Knox Presbyterian Church

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SERMON: “God in Us”

This morning on the 6th Sunday of Easter we continue our series of messages on how the resurrected Jesus is known to us. Using the marvelously suggestive story of Jesus resurrection in Luke, where he appeared to some of his disciples as they were on the road to Emmaus we have discovered:

1) Jesus journeying with us even when we don’t know it, even in our doubt.
2) Jesus opening the meaning of scripture to us, exposing us to God’s tender heart.
3) Jesus known to us in the sharing of bread, in the breadth of our human activity.

I believe this is the essence of our Christian experience. Even today the essence of the Christian experience, once Jesus is gone, is a journey into God with us, in us, with/in us.

*SCRIPTURE READING: John 14:18-21
I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. 19In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. 20On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. 21They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

What does it mean to you when I say, that God is with you? I’m serious, what does it mean to you when I say, God is in you?

(Q and A) Jesus is in God, You are in Jesus, and Jesus is in you.

This is what Jesus tells his disciples on the evening of his arrest. A few days later his post resurrection appearances confirm these words – they do “see” him. What is it exactly that is supposed to happen as a result of their “seeing” him? According to Jesus in John when we see him we know that as he is in God, so are we.

Does it mean something different to you if I say that way? You are in God!

(Q and A)

Clearly this is one of the more fascinating passages of scripture for it speaks in a sense to the past, present and future.

John uses the word (a – MARE- AH} “for on that day” which was a standard term for Jewish eschatology – or the end of time. But in this context, He uses it to mean the day Jesus appears to his disciples, when you see him post resurrection – when the world doesn’t see him – on that day you will know. But also John is writing the gospel some 70 years after Jesus appeared on that road to Emmaus.

His audience has already experienced, or been told about the coming of the Holy Spirit – Pentecost Sunday which we will celebrate together in a couple of weeks. They heard the Spirit speaking to every one of them in their own language, descending on them. In a sense this confirmed some of this mystery unity of Jesus in God, God in us breaking apart everything has split us including our language. A living, unifying, divine presence “came to them” if you will. “I will not leave you orphaned,” Jesus says. Clearly John’s audience understood “on that day” as a reference to the continuing presence of Christ in their lives. The Christ life within is part of the condition of understanding something of the relationship of Jesus with God.

The language in the Greek confirms the beauty of this idea of on that day – speaking backwards, and forwards, and in the moment. Listen some of our words that {a-MARE-ah} was used to convey – always, daily, another day, daybreak, daytime, midday, time years. Are you beginning to see the beauty? Always Jesus is in God, God is in you, daily, even in one of those “another days.” At daybreak, in the daytime, at midday, throughout all of time, throughout all the years.

The word for knowing (gh-KNOW-sko) is just as remarkable. Again listen to the ways that we might know that God is in us, that we are in God, based on how this word was used to convey meaning: We are aware. We are certainty. We come to know. We comprehend. We feel. We find our way. Covers some the gamut of the Christian experience doesn’t it?

The broader context of Jesus taking us into this journey of God with/in us, is the promise of the Holy Spirit as an Advocate (counselor), the spirit of truth, in verses 16 and 17. “I not leave you orphaned,” Jesus says. Translation in the immediate context: in the next few days you will experience my death, my disappearance, you will feel abandoned, deserted by me, separated, lost from each other. Are you able to hear the good news for you? To us, to you, Jesus says, “God will not leave you in all of those things that split you up, for the unifying, divine spirit is coming to you. In fact I am going to God and coming to you, the connecting energy that gives you life power to love as I commanded.

Something quite remarkable happened Friday afternoon in the Spokane County courthouse, as close to 500 Christians chose to be advocates for a 24-yeard old refugee named Chew Ling. About a year ago, he came to Spokane from Burma. He spoke no English, and was entirely alone. For about three weeks he lived at the Knox house while World Relief looked for an apartment for him. Eric and Greg and Michael and others got to know him, including many of the children that run around in the neighborhood. The kids would come over and play checker and foosball with him.

Last July World Relief told him about another Burmese family that was staying in our neighborhood. As Chew Ling was biking down the street to say hello to his friends and to meet this family from his home country some of the kids in the neighborhood recognized him and called him over. He said “hello” and asked them if they wanted to go play at the house with him and meet another family. Unfortunately, there was a child and parent there who didn’t know him.

And since he spoke almost no English it came out as “Will you come home with me?” 911 got called, he was arrested and charged with child luring. His public defender never thought it would go to trial, but a week ago Monday a judge refused to dismiss the charges and he was found guilty. His sentencing was on Friday. Word of Ling’s fate –and the perceived injustice of our court system – spread throughout the refugee and Christian community in the Inland NW. During testimony they heard the mother weep as she described how afraid she and her still were because of what Ling had said, because of his presence in our neighborhood. Then they heard advocates coming forward on behalf of Ling. The conversation shifted to cultural values – those who knew Ling, and those who were refuges from other places began to speak about how normal it is in other cultures for children and adults to play together, for an entire village to raise a child if you will. They spoke about how abnormal it feels to live in fear and isolation, and how lonely it is, to not know one’s neighbors.

