An Awesome Privilege
Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. When they saw him, they worshiped him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age. Matthew 28:16-20
Very 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. John 14:12
“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf. You also are to testify because you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:26-27
Our lives are enhanced through connection. When we connect with one another in honest, transparent, loving relationships, our lives are better, and our relationships are enhanced when we connect with God through Jesus Christ and allow His indwelling to transform our spirits and souls. We flourish through connection, and when people involved in relationship are also in relationship with Jesus Christ, and they allow His love to flow through them, it becomes the highest form of relationship.
We flourish through relationship with God through Jesus Christ and through genuine, transparent relationship with one another, and God desires that each person on earth might flourish, so He calls us to serve as His witnesses to the world, testifying about Jesus Christ. It makes no sense to me that the Almighty One would engage frail, faulty, sinful people like us into His holy service, but His ways are higher than our ways (see Isaiah 55:8-11) and He works through us to plant His holy seeds across all sorts of soil, and what an awesome privilege that is. It is all about love.
Jesus explains that the greatest commandment is to love God with our entire being, and the next greatest is to love our neighbor as ourselves, and He continues saying, “On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:40). The entire law and the words of the prophets are summarized with the directives to love God and to love one another.
Jesus also explains that those who love Him keep His commandments (see John 14:15), and those who keep His commandments abide in His love (see John 15:10), and He issues a new commandment – that we should love one another as He loves us (see John 15:12), and He says it all while discussing God the Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit abiding within us. One of His summations of the message is,
“Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.” John 14:23
Jesus is the Word and His holy Presence dwells within those who love Him, and they keep His word because they love Him, which means they love their neighbor. And they keep His word and love others, not out of a sense of duty or obligation, but because His love transforms their spirits and souls, and flows through them, and the fruit of the Spirit characterizes who they are because of His holy transformation (see Galatians 5:22-26).
Because of His indwelling, their view of the world changes. How has your worldview changed as a result of Christ’s indwelling? Do certain television shows that you previously enjoyed seem darker and less entertaining than before? Have certain activities, pursuits and situations lost their pleasure? I recently paused in front of a television while a certain show was on. I stopped to watch because I remember the show being funny and I recall laughing at it, so I stopped to see it once again, and as I watched I felt uncomfortable and filled with sadness watching the way people on the show treated one another. And I believe that is one tiny example of the way He works His transformation in and through us – our eyes change, our vision changes, our desires change, we change and our response to the world changes. By saying what I am about to say, I am not claiming to be anywhere close to this, but as we continue along the path toward holiness by His grace, His love truly abides in us, He truly dwells within us, and through His holy transformation, we see the world through the lens of His love, and we see others with compassion, and we want to serve, not out obligation and duty, but out of genuine loving desire.
So when James urges us to “be doers of the word, and not merely hearers who deceive themselves” (James 1:22), he is really urging us to fully receive His holy transformation because doing the word flows out of Him and His Presence with us and our resulting transformation.
The key is His spiritual transformation, which Scripture discusses in many different ways. It mentions sanctification, holiness, righteousness, fruit of the Spirit and more. We discuss it in terms of growing in Christ, growing as believers, maturing in faith, and gaining the image of Christ. We move from salvation toward God along a journey encompassing the remainder of our lives here on earth. Along the way we leave bits and pieces of our worldly selves behind so we might absorb more of Him.
How might we foster this change? By God’s holy grace, by faith, through faith, we gain Him, and we foster our relationship with Him through prayer, and studying and meditating on His holy word, and responding to the Holy Spirit’s tug. This is why we so frequently discuss the discipline of our daily walk of faith, so we might diligently keep His holy word fresh in our minds and approach the world as souls bathed in prayer and gain ears to hear the Holy Spirit’s gentle whisper. Jesus says, “When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who comes from the Father, he will testify on my behalf” (John 15:26). The Holy Spirit is within us, testifying about Jesus Christ to us and ideally, through us, but we must hear and respond and allow Him to do so.
You might be wondering, what does being “doers of the word” look like? Jesus explains what love looks like through the Parable of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:25-37) and demonstrates loving service by washing the disciples’ feet (see John 13:1-20). Through the passages we see that love looks like humble, compassionate attention to the needs of others.
We also see Jesus explain that His followers do the works that He does (see John 14:12), and instruct His followers to testify about their experiences with Jesus (see John 15:27), and urge His followers to go everywhere making disciples (see Matthew 28:19). How do these directives fit within the commandments to love?
If we truly believe Jesus is who He says He is; if we truly believe He is the eternal One, holy God, Creator of the universe, who came to earth as fully human, died on a cross, rose again and ascended to heaven, conquering death and offering a path to God, the only path to God available to everyone who believes; if we truly believe all that and we truly love our neighbors, how can we go through this life and not tell them about Jesus? How can we possess the keys to the kingdom of heaven and not generously hand them out to everyone we meet?
As you read the words, please do not see Jesus’ call to do His works, to testify, and to go and make disciples through the lens of duty or obligation or burden. This is not another item to add to your overflowing to-do list. Rather, it is a joyous celebration of life, an outpouring of His holy Presence within us, an overflow of His love.
If it still feels like a burden, please pray for His help, for His indwelling in increasing measure, for continuously increasing transformation, and remember this – God calls us to serve as His light, as His salt, as His witnesses, but all we can do is present the gospel of Jesus Christ to others and explain how He has changed our lives. We cannot save a single person. Only God can do that. Our task is to go and do and testify, serving as God’s agents planting His seeds where we go. But we are not called to save, only God can do that. Jesus says,
No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day. John 6:44
And even Jesus, nearing the end of His earthly ministry, lamented over all the people who refused to believe. As He rode the donkey into Jerusalem to begin the Passion Week, He stopped and wept for the city saying,
“If you, even you, had only recognized on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. Luke 19:42
We are called to do our part of the process. Not more, but certainly not less.
We flourish through connection, and our relationships with one another are enhanced through Christ dwelling within us and the fruit that His holy transformation produces within us and through us. It makes no sense to me that the Almighty One would engage frail, faulty, sinful people like us into His holy service, but He grants us the awesome privilege of serving as His agents, planting His holy seeds across all sorts of soil. And really, if we present ourselves to the world as Christ’s followers, we are planting seeds whether we know it or not. May your seeds be seeds of holiness, infused with Christ’s love, drawing others to Him. Amen.