WEBVTT 00:00:05.929 --> 00:00:08.689 Kia ora, and welcome to the St. Francis Church 00:00:08.689 --> 00:00:11.490 Sermon Podcast. We're so glad that you've joined 00:00:11.490 --> 00:00:14.789 us. Our prayer is that as you listen, you would 00:00:14.789 --> 00:00:17.690 encounter God's presence, be refreshed in your 00:00:17.690 --> 00:00:20.429 faith, and equipped for everyday life with Jesus. 00:00:21.109 --> 00:00:24.129 As a church, we are learning to faithfully follow 00:00:24.129 --> 00:00:27.760 Jesus by practicing His way at His pace. For 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:30.760 more info about who we are and what God is doing 00:00:30.760 --> 00:00:36.500 among us, head to stfrancis .co .nz. Grace and 00:00:36.500 --> 00:00:49.020 peace. Good morning, everyone. Last week and 00:00:49.020 --> 00:00:53.520 this week are linked. They're linked because 00:00:53.520 --> 00:00:59.609 we're in the same room. The same night. And Jesus 00:00:59.609 --> 00:01:02.390 said this, I am the way. Remember that from last 00:01:02.390 --> 00:01:06.150 week? That the destination isn't a place, that 00:01:06.150 --> 00:01:09.590 it's a person. And he says, if you've seen me, 00:01:09.650 --> 00:01:13.109 you've seen the Father. But he wasn't finished 00:01:13.109 --> 00:01:16.469 there. And this is because knowing the way is 00:01:16.469 --> 00:01:19.430 one thing, isn't it? Actually walking it through 00:01:19.430 --> 00:01:22.310 the hard days. The heavy seas, there's a moment 00:01:22.310 --> 00:01:24.150 when everything feels like it's falling apart. 00:01:24.469 --> 00:01:28.909 That's where this next question lands. And Jesus 00:01:28.909 --> 00:01:32.150 knew that, so he made a promise to those that 00:01:32.150 --> 00:01:34.590 were gathered with him that night at that last 00:01:34.590 --> 00:01:38.950 meal. I will not leave you as orphans. Same room, 00:01:39.010 --> 00:01:41.530 same night, a few verses on, and then everything 00:01:41.530 --> 00:01:44.730 changes. So let's journey into some more of that 00:01:44.730 --> 00:01:48.230 night together from last week and where we'll 00:01:48.230 --> 00:01:53.739 find ourselves today. In my own wider family, 00:01:53.819 --> 00:01:57.959 we've experienced that feeling that when something 00:01:57.959 --> 00:02:00.459 is ending and you don't know what comes next, 00:02:00.659 --> 00:02:04.480 about how life will be now because this person 00:02:04.480 --> 00:02:07.359 you love died or was killed or the life of a 00:02:07.359 --> 00:02:11.960 child was taken away too early. We've sat as 00:02:11.960 --> 00:02:15.939 a family through those things. But I've also 00:02:15.939 --> 00:02:21.349 sat through my life as a minister here. And in 00:02:21.349 --> 00:02:24.250 other churches and many rooms at hospitals and 00:02:24.250 --> 00:02:26.449 homes where other people have called on me to 00:02:26.449 --> 00:02:29.389 journey with them when everything felt like it 00:02:29.389 --> 00:02:33.210 was falling apart. Navigating the loss during 00:02:33.210 --> 00:02:36.750 COVID with a young couple in hospital where you 00:02:36.750 --> 00:02:39.150 had to pass so many security checks to get in 00:02:39.150 --> 00:02:42.810 when their child of 10 hours young died. And 00:02:42.810 --> 00:02:46.110 then from that age, all ages up to the elderly. 00:02:46.389 --> 00:02:49.289 I've sat around many family tables, taken... 00:02:49.689 --> 00:02:53.129 over 60 funerals, and some of these were unexpected, 00:02:53.289 --> 00:02:58.050 others, they were waiting. The same feeling of 00:02:58.050 --> 00:03:00.830 how everything felt like was falling apart was 00:03:00.830 --> 00:03:04.990 there in each of those places. And all of these 00:03:04.990 --> 00:03:08.169 stories, there's often something most of us know 00:03:08.169 --> 00:03:13.030 from the inside. And it's that feeling when something 00:03:13.030 --> 00:03:15.310 is ending and you don't know what's going to 00:03:15.310 --> 00:03:18.830 come next. When the personal thing that's... 00:03:19.039 --> 00:03:22.639 you know, held your life together is going away. 