Pursuing Belief in Jesus: John 14:1-14 — Sermon by the Very Rev. Dr. Craig Stephans

Let us pray.

Oh father, we ask that you bring all of

us today out of any darkness that we are

in or that is in us and bring us into

your marvelous light and do such a work

in us that we might declare in word and

deed the excellencies of our Lord Jesus

Christ. It's in his name that we pray.

Amen.

>> Please be seated.

If you were here last week, you heard

Peter, our youth minister, preach, and

they're on a retreat this weekend. But

he started out his sermon by emphasizing

how in interpreting passages of

scripture and certainly preaching them,

context is king. And that resonated with

him as it does with me and Father Brian

and any who have been to seminary

because we hear it pounded into us over

and over. Context is king. We need the

context for any passage of scripture.

And our gospel today, John 14:1-14, is

John 14:1–14

no different. We need the context for

it. And I'm going to walk us through

John 14. So I encourage you to turn

there in your Bibles or bring it up on

your devices. John 14 occurs following

the Passover meal that Jesus has with

his disciples.

And entering that Passover, Jesus had

already told them several times that he

was going to go to Jerusalem where he

was then. He was going to be arrested.

He was going to suffer. He was going to

be crucified and he would rise again on

the third day. They haven't understood

that. But they could tell from the mood,

from the tone that something was about

to happen.

Jesus was going to betray be betrayed.

He was going to suffer. The devil had

already prompted Judas to betray him.

And at the supper, Satan actually

entered into Judas, as scriptures say,

to betray Jesus, led him out to do what

he was about to do. The disciples are

left there arguing about which of them

is the greatest, who will rule over the

others in Jesus's kingdom. As they

imagined that to happen, Jesus responds

by washing their feet as a lowly servant

and teaching them that as he their

master has washed their feet, so they

must serve one another. And the greatest

of them would be the one who serves. And

he's encouraged them above all things to

love one another. Even as he shared with

them the bread and the wine that

represented his body and his blood, he

warned them that he, the shepherd, would

be struck and they, the sheep, would all

scatter before him that very night. They

all protest, even Peter says, "No, I

will lay down my life for you." And

Jesus tells him that Satan had demanded

to sift them all as wheat. And that

Peter himself would disown Jesus three

times that night. There's a tense and

heavy time for the disciples. They sense

this oppression, this heaviness, this

anxiety that they're experiencing. They

don't know what to do. They're not sure

what's going to happen, but they

certainly are experiencing this

foroding.

And they're probably trying to convince

themselves that this these bad things

that he's saying can never happen.

Certainly, Jesus is going to say

something. He's going to do something.

He's going to turn it all around. It's

all going to be okay. Nothing bad is

going to happen.

In the midst of that tense situation,

Jesus begins a discussion by saying in

141, "Let not your hearts be troubled."

Can you imagine the audacity, the

boldness of Jesus, almost the seemingly

ridiculousness of Jesus saying to these

men at that time, "Let not your hearts

be troubled. Yes, I am going to go and

be crucified and die. On the third day,

I'm going to rise again. Let not your

hearts be troubled." It probably didn't

sound or seem very convincing to them.

It reminds me of a time a few years ago

when I was going and playing soccer on

Saturday mornings at Foresight Park. And

I would start the days by having my own

quiet time, which at home, which of

course requires coffee. And then I would

go to prayer at the Whitfield Center

from about 8:30 to 10:00, which requires

more coffee. Of course, it has to last

through the ride down to the Whitfield

Center, so it's a lot of coffee. and

feeling energized and stimulated, I

would go and this one morning I went and

as I went to run on the, you know,

playing pickup soccer, my heart just

started beating. Uh, it was like going

to explode out of my chest just super

fast. I'm like, "Oh my gosh." Um, and I

kind of knew what it was. You know, it

was overstimulated with caffeine, but it

was pounding, you know, for about a

minute, just super fast, super loud. It

was disturbed.

My heart was disturbed, my physical

heart. And I realized that our spiritual

hearts become disturbed the same way in

this life, in this world. They are

overstimulated

by all of the things, the things that

pertain to us in particular, our life,

our health, our finances, our

relationships, our family. Is everything

going to turn out the way that we

imagine and good? What about those

things that aren't going good? How can

we fix them? What do we have to do?

What was in the food that I ate this

morning? Was there iron? Were there

poisons? Were there chemicals? Did I eat

the right food? And then it goes on from

there all the way to the other side of

the world. What is happening in Iran? Is

that going to affect my life? The gas

prices is going to go up. What am I

going to do then? It never ends.

