Obeying God: The Laws of Love and Grace

Brad Sullivan

2^nd Easter, Year C

April 3, 2016

Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church, Bay City, TX

John 20:19-31

Obeying God:  The Laws of Love and Grace

“We must obey God rather than any human authority.”  That was Peter’s response to the high priest of Israel telling them to stop preaching and teaching about Jesus.  Peter’s response claimed that the high priest had no real authority, certainly no authority given by God, but that the high priest was simply part of a human institution, a rather bold claim from a fisherman whose Rabbi had been condemned as a heretic by Israel crucified by Rome.  Then again, Jesus did tend to bring out some audaciousness in people.  I suppose being resurrected tends to do that.

When Jesus first met with his disciples, they had locked the door to the room they were in because they were afraid of most of Israel which had not come to follow Jesus.  Their plan was to duck and cover, hide until the heat went down and folks had basically forgotten about Jesus.  Then, Jesus was resurrected and appeared to them.  He gave them the Holy Spirit, just as he had been given the Holy Spirit after his baptism.  It was time for them to stop hiding and go to work, spreading the news of Jesus, his kingdom, his love, and his grace.

Jesus’ resurrection gave the disciples boldness to follow him and obey him in ways they hadn’t been able or willing to before.  There they were, in front of the high priest, being told to stop their preaching, and they were flatly defying him, telling him they had to obey God rather than the high priest.  Last time someone had done that, they’d sent him to Rome to be crucified, but as Peter well knew, the death they gave to Jesus, didn’t really take, so Peter boldly declared that he would be obeying God, thank you very much.

Obedience to God and the trust that comes along with it is rather central to our faith.  When asked in baptism, “Will you promise to follow and obey him as your Lord,” we say, “I will.”  Obedience to God and following in his ways is central to scripture.  Consider Psalm 119:33-35:

Teach me, O Lord, the way of your statutes, and I will observe it to the end.  Give me understanding, that I may keep your law and observe it with my whole heart.  Lead me in the path of your commandments, for I delight in it. 

Obedience to God, following in his ways and keeping his commandments is not just described as something that must be done; obedience to God is described as a delight, the longing of our souls, and a way which gives us life.

That is they way and the joy which Jesus’ disciples were following when Peter told the high priest they had to obey God, rather than him. 

Of course, the high priest was trying to follow in God’s ways too.

Obedience to God, or to anything for that matter, can be a joy partially because obedience can simplify life a bit.  Should I do this or that?  Well, following God’s ways, you should do that.  Ok, done.  Don’t have to think too much about it, don’t have to get too caught up in the subtleties and nuance of the situation.  Simply follow and obey.  Such simple obedience can be a wonderful shelter in a crazy, complex, and frighteningly ambiguous world.  We have to be cautious, however, that such simple obedience to God’s ways does not lead to harsh observance and strict enforcement of his laws.  Such is the problem with many radicalized groups who become so zealous for their understanding of God’s way that they end up harming others in God’s name.

Harsh observance and strict enforcement of God’s laws was how the chief priests and Pharisees lived in Jesus’ day, ultimately leading to Jesus’ death.  Harsh observance and strict enforcement of God’s laws was where Saul found himself when he was persecuting the early church.  Harsh observance and strict enforcement of God’s laws is how radical Muslims live, although they largely misinterpret or willfully misrepresent even Islam’s understanding of God’s laws. 

We want certainty in an uncertain world, and so we can end up zealously following God’s laws in ways that end up harming others.  In the movie Choclat, the mayor of a small town is ardent and zealous in his observance of the ways of the church, as is the town under his watchful eye.  They mayor even rewrites the priests sermons for him when he feels the priest isn’t being zealous enough.  You could describe the town as over-churched and under-graced. 

As the movie opens, the town is beginning their observance of Lent, and at the same time, a woman moves into town and opens up a chocolate shop.  This does not sit well with the mayor at all.  It is brazen and quite unseemly to tempt people out of their Lenten fasts with chocolates and sweets.  Even worse, the woman has a daughter born out of wedlock and she is not a Christian.  So, the mayor begins a harsh campaign against this woman and her shop, despite the fact that she is bringing a huge amount of healing to the community and the strained or dying relationships between many people living there.

They mayor was so zealous in his desire to follow God’s laws that he became a tyrant, and there was certainly no joy in his observance of God’s laws.  He was kinda miserable, because he was trying to follow God’s laws, but he was doing so without the laws of love and grace.

Faith, hope and love, or even faithfulness, hope and love, abide, and the greatest of these is love.  The law of love would keep us from harming others despite how zealous we become for God’s ways.  The law of love reminds us that obedience to God’s ways is meant to give us life.  The law of grace reminds us to be gentle, understanding, and forgiving in how we live out our obedience to God’s laws.  The laws of love and grace allow us to obey God’s laws with joy.

Without love and grace, it is little wonder that we often become ardent in our adherence to part’s of God’s law.  God’s laws and God’s ways give us grounding and some certainty in an uncertain world.  If we feel God’s laws are being threatened, then some of our stability and certainty is being threatened.  The world is suddenly dangerous and frightening again. 

That is when we remember God’s law of love and grace, and we put our trust in Jesus’ resurrection.  Like Peter, trusting in Jesus’ resurrection, we can follow Jesus’ ways without being afraid of those who don’t.  We’re going to follow in Jesus’ ways and not be threatened by those who follow Jesus a little differently that we do.  We seek to follow in Jesus’ ways, and we take delight in obeying God’s laws.  We give up some of our freedom and find ourselves set free in following God’s ways.  Ask the addict who had been free to use whatever he was addicted to and then gave up that freedom to obey the ways of God.  Doing so set that person free from the bondage of addiction.  Obeying God’s ways sets us free from any number of chains, that freedom gives us great joy. 

Jesus’ resurrection gives us freedom to obey God despite opposition from the world around us.  Jesus’ resurrection tells us to fear not when others don’t follow in his ways, because our lives are his, and he will keep us in this life and in the next.  Jesus’ resurrection allows us to obey God and to live out the laws of love and grace.  Amen.