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:25.000 And when you're in a sitting room with people 00:03:25.000 --> 00:03:27.319 you love and everyone can feel it, that something 00:03:27.319 --> 00:03:30.479 is shifting. Something's coming and there's nothing 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:34.520 that you can actually do to stop it. That's exactly 00:03:34.520 --> 00:03:38.080 the room that we step into today when we read 00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:42.819 John chapter 14. We find that it's a Thursday 00:03:42.819 --> 00:03:46.199 night. Jesus and his closest friends have just 00:03:46.199 --> 00:03:49.020 finished a meal together. And in a matter of 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:51.900 hours, he'll be arrested. By the next afternoon, 00:03:52.139 --> 00:03:56.120 he'll be dead. And right now around this table, 00:03:56.180 --> 00:03:57.900 he's trying to prepare them for what's coming. 00:04:00.699 --> 00:04:03.819 They don't understand the full picture yet. They 00:04:03.819 --> 00:04:06.900 won't for a little bit longer, but they can feel 00:04:06.900 --> 00:04:09.659 it. The mood is heavy with them. And the person 00:04:09.659 --> 00:04:11.400 they've given everything to is saying goodbye 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:15.719 to them. And what Jesus does in that moment is 00:04:15.719 --> 00:04:18.410 remarkable. He doesn't say, okay, guys, it's 00:04:18.410 --> 00:04:21.029 been a good run. We've given it the best shot 00:04:21.029 --> 00:04:23.970 that we can. You'll be fine. Remember what I 00:04:23.970 --> 00:04:27.410 taught you. He doesn't leave them with a to -do 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:32.389 list, as guys often like. He makes them a promise, 00:04:32.629 --> 00:04:36.189 and that promise is also to you here in this 00:04:36.189 --> 00:04:40.550 room. He says, I'm going to ask God, my Father, 00:04:40.589 --> 00:04:43.589 to send you someone, and it's going to be a helper, 00:04:43.670 --> 00:04:48.810 a presence, someone, who will be with you, not 00:04:48.810 --> 00:04:52.470 just for a season, but with you forever. Not 00:04:52.470 --> 00:04:54.689 just alongside you on the good days, but actually 00:04:54.689 --> 00:05:01.629 permanently inside you. Now whether in here you've 00:05:01.629 --> 00:05:03.649 been following Jesus for decades, whether you're 00:05:03.649 --> 00:05:06.189 somewhere in the middle right now, trying to 00:05:06.189 --> 00:05:08.750 work out what you believe, or whether you walked 00:05:08.750 --> 00:05:10.870 in today generally not sure about any of this, 00:05:11.050 --> 00:05:16.120 that promise is worth leaning into. Because here's 00:05:16.120 --> 00:05:18.720 a question it raises. And it's a question that 00:05:18.720 --> 00:05:21.920 I want us to sit with today. And it says, what 00:05:21.920 --> 00:05:24.959 if you were never actually meant to carry all 00:05:24.959 --> 00:05:33.540 of this on your own? What if you were never actually 00:05:33.540 --> 00:05:35.399 meant to carry all of this on your own? This 00:05:35.399 --> 00:05:39.800 life stuff that we're doing. So what exactly 00:05:39.800 --> 00:05:43.560 is Jesus promising here? Because the language 00:05:43.560 --> 00:05:46.699 can sound, bit removed from everyday life, can't 00:05:46.699 --> 00:05:50.300 it? And I want to make sure we don't just nod 00:05:50.300 --> 00:05:53.019 along and miss what he's actually saying to us. 00:05:54.759 --> 00:05:59.980 He says the Father will send an advocate. Now 00:05:59.980 --> 00:06:02.779 there's many different Bible versions out there 00:06:02.779 --> 00:06:05.439 and some say helper or counsellor or comforter. 