This morning, I did not transfer my sermon from the laptop to the tablet for the midweek Eucharist. I preached differently after preparing what I thought was a fine word. Below is the sermon I had prepared.

Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. And this is his commandment, we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. 1 John 3:21-24

When I saw that we had a reading from John, for the Mid-week Eucharist, I got very excited. I love John’s writings. I don’t know that I spend a lot of time delving into them, but the idea of Oneness, God’s spirit being in us, warms my heart. I love the theme of Abiding in God’s Love: The Spirit Within Us. I feel complete when I think about this.

It says to me, you have been given all you need as the all-mighty all-knowing, the comforting, the healing God resides in you and me, and with you and me. I do not believe there is any thing greater than this. I do recognize that it takes time on my part to get to understand God, to know God, to be able to identify God’s voice differently from the other voices speaking, particularly my own self -doubting voice.

This passage from John speaks to that. It says we must strive to identify God’s spirit. I have heard several persons speak on what testing the spirit means, but I find none of them resonating with me. I don’t hear in what they say the voice of God speaking to me. As believers the one (God’s Spirit) living in us is greater than the spirit in the world. John calls the spirit of the world, the Antichrist. A many pronged spirit that spouts evil, injustice and discord in all the places that we allow it to breed. We should not give way to it. Throughout the ages and even today God’s spirit, God’s voice guides us to overcome the false prophets and wrong teachings.

1 John 3:21 – If our hearts do not condemn us. we have boldness before God. Once we place our hands, our minds, our hearts, souls and bodies into the hands of God, we can be transformed from our ordinariness into extra-ordinariness. We are able to do God’s work without fear. John 3:18 supports this. It says Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son. We belong to God. God’s spirit is in us verse 24 says. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. Chapter 4:6 says We are from God.

Friends, God is with us, God is in us, we belong to God. Its not a puppy love arrangement. It is not like developing a teenage crush. It is also not like having a young adult mentor for whom you would do anything. It is not movie-star worship, or author worship. I have that relation with Danielle Steele. I buy all her books. I haven’t read them all, but just having them in my Audible library makes a difference to me. I feel complete. Weird example, but we all have relationships in which we feel complete. We feel safe in these relationships. As long as I have this, nothing else matters. That should be our relationship with God. God is the beginning and the end. God should complete us. Like good friends or a husband and wife who complete each others sentences, who know each other inside out. That should be our understanding of God.

We cannot truly know God inside and out. We are only sure of what God reveals to us. We can be assured that our father and creator knows us inside out. God knows us by name. If we listen, we can hear God calling to us. He calls us back when we are about to fall off the brink. A young girl told me on Christmas day that she was going to a paid party later that evening. I realized she was asking for my permission. She thought she should not go because she was a Christian. I cannot recall what I told her, but God does not call us to not have fun and frolic. Jesus was the life of the party. He always represented himself well in these places. Look at story of the woman anointing his feet with the oil. Just like Jesus in that story, we are called to represent ourselves with integrity. This shows that God’s love resides in us. We are to be compassionate to all.

We must strive to discern God’s love and voice as it completes us. We have no regrets as we know whatever happens it is all good. We understand that God’s love calls us to be authentic and true to ourselves, Truth is eternal, but what is true depends on what you know. So don’t go holding onto what was true yesterday in the face of the more information you get today. God’s love identifies us and we must live that identity. It empowers us to be our best godly selves pouring out God’s spirit that resides in us. Giving the love inside us to others. We must allow it to move in us and to move us to be the best.

May we seek to delve inside ourselves and our lives discerning God, being real and Christlike. Amen