Whoever loves me will keep my word,
and my Father will love him,
and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.
Judas, not the Iscariot, wonders why it seems like Jesus is not doing more to reveal himself to everyone. This Judas suspects that the message of Jesus is so important as to matter to the whole world and he is correct. But perhaps the answer to his question is one of timing. In another place Jesus mentions that it is from the Cross that he will draw all men to himself. The invitation given on the Cross is open to anyone. Jesus reveals his love to the world to see who will respond in turn by loving him.
Those who love Jesus and keep his word receive more than some distant afterlife in heaven. We receive the divine presence living in us here and now. We forget about all that God offers. We experience little bits and pieces of all that Jesus has for us. But we are quick to get used to them pieces, mistake them for all there is, and compartmentalize them to a spiritual part of our lives. Because we don't go deep enough we don't find enough grace to fill our whole lives. Our lives, then, quickly revert to the Sunday only mode. We find enough grace to live that way, but not much beyond. We need the Holy Spirit who lives within us to remind us of everything Jesus says, everything he has for us.
I have told you this while I am with you.
The Advocate, the Holy Spirit
whom the Father will send in my name --
he will teach you everything
and remind you of all that I told you.
We prefer a comfortable faith that never notices when someone might have the faith to be healed.
He listened to Paul speaking, who looked intently at him,
saw that he had the faith to be healed,
and called out in a loud voice, "Stand up straight on your feet."
He jumped up and began to walk about.
Instead of a comfortable faith Jesus promised us that we would do greater works than him. He shows us the magnitude of what it means for the Holy Trinity to live in our hearts. These healings come from the power of the cross. They are part of the inspiration that draws all people to Jesus. When the Spirit asks them of us they are not optional. What would have happened to the crippled man, and indeed the crowds of Lycaonian, if Paul had been content with Sunday only grace, if he had not been listening to the Spirit reminding him of what Jesus had said?
Let's not shrink from our task. Even without us God bestows his goodness. But by grace, the goodness he wants to bestow on the world through us is of a different order entirely.
In past generations he allowed all Gentiles to go their own ways;
yet, in bestowing his goodness,
he did not leave himself without witness,
for he gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons,
and filled you with nourishment and gladness for your hearts.
Let's ask the Spirit to remind us of the words of Jesus. This is a good question not just for Sunday but for all the circumstances in which we find ourselves.
Not to us, O LORD, not to us
but to your name give glory
because of your mercy, because of your truth.
Why should the pagans say,
"Where is their God?"
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