If you're like me, you probably checked

the news this morning before coming here

and got anxious about something you

didn't even know existed and it just

piles on to everything else. And our

spiritual hearts and souls become

disturbed. And in the midst of that,

Jesus doesn't say, "Well, you know what?

I'm going to fix everything for your

life. I'm going to make everything

perfect for you. Don't don't even think

about all those things again. I'm just

going to fix them." He doesn't say that.

In the midst of all of those, the

realities of all of those things, he

says, "Let not your heart be disturbed."

And you say, "Oh, right." And you go on

with your life. That's what we do. And

we try to deal with it thinking that

God's just going to take care of it.

Jesus follows up this crazy audacious

command, "Let not your hearts be

disturbed," by saying, "Believe in God.

believe also in me. And this is where

the challenge becomes our

responsibility.

There's no reason for you to be

disturbed.

Believe in God. Believe also in me. We

live with some disturbances and anxiety

because we don't press in to our faith

in God and what we are believing in.

Believe in God for what? Believe in

Jesus for what?

for everything that he is,

>> for everything that in this case he's

about to do, but for us he has done.

Believe in God for his presence, for his

power, for his love, for his care for

you, for his attention to your life, for

his sovereignty over all the world. He

does have the whole world in his hands.

Believe in God. Believe in Jesus. What

we tend not to do is take the time to

really press into what are we believing

him for? How are we believing in Jesus

for those things that are disturbing our

hearts? How are we believing in Jesus

for the things very particular to us and

for the things particular to the whole

world from our doorsteps to across the

world? Let not your hearts be troubled.

In this conversation that Jesus has from

the time that they finish the last

supper until the time they head out from

the upper room to Gethsemane, Jesus will

say two more times about peace. In

14:27, he says, "Peace I leave with you.

My peace I give to you. Not as the world

gives do I give to you. Let not your

hearts be troubled, neither let them be

afraid."

If I am honest with myself, I am way too

afraid for this life in the world. I am

afraid of way too much and I just deal

with it. Or I should say I don't deal

with it. I just deal with it by going on

with life while it just hangs over me or

weighs me down instead of believing in

God for these things that I'm afraid of

and letting his perfect love casts him

out, letting him make himself known to

me and assuring me that I don't have to

be afraid. Peace I leave with you. It's

a promise. Here in verse 16:33, the very

end of this conversation before Jesus

closes it out with his prayer in John

17, he says again, "I've said these

things to you so that in me you may have

peace. In the world you will have

tribulation, but take heart. I've

overcome the world. You're going to be

in this world,

but I give you peace in this world."

This is a promise of God that we are not

receiving for ourselves like we should.

I know it's true for me. I'm thinking

it's true for you, too. We are not

receiving the peace of God like we

should. And we're allowing our hearts

and souls to be disturbed when Jesus has

promised us peace. The challenge for us

is to press in to him, to believe in

God, to believe in Jesus fully for all

the things that might otherwise make us

afraid and anxious. Jesus goes on in

verse two, "In my father's house are

many rooms. If it were not so, I would

have told you that I go to prepare a

place for you. And if I go and prepare a

place for you, I will come again and

will take you to myself that where I am,

you may also be. You may be also. This

is a wonderful promise

for our eternity. Because the disciples

don't know this, but we know that Jesus

did die. On the third day, he rose

again. He revealed himself to them. He

was with them 40 days, and then he

ascended into heaven again and left

them. So this promise is very meaningful

to them because he's leaving them and he

says I'm going to go and prepare a place

for you and I'm going to come back to

take you to be with me that where I am

you may be. This is an expression of his

great love for us. Jesus is going to

pray prepare a place for us where we

will be with him for eternity because

this is his purpose and desire to be

with us for eternity. There's a Keith

Green song that was recorded live and

it's called I can't wait to get to

heaven. And in it as the prelude as he's

warming up, he says, you know, it took

God six days to create the world. And he

says, I don't know if it was literal or

figurative six days, but he's been

preparing a place for us for 2,000

years. And then he says, this must be

like living in a garbage can compared to

what's going on up there. There is the

sure and certain promise that Jesus is

preparing a place for us to be with him

forever.

That is a wonderful promise to give us

peace about our eternal life. We don't

have to fear death or what is going to

happen after death.

Jesus's promise is more than that

though. It's not just for that place

that he's preparing for us. what

Revelation calls the paradise of God

where those whose names are written in

the book of life who have believed in

Jesus will be with him forever. He goes

on to emphasize

that when he ascends to heaven, he's

going to ask the father and the father's

going to send the holy spirit, the

spirit of the father and the son who

will be with his followers immediately

and forever.

He says,

"You know the way to where I'm going."

