Jesus leads us
into our passage today with a rather stunning admission. “If I testify about myself, my testimony is
not true.” Remember what he has been
talking about, judgment. He is the judge
of humanity, powers given to him by God the Father. He is very cautious in not taking us away
from the truth, that he and His Father are one.
He makes the
argument, he makes the claim, but how is it to be proven? How is it to be believed?
Before we go
there, there are two items we must consider, as we must with every
consideration of Scripture. First, who
is Jesus speaking to in the passage? Second,
how does that speak to us today?
Because first,
Jesus turns to the testimony of John the Baptist, and dismisses it. Messengers were sent to John the Baptist
about Jesus, and John spoke the truth about Jesus to them. His discourses recorded in the Gospel are
moving. Jesus reaction: he does not need
the testimony of John, but it serves the audience as a means to be saved. John is a shining lamp, a great light to bask
in, but there is something more!
It is the
testimony of God in heaven but it is a testimony that does not come through
words.
Rather, God has
sent Jesus works that Jesus must complete, and it is by the witness of these
works themselves, that the testimony of the Father is made about Jesus. This is how the Father has testified to the
one the Father has sent.
Now, we come
back to the question of audience, because the audience is apparently not
getting the message. Jesus charges them
with not hearing the Father’s voice, with not having seen his form, for not
having the word abiding in them, because they do not believe in He whom God has
sent.
Jesus is in
debate with the religious authorities, the ones who started by accusing him of
Sabbath breaking, then accused him of blasphemy, those who have judged him
worthy of execution.
In the verses
leading up to this, the question of Judgment has been flipped. Jesus is Judge, appointed by God. We spoke of this last week, who would Jesus
send to hell? These authorities are
prepared to send Jesus there.
Jesus lays out
for them how it is they can know who Jesus is.
It is not by Jesus’ own personal testimony, it is not by the testimony
of the sublime prophet, John the Baptist, it is by the testimony of God the
Father, a testimony not of words, but of works Jesus has come to fulfill. Like the healing of the 38 year invalid, which
leads off chapter 5, it is the miracle work they do not see as God’s work in
Jesus. They don’t hear, they don’t see,
the Word is not in their hearts, because they do not believe in Jesus, sent by
the Father.
For us, in this
audience, reading these words today, how do we ‘prove’ Jesus? These are fundamental questions: How do we know the story of Jesus to be true? How do we know Jesus at all? Do we rejoice that Jesus is our judge? Out of these questions, comes our basic
reasons for being here, how do I ‘prove’ Jesus to myself? How could I possibly ‘prove’ Jesus to
somebody else? Have we ever been
encouraged to even invite someone to sample the faith that we live by? If not, have we run against that wall, trying
to prove Jesus’ power, to them or to us?
Do we take this faith of ours seriously, Trying to live the life of
Christ? Or do we feel like the audience
Jesus is describing? Do we feel empty of the word and sight of God,
is that how we feel?
This takes us to
the most basic question of church, why are we even here? The grand witness of the New Testament is
pretty clear, the words that Jesus spoke are to become the words that we speak. The mission of salvation to the world that
Jesus undertook has become our mission, that which God the Father has laid into
His only begotten Son, God has also laid into us. We do as Jesus did.
God gave Jesus
works to complete, so God has given us works to complete, that is how the
testimony of Jesus will carry to the world.
The greatest work Jesus completed was dying and rising for us. We are witnesses to that for a world in need
of salvation. Jesus was empowered by the
Spirit of God to do His work, we are empowered by that same Spirit from
Pentecost onward. Jesus’ mission was to
save the world, we’ve been issued those same orders in the Great Commission. What are the works of God we are to complete? Go, make disciples of all the world,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Our whole
vision, to be a Neighborhood in the Kingdom of God, is predicated on this
charge. The Neighborhood is the means by
which we will complete the works that God has in store for us. The works to be completed are outlined in our
mission points:
- To deepen our love and knowledge of God and our Lord Jesus Christ,
- To care for one another,
- To see to the care and raising of our Next Generation.
We don’t simply
talk about these things because that is somehow what we should talk about. We don’t do them because they are “nice”, these
are the works that God has for us to do.
This is God’s testimony of Christ in us, this is the foundation of being
a Christian, of being His church.
So God has work
for us to complete, as he did for Jesus, how do we figure it out? I would suggest there is a mixture of the
grandiose and the immediate. On the
grand scale, ow about redefining the
Christian faith for the 21st century over and against the voices of
supposed faith that proclaim darkness instead of light? We’ve got a history of that. This is the generation of the church that
takes back the oppression of the church against gays and lesbians.
In the 19th
century, the Presbyterian Church walked back oppression against people of
color, against slavery, against inequality.
In the 20th
century, the Presbyterian Church walked back oppression against people of
gender, against women, In church governance and leadership.
In the 21st
century, the Presbyterian Church is daring to walk back oppression against
people of incorrect sexual orientation. We
have got sister Presbyterian Churches leaving the denomination, trumpeting the
belief that the LGBTQ community is a particular brand of sinner. I think we who have remained should be
trumpeting that they are children of God, like everybody else!
But maybe the
works God has given us to complete are more immediate? Like giving out cold water to people on a hot
day. Like preparing to teach our
children for the fall. Like mustering the energy to simply get out here to
worship in the heat.
These are only
suggestions, but the experience is with each of you. Where have you seen God complete work for
you? What was your miracle? What was your saving grace? When did Jesus get you through the day? Or the night?
Or the hour? Or the moment?
What work has
God called you to complete? When will
you be somebody’s miracle? When will you
be their saving grace? When will you get
them through the day? When will you be
the proof… The testimony of Jesus?
Amen
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