St. John 14:15-21 I am going to pose a great philosophical question to you that has caused much ink to be spilt on paper throughout history: “Why do you exist?” “What is the purpose for you and I to be alive and to take up space in a world created beyond the limits of our understanding?” Your answer, whatever it may be, will tell you quite a lot concerning what you think of yourself, the world, and God.
Why did God create you? Part of the discussion concerns us with who God is, a parallel to Paul’s sermon to the people of Athens. Then, we must also, somewhere in the topic, discuss why God created the world? Why did he form Adam of the dust and take Eve from the rib of Adam? Why did God create them? If we can begin to understand why God made Adam and Eve, then perhaps we can begin to decipher why you and I are here. Ultimately, this leads us to the discussion of the church--what it is and why we need to be a part of the church. Martin Luther speaks of Adam’s being in the “image of God” as something more than just a physical likeness. Being in the image of God implies a spiritual existence, an immortal existence in fellowship with the Holy Trinity. We don’t exist in order to “eat, drink, and be merry.” We have been created in order to be in union with God and worship Him in all His splendor. This gives meaning to the church and to the words of Jesus in the gospel. St. Paul exhorts the churches to remain in this relationship with the Holy Trinity. In Colossians 2, St. Paul is reminding the churches of this relationship: St. Paul desires that the hearts of the people be “comforted, being knit together in love, and unto all the riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the acknowledgment of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ; in whom are hid all the treasures of of wisdom and knowledge”(Colossians 2:2-3). St. Paul is discussing the baptismal life as it is lived. To receive the holy sacrament of baptism is to be brought into Christ. St. Paul’s language is bathed in baptismal talk: “As you have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him. Rooted and built up in Him, and established in the faith, as you have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving”(Colossians 2:6-7). This goes hand in hand with Jesus’ words to the twelve in the gospel. The sending of the Holy Spirit after Christ’s death, resurrection, and ascension is the renewing of God’s relationship with man. The Holy Spirit does not work apart or independent of Christ’s atonement but in league with it. This signals a few notable things for us. First, when you were baptized you ceased living for yourself and existing as an independent individual in this world. You were brought into something that was bigger than you. You received Jesus and Jesus received you. This is churchly talk. You became a part of the body of Christ. Second, your life is now a life of worshipping the Holy Trinity. This is your life, now. This is part of the reality of being “in the image of God.” This strikes us a couple of ways. Reflecting on these realities leads us to realize that we don’t often live as though Christ is in us and we in Him. St. Paul said, “as you have received Christ, so walk in Him.” We don’t often do this very well. We don’t live out our days as if Jesus were the only one who mattered. We don’t often live as though our purpose in life is to be in prayer and worship to the Savior. We often find ourselves living like the animals: eating and drinking. We seem more concerned about the physical aspects and attributes of life. What gets lost in it all is the worship of Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We also struggle with what the Holy Spirit makes known to us through preaching and the sacrament. Learning and growing is painful, and sometimes we would rather not go there precisely because it brings us face to face with our own human frailty and our sin. When we sincerely look upon God--His holy teachings and His holy things,--we see our weakness and sin in comparison. It is in these times that we are forced to see that we are not God. The church must come to this point. It is precisely when we see the difference between God and us, that we can, then, truly look to Him for every help and blessing in our lives. It is in this same vein that St. Paul reminds the Colossians that the church is knit together in love and all the riches of understanding. We are connected to immortal love, wisdom and knowledge and, as St. Paul says, it is a great mystery!(Colossians 2:2; Ephesians 5:32). In such a beautiful way Jesus connects the sending of the Holy Spirit to the apostolic office of preaching and administering the sacraments. This bears itself out more in St. John 20. The “Spirit of Truth” is thereby given to the church in order that Christ’s bride may do what Adam was created to do: Worship the Lord in spirit and truth (St. John 4:23). This is the mystery of the church that St. Paul recollects. Somehow, in a mysterious way, Jesus takes the heavenly Father’s creation and unites creation to Himself through baptism, preaching, and the blessed sacrament. Things unseen become new realities for us. Jesus takes a fallen creation and restores it, unites it to Himself and we are thereby cloaked with the garment of Jesus, a garment that cannot be seen with the eyes, but is rather, the Holy Spirit given as a guarantee of our inheritance(2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5). What we appear to be on the outside is not what we are truly, for it is Jesus’ precious blood and death that has removed us from the curse of the Law and has placed us securely within the body of Jesus. This is a great mystery! This is the great mystery that St. Paul speaks concerning the heavenly marriage between Christ and His church in Ephesians 5, and it all comes to pass because Jesus shed His blood in order that we may worship Him forever and ever in spirit and truth. You rest in this reality and, while you do, Jesus continues to shape His church through His coming. The Holy Spirit enlightens, sanctifies, and keeps us in Jesus that we may look to Jesus the author and finisher of our faith, who thereby leads us to the Heavenly Father who loves us because we are His beloved creation united to HIm in the love of Jesus. Jesus places you into His holy body and your life is cloaked with His love, mercy, and salvation. Amen. -- Rev. Chad Kendall Trinity Lutheran Church Lowell, Indiana www.trinitylowell.org http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=243282012833
