Reverance to an Unkown God

May 29, 2011
Acts 17:22-31
John 14:15-21
Reverance to an Unknown God
Sixth Sunday of Easter
Year A


Introductory story - a children’s story of love

"I love chocolate," mumbled Paul as he stuffed the last fragment of Mars bar into his mouth.

Matthew grinned. "I love bubble gum," he announced.

Carolyn refused to be outdone. "I love - whatever group is number one!"

All the children looked at Sam. But his face clouded and he shook his head. "I don't love anyone or anything," he said and pushed his hand into his pockets and hunched his shoulders.

There was a pause. After a while Carolyn said, "You must love your mum and dad. Everyone loves their parents. You have to."

"Huh!" exclaimed Sam. "I haven't got a dad, and my mum's got a new boyfriend and I hate him. And I hate her too, because she doesn't love me any more, she only loves him."

Nobody knew what to say, for they all suspected Sam was right. He'd never really known his father except for occasional visits, and his mother had lived with a succession of boyfriends. Some of them had been quite kind to Sam, but none of them had lasted. Just when he cautiously began to like and trust one of them, that one would disappear only to be replaced by someone new. Sam was growing up into something of a loner; it was safer that way, you didn't get hurt.



What is true love for Christians?

Sam is a lot like a lot of children in our world – like a lot of people in our world today. Who are asking themselves what is love is, what is true love. A love that gives us meaning, a sense of peace, a sense of security, a sense of confidence.

Many of us here know, that the only true love that we have is the love of God. It is God’s love that underlies all of history. God’s love bought Jesus to our world, God’s love is the point of the resurrection. God’s love s what bought us here today, and God’s love is what brings meaning to our lives. If you don’t know God, you don’t know love.
We all know that God is the most important thing in our lives, and yet we too are a part of this story.

We freely talk about how we love ice cream, we love candy, we love the latest movie star. Sam asks each of us is that really love? Or is it somethings else, affection, affinity, a strong like, a bad habit? Even as Sam looks at his own life, at those who should love him, and he continues to ask the question of God really in that relationship? Is it really love? Is love a feeling an attraction. In the gospel lesson, John 14 – Jesus makes it clear that true love is obedience. If we really love God, then we obey his commandements. We do what God says, we live according to what the bible says, we have a relationship with God, we believe whole heartedly in Jesus Christ.


Commentary of John 14
John 14:17 says 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, he will be with you.

If you don’t know god, you don’t know love. We live in a world where the love of god is present, yet us unknown.

And yet we live in a world where people don’t know love, and yet they continue to talk about how much they love ice cream, candy and Justin bieber. There are plenty of substitutions available for the love of God.

Commentary on Acts 17
That is the world that Paul is talking to when he goes to mars hill in Athens, Greece and he sees a monument to an unknown god. I have been to the park that is now on mars hill. And seen the monument to an unknown God – just a small low level square stone.

Representing the hopes and dreams of the people. Showing the world that they were open to the religious. That they wanted to believe in something more, that their hearts were open to a change, but they like Sam, like a lot of people, had to admit that they did not really know love, because they did not know God.


What are our present monuments to an unknown God?
When you walk around the city, our city today – I think we still can see lots of monuments to the things that we love. How many liquor stores, fast food restaurants, ice cream stores, shopping malls are there- where people are flocking to trying to feel better. They have no idea of what love is, so they don’t know where to look for it.


Are churches monuments to an unkown God?
But something else to think about – how many churches do we have in our neighborhood, but do the people in them really know God enough to know God’s love. Jesus says that the only the only way to love god is to ……obey god. Keep God’s commandments in everything that we do.

To continue our story….



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Continuation of story of children’s story of love
"Anyway," continued Sam, "I don't know what love feels like. But I do know you can't love chocolate or bubble gum or pop stars. You can like them really, really much, but you can't actually love them."

"Well, I know what love feels like," exclaimed Carolyn. "Maybe I don't actually love any pop stars, maybe I just adore them and like them loads and - and almost worship them and want to listen to them all the time over and over again. And maybe that's not real love. But it's a bit like love."

"No, it isn't," argued Paul. "I love my parents and even my little sister, but I don't want to be with them all the time. I don't adore them, and I certainly don't want to listen to them over and over again! But I do love them, and I'd be really sad if they weren't around. I guess I kind of rely on them. Perhaps that's love."

Matthew was frowning. "This is boring," he said. "All that love stuff is boring. You should see my big sister. She's 15 and she's always mooning around some boyfriend or other. They're always kissing and cuddling, it's disgusting."

"You don't need love," declared Sam. "I get on OK without it. Nobody loves me and I'm never going to love anyone else ever again. Love's awful. I used to love my mum, and look what happened to me. I just got hurt. If you don't love anyone, you don't get hurt."

