The
Whatever Conundrum
Pastor Mathew Magera – 4/29/18 – Sermon 284
St. Thomas Lutheran Church, Trufant, MI
To God be the Glory!
Grace and peace to you from
God our Father, from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit.
Amen.
Within the Gospel of John,
Jesus makes seven different statements that begin with the words "I
am." You probably would recognize some of them. Jesus says, "I am the
bread of life." He says, "I am the light of the world." He says,
"I am the way, the truth and the life." Last week even, we heard him
say, "I am the good shepherd."
Today, Jesus speaks the 7th
and final I Am statement. I am the vine. I think it's helpful to be thinking
about this statement during the spring season as we slowly begin to see the
trees get their leaves or flowers begin to bloom. My first tulip came up this
week and that excited me greatly. It is a very visual event to see life spring
forth from the ground and into the nature around us. So, as we consider what is
going on around us, Jesus uses this I Am statement to explain his love for us
and our relationship with him.
I think we can read through
the explanation of this I am statement fairly quickly, the visuals in our
minds, and we can get the point. It may seem self-explanatory and easy to
follow, that is, until we get to a certain point and I think you'll agree with
me on that point. We find ourselves reading along and we come to verse 7 where
Jesus says, "If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever
you wish, and it will be done for you." Ask for whatever you wish, and it
will be done for you. How many of us have tried this? How many of us have
prayed for something and not gotten it? It is easier for us to believe Jesus
when he says that he is the vine and we are the branches than it is to believe
Jesus when he invites us to ask for whatever we wish and it will be done for
us.
Can we really ask for
whatever we wish? Is God a wish-granting genie that can solve all of our
problems? I think of all the things we might ask for and I am drawn to the
innocent prayers of children who not only say the darndest things but ask for
the darndest things as well. Take these examples.
·
Dear God, please change the taste of asparagus. It's gross.
·
Dear God, would you make me a little brother? I want someone to boss
around.
·
Dear God, instead of letting people die and having to make new ones,
why don't you just keep the ones you got now?
·
Dear God, I would like to live 900 years like the guy in the Bible.
·
Dear God, if you give me a genie lamp like Aladdin, I will give you
anything you want, except my money or my chess set.
·
Dear God, thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a
puppy.
How many of these requests
do you think God would grant as they were asked? I’m still waiting for God to
change the taste of asparagus. Still gross in my opinion. We go from being
extremely encouraged that he's got our back when we need it, asking for
whatever we wish, to sinking into a depressed whatever kind of faith that has
no motivation at all. We have entered the “whatever conundrum” where the
"whatever you want" turns into "whatever I'm done."
We have a problem with Jesus' words because they
seem too cliché and untrue. Yeah, you say you'll promise us anything we ask for
until we ask for it. Then you'll think about it for a while and just casually
forget we even asked for it or you'll point our attention in a different
direction. We see Jesus' words as too good to be true. It seems like too easy
of a way out. If these words were true, wouldn’t our world already be a place
where nobody would be sick and everybody would be rich? I think people would
have stumbled onto this secret after a while.
Nevertheless, not only does
it appear cliché and too good to be true, we still try to have faith in it. We
still close our eyes tightly and try it only to get turned off when it doesn't
work. At the first sign of failure, we become discouraged and we walk away from
our faith. You let me down, God. Why do you always let me down? Then, if it
isn't God's fault for not listening then we start to think that it is our fault
for not praying hard enough or in the right way. We may even begin to mask the
real problem in order to feel better about ourselves or to help others feel
better. If God doesn't answer our prayer we put on a spiritual Band-Aid that
says, “well, maybe God did answer our prayer but instead of saying yes, he said
not yet.” That’s not so easy to say to the person who prayed their loved one
would recover from their heart attack and yet has just watched them pass away.
What about that turn of events where someone is saying “Let them live, please
God, let them live” is God saying, “not yet?” Jesus invites us to ask for
whatever we wish and we will receive it. Whatever I wish? Whatever, I’m done.
At this point, does something about God’s promise need to change? Or, more
likely, does something within us need to change?
We need to look at this
verse again and in a different way. We single out this one phrase in this one
verse. We run away with it, giving little attention to what larger picture. We
forget Jesus telling us about the vine and the branches and we just assume
these are two different scenarios when in fact they are intimately related and dependent
on one another.
