Living in God and God living in us

Here's the sermon that I shared at St Andrew’s Wickford yesterday.

Where we live says quite a lot about the sort of people we are and the kind of relationships we have. Do we value the place where we were born or did we want to move away from it? Have we remained close to our wider family or are we independent of them? Have we a transient lifestyle by choice or necessity? Have we been able to choose where we live or have circumstances dictated that to us? Are our homes places of welcome to others or castles where we protect ourselves from the world?

Jesus told his disciples on the night before he died that he was going away from them to prepare a place for them to live – a dwelling place for them (John 14: 1 – 14). He gave them the picture of living in God’s house, all of them there together but each with their own specifically prepared room. This was a picture of the way in which, in future, they were going to live in God.

Jesus said that they would not be able to go with him as he left them. That was because he was going to the cross and only he, through his sinless death, could cross the divide between God and humanity and restore the relationship between us. That is why he is able to say that he is the way to the Father. No one else was able to bridge that gap by means of their death, only Jesus.

But when he came back to the disciples after death, through the resurrection, the way back to God from the dark paths of sin was now wide open and the disciples together with each one of us can now go in. The great opportunity that Jesus has opened up for us is that, despite our sin, we can live with God now, dwell in him throughout our lives, and also into eternity.

What is it like to live with God? First, it is a place without worry or fear. It is a place of arrival. Saint Augustine said, our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee. And this is because it is a place where we are valued for who we are. Jesus spoke about going to prepare a specific place specifically for us and this is a way of saying that God knows us and loves us as we are. We can picture it in terms of rooms in our own homes. We put our mark on our rooms filling them with objects and decorations that reflect who we are and what is important to us. In a similar way, God is saying that he welcomes into him, into his presence, the unique people that we are, you and I.

And that leads us on to the next characteristic of living with God which is expanse. Jesus says that there are many rooms in his Father’s house, so it is expansive and needs to be because it is open to all – people of every race, language, colour, creed, gender, sexuality, class, nation, whatever. There is room for all. Living with God is about acceptance – we can stop searching and rest because we have been found, we are accepted and loved as the unique person that each of us is and we are part of a wider worldwide family that can encompass us all.

But living with God is not the end of the story. There is more because God also comes to live with us. In verse 11 we hear Jesus says that he is in the Father (he lives or dwells in God, as we now can as well) and that the Father lives in him. And this is what can happen to us too. In the second half of chapter 14 Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit coming to stay with us (v16). Then he says that he himself will be in us (v20) and finally in verse 23 he says that both he and the Father will live with us.

That is the incredible news that is central to Christianity. Not only can we live in God but he himself comes and lives in us. We are in him and he is in us. Think about the wonder and privilege of it for a moment. Think of how you would feel if the person you most admire in the world lived with you – whether that’s David Beckham, Julia Roberts, the King, Nelson Mandela or whoever. We know that that is unlikely to happen but the reality of our lives and faith is that the God who created the universe and who saved humanity wants to live in your life.

What would you do if the person that you most admire was coming to your home? I bet you would have a massive spring clean and get your house looking just as you would ideally like to have it looking. Shouldn’t we do the same because God is living in our lives? The Bible talks about our bodies being a temple of God’s Holy Spirit – in other words, a place where God lives - and because God lives in us then we should keep our bodies healthy and pure. But not just our bodies, our minds and feelings and actions too. Because we have the huge privilege of having the creator of the universe, the saviour of humanity living in us we need to clean up our act, get on with that spring cleaning, and make our lives the sort of place that is fit for a King.

So there is both challenge and comfort in our Gospel reading today. The way is open for us to live in God and receive his love and acceptance and for God to live with us, which also means acting to clean up mess that there is in all our lives. Where are you living this morning? Have you come to live in God or would you like to take that step this morning? And how does God feel about living in you are there things that you need to change about the home that you are providing for God?

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Gregory Porter - Dry Bones.

Acceptance: The specificity and expansiveness of life with God

Here the reflection I shared as part of yesterday's Choral Eucharist at St Martin-in-the-Fields:

Where we live says quite a lot about the sort of people we are and the kind of relationships we have. Do we value the place where we were born or did we want to move away from it? Have we stayed close to our wider family or are we independent of them? Have we a transient lifestyle by choice or necessity? Have we chosen where we live or have circumstances dictated that to us? Are our homes places of welcome or fortresses where we protect ourselves from others?

Jesus told his disciples on the night before he died that he was going away from them to prepare a place for them to live – a dwelling place for them (John 14: 1 – 14). He gave them the picture of living in God’s house, all of them there together but each with their own specifically prepared room. This was a picture of the way in which, in future, they were going to live in God.

Jesus said that they would not be able to go with him as he left them. That was because he was going to the cross and only he, through his death, could cross the divide between God and humanity and restore the relationship between us. That is why he is able to say that he is the way to the Father. No one else was able to bridge that gap by means of their death, only Jesus.

