Sunday Gathering - John 8 : 21-30 - Erica Lugg - Sermon Only

Morning everybody. Nice to see you all. Just checking. I've just a slight admission in that

when the preaching rota went out and we were all looking at which weeks we could do, I actually

picked this week because at the time it was the story of the woman caught in adultery and I thought

oh I really want to do that one so I put my name next to this the woman caught in adultery and then

we invited two guest speakers and everything got moved on two weeks and I've ended up with this

passage this morning and my initial reaction when I read it was oh do you know what Nick I think you

should do this because I don't think I can um it's my honest reaction and then I just said you know

Erica you just have to just have to go for it and you just have to wrestle with it and work out what

it's talking about and so this morning um I've been thinking about this passage for weeks and

weeks and weeks now um and I just want to share just some of the things that I feel that God has

opened my eyes to. And it's not going to be a great exegesis, hermeneutics, Greek this, Hebrew

that, that's not me. But just what I believe the Holy Spirit has been sharing with me personally

and I hope will be a blessing to you. So if you've got your Bibles, John chapter 8 verses 21 to 30.

And I want to start by telling you a bit of a story many, many years ago, and it is many years

ago it's probably about 18 years ago now my mum and dad were invited to a garden

party at Buckingham Palace and it was a very posh occasion and they all went

they've got all dressed up and I'm going to show you a picture of them now this

is my this is my contribution to a slide this morning this is all you get

this is it aren't they lovely see I look like my mum don't I it was a very posh

occasion and you can see he was he was the Wesleyan Reform Union ambassador so

that's why sorry president that's why he's got the big like kind of mayoral chain around his neck

and so we were very excited um and they were all dressed up and off they went and i think it was

the pomp and the ceremony and the possibility of seeing royalty and famous faces and and we we spent

the whole day saying things like to each other i wonder what they're doing now and i wonder who

they're talking to now and i wonder who they've seen and um i'd met prince charles years before

when he was in Ghana when I was very little and I was like I wonder if they've met him again

and so at the end of the day all excitedly we rang them up and my dad picked up and my dad my

mum is like me she yabba yabba yabba chat chat chat but my dad is a man of few words so when he

speaks you really you really listen because when he speaks you just know it's going to be like

an important utterance so we rang him and said oh dad how was it did you have a great time and

his response was they had lovely ice cream that was it we were waiting to hear about the palace

the royalty the amazing occasion and dad was telling us about the ice cream and I'm sure it

was really nice ice cream now my mum and dad they were very frugal they grew up as missionaries but

he had this thing about ice cream and after dinner on a Sunday he had a chest freezer in the garage

and he would go out to the chest freezer and he would do this, right?

Who wants what ice cream?

I've got strawberry, vanilla, mint chocolate, rum and raisin,

every possible ice cream that you could imagine is what he's got.

And as I was thinking about this morning,

I thought how funny it is that we can be in front of something

quite extraordinary and only notice the ice cream.

And also we can be in front of something so extraordinary

and as I'm thinking about the ice cream because I'm not an ice cream person there is so much about

that list who eats rum and raisin whoa whoa what about mint chocolate oh oh that's just like cough

mixture um but immediately as I'm going through this in my head I'm thinking about all the things

that I like of the ice cream that I like which is basically vanilla and all the other stuff that I

would turn my nose up and I just thought how funny it is that we can be in the presence of

extraordinary things and only notice the ordinary and then when we're noticing the ordinary we're

already working out what we don't like and what we do like and I wonder whether sometimes that's

how we are with Jesus that we become so familiar with the things surrounding Jesus the church the

worship the teaching which all of those are great but yet lose sight of the wonder the extraordinary

Jesus who stands in front of us. And this morning, that's what I really want to speak

about. There is so much about what we do is great, and there are niggles and they are

normal. But this morning, I just somehow want to bring us back to this extraordinary, the

extraordinary Jesus who stands in front of us this morning. Amen. You're very quiet.

just keep smiling at me so last week Nick spoke about from John 8 verse 12 and he says

Jesus makes this incredible declaration about himself he says I am the light of the world and

then it goes on to say if you follow me you won't have to walk in darkness and I just thought all

week I've been thinking about that how how clear that is how clear if you follow me you don't have

to live in this place of darkness. It's just so clear. And we have this extraordinary light living

in front of us, standing in front of us, and we don't have to live in darkness. That's the choice.

