"A Lament" Sermon Manuscript, 5/31

We celebrate the birth of the Christian Church this weekend with Pentecost, when the fire of the Holy Spirit fell from Heaven and thousands were added to the number of those who followed the Risen Savior. Usually this is a celebration, a happy time for us to reflect on the power of God’s love in sending the Holy Spirit as our helper. Instead, today, we grieve and mourn. We lament.

Hear this, the Word of the Lord: Psalm 13:1-2 “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?  How long will you hide your face from me? How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?”

Just two weeks ago, we prayed for the family of Ahmaud Arbery, who, while out jogging, unarmed, was murdered by two white men in Georgia.

We went to bed last night with heavy hearts praying for the grieving Floyd family, the grieving African American community, and for the safety of protestors.

We saw Friday morning on TV as a black CNN reporter was arrested live while reporting. A black reporter was arrested before any of the police officers who killed George Floyd Tuesday.

We read a tweet from the President who calls protestors ‘thugs’ and warns of the Army coming to lock things down in Minneapolis stating, ‘when the looting starts, the shooting starts.’

All this as we grieve the loss of 100,000 American lives to the COVID-19 virus.

George Floyd was murdered by a white police officer Tuesday, an officer who sat with his full body weight on George, his knee square down on the base of his neck. All of America, the entire country, is quarantined at home, and nearly everyone has seen the terrible video of George Floyd’s last moments on earth. Seemingly everyone is expressing outrage and seeking justice, because the truth is before our eyes. George Floyd was murdered, period. 

Conversations are being had about race. Families are starting to take stock of where their own hearts are on this issue. That’s a good thing, but it’s not enough.

Minnesota is a special place to me. Three hours from where George Floyd was murdered, God called me into ministry at Presbyterian Clearwater Forest in Deerwood, Minnesota. My heart hurts, along with the country, at the grave injustice and gross abuse of power we watched on Tuesday. We as a country watched a child of God murdered, and now, we as a country grieve, and we as a country must rise up and cry out for justice to be done, in the words of Dr. King, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. also said, “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning." And it was Dr. King, too, who said, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” We are facing injustice in our country right now, and we’ve faced it for 300 years, turning a blind eye to those whom we deemed as “less than,” those we legally validated as 3/5 of a white person, those we depend on for labor but refuse to pay a living wage.

But I want to share some words from George Floyd, too. In a video, speaking to black youth, pleading with them to turn from violence, he says, “Come on home, man. One day it’s gonna be you and God. You got one way to go, you’re going up or you’re going down. You know what I’m saying? That’s going to be it.” - George Floyd was a follower of Jesus, a fellow Christian. I didn’t know him, but I know I’ll be able to meet him in Heaven one day and throw my arms around him and give him a huge hug. George Floyd is now praising God with all the saints in Heaven. He is right- there’s one way to go, up or down, and one day it will just be you and God.

Jesus couldn’t breathe, either. Jesus was a minority killed by the state. Crucifixion causes the subject, while hanging suspended from hands and feet nailed to wooden beam to eventually lose energy and strength, causing asphyxiation. Just like Eric Garner and George Floyd, Jesus couldn’t breathe, and He died, murdered by the state, those in power, another minority put to death by the majority in power.

Thankfully for us who follow Jesus, who know the salvation and redemption of Christ, our last breath on earth will be our first breath in Heaven. George Floyd is now breathing that Heavenly air, full and free, justice delivered.

Issues in our country stem from racism and abuse of power. Slavery, then Jim Crow laws, African Americans have only legally been permitted the same rights and liberties of whites for 50 years in this country.

There is no quick fix. There is no instant solution. This problem has existed since time began. God created diversity as beauty. The serpent in the garden implored Eve to eat of the fruit forbidden because they would die if they did and the serpent urges, “But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” God created difference because it was good, it was necessary for life to flourish, and yet, the serpent sowed the first seeds of distrust because of difference. “It’s not okay for you to be human, you have to be like God.”

Differences are good. Diversity is good. We are all created in the very image of God. Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”

And yet, Dr. King speaks to our self-segregation on Sunday mornings at 11:00 A.M. as we gather separately. Justin and Catherine Gonzales, in The Liberating Pulpit say, “In a white racist society, the ‘average’ human being is depicted as white. In a sexist society, male domination seems normal.”