And Thomas said to him,"Lord, we do not

know where you are going. How can we

know the way?" And Jesus said to him, "I

am the way, the truth, and the life. No

one comes to the Father except through

me. If you had known me, you would have

known my father also. From now on, you

do know him and have seen him." And

Philip in verse 8 says,"Lord, show us

the Father, and it is enough for us."

And Jesus said to him, "Have I been with

you so long and still you do not know

me, Philillip? Whoever has seen me has

seen the father. How can you say, "Show

us the father?" Do you not believe that

I am in the father and the father is in

me? Jesus is

indicating a transformation of humanity

and human existence. Right here Jesus is

reminding them that he and the father

are one. He's telling Peter, if you

Philillip, if you've seen me, you've

seen the father. If you don't believe

what I'm saying, consider the works that

I've done. They are the work of the

father who's been working through me to

do these miracles. The father is in me

and I am in the father. What Jesus is

presenting is that he is also the way

for us to become one with the father and

for the father to become one with us.

That is a new creation.

That is a new kingdom that has come

through Jesus. Up to this time, Jesus

has been the presence of God with them.

He has been the presence of the kingdom

of heaven with them. But he is about to

become the way so that the presence of

the father is in them and the presence

of the kingdom is in them. This is a

transformation

for people who believe in Jesus. He will

go on to describe how this is going to

happen through the Holy Spirit. In verse

16, he says, 'I will ask the father and

he'll give you another helper to be with

you forever, even the spirit of truth

whom the world cannot receive because it

it neither sees him nor knows him. You

know him, for he dwells with you and

will be in you. This is the amazing work

that Jesus is doing. This is why their

hearts and our hearts don't have to be

disturbed, worry or anxious because the

God who is with them in Jesus Christ is

going to be in them and he is in us

through faith.

He goes on to to promise them I will not

leave you as orphans.

I will come to you in that day you will

know that I am in the father and you in

me and I in you. If anyone loves me, he

will keep my word and my father will

love him and we will come to him and

make our home with him. This is why as

believers in Christ, we do not need to

be disturbed, anxious or fearful because

the very God who created all things and

the very Lord who died and rose again to

life live in us and make their home in

us through the Holy Spirit. We are

literally and truly invited and welcomed

into the relationship between the

father, the son, and the holy spirit. We

are not left as orphans. We are not left

alone. We are not abandoned or

neglected. God is with us. And the call

is to believe in him with us.

In verse 12, Jesus says, "Truly, truly I

say to you, whoever believes in me will

also do the works that I do,

and greater works than these will he do

because I'm going to the father."

That gives me great pause because I look

at that, whoever believes in me will do

the works that I do. Think about the

works that Jesus did as he had said

earlier in this conversation, the works

of the father through him. He's raised

Lazarus from the dead after four days.

He walked on water. He multiplied the

fish and the bread twice. He did so many

miracles. And he says, "Whoever believes

in me will do the works that I do." So

that can't be true, right? That can't

mean what it looks like it means. That

can't be for whoever or anyone. It must

be for special people.

That

seems to be the way to approach this

because I have not done those same

works.

But you know what? I also haven't been

at peace all the time like Jesus said

would happen. Peace I leave with you. My

peace I give you. Do we disregard this

because it doesn't match up with my

experience or yours? Do we disregard the

promise of peace because maybe I wasn't

peaceful this morning or I haven't been

at peace.

We don't disregard them and we don't

ascribe them to others or for others. We

press in to what Jesus is calling us to

do, what he has associated both of these

promises with a piece of the works that

he has done and that is with belief.

Believe in God, believe also in me.

Anyone who believes in me will do these

works.

The scripture is not lacking or our

interpretation is not lacking. Our

pressing in with belief to God is what

is lacking. Amen.

>> We have to accept that and challenge

ourselves to not do more or become

something different on our own, but to

believe God more and to press in with

faith to God and his presence and his

person and his promises and seek him and

not allow

what we have not experienced with God

limit what we believe for with God or

limit his promises that we may not have

experienced yet, but to let those

promises encourage us to keep seeking

him, to keep praying to him.

Whatever you ask in my name, this I will

do that the father may be glorified in

the son. If you ask me for anything in

my name, I will do it. Again, not

everything I have asked for in prayer

that I concluded with in Jesus' name has

been done for me or has been given to

me.

Do I stop praying or do I press in with

faith to pray more rightly, more

correctly, more inspired by the Holy

Spirit?

You know, I talked about soccer. I play

golf a lot, not well. And I just accept

that, you know, I go, I'm not going to

practice.

I'm just gonna go play. And in doing

that, I have to accept that I'm not

going to play well. And when I go and

mess up, it's because I haven't

practiced. I just keep playing. But if I

really wanted to be good, I would go

practice. I would practice hitting balls

on the range, chipping, putting, all

that stuff, and I would get better.