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:08.560 The original word, if you're interested, is a 00:06:08.560 --> 00:06:11.279 Greek word called parakletos, which literally 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:16.000 means the one called alongside. And in the ancient 00:06:16.000 --> 00:06:18.339 world, it was often used for legal advocate, 00:06:18.500 --> 00:06:20.439 someone who stood in your corner when you were 00:06:20.439 --> 00:06:22.759 in front of a judge. Who's been in front of a 00:06:22.759 --> 00:06:29.800 judge before? In a good way. In a good way, good, 00:06:29.899 --> 00:06:36.339 thank you. Clarification is always good. This 00:06:36.339 --> 00:06:40.000 person, this advocate, this whole purpose in 00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:42.079 the room was to be on your side. It's like Gwen. 00:06:43.000 --> 00:06:46.879 being a lawyer, standing beside you in front 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:50.759 of Judge Peter Spiller. Okay, we have a judge 00:06:50.759 --> 00:06:53.500 and a lawyer amongst us. So yeah, so you can 00:06:53.500 --> 00:06:56.480 kind of, yeah. And then Jesus says something 00:06:56.480 --> 00:06:58.939 that's easy to slide past. He says he'll send 00:06:58.939 --> 00:07:04.759 another advocate, another one. Meaning Jesus 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:07.699 himself has been that for them. For the men that 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:09.959 he's been journeying with, and the women, the 00:07:09.959 --> 00:07:13.079 helper, the guide, the one who showed up when 00:07:13.079 --> 00:07:17.100 they didn't know what to do. And now he's saying 00:07:17.100 --> 00:07:20.720 that that doesn't end. You're getting the same 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:24.000 thing in a new form. Not next to you anymore, 00:07:24.240 --> 00:07:28.439 but it's going to be inside of you. This is what 00:07:28.439 --> 00:07:33.759 we mean when we talk about the Holy Spirit. Hear 00:07:33.759 --> 00:07:38.129 this, because Often in conversations, I find 00:07:38.129 --> 00:07:42.829 that this gets really misunderstood. The Holy 00:07:42.829 --> 00:07:46.850 Spirit is not about a feeling. This is not about 00:07:46.850 --> 00:07:49.689 a feeling. It's not about a spiritual buzz that 00:07:49.689 --> 00:07:53.310 you get or a religious emotion or the warm atmosphere 00:07:53.310 --> 00:07:57.250 you might get in a good church service. It's 00:07:57.250 --> 00:08:01.810 not that. Theologian named Gordon Fee spent his 00:08:01.810 --> 00:08:04.410 career studying exactly this. He put it plainly. 00:08:04.910 --> 00:08:06.910 And it's always good to have things put plainly. 00:08:07.550 --> 00:08:10.149 The Spirit is not simply God's power at work 00:08:10.149 --> 00:08:13.170 in the world. The Spirit is a personal presence 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:16.009 of God himself living within the people of God. 00:08:17.189 --> 00:08:22.670 You, me, and others that follow Jesus as Lord 00:08:22.670 --> 00:08:26.170 and Saviour. Now, if you're sitting here thinking, 00:08:26.370 --> 00:08:29.449 I'm honestly not sure I believe that. How can 00:08:29.449 --> 00:08:34.080 this be inside me? I want you to know that it's 00:08:34.080 --> 00:08:37.980 a completely fair place also to be. You don't 00:08:37.980 --> 00:08:40.879 have to have that sorted today, but I'd ask you 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:44.259 to hold on to this question. What would it change 00:08:44.259 --> 00:08:48.559 practically if it were true? What would it change 00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:50.700 in your life practically if it were true? No 00:08:50.700 --> 00:08:55.080 theory stuff. If there really was a presence, 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:57.740 not a concept, not