Church Sermon - May 25, 2003

REMAIN IN JESUS’ LOVE

Rev. Bernt P. Tweit

Epistle Lesson; 1 John 4:1-11
Old Testament Lesson; Acts 11:19-30
Sermon Text; John 15:9-17

You probably didn’t know it at the time, but 13 or 14 years ago you began your journey towards your confirmation, when you were baptized. Confirmation is a very special day on which you, the Confirmands, confess your faith in the Triune God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who placed His name on you, in baptism.

At your baptism, your parents or your sponsors made that confession for you. The pastor asked, "Do you reject the devil and all his works and all his ways?"

And they confessed, "I do."

The pastor next asked, "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, God’s only Son, our Lord?"

And they confessed, "I do."

Finally the pastor asked, "Do you believe in the Holy Spirit?"

And they confessed, "I do."

It was then that the pastor baptized you and said, "I baptize you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit."

Today is a special day because you are promising with your own mouth, what your parents promised for you at your baptism. You are promising to remain faithful to that same God, for as long as you live.

Are you ready? Are you spiritually ready to live your Christian faith, honoring your Savior in the face of Satan’s lies and the world’s deceitful promises and pleasure?

You have gone to Sunday School. Some of you have gone to the Christian Day School, here at Holy Cross. And you have gone through two years of Confirmation Classes. But, are you spiritually ready?

Or maybe a better question to ask is: How do you get ready spiritually and remain spiritually ready, as you face the life in front of you?

Jesus answers that question in our text today. Jesus speaks these words of our text, to His disciples at their confirmation (so to speak). They had spent three years learning from Jesus. But now it is Maundy Thursday. This is Jesus’ last time to speak to His disciples, before His betrayal, death and resurrection. He speaks these words to you and me as well.

Remain in Jesus’ Love.

Take these words to heart.

Remember them,

as you pass this milestone in life.

Our text for your Confirmation Day tells us six ways to Remain in Jesus’ Love.

"As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in His love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command. I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit – fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. This is my command: Love each other."

Jesus says,

"If you obey my commands,

you will remain in my love,

just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and

remain in His love."

We remain in Jesus’ love when we are obedient. This is difficult, isn’t it? In Confirmation, over the past two years, we have looked at the Ten Commandments, and we have seen how difficult (actually impossible) it is for us to obey those commands. We might feel, sometimes, that we obey Jesus’ commands, but then we remember that even with our sinful thoughts, we can’t even keep one of them.

It is here that Jesus gives us a little help. It is the difference between justification and sanctification. What does the word justification mean? You have learned that justification means:

God declares

us

innocent,

not guilty,

for Jesus’ sake.

You know what that really means. Because of your faith in Jesus, God sees you, as if you have been perfectly obedient and kept the commands that Jesus has given to us. That is a fact. You know your salvation rests on this.

That is different from sanctification. What is sanctification? You learned that sanctification means:

to make holy

God’s Word not only guides our lives, (telling us what to do and what not to do), but it also motivates us, to strive for that obedience. Remain in Jesus’ Love, Obediently.

Jesus said,

"I have told you this

so that my joy may be in you and

that your joy may be complete."

Contrary to what the unbelieving world thinks, true and lasting joy comes from knowing and serving a loving Savior. While the unbeliever seeks joy in the pursuit of sinful pleasures, the believer is reminded that real, complete joy is found in the Savior. Remain in Jesus’ Love, Joyfully.

Jesus said,

"Greater love has no one than this,

that he lay down

his life

for his friends."

Here is where we get a true picture of Jesus. Why was Jesus willing to go to the cross to save you? That might seem like a silly question. We know why Jesus died for us.

Jesus

died for us, because

He loved us.

That only brings us to another question.

Why would He become emotionally attached to people who forsook Him and fled, lied about Him in court, spit in His face, crowned Him with thorns, nailed Him to a cross, and dared Him to come down? Why would someone so perfect, love people so sinful as you and me? Our text gives us the answer to that question. Jesus said,

Then how do you explain the hours on the cross, when God punished Jesus, for the sins of the world?

There was a father who took his son to the hospital for an emergency surgery on his appendix. The child was frightened and didn’t want to leave his father. But as the child was taken into the surgery room, the father could not go along. The child cried and begged the father not to leave his side. But the father, who never stopped loving his son, let go of his son’s hand, because he knew it was necessary. It had to be.

So it was, in those moments on the cross. It had to be. There was no other way for us to be saved. It would take the life of God’s one and only Son. It would take those moments in Hell, to atone for the sins of every generation that ever lived or would live. So God let go of His Son, not because He stopped loving Him, but because it had to be.

Did Jesus know that? Of course He did. He also knew what had to be. He also never lost sight of His Father’s love. His first words from the cross were,

"Father,

forgive them."

His last words from the cross were,

"Father

into your hands

I commit my spirit."

Jesus never stopped showing that He was confident of His heavenly Father’s love.

Remain in Jesus’ love, sacrificially. He gave His life, so we can live. Now let us share that sacrificial love with others!

Jesus has shared with us, what we need to know for salvation. Now continue studying His Word to know your Savior more fully. We are not just people or servants, but we are Jesus’ friends. Jesus has revealed to us the Gospel message of salvation. What a blessing it is to know that Jesus is our friend. That’s why we sing, "What a friend we have in Jesus". Remain in Jesus’ love, Knowingly.

As believers, we are spiritually dead, blind and enemies of God. But Jesus chose us to live fruitful Christian lives for Him. Remain in Jesus’ Love, Fruitfully.

The very last thing Jesus says in our text is, "Love each other". Demonstrate your love for others, prove beyond the shadow of a doubt, make your love for each other visibly show. Remain in Jesus’ Love, Demonstrably.

Since I have been here at Holy Cross, a few youth in my confirmation classes have gotten a ride on the bus from the Junior High to my Confirmation Class at church. Often the kids on the bus would make fun of them for going to classes at the church. One youth told me what happened one day on the bus.

"This guy said to me, ‘Does your mom make you go to church after school?’"

Here is what the youth said. "No! No one makes me go. I WANT TO GO!"

That was the last time the kids got teased, at least for a while, just because they knew this was something they wanted to do.

Can you think of some other things the world might think we have to do, but really, we want to? I don’t have to go to church. I WANT TO! I don’t have to give 10% to the Lord’s Kingdom. I WANT TO! I don’t have to stand up for my neighbor, when someone is doing the gossip routine. I WANT TO! I don’t have to pray for people in my church who are sick. I WANT TO!

May God grant you the strength of faith, to hold firmly to your promise, as long as you live!

Amen.

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