And just in my mind, imagining all the times when I focused on the ice cream. Now, today's passage

isn't a completely different passage. It follows on the same conversation, and we're going to start

in verse 21. And at the beginning of verse 21, my translation is slightly different, but that's

fine. I actually prefer this one. The Bible says, once more, Jesus said to them. Verse 21 for me

starts later, Jesus said to them again. How many of you as parents have had to repeat yourself

over and over and over again

before your children have grasped the message,

the importance of the message

that you're trying to get across.

And I love this.

He says, once more, Jesus said to them,

and then he goes on to say this.

Later, Jesus said to them again,

I am going away and you will search for me,

but will die in your sin.

You cannot come where I am going.

The people asked, is he planning to commit suicide?

What does he mean?

You cannot come where I am going.

Jesus continued, you are from below and I am from above.

You belong to this world and I do not.

And that is why I said that you will die in your sins

for unless you believe that I am who I claim to be,

you will die in your sin.

Verse 25, I love this little one-liner here.

Who are you? They asked.

Once more, Jesus says,

um I've lost my place because my glasses have slipped off the end of the nose Jesus replied

the one I have always claimed to be I have much to say about you and much to condemn but I won't

for I say only what I've heard from the one who sent me and he is completely truthful but they

still didn't understand that he was talking about his father so Jesus said when you have lifted up

the Son of Man on the cross, then you will understand that I am he. I do nothing on my own,

but say only what the Father taught me, and the one who sent me is with me. He has not deserted

me, for I always do what pleases him. And then there's this little verse at the end, verse 30

said, then many who had heard him say these things believed in him. And I think it's interesting that

it says many. It doesn't say all. It doesn't say all. Now, verse 25 really jumped out at me as I

was preparing when the people turned to Jesus and they asked him, who are you? Jesus had already

spent a lot of time declaring that he was the light of the world, declaring that unless you

are with me, you will live in darkness. He'd spoken about the father who'd sent him and he'd

explained he was from the above and not of this world. He was telling them that if they believe

that he, everything that they believe about him has eternal significance, and yet they still ask

the question, who are you? Standing right in front of them is Jesus. They'd been hearing him speak,

they'd been questioning him, debating with him, listening to his claims, yet struggling to

recognize who he really was. And I find that quite astonishing. Astonishing because I kind of think

that I wouldn't be like that, but I'm very certain when I think about it, I probably would be like

that. And I wonder this morning whether you can see yourself in that question, hearing about Jesus

once more. Knowing the stories, if I asked you about the story of Gideon, who could tell me that

story? If I asked you about the story of Samson, who could tell you that me that story? What about

Goliath? What about the Bethlehem story? What about the story of the resurrection and the cross? Who

can tell me all the different things and what happened on the third day, all of that stuff?

But I wonder if we ask the question, as Jesus is,

knowing the stories, understanding the language of Christianity,

familiar with the church, appreciative of Christian values

and the things that Christians believe,

and still not really know who he is,

as he has revealed himself to be.

Because I was surprised as a youngster

when I realised, I went to school with somebody who was called Jesus,

and I remember being quite surprised

because in my head, I grew up in a Christian family.

I just imagined that there was only one person called Jesus

and he was the one that died on the cross

and that nobody else in the history of the world

ever before or after or ever again would be called Jesus.

I was really surprised that there's like a whole generation of people,

a whole world of people called Jesus.

That's right, isn't it?

Yeah, please nod your head at me.