Author Toni Morrison says, “In this country, American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”

I’m not the right person to speak out here, but I have a platform and so, I speak out against racism and violence and injustice here. I am part of the majority- white and male and middle class. I am the one in power. I am the one with privilege. I’ve been pulled over a few times before, generally for speeding violations, but even when an officer approached my vehicle with his hand on his service weapon, I’ve never felt afraid, because I am white and I am male. I was afraid of how much the speeding ticket would set me back and if I would have to take a day off to go to traffic court.

I’ve never been afraid that I would not make it home when confronted by police, that I might be arrested and taken to jail, or worse, killed outright because of the color of my skin. But I’ve heard and seen my friends cry as they spoke about having to have hard conversations with their black sons and daughters, their Latino sons and daughters about what to do when stopped by police, to be respectful and follow orders completely and totally comply. George Floyd did all this though, and he still ended up dead.

We all saw George Floyd, an 11 minute video of him doing everything perfectly, obeying every command, never resisting, put in handcuffs and forced to the ground and held in place by an officer who murdered him in broad daylight on the street, slowly crushing the life from George’s body by a knee to the neck as George laid prone on the ground in handcuffs, not moving, repeatedly asking for help, crying out, “I can’t breathe.”

George Floyd was arrested because he paid for groceries and was suspected of having a counterfeit $20.00 bill. The clerk called police who arrived and arrested him. I mistakenly told my wife, “It’s just a misdemeanor, they should have given him a ticket and let him go face the charges in court.” Because it doesn’t seem like a big deal. Anyone might have a counterfeit piece of money and not know it. But doing some research made me even madder- the actual charge of using counterfeit money is a felony, a federal crime, punishable by up to $15,000 dollar fine or 15 years in prison. The Secret Service was created for this very purpose- to investigate charges of fraud and counterfeiting. America created an entire branch of law enforcement completely designated to police fake money in 1865, even as black people were still considered property. If you don’t see the issue here, you’re not listening- what does America value more?

In 1776 and 1865 and now in 2020, it is certainly not the lives of people of color. Period.

What about Jesus? What would Jesus say, what did Jesus do? Jesus when traveling to Galilee from Judea made the decision to pass through Samaria. Doesn’t sound like a big deal, but Jews and Samaritans were enemies. Jews considered Samaritans unclean, and even setting foot into Samaritan land made one ritually unclean. Yet, John 4:4 says, “He had to pass through Samaria.” I thank my father-in-law for bringing this to my remembrance- the easy, straight path from Judea to Galilee was a simple journey through Samaria, but because of their hatred, their racism, Jews traveled all the way around the Samaritan lands, adding days to their journey. 

Jesus had to pass through Samaria because the people in Samaria were the same people He came to liberate from sin. Jesus had to pass through Samaria because the people there were His sheep just like the Jews in Israel just like the Gentiles of Rome and Greece. And it was here in a village in Samaria where Jesus spoke to a woman at a well and offered her living water. Jesus knew all His children were made in His image. There were none clean or unclean. There were His sheep, and He is our Good Shepherd. Praise God, there won’t a ‘Whites only’ entrance to the gates of Heaven! Christ came to bring liberation and reconciliation, liberation from sin and reconciliation to the Father, the Creator of all life.

What to do, then? In our grief, in our sorrow, in our lament, how do we proceed?

The big answer is, “End racism.” “Embrace equity and equality.” “End injustice in all forms.” “Embrace one another as brothers and sisters.” “Appreciate our different cultures and the beauty of that uniqueness.”

We’re not there yet. We’re not even close. So let’s start with the tiniest of baby steps.

3 John 4:11 says, “Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.” Do good. Start with doing good by not using terms like colored or the n-word or other epithets to describe people of color. 

Do good by calling out those who use this offensive language. Do good by calling out those who perpetrate stereotypes which characterize people of color in negative light. Do good by being friendly to the person who doesn’t look like you. Try saying “Hello,” or “How are you?” Those two work wonders with every human being. 