The verse starts off,
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you." This is the whole
vine and branches coming into play. Abide in me and I in you. Stick to me and I
will be in you. Vine, branches. Jesus abides with us when his words find listening
ears, "when they are taken seriously, listened to expectantly, and
responded to honestly."[1]
This relationship opens the
door to thanksgiving and prayer and he promises to respond to us by giving us
exactly what we want, within the boundaries of that relationship. You see, our “whatevers”
come from that vine and branches relationship. Just as the relationship between
the lamp and cord is defined in a certain way, so is our relationship with
Jesus defined in a certain way. Just as husbands and wives learn to be thoughtful
in their requests of one another, disciples also learn to be thoughtful in
their requests of the Lord. I’ve learned not to ask Lane to go flying with me
because I know her well enough to politely say no and I know all of the reasons
for her response. It doesn’t mean that I can’t ask her for whatever I want
because I know she would do her best to respond but all within the boundaries
of our relationship.
What is our purpose as
branches? To bear good fruit, to serve others. We see that in verse 8 where
Jesus says "This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit,
showing yourselves to be my disciples." What is the role of the vine? To
supply everything needed for the branch to bear good fruit. So, then Jesus says
to us with this in mind, "if you remain in me and my words remain in
you" or in other words 'if you trust me and you know what I am giving you
is all that you need "ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for
you."
How do we know what to ask
for? Jesus gives us places to look. He gives us a guide. Remember the prayer
Jesus taught us to pray? Our Father, who are in Heaven… That prayer is a guide
for those “whatevers.” Jesus' prayer to the Father in John 17 is an example for
us to be mindful of others just as Jesus was mindful of us. Jesus tells us in
John 13, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my
disciples, if you love one another." Finally, look to his example on the
cross where he gave up everything for us. Each of these are a guide for us to
understand that Jesus wants us to ask for whatever we need so that we might be
fruitful in serving others and giving them the hope that we have.
So, should we pray less?
Should we expect less? By no means. Even Martin Luther encourages us to pray
for as much as we can, knowing at the very least that God hears our prayers and
is pleased with them. "If you feel any want or trouble oppressing you,
just call upon Him. Open your mouth confidently, as a little child speaks to
its father." Luther goes on to say, "Even if he is not immediately
delivered from his distress, he knows nonetheless that his prayer is pleasing
to God and is heard; and he knows that God enables him to bear and overcome his
distress."[2]
Even when we don't pray as
we ought, remember that God still hears our prayers, remember that he still
knows what we need, remember that the Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for
words. So, do not pray for too little because you don't think God would answer
the big prayer. God still knows our needs and God will still supply us with all
we need.
This trust in the Lord
overcomes the distress. Trusting that God will do something takes the distress
away and it can no longer be called a misfortune or an affliction because it is
now in God's hands. We have lifted it up to him, we have put it at his throne
and our prayer is his and what we need will be given to us because that is what
Jesus promised would happen. "We have been experiencing for many years how
He has helped and saved us in many kinds of danger and distress - from our
enemies and from other sources - and thus has made it possible for us to bear
trouble and to be victorious over it again and again, until finally we are
completely delivered."[3]
Do not be discouraged by
that which you do not receive but be encouraged by that which you do receive.
For that which you do receive is life-giving and will cause you to bear good
fruit because of your relationship with Jesus Christ and his love and care and
provision for you. Have faith that God will give you whatever you need. God has
promised to give you what you need. It is right here for us to see. But what we
need for our purpose may not look like what we think we need.
If you want God to change
the taste of asparagus, by all means, go ahead and pray for it. If you want
those who are sick to be healed, by all means, pray for it. All I ask is that
you be looking out for what God gives you in response. Don’t let the “whatever
you ask” turn into “whatever I’m done” just because you don’t get the response
you are looking for. Look deep within your relationship with Jesus, look for
what he would have you ask for and then open your eyes to see how he lives up
to his Word to provide for you. Look not for what does not come but for what
does. Look for the encouragement. Just as we pray for the forgiveness of sins
that is given to us by Jesus' death on the cross and we receive that
forgiveness as an answer to our prayer because of God's promise to do so, we
should also pray without ceasing. We should abide in the vine and allow the
vine to live within us so that we may always be encouraged to ask for whatever
we need and to know that God will hear our prayers and grant to us whatever we need
for the purpose of bearing good fruit. That is the promise. Jesus says,
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you
wish, and it will be done for you." To God be the glory, now and always.
Amen.
[1]
Bruner, Frederick Dale. The Gospel of
John: A Commentary. Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2012. Pg. 885.
[2]
Ed. Jeroslav Pelikan. Luther’s Works,
Vol. 24. St. Louis, MO: Concordia, 1961. Pg. 241.
[3]
Ibid. Pg. 241.