And I remember thinking that that was quite interesting

because the Jesus that I'm talking about this morning

is not the Jesus that we have imagined or worked out in our heads or the Jesus that we have made

in our image or our understanding or the limiting of our experience, but the Jesus as he has

revealed himself. And there is really a difference between knowing about Jesus and entrusting

ourselves to the Jesus who stands before us this morning as he reveals himself. Between hearing his

words and becoming familiar with all the stories and yet allowing those words to shape our lives

there's a huge difference between that and perhaps there's a danger that over time we become so

accustomed to hearing about jesus that we really stop listening to what he says about himself

um i do manual handling training from time to time and one of the things i talk about is

is when accidents and incidents happen and feel people fall out of hoists and stuff like that

I always ask the question, which members of staff do you think are most likely to have

incidents and accidents where elderly people fall out of hoists? I'm asking that question

to you this morning. Sorry? No, not managers. Thank you. Say it in a big voice, Matthew

Brown. Those most familiar. And that's not just in care homes, that's right across the

board when you look at the industry of work. It's when we become most familiar. I drive

from here from my house to here several times in the week and I have to admit on the way there are

many times I arrive and I think to myself I wonder how I got here because I can't actually remember

the journey and I'm really hoping that I didn't knock someone over because I can't I'm so familiar

with the journey backwards and forwards and familiar familiarity breeds this certain kind

of complacency and well I know the stories and I know this Jesus and I know what he's like and

and and but familiarity actually is an undermining thing and I believe that Jesus wants to reveal

himself to us over and over again how he truly is not made in the image in our imagination

John tells us something in the gospel in his gospel chapter 1 verse 10 to 11 he says he was

in the world and though the world was made through him the world didn't recognize him

he came to that which was his own that belonged to him that he created that he made that he spoke

life into but his own did not receive him they simply didn't recognize the Jesus standing in

front of them and the tragedy isn't that God is silent he has spoken he's spoken all the way

through the pages of the scripture. It's not that he hasn't spoken. And it's not that the light

hasn't come. It's nothing like that. The light has come. But simply, we don't, people don't,

the world don't recognize the Jesus that is standing in front of them. And John 1, 12 goes

on to say, yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, not in the spelling of

his name, J-E-S-U-S, but in the believing in the name of the Jesus standing in front of them,

for those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. And that's the

gift. It's a revelation of Jesus, who he says he is, and not what we say or the rest of the world

says. So I want to ask you the question this morning, why does believing in Jesus matter

so much. Well, verse 24 tells us, I told you that you would die in your sins if you do not believe

that I am he. You will indeed die in your sins. He's already told them that he's the light of the

world. He's already told them that if you follow me, you'll walk out of the light. You don't have

to live in that place. You can live in the light. He's done all of that. But what he's actually

saying is the absence of me is what brings darkness. It's the absence of him. If Jesus

is the saviour, then the absence of him in my life is what binds me to sin. That's what it means.

If Jesus truly is the saviour of the world and he is absent from me, I'm bound to sin. If he is

absent from me, then I'm walking in darkness. If Jesus is the one who gives life, then the absence

of him is what? Sure? Death. Yes. And Jesus here is describing the reality of our condition apart

from him. He is not trying to scare us. He's not scaring us. He's saying the absence of me, if I am

not in your world, if I am not in your life, if I am not there, if I am not present, then the absence

of me is what brings darkness. The absence of me is what binds you to sin and what controls you.

He's not inventing a consequence to frighten people into following him. He's telling them

the truth about who he really is. And there's an important difference between a warning and a

threat. A threat is intended to coerce or intimidate or scare people into making decisions.

I was so frightened of hell as a child that I was like, oh Lord, save me, save me, save me every day

because I was petrified of hell. But a warning is something different. A warning tells us that

there's danger out there. A warning tells us that, and it's given by somebody who loves us. Guys,

be careful. When we are warned by somebody we love, it's not a threat. It's not coercion. It's

not control. It's not designed to frighten us. It's because Jesus actually loves us with all

his heart that he's saying to you, I want to let you know that if you live with me, you don't have

to live in this darkness. If you live with me, you don't have to be attached to that sin. If you live

with me, you don't have to be separated from me into eternity. That's what being with Jesus

actually means. So a warning tells us about danger, and sometimes the most loving thing

someone can give us is a warning that there's danger ahead. If Jesus had remained silent and

not declared who he was, that would have been the most unkind thing. But he was standing in front of

them, he was saying, I am the light of the world. If you come to me, you don't have to walk in this

darkness. What an incredible gift of grace. Anybody like warnings? We get a bit upy. I get

a bit upy when I'm warned about something. I get a bit like, well, who do you think you are?