Do good by educating yourself about what is happening to our brothers and sisters in the African American community, in the Hispanic community, in any community that doesn’t look like you. Do good by refusing to call people of color “Them.” Try, try really hard to think of people of color as “Us.” Try to understand why people of color are angry when week after week we see white people killing black people throughout our country. 

Stop equating the falsehood of “All Lives Matter” with terrible logic. If All Lives Matter, then surely and certainly Black Lives Matter.

This is the very least we can do, period.

John Wesley said, “Do no harm, do all the good you can, and stay in love with God.” I have failed to do no harm through my silence in the face of injustice, and I have failed to do all the good I can by not standing with my brothers and sisters of color as they fight, in my own fear of speaking truth to power.

Ezekiel 34:15-16 says this: “I myself will be the shepherd of my sheep, and I myself will make them lie down, declares the Lord God.  I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak, and the fat and the strong I will destroy. I will feed them in justice.”

I may not be a good enough Wesleyan, but I understand Jesus clearly. Jesus says, “Love God, love your neighbor, and make disciples.” We love God best when we love one another totally and completely, accepting and embracing all the differences that make us all a part of God’s image, that beautiful Holy mosaic.

God promises that justice is coming. We continue to pray for that justice to come.

"The Essential Church" Sermon Manuscript, 5/24

Scripture: Luke 24:44-53

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, 47 and that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things. 49 And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”

50 And he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

For three years, Jesus walked the earth, healed the sick, performed miracles, and poured Himself into teaching and loving His disciples. Jesus accomplished all He came to the earth to do: He gave Himself as a sacrifice, dying on the cross for the sins of the world, three days later raised to life, resurrected. Jesus’ great ministry was laying the foundation for His Church in the world.

Then, in our passage here, Jesus takes the disciples out to Bethany, a special place for Jesus. Bethany was a town Jesus stayed in many times. Bethany was where Jesus visited with His friends, siblings Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. Bethany was the place where Lazarus became sick and died, Jesus wept over the loss of his friend, and then called Lazarus back to life. So, it is fitting here that when Jesus prepares to return home to Heaven, He decides to leave from Bethany, a special place for Jesus surrounded by His closest friends and family.

Jesus blessed them and departed for Heaven, and the disciples were filled with joy and worshipped together in the temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus laid the foundation. Jesus prepared the disciples for what was coming next- the task of building the Church throughout the world, spreading the Gospel of Jesus- the Good News that Christ has died, Christ has risen, and Christ will come again. And Jesus sent the Holy Spirit as a Helper to live inside His followers to guide them as they began this massive undertaking- telling all the world about Jesus and His great love for everyone, everywhere.

Over these past months, we have been unable to gather together inside physical buildings to proclaim and worship the Risen Savior. We have not been able to lift our voices together in one place to praise our God like the disciples were able to do, leaving Bethany to return to Jerusalem to the temple to continually bless God. It has been difficult, but it has been necessary, because we want to do everything we can to keep everyone we can safe and healthy and well throughout this crisis.

I don’t want this to be interpreted as a political statement, but follow where I’m going… Give me some grace here as you listen. On Friday, our President spoke at a press conference and said that houses of worship were essential services and should be allowed to open to provide these essential services this weekend.

I disagree with this. Church is not essential. The Church, however, is completely essential. Going to church on Sunday, getting up and taking a shower and dressing in nice clothes and traveling to a building to gather with a group of people to sing songs and give money and hear a sermon and pray together is not essential. 

For many people, this is the only way we practice our faith- by being faithful to go to the same place week after week.

This is not essential. This is a wonderful thing, and I miss it terribly, as most of you out there do, too. I miss seeing my church family and being able to shake hands and hug people and hear what’s happening in people’s lives. I miss singing wonderful hymns with live musicians playing piano and guitar and praying together. I miss seeing people in our empty sanctuaries as I proclaim the Word of God. But none of our gathering is essential.

Like I said before, this isn’t an indictment of what the President said. Simply put, the act of going to church every week is not essential. Health care, particularly right now as we face the COVID-19 virus, is essential. Access to food is essential. But going to church is not essential.

