13, 2020)
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” We cannot claim to love Jesus without loving and working for big changes that bring justice and hope for everyone. We cannot just be inclined toward people who look like us and/or live in our neighborhood. We cannot claim to love Jesus and tolerate so many injustices. “If you love me, keep my commandments” - this is also what God is like.
Keep thinking on these things: God’s steadfast love and faithfulness cover us forever; we are not on our own for God strengthens us and goes with us all our days; and God expects that we live with faithful, loving, justice seeking devotion always. AMEN
Prayer of Commitment: Holy God, to turn from you is to fall; to turn to you is to rise; to open our hearts to your love, to be strengthened by your Spirit, to serve you with devoted faithfulness in the world – that is to abide forever. We seek that way following Jesus Christ our Lord. AMEN
Alex W. Evans, Pastor, Second Presbyterian Church, Richmond, VA preached this sermon for morning worship on Sunday, May 17, 2020. This is a rough manuscript.