Unless it's dog poo. I mean, nobody likes to walk in dog poo, do they? I'm always telling Nick,

watch that dog poo there, watch that dog poo there, mainly because I don't want it on his

shoes. And when it's on his shoes, it comes into the house. And when it comes into the house,

it goes over the place and it stinks really bad. It's a warning from somebody who loves him.

please don't stand in that dog poo because if you do, you face the wrath of Erica if you walk that

up the stairs. So Jesus is warning. He's gently telling the people that he loves the most, guys,

believe in me as I have revealed myself to you. And that's why Jesus matters so much. That's why

we are unlike any other religion on the face of the earth. This is why Nick mentioned it last week,

the name of Jesus, the person of Jesus as he has revealed himself is so important because that is

the only route out of darkness, that is the only route into salvation, that is the only route that

will separate us from the consequence of sin, not just our sin but the sin done to us and the sin

that surrounds us. This is a message from a heavenly father to people that he loves, not with

a big stick saying, if you don't do this, this is what's going to happen to you. That's nothing

like it at all. He's saying, here I am. And if you believe in me, if you believe I am who I say I am,

then you don't have to live apart from me. You don't have to live connected to your sin. You

don't have to live in bondage. You don't have to live in darkness. You don't have to live in the

state that you're in. You can walk free into the light. But it's if you believe in Jesus as he has

revealed himself. So the next question I was thinking about as I was preparing, first of all,

why does believing in Jesus matter so much? Well, because he's the only one that's the light. You

can only have one light of the world. You can't have many. There's only one. Which Jesus are we

believing in? Who is the Jesus I believe in? Is the Jesus I believe in the same Jesus who stood

before these people as he revealed himself or is it possible to have a view of Jesus that is true

as far as it goes but is far too small and I as I was reading that I just felt like the conviction

of the Holy Spirit because the Jesus that I can make for myself is about this size and easy to

handle and yet we're talking about the Jesus that is from above and I'm from below the one connected

to the Father, the Son of God. And if I see Jesus only as a teacher and nothing else, which some

people do and some religions do as well, I can appreciate his wisdom and follow the advice I

agree with. But what happens when he teaches something that I don't like? Have you ever

argued with a teacher? I argued with a teacher once because I didn't agree with evolution and

so it was a part of my A-level thing. I didn't agree with evolution, but we had this debate

and I felt able to stand in front of that teacher

and say actually I don't agree with what you're saying

I have a different point of view

and it's possible to come to Jesus

with a similar kind of mindset

where he reveals his truth to us

and then we say things like

well I'm really glad that you've spoken to me about that Jesus

but I've actually got a little slightly different slant

or emphasis to what you might be meaning

and if he's simply a teacher

I can pick and choose what I accept but if I am seeing Jesus as he has revealed himself as Lord

his words carry authority that go far beyond good advice and you know what I don't get to decide

which parts of his teaching are worthy of my obedience but I can see myself thinking actually

the Jesus that I want is this Jesus over here this Jesus over here will not lead me into light

it's this Jesus, big Jesus, royalty Jesus, extraordinary Jesus, this Jesus that will

lead me into life. But how easy we go down the road of creating a Jesus that makes us feel

comfortable. What if I see Jesus only as a prophet? And again, some religions do that.

I might admire his message and recognize that he speaks truth, but I'll still treat him as one

religious voice among many, deciding for myself whether to accept what he says. Yet Jesus reveals

himself to us so much more. He is the one sent by the Father, the one, the one, the capital one,

O, big O-N-E, the one from above. If I only see Jesus as miracle worker and fixer, who answers

my prayers and heals and provides and fixes my problems, of course he's so gracious that he does

those things. And we can bring our needs to him because he deeply cares about us. But what happens

when the miracle doesn't come or life doesn't work out how I hoped it? If my faith is built on this

small Jesus that I have created, I'll lose sight of who he actually is. Jesus hasn't simply come

to make my life or your life comfortable. Hallelujah. He's come to save you. And sometimes

that feels uncomfortable. And sometimes that feels really difficult. And I'm not going to

apologize for that. I want him to apologize to me sometimes for making me feel uncomfortable. But

he's not come to make my life or your life comfortable. He's come to save us. Thank you.

