If you love me, you will obey my commandments. We often hear this and we think of a rule book. We think obligation. We think the worst of religion. Most of us grew up hearing these words. But what did Jesus mean?

If we flip back a chapter, John tells us. "I give you a new commandment - as I have loved you, so you should love one another." It's the only commandment given by Jesus in John's story about Jesus. Love. Let's think back to what we talked about last week, with the possibilities of what that could look like in our day. Maybe here, Jesus does give us a road map, or a strategy. The strategy is love. The only way those things are possible is through love. But let's acknowledge, those things feel impossible.

Yeah, Jesus sensed that, too. So he said he'd send us the Spirit. Even after Jesus leaves, he'll continue to be with them through the presence of the Spirit. The church describes the Spirit in a particular way, with particular language, and what we can apply particular meaning now, in modern times.

Then Jesus says this thing about the peace he gives. Jesus gives us a different kind of peace than the world gives. It's deeper than trouble. It's a rootedness, a steadiness, a center that holds no matter what. We know people who radiate this kind of peace. They don't pretend that life isn't hard. But there's a groundedness to them. It's like they know that love is underneath all things, maybe holding all things together. Maybe that's the kind of peace Jesus is talking about.

Again, yes, we live in troubled times. We don't deny that. But we face it head on, with love, through the presence and power of the Spirit.

Speaker: Aaron Vis

Scripture: John 14:15-27

http://bible.com/events/49607445