They all heard what Sam said, but it didn't feel right. Deep down inside they all felt really sorry for Sam. Somehow they knew he was missing out on something important, even though they weren't sure exactly what it was. But they were all aware that Sam was becoming a lonely and solitary figure, that most people kept away from Sam because he was somehow prickly, and that they were the only friends he had. They also had the feeling that they were very important to Sam because he had no other friends. And they vaguely suspected that had something to do with a mild kind of love.

Carolyn lay on her back, gazing up into the sky. "I know who I really love," she suddenly announced. "I love God. It's easy to love God because he somehow lives inside each human being, and if he lives inside me it's like he's part of me and knows me really well. God loves every human being more than anything in the whole world. And you don't have to trail round after him, or think about him all the time, he's just there. Always around when you need him, but never interfering or making a nuisance of himself. You could love God, Sam. God would never let you down, and he'd always be there if you felt hurt. God is great."



Not a part of the sermon
Sam stared at her, a small frown between his eyes. But he looked thoughtful, and for the first time there was a hint of hope in his eyes. Then he shrugged. "Come on," he said, "let's play football." And the children jumped to their feet and ran outside.

John 14 is Jesus final advice to us. He reminds of to love him, to love god , to obey God, the believe in God. He knows the world that we live in, and the challenges that we face. He knows that there are lot of Sams out there –looking for love with no idea of where to look. He knows that even we have questions about true love, how do we know that we are in relationship with God. What happens when we get lost?


Story of Jim Reed, his wife whispering in his ear
Many of you probably have stashed away in a drawer somewhere around your home the old 45 rpm records. If you have some from the 50s and early 60s you will have Elvis' grinding out "Hound Dog," Buddy Holly and the Crickets' hiccupping "Peggy Sue," Chuck Berry's joyful hot licks in "Maybellene," the Coasters' slapstick tour de force "Charlie Brown," the mournful "Tears On My Pillow" by Little Anthony and the Imperials, the impenetrable and probably scandalous "Louie, Louie" by the Kingsmen, and the teenaged gropings of the Paris Sisters' "I Love How You Love Me."
Here and there in these dusty stacks, one can find an occasional recording by the great blues master Jimmy Reed. A share-cropper's son, Reed brought the throbbing harmonica-and-guitar-driven black rhythm-and-blues of the Mississippi Delta into the popular rock-and-roll mainstream. Many of us, when we were in high school, fancied ourselves a budding rock band. My friends and I did. We would play and replay our 45s attempting in vain to capture the sound. But how do you imitate someone like Reed. The pain-soaked cries of his mahogany voice could not be imitated by our too-tight, too-white, suburban throats.
There's an interesting story behind the Jimmy Reed records. In placing the phonograph needle again and again in the grooves of Jimmy Reed's records, you began to notice something curious. If one listened very carefully, there could sometimes be heard, ever so faintly in the background, a soft woman's voice murmuring in advance the next verse of the song. The story that grew up around this -- and perhaps it is true -- was that Jimmy Reed was so absorbed in the bluesy beat and the throbbing guitar riffs of his music that he simply could not remember the words of his own songs. He needed help with the lyrics, and the woman's voice was none other than that of his wife, devotedly coaching her husband through the recording session by whispering the upcoming stanzas into his ear as he sang.
Whether or not this story is accurate, Christians will surely recognize a parallel experience. Jesus tells his followers that the role of the Holy Spirit is, in effect, to whisper the lyrics of the gospel song in the ears of the faithful. When Jesus was present, he was the one who instilled in them the right words, coached them through the proper verses, taught them the joyful commandments. But now that Jesus approaches his death, now that he draws near to his time of departure, now that the disciples will be on their own without him, that task is to be handed over to the Holy Spirit:
"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 ..." (John 14:15-17).


The Holy Spirit does the same thing for us
primary task, then, of the Holy Spirit is reminding the faithful of the truth, jogging the memories of the followers of Jesus about all of his commandments so that they can keep them in love, whispering the lyrics of the never-ending hymn of faithful obedience in their ears. It may surprise us to think of the Holy Spirit in this way, as a quiet, whispering teacher of the commandments of Jesus. Often the Spirit is advertised in flashier terms: The Spirit gives ecstasy; the Spirit evokes speaking in unknown tongues; the Spirit prompts dramatic and miraculous healings. Indeed, the Holy Spirit of God does perform such deeds, but these are all derivative of the one, primary activity of the Spirit -- reminding the children of God about everything that Jesus taught and commanded (John 14:26), whispering the gospel lyrics into the ears of the forgetful faithful.
Conclusion
All of us are looking for loves, all of us have some monument in our lives to that search.

But only those who love God enough to follow his commendments have the presence of the holy spirit – in our lives, in our ears guiding us, leading us, revealing to us to love of God.
God with us, Jesus with us, the Holy Spirit with us – the promise of power, comfort and guidance.

Let us pray….