Answers to questions range from boring to embarrassing, depending on whom you ask. If you ask kids questions, you never get boring!
HOW DO YOU DECIDE WHO TO MARRY?
You got to find somebody who likes the same stuff. Like, if you like sports, she should like it that you like sports, and she should keep the chips and dip coming. -- Alan, age 10
No person really decides before they grow up who they’re going to marry. God decides it all way before, and you get to find out later who you’re stuck with. -- Kristen, age 10
HOW CAN A STRANGER TELL IF TWO PEOPLE ARE MARRIED?
You might have to guess, based on whether they seem to be yelling at the same kids. -- Derrick, age 8
WHAT DO YOU THINK YOUR MOM AND DAD HAVE IN COMMON?
Both don’t want any more kids. -- Lori, age 8
And the all-time favorite:
HOW WOULD YOU MAKE A MARRIAGE WORK?
Tell your wife that she looks pretty, even if she looks like a truck. -- Ricky, age 10
There is a question that nags us about our text. Jesus told Phillip that we would do greater works than Jesus did; that spawns a whole series of questions about exactly what Jesus meant by that. The chief question that we really want to avoid even asking whenever this comes up is:
If that’s really the case…where are the works; how come we’re not seeing miracles?
The reason we want to avoid that question is because we’re Methodists, reasonable people; we’re refined, informed and reformed. We don’t get too radical in our Christianity; just give me a little church on Sunday and I’ll be alright. Don’t stir up too much here.
The problem with answering the question is that it unravels a dirty little secret in the Christian family that we’d just as soon not talk about…
In the miracles department, we’re a little stunted! We are the runts of the miracle-litter!
Well, painful as it might be to roll around in that mud puddle, allow me to deal with the question today. Let me give you the short answer first; then we can deal with how to do something about the problem.
The short answer about why we (that includes anybody in the Christian family) are stunted in the miracle department is that we have lost sight of what God requires in order to be spiritually-strong. We have misplaced our spiritual-growth hormone! We have settled for artificial spiritual steroids like money, influence and leisure. We prefer the American dream to Heaven’s standards!
In short…there is so much of the world in the church we could get into a mud-slinging contest, and not look any different when the day is done!
Well, preacher, that won’t help me sleep tonight. What are we going to do about this miserable truth? I’m glad you asked. The church is no different today than when Jesus established it two-thousand years ago. Heaven is still sweet, Hell is still hot, Sin is still wrong, no matter what the world says and does…and the promises of God are still true, without change or question.
If we are going to deal with the church’s dirtiest little secret in our own lives, we will have to do it by accepting what the Lord offers as a remedy. His remedy is peace!
The one thing that sets believers apart (or should) from those who reject Christ, is genuine, Heaven-sent, soul-cleansing, life-altering peace! Where I come from, that’s not a bad little bit of medicine.
Unfortunately peace is perhaps the best-kept secret of the Christian family; it is also the least-experienced fruit of the Spirit. As a rule most believers do not experience peace; we do not live in it; we certainly don’t exhibit it to the world at large. The world doesn’t see us as peace-filled people; we appear as fighting, condemning, up-tight and sour as an unripe persimmon.
We’re stunted in God’s miracle department because even though we have declared ourselves as disciples of the Prince of Peace, it sounds empty when we say it; dirty little Christian secret, indeed!
Now, it’s not all bad news this morning. Yes, Virginia, there is an open door to the peace that passes understanding. Let’s use the acrostic “PEACE” this morning to discover help for growing out of the spiritual “runt” stage, and becoming strong warriors of the faith, clothed in peaceable fruit.
Let’s keep our Bibles open to John 14 and see what the letters in the word “peace” tell us to do about growing strong as believers who do the great works Jesus said He wants us to do…
I. PART WITH UNBELIEF
8Philip said to him, “Lord, show us the Father, and we will be satisfied.” 9Jesus said to him, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and you still do not know me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own; but the Father who dwells in me does his works. 11Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; but if you do not, then believe me because of the works themselves. 12Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father. 13I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.
Phillip had a question for the Lord…won’t you please show us the Father? That’s all it will take to satisfy us. On the surface that doesn’t seem like a bad request. Ol’ Phil just wanted to have a little vision of God, a “theophany”[2] to bolster up his faith for the tough job ahead.
Jesus’ answer, Phillip, I’ve been with you all this time, and you still don’t know me…was a rebuke; it seemed like the Lord was losing patience. But that’s just the point…Phillip had a front pew for 31/2 years; he should have known – he should have had deeper faith by then! Even the blind man Jesus healed had more faith to understand that Jesus was Messiah.
