An If/Then God?

Sermon by Andrew Coleman

An If/Then God?

Near the beginning of my seminary degree I had the great privilege to take a weekend intensive preaching course with none other than Fleming Rutledge, one of the great living preachers of our time.

During that weekend, she gave us a rule of thumb to check our sermons. If you ever find yourself writing an if/then sermon: something like "if you do this well/ then you'll have earned your place in the kingdom" or one of the many variations on that theme. You need to stop, think, pray, and rewrite.

We do not have an if/then God. We have a because/therefore God. Because God so loved the world, therefore he sent his only son so that we might have life through him. The point being is that if God's love depends on our deserving of it. I’m afraid at least I haven't got much hope at all.

That seems like a reasonable rule when preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ. Would you agree? Well, if you were listening to today's Gospel reading, it seems that Jesus missed the memo.

But before we get there, let's back up a little bit.

Tonight we pick up just where we left off last week. We are in the middle of what is often called The Farewell Discourse, which happens on the night that the Romans arrest Jesus. It is a kind of summing up of his teaching for the disciples, clarifying as much as can be clarified at this point and final promises not to be forgotten.

Earlier in the discourse, Jesus goes so far as to synthesize his teachings into a new commandment "A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another."

Lest it be said that he was not absolutely clear at the last possible moment what it meant to be a follower of Jesus, love one another as I have loved you. From there, Peter asks where he will go, followed by an exchange which ends with Jesus telling Peter he will soon deny him three times.

    Right on the heels of "you will deny me three times," he says the opening words from last week's Gospel... "Let not your hearts be troubled; believe in God, believe in me" "In my house, there are many rooms."

        Built right into the arc of this Farewell Discourse is the truth of our lives and the truth of the Gospel: butted right up against each other.

And so, we come to the words of tonight's Gospel; if and will things start to feel confusing...

        "If you love me, you will keep my commandments."

         "those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love

 them."

    Jesus had just made an unconditional gesture by calming the troubled heart of Peter and promising the disciples rooms in his home.

        And then we have him reminding us of his commandment and attaching conditional words of "if and will" to the commandment.

So it begs the question - What /if/ I don't love perfectly one day, what /if/ I have a bad day, or week or month or year. Is God's love conditional, after all, it says, "Those who love me will be loved"

        I'm guessing that there have been times when following Jesus' commandments might not be how we'd describe certain thoughts or actions of our own.

The thing is is that this new commandment of Jesus is much broader reaching than the commandments of the old testament, not that he is saying we don't need to live into them. Instead, this new one is more of a frame through which to look at the old ones, all of our thoughts words and deeds, really.

As mentioned earlier, this text's if/then/will in this text made for some uncomfortable reading. But there was a friend who really helped in its understanding. She said something like think of it from the flipside of the commandment, from the back rather than the front. If you don't love one another, as I have loved you, then you won't love one another well.

 You won't keep my commandments.

 That is simply true; it tells how it works.

Another way of saying it is that when we love something else more than one another, then we will not keep his commandments.

Are we squeezing others out of their hard-earned livelihood because it is good for the bottom line? - When you don't love one another more than profit, you will not keep my commandments,

Are we taking land that does not belong to us because it is our "right" to do so? - When you don't love one another more than your supposed superiority, you will not keep my commandments,

Are we spending too much money on things we don't need? - When you don't love one another more than stuff, you will not keep my commandments.

Are we hinging our God-given self-worth on the approval of others, or God forbid ourselves? - When you don't love one another and believe in the infinitely graceful love that God has for you - more than what you think of yourself - you will not keep the commandments.

These moments are all too easy to come up with, especially when they are attached to the words if and will.

In fact, they are supposed to be; we are called to remember them each week in our time of confession; because there are other promises made in tonight's Gospel, "I will pray to the Father, and he will give you another Counselor, to be with you forever," "I will not leave you orphaned," "because I live, you will also live."

God knows full well that keeping the commandments on our own is just impossible. So God sends the Spirit not only to help us love one another but also to pick us up after we have failed and remind us that because Jesus lives, we will also live.

Remember, all this was said in the upper room amid his farewell discourse. He is about to tell one of them that he will… fail him three times before the cock crows. If there were ever a moment of not loving the other, that's it!

And yet, not long afterwards, on a beach over breakfast, we hear this...

Peter, do you love me? Feed my lambs. As I have loved you

Peter, do you love me? Tend my sheep As I have loved you

Peter, do you love me? Feed my sheep As I have loved you

So what does it look like when we do?

When we love another more than profit and wealth we do live generously

When we love each other more than things we can consume less and lessen our burden on the planet.

When we love each other more than... what are you thinking about right now? Then, what?

When we love each other the way God has loved us our lives take the shape of the cross. Our own interests take the back seat to needs of others. Not because we must, but because we Love.

You know maybe we do have an if/then God. If God say’s he’ll send the Holy Spirit so you’ll never have to keep the commandments on your own. Then he will - and he has.

If God says that he loves you. Then he will - and he has.

Amen