a doctrine, but an actual 00:08:57.740 --> 00:09:01.330 someone. That was permanently for you, permanently 00:09:01.330 --> 00:09:06.929 in you, that never left. Wherever you sat, walked, 00:09:07.049 --> 00:09:12.389 drove, wherever you are. Because that's the claim 00:09:12.389 --> 00:09:15.570 that Jesus is making. And the rest of this passage 00:09:15.570 --> 00:09:18.289 unpacks what it means to live like it's real. 00:09:19.509 --> 00:09:23.289 He says the world can't receive this. The world 00:09:23.289 --> 00:09:28.490 doesn't see it or know it. But he says, you know 00:09:28.490 --> 00:09:32.659 him. For he lives with you and will be in you. 00:09:34.840 --> 00:09:38.279 If you're a disciple of Christ, regardless of 00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:40.259 how long, regardless of how wobbly your faith 00:09:40.259 --> 00:09:44.480 feels right now, you are carrying something the 00:09:44.480 --> 00:09:49.899 world around you is not operating with. But we 00:09:49.899 --> 00:09:53.419 often forget it. The Spirit of God is in you. 00:09:56.000 --> 00:09:58.059 I've heard people say, yeah, but not me, it's 00:09:58.059 --> 00:10:00.710 in the other person. Look at them. If you believe 00:10:00.710 --> 00:10:03.230 and follow Jesus, the Spirit of God is in you. 00:10:04.570 --> 00:10:08.590 It's not a feeling. That is a fact. And it changes 00:10:08.590 --> 00:10:15.029 how you face your days. In verse 18, Jesus says 00:10:15.029 --> 00:10:17.710 something so short and so direct it almost catches 00:10:17.710 --> 00:10:21.230 you off guard. He says, I will not leave you 00:10:21.230 --> 00:10:27.330 as orphans. I will come to you. We know that 00:10:27.330 --> 00:10:29.870 an orphan is someone without a parent. without 00:10:29.870 --> 00:10:33.529 a safe place to land, without anyone who is specifically, 00:10:33.750 --> 00:10:37.509 personally in their corner looking after them. 00:10:37.730 --> 00:10:40.350 Someone who is to face the world in all its weight 00:10:40.350 --> 00:10:42.710 completely alone because there's nobody whose 00:10:42.710 --> 00:10:48.590 job it is to look out for them. And even if that's 00:10:48.590 --> 00:10:51.710 not your literal story, most of us know something 00:10:51.710 --> 00:10:55.539 of that feeling as well. It's like the aloneness 00:10:55.539 --> 00:10:57.720 of a decision you have to make and nobody can 00:10:57.720 --> 00:11:02.460 really help you make it. Or the 3am lying awake 00:11:02.460 --> 00:11:06.100 with a worry that you can't switch off. Or the 00:11:06.100 --> 00:11:08.220 loneliness that sneaks up on you even when you're 00:11:08.220 --> 00:11:12.320 in a full room. The sense that when things get 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:14.580 really hard that you're ultimately on your own 00:11:14.580 --> 00:11:18.279 with it. Now Jesus looks at that experience, 00:11:18.639 --> 00:11:22.179 all of it, and he says to each one of us, that 00:11:22.179 --> 00:11:29.340 is not how. This has to be. I'm going to speak 00:11:29.340 --> 00:11:32.139 to a few different people in the room for a moment 00:11:32.139 --> 00:11:34.299 because I think this lands differently depending 00:11:34.299 --> 00:11:40.620 on where you are. If you're young and you're 00:11:40.620 --> 00:11:42.840 just starting to figure out what life is and 00:11:42.840 --> 00:11:45.120 you're journeying into careers and relationships, 00:11:45.320 --> 00:11:47.340 what you actually believe or who you actually 00:11:47.340 --> 00:11:51.580 are, and it feels like a lot to navigate without 00:11:51.580 --> 00:11:55.370 a map, You are not meant to work all of that 00:11:55.370 --> 00:11:59.750 out alone. And if you're somewhere in the middle 00:11:59.750 --> 00:12:04.889 of life and the wait is just real, the responsibilities, 00:12:05.149 --> 00:12:08.009 the pressures, cost of living is squeezing too 00:12:08.009 --> 