Phillip wanted visions and signs; Jesus wanted him to use his faith. He had the same problem with the religious leaders:
38Then some of the scribes and Pharisees said to him, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous
generation asks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. Matthew 12:38-39 (NRSVA)
To part with our unbelief means we can’t be like those folks you know who are always just waiting for the Lord to give them some kind of sign, just a little miracle, please, so I can do what you want, Lord.
The trouble with most people who make those types of statements is that they don’t even do the basics of what the Lord has been extremely clear about for everybody…consistent worship, bringing the tithe of our income to the church, sharing our faith. They say they want some kind of sign so they can follow, but actually they’re just hiding the fact of their own unbelief. They have no intention of following God; it just sounds good to say it! If God really spoke to them they’d faint dead away to actually have a prayer answered!
Phillip wanted a sign because he had little faith? No…he had the opposite of faith when he told Jesus he would be satisfied with seeing God, just, please, Jesus, do a little miracle and show me God.
Friends we don’t even do that in the natural world. You obeyed the speed limit when you came here this morning (hopefully); you pay your taxes and don’t manipulate the stock market because you’re an American citizen; yet, you’ve never met George Bush or Nancy Pelosi. You just obey the law of the land on faith that the law of the land still works.
I got a nice letter from the government in 1966…it said “Greetings”; and the next thing I was on a train for an army post in South Carolina. They put green baggy clothes on me, a gun in my hand and a hard hat on my head. Then they sent me to Southeast Asia. I went! I didn’t ask to see Richard Nixon to make sure of the orders. (Maybe I should have?) I was an American; I was drafted, so I went. Christians should be at least that willing to exercise faith towards the living God!
If you want to see the kind of miracles that will bless this world and turn around our culture for God, part with the unbelief that stunts your faith.
That leads us to the next letter in peace. After the “P” comes…
II. ENGAGE BIBLICAL OBEDIENCE
15“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
To “keep” in the language of the Bible is “to guard”. It carries the picture of keeping an eye on something. We have an expression; keep your eye on the ball. That works well here. We want to keep our eye on this ball of Christ’s commandments for more than watching…we want to observe, perform…OBEY!
There’s a story my daughter, Jennifer shared with me about an old man who lived in the mountains of Eastern Kentucky. His youngest grandson lived with him, and was always imitating his ‘Papa. One day the boy told him, “Papa I read the Bible like you, but I don’t understand; and I can’t remember the little I do understand. What’s the use?”
The Grandfather gave him an old coal basket and said, “Run down to the river and get me a basket of water.” The boy did, but by the time he got back the water had all leaked out. “Try again; and this time, run back.” The boy did as told, but the water still leaked from the basket. He said, “‘Papa, this won’t work.” He went to get a bucket instead, but the Grandfather said, “No…I want a basket of water, not a bucket.” So the boy went again, and again, but each time the water leaked out.
“It’s no use,” said the boy, “the basket leaks”. "So you think it is useless?" The old man said, "Look at the basket." The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket looked different. Instead of a dirty old coal basket, it was clean. Dipping the basket in the cold mountain stream so many times had washed away years of coal dust and grit.
"Son, that’s what happens when you read the Bible. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, it will change you from the inside out.
A vitally-important step in “Parting with Unbelief” is to begin to Engage Biblical Obedience. Our lives can be like that coal basket, filled with all kinds of dirt and stuff. Living the way Scripture describes is the cure. Then there is the “A” in peace…
III. ACCEPT THE FILLING OF THE SPIRIT
16And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 17This 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, and he will be in you.
The “Advocate” or “Comforter” is God’s Spirit, the Holy Spirit – he is the Holy Ghost. When a person confesses Christ as Savior, the Spirit of God takes up residence in the life of a believer. The Greek word is parakletos, which is a compound of two words, “para” meaning “alongside” and “kletos” or “called”. The picture is one who is destined to be with a person to encourage, strengthen and help.
This past Thursday was Aldersgate Day (May 24th). It is the day more than 250 years ago that the founder of Methodism, John Wesley records that his heart was “strangely warmed”. He was describing the awakening in his life that God’s Spirit was indeed resident in him. Mr. Wesley insisted that the way of faith in a believer was only “head knowledge” until it was validated by that inner experience of assurance by God’s Spirit.