He's come to rescue you. And not only that, when he rescues you, he reconciles you with God

and gives you life. He lifts you up out of the miry clay. And how I imagine it is it's like he

reaches down and grabs you by the scruff of your neck, hoiks you up. It's not a comfortable

sensation. But if I only see Jesus as miracle worker and fixer, before long he will disappoint

me. And when he disappoints me, then I will lose my faith, whatever that faith is in. But yet if I

believe Jesus, who he says he is, as he reveals himself, then when things don't work out quite

how I plan them to, or I don't receive the healing that I feel I should receive, there is trust

that actually he's got a better and bigger plan, and he is sovereign over every situation.

And sometimes we see Jesus simply as friend. And yes, he is friend. That's precious. And in fact,

he calls his disciples friends, and we can know his love and his tenderness and his nearness.

But if I only see him as friend, I might welcome his comfort, but I'll resist his correction.

I might want him alongside me in my decisions without allowing him to be lord over these

decisions. And his friendship is precious, but it doesn't cancel his lordship. This is Jesus,

Lord he is not as I heard many years ago almighty God he is almighty God and almighty God has stepped

down and chosen to be my friend but his position almighty God not almighty God his friendship is

precious and I'm so grateful for his tenderness and his love and his nearness but it doesn't

cancel out his lordship. And today is about beholding the real Jesus, not the Jesus of mine,

yours, or the world's making. He's not here simply to make us comfortable, but to show us who he

really is. Look at what he says about himself. In John's gospel, Jesus says, I am the bread of life.

He's not just someone who gives us a scrap to eat, an encouragement when we're hungry,

but he satisfies our deepest spiritual needs.

This Jesus satisfies our deepest spiritual needs.

He says, I am the light of the world,

not just someone who gives us a few helpful directions

like a sat-nav that we can turn on and off when we feel like

or change the accent or change the language

or divert or revert or put another route in place.

He's not one of those.

He is the light without whom we remain in darkness.

And I want to tell you this morning,

if you don't know the light of Jesus, your path will be treacherous because there's nothing to

illuminate it. He is the light of the world. He says, I am the gate. He doesn't just point to a

door and say, if you go that way, you'll be okay. He says, actually, if you come to me and come

through me, you will enter into salvation and safety. He doesn't make it difficult.

Have you ever been on one of those games where you have to tick door A, door B, or door C?

and hope you get the right one.

There's only one door, only one door,

and you have to come through Jesus to get to the other side.

He says, I am the good shepherd,

not just someone who gives occasional advice,

but the shepherd who knows his sheep,

leads them, and lays down his life for them.

This is this Jesus here, not the Jesus that I've made.

He says, I am the resurrection and the life,

not just someone who helps me to cope with death.

I'm going to say that bit again.

he is not just someone who helps me to cope with death he is the one who has power over death

itself my death your death everybody's death the death of my loved ones everything else all the

things about death that we wrestle with Jesus says I am the resurrection and the life I am the one

who has power over death itself, if you follow me, you don't have to live in that darkness.

He goes on to say, I am the way and the truth and the life, not just one helpful guide among many,

but the one through whom we get to the Father. There's only one way. The world will tell you of

a different type of Jesus, where you can have Jesus and lots and lots of other things attached

to it. There is only one way. And he says, if you follow me, you don't have to live in

that darkness. He says, I am the true vine, not just someone who helps me to improve myself.

I love all those statements about being true to yourself and what you need to do in life

is discover yourself and all of that. Actually, nothing about that in life at all. It's about

discovering who Jesus is, not actually discovering more about myself. I'd rather keep who I really

am hidden. It's about discovering Jesus. Jesus isn't a collection of helpful qualities. He's the

son of God. He's the savior. He's the light of the world. He's the one sent from above, the one who

reveals the father, the one who will be lifted up on the cross. Only this Jesus can give us the life

he promises. And I just want to say to you this morning, none of us, not anybody from the beginning

of Adam to the end of time gets to decide who Jesus is. And yet we have a whole world out there

who is fighting and making decisions about who Jesus is

and what he proclaims to be and all of that.