Now, before you think I am trying to discount our faith and our practice of faith through gathering together for worship, I am not. Going to church is just not the essential thing here. It feels like we’re fighting the wrong fight. Going to church is not essential- BEING the Church is completely essential, especially right now.

This is the task for which Jesus prepared the disciples. This is the reason why Jesus asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit to come and live inside us to help and guide our paths. We have been tasked with building the Church. Jesus told us to love God, love people, and make disciples of Jesus all over the world.

We are missing the point when we start to equate going to church with supporting a political affiliation. We are missing the point when we are fighting with one another over freedom to go to church. Jesus told us to love one another as we love ourselves. Part of loving one another is working to do what we can to keep everyone safe and healthy so that once it is deemed safe, or safer, rather, then we can once more gather to worship and praise in spirit and truth.

Our two churches, Franklinville and Rehobeth, have a median age of about 75. That means that about 90% of our people are in that high-risk population for getting tremendously sick, as we’ve seen right here in Randolph County in our nursing home facilities. I am no fan of preaching to a camera and posting videos and calling and texting people instead of being able to see everyone face-to-face, but I also do not, under any conditions, want to put people at risk for getting terribly sick or worse, dying, just so we can go to church.

Staying apart right now is how we as the Church of Jesus can show one another love. This isn’t a popular opinion, particularly when our President says that going to church is essential. It almost makes me feel like I’m a bad pastor or worse, a bad follower of Jesus because I haven’t opened up our churches for people to come. Thankfully, this hasn’t been my decision to make, as our Bishop has stated we will remain closed to indoor worship until June 30^th. This means, sadly, that the last service I presided over in this appointment was March 8^th. But, it also means I continue to hear from people as I check on them, I ask, “How are you doing?” And everyone says, “We’re doing okay.” Praise God we’ve not transmitted sickness by coming together.

So, coming to church is not essential, but being the Church is essential. What does this mean for us?

It means that we must find new ways to proclaim our faith. It means we must return to our own personal faith in a way which goes straight to the heart of God and God’s desire to love us and be loved by us. It means we read Scripture, and hear God speak to us through the Bible. It means we spend time alone in prayer. It means we use the technology available to us to connect and proclaim God’s love- like Facebook and YouTube and our phones and texts and video calls and emails.

Being the Church is completely and entirely essential. God weeps alongside us as we lift up those who have suffered through the effects of this virus. God holds families in His loving arms of peace as they grieve those lost to this virus, as they lament the loss of employment and lack of resources. God knows our pain at having our routines taken away and wants to shepherd us into His great love- this is why He sent the Holy Spirit to dwell in our hearts, that God is always with us, no matter where we are and how we gather- virtually or in person. 

In order for us to be the Church, which is so very essential right now, for us to show others the love of Jesus, we have to be open to realizing God’s grace for our lives, and showing that same grace and love to the world. Jesus told us to love God with all we are and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves- this means we must pray for one another, check up on one another, help each other out as we’re able, and above all things, show the love of Jesus through the ways in which we live our lives, day in and day out. Going to church to see and be seen week after week turns the worship of Holy God into a Christian country club, just another social engagement to check off on the list. Being the Church is what we are called to do right now and coming together inside in a physical place is still too risky, so we show God’s love through remaining apart from one another.

Jesus left us the task of continuing to build His Church here on earth, to build the Kingdom of God. That task looks a lot different for us in the midst of this pandemic. But our task is essential, just like medical care and food- showing people the love of Jesus means the difference in eternal life with God in Heaven or not, and we’re not showing people the love of Jesus if we’re helping speed them along to illness or death by gathering together. That’s literally the very opposite of what God has called us to do in loving one another as we love ourselves.

We continue ahead to build the Kingdom of God here on earth through the smallest things we do- practicing social distancing while out shopping, wearing masks where appropriate, staying home as much as we can, checking on one another, all ways we show love to one another, ways we are able to show Christ’s love, even while we remain apart.

Going to church is not essential, but God knows and has called us to that most essential task of all- being His Church. And with that, I’ll leave you with words from the hymn, “We Are the Church”: ‘I am the church / You are the church / We are the church together / All who follow Jesus all around the world / Let’s be the church together.’