00:12:11.389 tight, the relationships that need more than 00:12:11.389 --> 00:12:13.309 you have, the sense that you're keeping a lot 00:12:13.309 --> 00:12:16.769 of plates spinning on these sticks and you're 00:12:16.769 --> 00:12:19.549 not sure how long you can keep it up, you were 00:12:19.549 --> 00:12:26.019 not built to carry all of that by yourself. And 00:12:26.019 --> 00:12:28.580 if you've been following Jesus for years, and 00:12:28.580 --> 00:12:31.779 if you're honest, there have been seasons, maybe 00:12:31.779 --> 00:12:34.779 one that you're in right now, where God felt 00:12:34.779 --> 00:12:38.460 distance, where prayer felt like it was hitting 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:43.360 the ceiling, where you kept showing up and quietly 00:12:43.360 --> 00:12:47.860 wondered if any of this was actually real. Jesus 00:12:47.860 --> 00:12:50.919 is speaking to you too. The Spirit doesn't leave 00:12:50.919 --> 00:12:58.899 you when your faith goes quiet. As we open up 00:12:58.899 --> 00:13:01.519 Scripture, we find that Paul writes about this 00:13:01.519 --> 00:13:03.840 in his letter to the Romans, and it's one of 00:13:03.840 --> 00:13:06.440 the most honest descriptions of how this actually 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:11.639 works in life. In the same way, the Spirit helps 00:13:11.639 --> 00:13:14.399 us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:16.840 to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:21.139 for us through wordless groans. The Spirit intercedes 00:13:21.139 --> 00:13:24.059 for God's people in accordance with the will 00:13:24.059 --> 00:13:29.279 of God. I know through personal experience, when 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:33.120 I haven't had the words or whatever to say, that 00:13:33.120 --> 00:13:37.559 I know that I have an advocate interceding for 00:13:37.559 --> 00:13:41.679 me, to the Father, for the things that I need 00:13:41.679 --> 00:13:44.779 or feel and can't put into words or expressions. 00:13:46.820 --> 00:13:50.139 So even when you don't have the words, even when 00:13:50.139 --> 00:13:54.080 all you have is silence or confusion or pain 00:13:54.080 --> 00:13:57.919 that doesn't have a name, The Spirit is in that 00:13:57.919 --> 00:14:01.440 moment with you. Not standing back waiting for 00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:04.320 you to pull yourself together. Not grading your 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:11.539 spiritual performance. But in it with you. Carrying 00:14:11.539 --> 00:14:14.299 what you can't carry. Taking it to God on your 00:14:14.299 --> 00:14:24.159 behalf. A friend, an advocate. A .W. Tozer. He 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:28.120 was a pastor who spent his life writing about 00:14:28.120 --> 00:14:31.159 the difference between knowing about God and 00:14:31.159 --> 00:14:34.620 actually experiencing God. He said this, the 00:14:34.620 --> 00:14:38.340 Holy Spirit is not enthusiasm, nor good feelings, 00:14:38.500 --> 00:14:41.179 nor religious sentiment. The Holy Spirit is a 00:14:41.179 --> 00:14:43.840 person and is the spirit of Jesus Christ, present 00:14:43.840 --> 00:14:46.919 with his people and all the full weight of his 00:14:46.919 --> 00:14:54.320 divine reality. Not a mood. Not a spiritual feeling 00:14:54.320 --> 00:14:56.299 that comes and goes depending on the week that 00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:59.299 you've had. The full weight of a real presence 00:14:59.299 --> 00:15:10.019 permanently with you. And here's the honest thing 00:15:10.019 --> 00:15:12.360 though, and I'm saying this to the people who 00:15:12.360 --> 00:15:14.320 believe this for years as much to anyone else 00:15:14.320 --> 00:15:19.539 today, that knowing this and living from it are 00:15:19.539 --> 00:15:26.110 two different things. And