It was quite powerful to hear all of the emotion – including the wounds of the mother who had interpreted Ling’s words to her 7-year old daughter in a “sexual” way – including the words of a Spokane resident from Rwanda who spoke of how difficult it is to live here, and constantly be judged because you look or sound different.

Then a gentleman from Burma rose to go to the podium to speak to the judge and to the courtroom. I couldn’t understand all of his words – but in essence this is what he said, as he opened his Bible. He spoke about how he and others from Burma including Chew Ling were Christians thanks to testimony from Americans who came to his country and brought them the good news. Because of this he said, I stand here before you, and before my brother Chew Ling, saying that whatever the punishment is for him, I want to take it. I will stand in for him.

It was the moment when I saw the judge see something new. There was a hush and stillness in the courtroom that I would describe as the moment that the Spirit came, the Advocate. And what did the judge do with her seeing? She said, “I understand now that Chew Ling did not mean any evil or harm in his words or action s– that this is a cultural and language misunderstanding but he is guilty according to law.” she waived standard jail sentencing of up to one year, for this felony, but put him under court supervision for two years, to teach him about the ways of American culture, so that another incident like this wouldn’t happen to him or another child in the future.

Here was this man standing there with his Bible, wanting to stand in the place of Chew Ling because he knew that a felony conviction will prevent Chew from getting a green card and becoming a citizen. Even worse there’s a good chance Chew Ling could get deported, sent back to the country he fled for his life from. Here’s what I felt in that moment – this man was truly in solidarity with – in unity with his brother.

On Tuesday afternoon we had an Our Place Board meeting. At these monthly gatherings there is always a spiritual nugget shared at the beginning – kind of how like how Scott Edminster opens up our mission meetings at Knox. Pastor Thomas Soeldner Salem Lutheran was telling the board about the four stages of conversion that a person and/or a community of faith goes through when they decide to minister to poverty or poor in their neighborhood, which is what Our Place does. In fact in March they had 104 first time visitors coming to them for help – serving nearly 600 family units of women, men, and children in our neighborhood. By the way there is going a worship service on Sunday night June 1st at 6:30 at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church for Our Place – the board has heard how blessed we are to have a Praise Team and Band and asked if they would be willing to be play at this service. David is working on finding a leader for this event, since he will back in Hawaii. Isn’t that great news for these young men and women, many who have grown up in our church to have this opportunity?!

Now to the stages of conversion that Thomas Soeldner was talking about. The first stage is compassion. This generally comes through divine awareness to the poor, to poverty. Isn’t that a remarkably beautiful phrase – divine exposure? The compassion creates enough awareness for the second stage of conversion to occur. One begins to recognize that what they are being exposed to is built into our structures. In this phase there is indignation, even anger, and many questions. How are we being called to make a difference and how are we ever going to be able to create social change that will address concerns of growing awareness of what God has placed in our hearts.

This discerning leads to the third stage of conversion. More recognition. Some members described as humility that comes in seeing and knowing that the ones who are coming for help are as capable as they are – one person on the board said, “you begin to recognize they are as capable of saving themselves, as we are at saving them. This leads to a growing sense of dependency on God, rather than on ourselves and on the work we’re doing.

The dependency leads to the fourth stage of conversion – solidarity with those who are coming through God in Jesus Christ. Solidarity I know is word that has been so overused that it has lost the power of its meaning. But listen to what solidarity means – unity with, oneness with someone, something.

So why do I tell you all of that now? Because I saw these stages of conversion playing themselves out in the body of Christ this week in this group of nearly 500 individuals who came together as advocates for this Burma refugee. Because I saw this it makes me wonder, did Jesus go through some of these similar stages in his ministry? Certainly Jesus demonstrated his compassion during his life. He displayed his anger particularly at injustice that was built into the religious system that extracted exorbitant fees from the poor. Jesus had humility – I wonder was this connected to his recognition that those who came to him were also capable of knowing the power of God with/in them?

And finally Jesus certainly had solidarity with God in the best sense of the word – unity, oneness, revealing what God wants us to act like.

What does it mean to you that Jesus claims to be in God, that Jesus claims you are in him, that He is in you?

Does this matter in your life and mission to those around you?

Does it matter in your family? Does this make a difference in your places of work?

What does seeing and knowing Jesus alive and full of love for you now, mean to you?

What does seeing and knowing Jesus alive and full of love for us mean for you?

Please pray with me.