But when he came back to the disciples after death, through the resurrection, the way back to God from the dark paths of sin was now wide open and the disciples together with each one of us can now go in. The great opportunity that Jesus has opened up for us is that, despite our sin, we can live with God now, dwell in him throughout our lives, and also into eternity.

What is it like to live with God? First, it is a place without worry or fear. It is a place of arrival. Saint Augustine said, our hearts are restless till they find their rest in thee. And this is because it is a place where we are valued for who we are. Jesus spoke about going to prepare a specific place specifically for us and this is a way of saying that God knows us and loves us as we are. We can picture it in terms of rooms in our own homes. We put our mark on our rooms filling them with objects and decorations that reflect who we are and what is important to us. In a similar way, God is saying that he welcomes into him, into his presence, the unique people that we are, you and I.

And that leads us on to the next characteristic of living with God which is expanse. Jesus says that there are many rooms in his Father’s house, so it is expansive and needs to be because it is open to all – people of every race, language, colour, creed, gender, sexuality, class, nation, whatever. There is room for all. Living with God is about acceptance – we can stop searching and rest because we have been found, we are accepted and loved as the unique person that each of us is and we are part of a wider worldwide family that can encompass us all.

But living with God is not the end of the story. There is more because God also comes to live with us. In verse 11 we hear Jesus says that he is in the Father (he lives or dwells in God as we now can) and that the Father lives in him. And this is what can happen to us too. In the second half of chapter 14 Jesus speaks about the Holy Spirit coming to stay with us (v16). Then he says that he himself will be in us (v20) and finally in verse 23 he says that both he and the Father will live with us. This is the incredible news that is central to Christianity. Not only can we live in God but he, himself, comes and lives in us. We are in him and he is in us. Think about the wonder and privilege of it for a moment; the God who created the universe and who saved humanity wants to live in your life.

Think of how you would feel if the person you most admire in the world lived with you. What would you do if that person was coming to your home? I bet you would have a massive spring clean and get your house looking just as you would ideally like to have it looking. Shouldn’t we do the same because God is living in our lives? The Bible talks about our bodies being a temple of God’s Holy Spirit – in other words, a place where God lives - and because God lives in us then we should keep our bodies healthy and pure. Not just our bodies, our minds and feelings and actions too. Because we have the huge privilege of having the creator of the universe, the saviour of humanity living in us we need to clean up our act, get on with that spring cleaning and make our lives the sort of place that is fit for a King.

So there is both challenge and comfort in our reading today. The way is open for us to live in God and receive his love and acceptance and for God to live with us which means acting to clean up mess that there is in all our lives. Where is it that you are living this morning? Have you come to live in God or would you like to take that step today? And how does God feel about living in you? Are there things that you need to change about the home that you are providing for God?

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Frederick W. Faber - There's A Wideness In God's Mercy.

Start:Stop - I dare you to move

Bible reading

On the way to Jerusalem Jesus was going through the region between Samaria and Galilee. As he entered a village, ten lepers approached him. Keeping their distance, they called out, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” When he saw them, he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went, they were made clean. (Luke 17. 11 – 14)

Meditation

As human beings we often find security in sameness, in repetition, and in things remaining the same. The result can be that we also remain the same and do not change. Change inevitably involves disruption and movement; something different needs to happen in order that we change. That is what Jesus called these ten lepers to experience.

They had been ostracised by society because of their condition and had banded together to support each other on the edge of society. In order to make the journey back from the edge of society, in their day, people had to be examined by a priest who could to confirm that their condition had been healed leading to their readmission to society. That is what Jesus told them to go and do but it is significant that they had not been healed at the point that he told them to go. He told them to move, to make a change, but they were not healed until they had begun to make the change and were on their way to see the priest.

Jesus brings the life of God into all that is stagnant in people’s lives. He is the catalyst for change. His arrival on the scene brings the opportunity for hope and faith; faith that life can be different, can be better than it is now.

As well as being willing to make a move, to change, they have also had to trust in Jesus and in his instructions. It would have been easy for them to say, 'I'm no different, I'm not healed, therefore there's no point in going to see the priest.' They could have stayed where they were in what had become familiar and safe for them. Instead they all set out on what was a risky undertaking where they could have been exposed to ridicule; as, if their healing had not occurred on the way, they could have gone to the priest and been turned away in disgrace as delusional lepers.

There will be points in all our lives where our experience will be similar. We will have been in one place, one job, one role or one way of doing and being for too long and we will be stagnating as a result. Something has to change in order that we grow and develop on new ways and in different aspects of our lives. Sometimes we recognise the situation and choose to change, sometimes the change is forced on us. However it begins and however resentful we might sometimes feel, the only way for us to experience growth and develop in this situation is to make the move and accept the change. While we may not be thankful at the time, often, with hindsight we can see that change was actually good and healing for us.

The rock band Switchfoot put it like this:

“The tension is here
Between who you are and who you could be
Between how it is and how it should be

I dare you to move
I dare you to lift yourself up off the floor
I dare you to move
Like today never happened before”

Prayer

Change has come and there are many challenges to be faced and overcome. May we be equal to the task ahead of us, ready to renew ourselves, ready to take on the new, anxious to let go of old ideas that no longer fit, moving with confidence, into the future, your future. Make us strong enough to triumph, flexible enough to grow and change as needed, optimistic enough to see the new opportunities as we move into the changing landscape of our lives. May we accept and welcome the change that has come.