from my life experience, 00:15:26.269 --> 00:15:30.289 I know that many of us live from that first part. 00:15:30.370 --> 00:15:33.750 We know this, but we actually don't live from 00:15:33.750 --> 00:15:38.350 it. It's like the Holy Spirit is only brought 00:15:38.350 --> 00:15:43.250 in when we're very desperate instead of at the 00:15:43.250 --> 00:15:49.909 very beginning. That the one that was there at 00:15:49.909 --> 00:15:53.370 the beginning of creation, the one... that raised 00:15:53.370 --> 00:15:58.269 Jesus from death is the one that's in you right 00:15:58.269 --> 00:16:03.450 now. A lot of us could pass the exam on this. 00:16:04.429 --> 00:16:09.210 We know the theory. But in the actual moments 00:16:09.210 --> 00:16:11.110 of our actual week, we live like we're on our 00:16:11.110 --> 00:16:15.850 own. We white knuckle through the hard days. 00:16:15.970 --> 00:16:18.429 We try to manufacture the strength from somewhere 00:16:18.429 --> 00:16:21.669 saying, I can get through this. Just to the next 00:16:21.669 --> 00:16:24.549 moment and then it'll be better. We forget right 00:16:24.549 --> 00:16:27.230 when we most need to remember that there is a 00:16:27.230 --> 00:16:31.769 resource we are not drawing on. The rest of the 00:16:31.769 --> 00:16:37.649 world doesn't have it. You and I do. This passage 00:16:37.649 --> 00:16:41.950 is not just information, people. It's an invitation 00:16:41.950 --> 00:16:44.490 to a genuinely different way of moving through 00:16:44.490 --> 00:16:48.850 your life. To call on someone that will advocate 00:16:48.850 --> 00:16:55.960 on your behalf. At any moment. So before we land 00:16:55.960 --> 00:16:57.379 this, I want to go back to where the passage 00:16:57.379 --> 00:17:01.820 actually starts. In verse 15, if you love me, 00:17:01.919 --> 00:17:08.599 keep my commands. Now that can sound heavy, like 00:17:08.599 --> 00:17:13.259 a condition, do what I say or else. But that's 00:17:13.259 --> 00:17:16.579 not the tone here at all. Jesus isn't setting 00:17:16.579 --> 00:17:20.359 up a test, you pass or you fail. He's making 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:23.700 an observation about how love actually works. 00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:28.900 Think about this in ordinary life, what we just 00:17:28.900 --> 00:17:32.140 go through every day. That when you genuinely 00:17:32.140 --> 00:17:35.180 love someone, a partner, a child, a close friend, 00:17:35.720 --> 00:17:39.200 that you naturally start to care about what they 00:17:39.200 --> 00:17:42.460 care about. You don't manufacture it, it just 00:17:42.460 --> 00:17:46.440 grows. And love always ends up changing the shape 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:51.559 of how you live. That's what Jesus is pointing 00:17:51.559 --> 00:17:54.680 at. And he says this right before he promises 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:57.819 a spirit, and the order matters when you read 00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:01.079 this. He's not saying live better by yourself. 00:18:02.019 --> 00:18:05.180 He's saying live in my way, and I'll send you 00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:07.980 the very presence that makes that possible from 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:12.819 the inside out. Not willpower, not try harder, 00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:21.160 something that grows in you. Paul, a great writer 00:18:21.160 --> 00:18:23.759 and disciple and follower of Jesus, as we know, 00:18:23.900 --> 00:18:26.700 describes what this looks like in Galatians chapter 00:18:26.700 --> 00:18:32.279 5. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, 00:18:32.539 --> 00:18:36.019 peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 00:18:36.180 --> 00:18:41.339 gentleness and self -control. Paul calls it fruit, 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:47.180 not achievement, not effort. Fruit is what appears 00:18:47.180 --> 00:18:49.380 naturally on something that's alive and connected 00:18:49.380 --> 00:18:55.519 to its source. You don't force an apple tree 00:18:55.519 --> 00:18:58.900 to produce apples. You keep it rooted and it 00:18:58.900 --> 00:19:02.819 does what it is made to do. We've got an abundance 00:19:02.819 --> 00:19:08.799 of feijos this season. But we don't... Plenty 00:19:08.799 --> 00:19:12.779 of desserts. But we don't go there to pick mandarins. 00:19:14.220 --> 00:19:17.769 We go there... to get the feijos. You go to the 00:19:17.769 --> 00:19:23.230 mandarin tree for the mandarins. The abundance 00:19:23.230 --> 00:19:26.670 because it's been fed, they've been cared for, 00:19:26.849 --> 00:19:32.390 and it's a source of what they get. Think about 00:19:32.390 --> 00:19:34.910 the moments in your life when you were more patient 00:19:34.910 --> 00:19:38.869 than you expected to be. When you found the courage 00:19:38.869 --> 00:19:40.650 for a hard conversation that you've been putting 00:19:40.650 --> 00:19:43.789 off for someone. Or when a season tried to break 00:19:43.789 --> 00:19:48.569 you and somehow, somehow, Your faith held. That 00:19:48.569 --> 00:19:51.490 wasn't just you at your best. It's not all on 00:19:51.490 --> 00:19:55.450 you. Even though we may think that. That's what 00:19:55.450 --> 00:19:59.750 the presence does of the Holy Spirit. And then 00:19:59.750 --> 00:20:02.309 Jesus closes the passage with a promise that 00:20:02.309 --> 00:20:05.390 I think is worth sitting with. He says this, 00:20:05.529 --> 00:20:08.170 whoever walks in my way, whoever loves me and 00:20:08.170 --> 00:20:10.630 lets that love show up in how they actually live, 00:20:10.750 --> 00:20:17.000 I will love them and show myself to them. He'll 00:20:17.000 --> 00:20:20.180 make himself known to you, more real to you, 00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:23.019 more visible as you move toward him and he moves 00:20:23.019 --> 00:20:26.539 towards you. And as that relationship deepens, 00:20:26.539 --> 00:20:30.039 you see him more clearly. You see him in the 00:20:30.039 --> 00:20:31.519 things that are happening around you and the 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:37.759 people that you interact with. Thomas Merton 00:20:37.759 --> 00:20:42.079 was a monk who came to faith slowly, through 00:20:42.079 --> 00:20:44.079 doubt, through searching, not in spite of it, 00:20:44.160 --> 00:20:47.579 and he put it simply. And it's great to have 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:52.000 things put simply. He says, we have what we seek. 00:20:53.519 --> 00:20:56.559 It is there all the time. And if we give it time, 00:20:56.779 --> 00:21:02.000 it will make itself known to us. We have what 00:21:02.000 --> 00:21:05.539 we seek. And yet we often, even as Christians, 00:21:05.599 --> 00:21:07.779 wander off in so many different directions and 00:21:07.779 --> 00:21:12.259 paths seeking something else. So whatever you're 00:21:12.259 --> 00:21:15.630 looking for, something solid to stand on. Something 00:21:15.630 --> 00:21:17.910 real in the middle of all the noise that's around 00:21:17.910 --> 00:21:21.789 you. A God who isn't just a concept. It's closer 00:21:21.789 --> 00:21:25.809 than you think. Give it room. Be honest. Move 00:21:25.809 --> 00:21:33.190 toward it. So let's go back to the question that 00:21:33.190 --> 00:21:36.589 we actually started with. What if you were never 00:21:36.589 --> 00:21:39.230 actually meant to carry all of this life thing 00:21:39.230 --> 00:21:44.359 on your own? Jesus' answer to that question is 00:21:44.359 --> 00:21:47.680 this passage this morning from John 14. And here's 00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:50.819 what I want you and I to take out of here today. 