PENTECOST – May 23, 2010

SCRIPTURES – Psalm 104; Genesis 11:1-9; Acts 2:1-21; John 14:23-31

“If anyone loves me, he will keep my word,” says Jesus. So, love for Jesus is seen in one’s attitude toward and use of His Word. What does your life show?

      Six year old Emily’s dad was going away for a week on a business trip, and she was going to miss him terribly. So, the day before he left, she painstakingly made a special card for him. She drew a picture on the front of the two of them, hand in hand, walking in a field of pink and yellow flowers; pink and yellow were her favorite colors. She spent a lot of time coloring the flowers, trying hard to stay within the lines. Then, inside she printed, “I love you, Daddy! Emily.” This was very hard, as she had just learned to make her letters. But, Mommy guided her hand and helped her to make the letters just right. That evening she put the card inside daddy’s briefcase.

      The next morning Ken left very early so that he could get to Denver, which was two hours behind, early in the day. He saw the card when he opened his suitcase on the plane, but he had preparations to finish before he arrived so he set it aside for later. Late that afternoon he had just enough time to clean up at the hotel before dinner with his associates. As he was leaving he tossed the card on the desk for later, but didn’t see it slide off the desk and under the dresser. When he got back that night, he was exhausted and collapsed in bed. Early in the morning his cell phone rang. “Hi, Daddy! How’d you like my card?”

The Bible is, in a sense, a love letter from God. In some ways it is very much like Emily’s letter. For instance, it was very carefully and painstakingly written. Many people today  are skeptical about how accurate it is. After all, Jesus Himself didn’t write anything. He gave us no autobiography in which He recorded His words and deeds. He left no files of sermons. His teachings, His sermons, the accounts of all that He did – all of these were written down by those who were with Him. And they didn’t write them down until years later, sometimes even 40-50 years later! How’s your memory? Do you remember, word for word, important lectures you attended in college? Important discussions with your spouse? (we are sure of what we said, of course, and we think we know what our spouse said!) Could you write down, even just the main ideas, what I preached last Sunday? It is questions like this that lead many today to doubt the truthfulness and accuracy of the Bible, and so to pick and choose the things they think are worthy of following. If you view the Bible like this, that it misspeaks a little here and there, but think that this is no big deal, then have a chat with Senate candidate Richard Blumenthal, who served as a Marine in, I mean, during, Vietnam.

Our Lord gave a great promise to His apostles: “The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.” As Emily’s mother held and guided her hand and helped her to make good letters, so the Holy Spirit guided the minds and memories of those who wrote the Bible. What they wrote is not only true and accurate; it is the very thoughts and words of God, words of love given to us that we might know Him, love Him, and follow Him.

The Bible is filled with love, the news of God’s eternal love for you, a love so great that He gave His only-begotten Son into your sin and death to save you from them and make you His own. Like Emily, how saddened He is when we do not bother to open it to learn of and rejoice in His love! But, ignoring the Bible does more than just grieve God. It keeps Him away. For, you see, the Bible is far more than simply news. It is filled with God’s loving presence. “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,” Jesus says. God is with us as we listen to His words! They are the living voice of the Holy Spirit and convey the living presence, the life, and the joy of God!

You know this, don’t you? You pray the Lord’s Prayer regularly, perhaps every day. It was taught us by Jesus! It was written down for us by Matthew and Luke! We have the hope of living in the house of the Lord forever and having a far better life after this life, because the Bible tells us about it in the 23^rd Psalm and in many other places. Because of Jesus, the Son of God who came down from heaven to pay for our sins by His death for us, going to heaven is not just a hope, a wish. We are certain of our salvation, for He died and rose for us! We baptize and put the name of the Holy Trinity upon our children because Jesus told us to do this. We have the joyful yet also somber Sacrament of Holy Communion, the body and blood of Jesus for the forgiveness of our sins, because Jesus gave us this. All of these things, which are so important to us, are written about in the Bible, and only in the Bible. This book is why we have them. Its living voice shapes our lives from the very beginning.

 “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.” Believe these words of Jesus; love these words of Jesus, rejoice in and live these words of Jesus. For, if you believe them, and so listen to, learn, take to heart and believe these words, then God lives in you! You are not people of this world who are here for a while and then are gone, but are holy people, eternal people, God’s own people who share in His life. The Holy Spirit who guided the writers of the Bible will also guide you in your faith and life, and you will bring forth great works, works in which God will rejoice.

But, you must listen to, learn, take to heart and believe these words. The Bible doesn’t help you if it just sits on your shelf. It cannot guide and bless your life if you have no idea what it says. It will not keep you from sin or assure you that your sins are forgiven if its words and teachings are not in your mind and heart. In fact, it will then be the cause of your condemnation. Jesus says, “Whoever does not love me does not keep my words.” Your love for God is seen in your love of His Word. You can’t say you love God but have no interest in hearing what He says or following it in your life, any more than a husband could say he loves his wife while having no desire to listen to her and spend time with her. His actions would show him to be a liar, a lover of himself and not his wife.

Let us not be selfish, unloving spouses. Yes, we are poor, miserable sinners; this we know. We have a difficult time hearing, learning, understanding, and following God’s Word. For this reason, let us pray often: “Come, Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, and kindle in them the fire of Your love.” By the Holy Scriptures that You inspired, fill us all with the love of Jesus, to the glory of our Father in heaven!