A recent example: When I moved into the parsonage last September I discovered cable TV had not ventured all the way out to meet Bethany Church Road. That left the choices of either a satellite dish or rabbit ears and tinfoil. Now the rabbit ears are free and would get me 3 channels (sometimes – if the weather cooperates); the dish costs your right arm and a firstborn child…but brings 6 million channels (of which only 3 are worthwhile!). I chose the dish…go figure.
On the day the “dish-man” hooked things up he put the receiver on the roof, and inside there were wires and boxes everywhere. (I had to beg my grandson to teach me how to use it.) The connection with spiritual life is illustrated by the fact that, when I turned the TV on it didn’t work. I tried all the channels and got nothing. Then I asked the “dish-guy” for help. He tuned the receiver to the satellite in the sky, and Barney and Friends appeared!
Jesus told Phillip the Holy Spirit would guide him and all the other believers, but those who preferred worldly ways would never understand. They would have no reception – no signal from above. John’s gospel tells us that Jesus came to his own, but his own received Him not.[3] There was no signal…no recognition. They couldn’t see him then, and the world doesn’t have any better reception of Jesus now…in a world of incredible technology, they still have spiritual rabbit-ears.
But, for anyone who will, if we stay tuned-in to God’s signal by parting with unbelief…placing our faith in Jesus, and engaging obedience to the Word, the Spirit of God will continually fill and guide us in daily living. Every day you become more like Christ, more a vessel of God’s hand, doing works, and even greater works as Jesus predicted.
P – part with unbelief,
E – engage Biblical obedience
A – Accept the Filling of the Spirit
And….
IV. CULTIVATE SPIRITUAL UNDERSTANDING
25“I have said these things to you while I am still with you. 26But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you
Cultivating spiritual understanding is a matter of cooperating with God’s Spirit by taking in His instruction. We do that by reading His word, and studying it! We do it by what Mr. Wesley called “holy conversation”. This is sharing in the things of Christ with other believers.
Sunday School, small group studies and meetings are indispensable for knocking the rough edges off your spiritual tuning. Just like a satellite dish can lose its frequency…a storm, power outage, improper grounding….there are things in this life that work against reception of God’s instruction and understanding.
The question is still….do you want to remain stunted in the area of doing great things for God? Do you want your church to have spiritual runts or giants?
There remains only one letter…
V. EMBRACE SPIRITUAL COURAGE
27Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.
Jesus ends this chapter the way it started…don’t be troubled in your heart, or afraid. Troubled is a word that describes the agitation of a worried soul. In it he covers the two biggest fears man knows, an unknown future and death itself. The word “fear” has its etymology in a word we translate as “timid”. It is the word that describes a void or emptiness when faith has departed. Timidity is the opposite of faith. Faith is the courage to do something despite the timidity that would creep into our lives.
Consider what Jesus is saying; don’t be timid or troubled. Don’t let the unknown future unhinge you - or death; I give you peace to conquer anything you’ll face.
Compare what the world offers today with what Jesus has always offered.
• The world offers material things, physical powers, and political solutions.
• Jesus offers forgiveness of sin and eternal life.
• The world offers warrantees on material things to protect for five, ten or twenty years against mechanical failure and defects…insurance for paying hospital bills, and Government protections from the bad guys
• Jesus offers eternal life without spot or wrinkle.
• The world offers freedom to do it your way, and space to go it alone.
• Jesus offers his unending love and friendship…his own Spirit dwelling in your soul, peace that passes all understanding.
In short, the world offers all the best it has that you can do in your own strength, and all the best wishes to help you keep what you’ve amassed to yourself.
Jesus offers you Himself.
If we’ve become stunted in the miracle department it’s because we’ve chosen the world over Jesus. And it leads to an absence of peace, a rise in Valium and Prozac. We’ve chosen our own strength and we’ve put aside His power.
The secret to peace is to embrace spiritual courage to place it all at the foot of the cross…to trust Jesus with our lives; not just a little church on Sunday, but a genuine transferring of the helm of our life’s ship over to the Lord as captain. It’s a daily surrender….
Parting with unbelief…living in faith for me!
Engaging obedience to his Word…Biblical authority for me!
Accepting the filling of His Spirit…that strange warmth for me!
Cultivating Spiritual Understanding…learning His way for me!
Embracing Spiritual Courage…stepping out into His strength for me!
On the gauge that’s inside of you, what’s your peace rating this morning? Does it pass all understanding?
Are you a person of real genuine peace?
Or are there some changes that need to happen? Placing your faith in Jesus is the beginning place; will you begin?
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ENDNOTES
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[1] Bible Illustrator, (Parsons Technology, Hiawatha, Ia)
[2] Physical manifestation of the Divine
[3] John 1:10