So, let’s do it- let’s get to our essential task and be the Church, together.

"Love and the Truth" Sermon Manuscript, 5/17

Scripture: John 14:15-21

15 “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, 17 even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.

18 “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 In that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21 Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”

The Beatles sang words of truth in 1967 when they sang, “All you need is love.”

Jesus asked Peter on the lakeshore after a post-Resurrection appearance the same question, three times in a row: “Do you love me?” “Do you love me?” “Do you love me?”

If there was one word we could use that would perfectly describe Jesus Christ, and there are many words which do wonderfully and marvelously describe Jesus- “Savior,” “Messiah,” “Lord,” “God,” “Master,” “Redeemer.” There’s one word, however, which sums up the existence of Jesus, the ministry of Jesus, and the entirety of Jesus’ message and commandments, and that word is “love.”

Jesus loved humanity so much that He came from Heaven and died in our place to atone for our sins and returned to Heaven to prepare a place for us there. While He was here on earth, Jesus gave us the Great Commandment: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind and all your strength, and love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Jesus said the whole of all of God’s Law for humanity depended on this Commandment: to love. Love God with everything you are, and love people just like you love yourself.

Here in John 14, Jesus tells the disciples, “If you love me, then you’ll keep my commandments.” Jesus’ commandments are to love God and love people, everyone, everywhere, so if we are to show Jesus that we love Him, that we appreciate His great sacrifice on the cross on our behalves, that we honor Him as King and Lord and God, then we will love God with everything we are and we will love our neighbors just like we love ourselves.

Jesus, at this point was getting His disciples ready for the time after His death and Resurrection. Jesus was preparing the disciples for what life would look like once He had ascended back to Heaven, departed from the earth, the victory won. Jesus knew the disciples had a difficult task ahead of them. For the past three years, they had the power and protection of God in flesh among them as they ministered, and through that power, the disciples were able to cast out demons and heal and help people in need. Once Jesus was gone, though, He knew that the disciples would have to figure out how to spread His Gospel without Him there to lead them, personally, in the flesh.

The disciples were unsure about what Jesus was telling them, where He was going when He told them He would be gone from them. They anticipated Jesus leaving, but continuing in life with them somehow, somewhere, at the very least knowing that wherever He was they could make a journey to get to Him physically. They didn’t understand that Jesus was about to willingly lay His life down, to be crucified. They surely didn’t know that Jesus was about to send them on a mission to spread the Good News of His death and resurrection all around the world. 

(Can you imagine trying to spread a message that would reach all over the world so important that people would not only continue to pass the word, but also devote their lives to it? Right now we might think, “I could use social media and the internet and cell phones and news and television,” but even then, if we only had a team of twelve people, how daunting, how difficult, how tremendous would that task be?)

Jesus knew all of this, and He trusted in the disciples to figure out how to begin the task of building God’s Kingdom, the Church of Jesus Christ all across the world, but remember earlier, we described Jesus as “love,” love completely, love incarnate, love total and sure and true, and because Jesus is love, Jesus trusted the disciples to carry out the task of spreading the Gospel, but He wanted to give them help, too, even if He would not be with them physically.

So Jesus tells the disciples: “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”

This word here Jesus uses, “Helper,” here. In different Bible translations, this word is “Comforter,” or “Advocate,” but the Greek word Jesus uses here is “parakletos,” which means a helper, an intercessor, an assistant, an advocate to plead on one’s behalf. (Earlier in ministry when I was working with youth, we had a big weekend trip to a regional youth rally, and my binder for that weekend with all the information and emergency contact forms and the Bible study we went through together, I took a piece of paper and wrote, “Parakletos” and put it on the cover of the binder so that all through that weekend, I could look down at that binder, which I had to carry nearly all weekend long, and be reminded- I have the Ultimate Help living inside of me.)

