Pastor Timothy Patoka 6 Sunday Of Easter: May 26, 2019 Live In Love And Peace John 14:23-29 th
1) Love Is From/For God 2) Peace Is Uniquely Ours As some of you know, I have family spread throughout the whole country. My parents live in Virginia, my brother and his family live in eastern Tennessee, and wife’s whole family lives up in the Wisconsin area. When I try to keep in contact with them, I’m often reminded about how different my life looks like simply because of our weather patterns. It’s not unusual for my parents to talk about how their power goes out when the wind rips through their densely populated area and knocks over a telephone pole. And when they mention about how hot and humid it gets there, my brother and his family share it all the more. Since they are further inland, their temperature is the more extreme than what coastal Virginia’s is. Up north in the Wisconsin area, it’s only now that winter is starting to say farewell. But still my family members haven’t hung up their jackets for good because it still dips down just enough. And then I look at the forecast here in southern Arizona and remember how my life looks so much different. While the lives of my parents and brother’s family are filled with cutting lawns and feeling wet from humidity, mine is not. While the lives of my family members up north in Wisconsin are filled with cloudy skies and dressing in layers, mine is not. Like you all, my life is instead filled with enjoyable time outside and the need to remember to not rub it in their faces what blessings we have to call southern Arizona our home. It’s not just where you live that will determine what your life looks like. There are plenty of other factors as well like hobbies, responsibilities, what your friends like to do, and your faith. As we consider our verses this morning from the Gospel of John chapter 14, we’ll be looking at that faith component, about how our lives are to look like because we call ourselves Christians. It is, first of all, of a life full of love. Love from our God and love for our God. And secondly, it is a life full of peace, a peace that Jesus uniquely gives to us no matter what may be going on to us in this world. 1) Love Is From/For God We continue our time with Jesus while he’s in the Upper Room with his disciples. This is happening on the evening of Maundy Thursday, after Judas Iscariot has left to gather the troops to betray Jesus but before Jesus and his disciples have gone to the Garden of Gethsemane to pray and be arrested. And it’s during this time that Jesus is sharing with his disciples a farewell sermon of sorts. It’s in line with that he says these to words to show them part of what a Christian’s life is to look like. “If anyone loves me, he will hold on to my word…The one who does not love me does not hold on to my words. The word that you are hearing is not mine, but it is from the Father who sent me” (John 14:23a, 24). 1