00:21:51.880 --> 00:21:54.420 That the promise he made in that room that night 00:21:54.420 --> 00:21:59.019 before he died, it hasn't expired. It's still 00:21:59.019 --> 00:22:02.240 running. It's for you right now. It's for you 00:22:02.240 --> 00:22:06.299 in 10 minutes next day. You don't have to have 00:22:06.299 --> 00:22:09.880 everything figured out. You don't have to be 00:22:09.880 --> 00:22:12.609 a certain kind of person. or reach a certain 00:22:12.609 --> 00:22:18.789 level of faith before this kicks in. When you've 00:22:18.789 --> 00:22:21.369 given your life to Christ, fully to Christ, you 00:22:21.369 --> 00:22:25.269 have it. It's there. The presence is inside you. 00:22:26.130 --> 00:22:28.349 The same spirit that was present at the very 00:22:28.349 --> 00:22:31.690 beginning of everything, that came on Jesus at 00:22:31.690 --> 00:22:34.069 his baptism, that raised him from death, that 00:22:34.069 --> 00:22:37.890 spirit is available to you right now. In the 00:22:37.890 --> 00:22:40.710 middle of wherever you are, even here at church. 00:22:45.869 --> 00:22:49.789 So this week, when the hard moment comes, and 00:22:49.789 --> 00:22:53.109 it most surely will, it may be an event or maybe 00:22:53.109 --> 00:22:56.730 just a hard, difficult thought, before you reach 00:22:56.730 --> 00:22:59.750 for your own strength, before you go into default 00:22:59.750 --> 00:23:03.990 mode and just push through on your own, try this. 00:23:05.589 --> 00:23:10.670 Just pause. Take a deep breath. Draw in for about 00:23:10.670 --> 00:23:15.309 five or six count. And exhale. And then say or 00:23:15.309 --> 00:23:19.269 just even think this. There is someone here with 00:23:19.269 --> 00:23:24.190 me in this. It's the presence of the Holy Spirit. 00:23:24.269 --> 00:23:29.109 There is someone here with me in this. Now that's 00:23:29.109 --> 00:23:36.700 not a formula. It's just choosing. Choosing who 00:23:36.700 --> 00:23:39.119 you want to be in this moment with you, that's 00:23:39.119 --> 00:23:42.339 already there. To live from what Jesus says is 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:49.259 actually true. So let's take a moment together. 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:54.799 You can see the more you live like that's real, 00:23:54.859 --> 00:23:58.940 the more real it becomes. Let's pause for 30 00:23:58.940 --> 00:24:02.079 seconds. I invite you to take that deep breath 00:24:02.079 --> 00:24:06.819 and exhale. Then maybe think or say, there is 00:24:06.819 --> 00:25:03.519 someone here with me in this. God, we're not 00:25:03.519 --> 00:25:07.500 all in the same place today. Some of us have 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:11.359 known you for years. Some of us are just starting 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:15.539 to ask whether you're there. But all of us know 00:25:15.539 --> 00:25:17.539 what it feels like to carry things that are too 00:25:17.539 --> 00:25:25.099 heavy. So whatever is true of you, we are asking 00:25:25.099 --> 00:25:29.200 you to be close. Not as a concept, theory or 00:25:29.200 --> 00:25:33.579 doctrine. But his real presence in us, with us 00:25:33.579 --> 00:25:45.700 and for us. The way that Jesus promised. For 00:25:45.700 --> 00:25:49.259 those who believe, both here and in the churches 00:25:49.259 --> 00:25:51.559 through this land, help us to actually live from 00:25:51.559 --> 00:25:58.900 this. And those who are not sure, just say, we're 00:25:58.900 --> 00:26:03.180 here, we are open. Come and make yourself known. 00:26:11.500 --> 00:26:14.579 We thank you for your presence which is within 00:26:14.579 --> 00:26:23.180 us wherever we go. May we reach for you first 00:26:23.180 --> 00:26:30.670 before anything else. May we use the power that 00:26:30.670 --> 00:26:45.670 we have within us for the good around us. Amen.