Jesus knows exactly who he is

and he is revealing himself to us

and he's so gracious because he does it once more and once more.

Every song we sang this morning

was about Jesus revealing himself to us.

Every scripture you read,

it's about Jesus standing in front of us and saying,

this is who I am.

If you follow me, you don't have to walk in that darkness.

us. No one gets to decide who Jesus is. The only choice we have is whether we will recognise and

respond to the one who he has revealed himself to be. Are you still with me? Good, I'm nearly done.

Well, yeah. The danger of being close without believing is the next thing that popped into

my head. So that brings us back to the people standing before Jesus in John 8. These weren't

people who had never heard of Jesus or had never encountered his teaching. They were standing

right in front of him, they had listened to him, they had questioned him, they had debated with him,

they'd received the extraordinary revelation, and yet Jesus still says to them, unless you believe

that I am he, as revealed in my word, you will die in your sin. Again, it's not a threat, it's a warning.

There is a danger of proximity without faith. Being close to Jesus is not necessarily the same

as believing in Jesus.

We can be close to the language

and close to the experience

and close to all those things,

but it's actually what I say

about who I believe in

is what makes the difference.

I can believe in the church.

If you believe in the church,

I'll just tell you now,

you'll get disappointed.

Won't you?

Or did you just mutter under your breath

and speak for yourself, did you say?

If you believe in Christian values,

we're no different to any of the other groups on the face of the earth. Lots of people out there

have got Christian values. I just don't call them Christian values, but we all know where they've

come from, don't we? We can be close to the language of Christianity, know when to say

amen at the right time, close to community, to the worship and all of that. But none of those

things matter. It's about what we do with Jesus himself. And it's not enough to say that Jesus

existed. Satan knows that Jesus exists. So it's not about whether Jesus existed or not,

or whether we believe he was a good teacher

or whether we agree with his values.

It's whether or not we are saying,

Jesus, you are the light of the world

and I believe that you are the one

as you revealed yourself to be

and I'm going to follow you.

We make decisions every day,

some small and some that are insignificant.

Others will shape the whole direction of your life.

Young people, there are a few of you scattered in here,

some of the decisions that you'll make,

where you'll live, who you'll marry,

what career you'll pursue,

how we how you spend your money what you'll do in the future the world will

tell you that those are the most important decisions that you need to

make in your life some of them are very important some of the decisions that you

make about your future your career your spouse all of those things will have

consequences that last decades even lifetimes but Jesus presents us with a

decision that reaches beyond this life and into eternity in fact it is the most

important decision that you will ever have to make, is what will you do with this Jesus?

Who do you believe he is? It's the only decision with eternal consequences. And Jesus says,

if you do not believe that I am he, you will indeed die in your sin. And that's not because

he is there with a big stick saying, I hate people. It's because he's saying, absence from me,

separation from me being apart from me is what brings the darkness is what attaches us to sin

says hear the warning in light of the invitation Jesus says I am the light of the world the free

invitation this morning is to say actually Jesus I don't get it all I don't fully understand it all

but I want to believe you as you say you are help me to follow you so that I can walk in the light

and not in darkness.

And verse 30 says, and I'm just going to finish now,

verse 30 said, many believed, but not everyone.

Jesus stood right in front of them,

revealing who he was.

Still some didn't believe.

And Jesus stands before us this morning,

as I've said, every song that we've sung this morning,

every word, every prayer prayed,

every word in this scripture,

this precious book, reveals who Jesus really is.

And the invitation for us this morning

is not to rest in the familiarity of what we know

or what we think we know or in our own intelligence

or what the world says

or what the intelligence of the world says,

all of that, it's not to rest on that,

but to say, actually, Jesus,

I know you have revealed yourself.

You are revealing yourself to me.

Teach me what it means to follow this Jesus.

Teach me what it means to embrace uncomfortable life

if it means I discover who you are

and I can walk in your life, in your light.

We don't get to decide who Jesus is,

but my question this morning is,

what will you do with the Jesus as he is revealed in the scripture?

Amen.