Jesus tells the disciples He will send another Helper, the Spirit of Truth, who lives and dwells inside of them, and Jesus has sent this Helper for us, too- the Holy Spirit, indeed that Spirit of Truth. Jesus began this passage in John 14 saying, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” How can we know love and what love is and how to love and be love to others? How do we as followers of Jesus know the love Jesus gives us so openly and freely? How do we understand love? Jesus sends the Holy Spirit, the Truth, which lives inside us to show us the way towards the ultimate truth- the love of Jesus, and how we can show that love to others and how we can share that love with the world. We literally have the Spirit of God living inside of us, helping us, guiding us, just as God guided the disciples and has guided His Church for over 2,000 years. How can we not know love if we have the Holy Spirit’s guidance?

And yet- look at the world.

If we look at the world of Jesus’ day, the Roman Empire, which controlled the majority of the ancient world, people worshipped the Emperor as a God, gave taxes to worship him, and Rome had a state policy of honoring all religions, the older the better. The Romans wholeheartedly adopted the pantheon of Greek gods and goddesses, merely renaming them in their own language, but anyone could practice any religion or all the religions they wanted, so long as they affirmed the Emperor as God, too. The Romans did some wonderful things for the world, but they were also technically proficient at state execution and violence- things like the precision and accuracy of crucifixion, the fighting and murder of slaves in the Colosseum, and after Christ’s death, the wholesale slaughter of Christians in a state which claimed to honor all religions. It took 300 years before the Roman Empire finally heard the Gospel of Christ and made Christianity the official state religion. 300 years of panic and chaos and calamity for those who followed Jesus.

Or if we look at the world today- during this pandemic we’ve seen love abounding everywhere, from essential frontline workers who have braved the virus to care for patients and keep the food chain open for all of us to the love and care we’ve all seen and felt from one another as we’ve kept in touch, even if by phone or text or video. But chaos and violence continue to abound, all over the world, even as the entire world is shutting down to deal with the coronavirus. Crime continues. Poverty continues. Injustice continues. Racism continues. Hatred continues. Here in the world of 2020, just like in the ancient world, so many people do not and can not understand love.

Jesus tells the disciples this, too. He said, “The world cannot receive the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, because it doesn’t see Him or know Him.” The world, then in the age of Rome and the world now, today, doesn’t know the Truth, they can’t know true love, the love of Jesus because they don’t see the truth, even when it’s shouted from the rooftops. This is why evil continues throughout the world. But Jesus had a plan- when He left to return to Heaven, He would send the Holy Spirit to guide us and direct us- our Comforter, our Advocate, our Guide here on earth, who would live inside of us so that we could experience the truth from the very Source.

Jesus’ plan is for us to love Him wholly and completely. By doing this, we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within us, the Truth, and that Truth shows us who love is and what love looks like, what love means. Jesus plan is for us to continue the work of building God’s Kingdom here on earth, started by Him and His disciples. We do that through loving God with all that we are, our everything, loving all people all over the world, our neighbors, and loving people by sharing with them the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice for them so they can finally see the truth and know the truth for themselves, the Truth of God’s love for His Creation, a love so great the Father sent the Son to die as a sacrifice, a love so great the Son sent the Spirit to live within our hearts and show us truth for ourselves, the truth of love.

One thing that every single person alive needs is love. It’s how God built us. We were formed to love and be loved. Because of this, God sent Jesus in the ultimate act of love to redeem us from going astray, from our turning away from love. And because of Jesus’ great and abiding eternal love for us, Jesus sends the Holy Spirit to help us as we endeavor to love God and love people here on earth.

Jesus ends this passage with these words: “Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.” We have the commandments: love God with all our hearts, love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and tell the world about Jesus. Now, our mission is to keep them: to love God over and above everything else in our lives, and in turn, Jesus promises us that the Father will love us, and Jesus, the Son will love us and that He will send the Holy Spirit to us, and one day, Jesus promises us- we will see Him face to face.

What a better gift of love could there be for someone than to give them the gift of knowing Jesus, that they too might one day see Jesus face to face in Heaven? I cannot think of anything more wonderful.

Go now and see the truth, know the truth of the Holy Spirit living within you, allow yourself to be guided toward love and into love and share that love of God as it overflows from within you out into everyone you meet.

It's that simple- love God, love people, make disciples. And we can do it, because we have the Ultimate Helper living within our hearts- the Holy Spirit of God!