Why would we think that our prayers are

just going to be perfect

unless we practice, unless we

engage with God back and forth? Is this

what I should pray for? Is this how to

pray? Is this how to pray with faith? Do

I need to press in more with uh the Holy

Spirit to provide guidance and counsel

for how to pray? And as I say that, you

know, it is I have fun playing golf

badly. We can pray and don't have to

worry about is this the right prayer?

Did I say it right? Did I do it right?

Any prayer is received by the Lord and

he takes it and deals with it.

But there is a way to pray as inspired

by the Holy Spirit and in Jesus' name

that develops a maturity that hears from

God and prays his will back to him. And

that's what it I think Jesus is leading

us into by this promise of when you pray

in my name, when you pray according to

my will, according to my spirit,

according to my character, always

keeping in mind that everything isn't

going to come to us in this world. Jesus

has gone there to prepare a place and

that is where it is all going to be

answered. That is where we are all going

to be made well. That is where we will

be filled completely with joy and peace

and love. But we're praying for that to

come, his kingdom to come here and now.

And so we want to grow in our prayers.

And there's in this conversation that

Jesus has in the upper room, there's

several times where he does present a

condition. He presents a condition for

the peace, for the the works that he has

called us to do, for the answer to

prayer.

For in chapter 14:1 15, he reveals it.

If you love me, you will keep my

commandments. In verse 21, he says,

"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. If anyone loves me, he will keep my

word, and my father will love him, and

we will come to him and make our home

with him." And in verse 15:10, he says,

"If you keep my commandments, you will

abide in my love. This is my commandment

that you love one another as I have

loved you. These things I command you so

that you will love one another.

There is a condition on living in this

peace in living and doing the works of

God and living and having our prayers

answered and it is that we would love

God and love each other. There are

things that prevent that peace, our

prayers being answered and us doing the

works of God and they're all the things

that quench the Holy Spirit. It's what

Peter wrote about the malice, the

bitterness, the resentfulness toward one

another. It's indulging in sin

continually in our lives.

But if we love him, we'll keep his

commandments. And his commandments are

read here every every Sunday. Love God

and love others. And the good news is

that we do that through God who has come

to make himself known to us and make his

home with us. Paul says it so well in

Romans 5:5. love has God's love has been

Romans 5:5

poured into our hearts through the Holy

Spirit who has been given to us. And I

just wonder if the greater works that

Jesus speaks of in in John 14:12,

John 14:12

you know, we can't do a greater work, I

don't think, than raising someone from

the dead after they've been dead four

days. But what is the greater work? I

wonder if it is us being sinners

being steeped in darkness and oppressed

by evil, being so often full of hatred

and self-centerness. If we being

redeemed by God and filled with his love

can love other people as he has loved

us, I wonder if that's not the greater

work that Jesus speaks of. And if in

loving others as he has loved us, we

bring them to faith in Christ and we

lead them to salvation, sometimes even

laying hands on them that they would

receive the Holy Spirit. I wonder if

that's not the greater works that Jesus

spoke of that he didn't do during his

ministry on earth because he had to die

and rise again for us to be saved, for

us to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

But if we can love others as he has

loved us, I think we can start with that

as a work of Jesus and maybe even a

greater work.

All by his grace, all through his Holy

Spirit.

And also remember what Jesus said,

whatever we've done to the least of one

of these, we've done it unto him.

We have the opportunity to do the great

work of loving Jesus through loving each

other. And maybe that's the greater work

of what he of which he spoke.

It all starts with love and loving one

another. So let me close with prayer and

reminding us in Romans 8:26

Romans 8:26

where Paul writes, "Likewise, the spirit

helps us in our weakness."

We can't do any of this on our own. We

can't make ourselves at peace. We can't

make God hear and answer our prayers. We

can't make or do ourselves the works of

Jesus. But the spirit helps us in our

weakness. So, let's invite the spirit to

come to help us not to be disturbed, to

help us believe in God, to help us to do

the works he's called us to do, and to

help us to pray.

So, let's pray now.

Father, we thank you so much that you

have loved us and gave your son to die

for us. That as we believe in him, we

may have eternal life that begins now.

Eternal life that is marked and

characterized by receiving the Holy

Spirit of the Father and the Son. Holy

Spirit, come to us and help us in our

weakness. Help us to live the life that

Jesus described,

loving you and loving one another.

being at peace,

doing the works you've called us to do

for the glory of the name of Jesus and

praying in his name according to your

will. So come Holy Spirit and help us.

We look to you, inspire us, challenge

us, encourage us, and empower us. Amen.