Change has come unbidden, and at times, unwelcome. May we be ready to embrace change and move swiftly forward.

Lord Jesus, you were the catalyst for change and the predictor of change for your first disciples. Help us to see you clearly in the challenges and changes of our times that you might also be our Lord and guide today. Transform the poverty of our nature by the riches of your grace, and in the renewal of our lives make known your heavenly glory. Calm our concerns, show us new opportunities, and give us the freedom to discover ourselves afresh in serving you. Show us what you have stored up for us, and give us the courage to follow you.

Change has come unbidden, and at times, unwelcome. May we be ready to embrace change and move swiftly forward.

In the tension between who we are and who we could be, between how it is and how it should be; may we here your call daring us to lift ourselves up off the floor and to move like today never happened before.

Change has come unbidden, and at times, unwelcome. May we be ready to embrace change and move swiftly forward.

Blessing

New opportunities, renewal of our lives, flexibility to grow, moving with confidence into the future, God’s heavenly glory made known. May all those blessings of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

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Switchfoot - Dare You To Move.

Start:Stop - Exchanges of love

Bible reading

As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The glory that you have given me I have given them, so that they may be one, as we are one, I in them and you in me, that they may become completely one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

“Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.” (John 17. 21 – 26)

Reflection

At several points in John’s Gospel we hear Jesus speaking about his relationship with God the Father and with God the Holy Spirit. When he speaks in this way it is as though Jesus is pulling back the veil which prevents us from seeing God and giving us, thereby, a glimpse of God as Trinity. For example, he says that God the Spirit takes what belongs to God the Son and declares it to us. All that belongs to God the Son, he says, also belongs to God the Father. So, all that Jesus has belongs equally to the Spirit and the Father. Therefore, we have a picture of God the Father giving to God the Son who gives to God the Holy Spirit who gives to us. What is being pictured for us is an exchange of love within the Godhead.

Similarly, when Jesus prayed that his followers might all be one, he prayed this on the basis that his followers might be in God as he is in the Father and the Father is in him. The united relationship of Father, Son and Holy Spirit means that, at the very heart of God is a dynamic relationship in which a constant exchange of love is underway. Jesus prayed that we, who follow in his footsteps, would experience the same oneness with God and each other that he enjoys with God, his Father. In essence, his prayer is that we will experience unity, because unity is what is at the very heart of God.

We can be part of the constant exchange of love in God; a love which involves the continual giving and receiving of affirmation and authority. If we live in God, we live in love and love lives in us. We become included in the constant exchange of love which exists in the Godhead and are, therefore, constantly loved no matter what else is going on in our lives.

The exchange of love at the heart of the Trinity creates an environment of acceptance and affirmation in which authority is constantly shared by being given and received. Our participation in that exchange, as God’s children, then compels us, to make the attempt to create similar exchanges within the communities, organisations and networks of which we are part; whether that is family, workplace, church or community.

How might that work in practice? We could think briefly of the contrast between places where co-operation exists and those where it does not. I can think of one person I know who is currently working in an environment where self-promotion and active criticism of those with whom they work seems to be rewarded and the experience of being in that workplace is one of tension, strained relationships, walking on eggshells. Conversely, I know someone who has doubts and questions about the existence of God but whose experience of the quality of relationships in the church she attends has been such a positive contrast with her experience of relationships in society generally that she has found God in her experience of being welcomed, accepted and affirmed for the person that she is. Her experience has been of an exchange of love which connects to that occurring in the Godhead, while the other person’s experience was of a workplace full of suspicion and tension because what was exchanged was gossip and critique rather than love.

I wonder to what extent we can create everyday exchanges of love as a result of our encounter with the love that is constantly being exchanged by God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

Prayer

Holy Trinity, as we enter our workplaces may we bring your presence with us. May we speak your peace, your grace, your mercy, and your perfect order in our offices. May the work that we do and the way we do it bring faith, joy, and a smile to all that we come into contact with today. May everything we do today bring hope, life, and encouragement to those around us.

In our everyday exchanges, may we know and share your exchange of love.

Enable us to maintain good relations within our workplaces by minimising scope for conflict or blame and by promoting respect for others. Enable us to go beyond minimum standards of behaviour by showing love to those with which we work.

In our everyday exchanges, may we know and share your exchange of love.

Loving God, you showed us what all-out love looks like when you sacrificed yourself for others. Enable us to love you and others with all our being and in word and deed. Help us to explore what that might mean in our workplaces.

In our everyday exchanges, may we know and share your exchange of love.

Blessing

Bring the presence of God, maintaining good relations, minimising scope for conflict, promoting respect, loving in word and deed, speaking peace, bring hope, life, and encouragement, sharing exchanges of love. May all those blessings of almighty God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, rest upon you and remain with you always. Amen.

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Van Morrison - Street Choir.