Sermon Tone Analysis

Census results

I usually start a sermon with a illustration that grabs the attention or a story.

They say it helps keep people awake for the first 7 minutes, at least.

So it is with some fear I begin today by mentioning the latest census, which in someways was an annoying joke anyway.

Some boycotted the thing because of privacy concerns.

Know I know what some of you are thinking?

Some boycotted the thing because of privacy concerns.

After the roll out was botched where some people did it one day and others did it another, some people lost interest in it.

If Chris’ wants to grab my attention with the word ‘census’, he is sorely mistaken.

But please stay with me.

When threats of penalties were issued and subsequently ignored by a lot of people, some more lost interest in it.

And when claims of hacking were made - well, it was a census that seemed doomed to be invalidated.

And then, well - the website they were using crashed.

So our confidence in this census is at an all time low.

And yet - it isn’t.

The census is still a big deal.

The conversation over the results is certainly on.

And a big part of that reason is - religion.

Before the census kicked off a big topic was the phrasing of the ‘same sex marriage question’ and the irrelevance of the Christian view of marriage.

And there was even a big push from some parties to tick the ‘non religion box’ which appears to have succeeded as the numbers for ‘non religion has jumped almost 8% from 2011-2016 which is about 1.8 million people in Australia.

With increasing levels of intolerance and somehow at the same time the need to accept and validate everyone else’s truth or religion, Christians are under pressure.

We might be troubled in this age because we confess to knowing the one true God who has been revealed perfectly in his son Jesus Christ.

To do so requires us to say that all the other gods are false.

And with more and more people in Australia even arguing that there is no God at all, Christians might feel under the pump.

This morning God has a very clear message that speaks to the heart of this matter.

It is found in , so please keep your Bibles open there because we are about to see how that there is only one true God, and He is found through His son Jesus Christ and this is a message that calms troubled hearts.

Context: Where are we in John?

Where are we in John?

Well, Jesus has just performed one of his last great miracles in John with raising Lazarus from the grave which clicks into gear the countdown to his execution ().

From here, Jesus enters Jerusalem and at what is famously referred to as the last supper, on the night before Jesus is to be killed, He tells his closest followers that he is to be betrayed, and lifted up on a cross to fulfil the OT prophecies that a servant would come to save God’s people.

And this troubles them greatly.

By this stage, Judas takes his leave to betray Jesus.

So we come to this week where we consider what it is to be religious as Christians.

What does that even mean?

In this modern age it seems ridiculous that there could only be one true religion.

You probably would of heard people say that there are many ways up the mountain.

There are many different flavours of religion to pick from and so as long as you are generally a good person you will one day meet God in heaven.

Right?

Wrong.

We as Christians argue from the Bible that there is only one way to be religious - there is only one way to get into heaven - and that is to follow Jesus.

So we find ourselves in the send half of John’s gospel as we get his account of Jesus’s death and resurrection and how this is meant to shape the community here.

And before we get to chapter 14, we have to come to grips with how exciting and tense things are.

By the time we get to chapter 14 the 12 disciples have already been reduced to 11.

The last supper has been served and Judas has run off into the night to betray Jesus and round up the mob to arrest and eventually kill Jesus.

In chapter 13 Jesus also reminds of the message we heard last week, that we are to love one another.

It’s amazing in the lead up to being betrayed and beaten and killed, all of which should invoke some sort of anger and resentment in Jesus’ followers, Jesus reminds his followers to love one another and by this love people will know that you follow Jesus ().

So we come to this week where we consider what it is to be religious as Christians.

What does that even mean?

In this modern age it seems ridiculous that there could only be one true religion.

You probably would of heard people say that there are many ways up the mountain.

There are many different flavours of religion to pick from and so as long as you are generally a good person you will one day meet God in heaven.

Right?

Wrong.

We as Christians argue from the Bible that there is only one way to be religious - there is only one way to get into heaven - and that is to follow Jesus.

What Comforts Troubled Hearts

Where chapter 13 leaves us is with fear.

The disciples have been reminded by Jesus that this Passover celebration, where the whole family gets together and remembers the great passover of , will be different.

This time the lamb of God, Jesus is the one who will need to be killed and lifted up for the sins of the world.

Peter, one of the closest disciples to Jesus has just been told that he will break under pressure.

How could this all go so wrong?

The disciples are fearful that Jesus, their king and leader is going away.

So he tells them in

He reminds them that He and the Father are one.

We worship God the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

One God, three persons.

We don’t get to the work of the spirit today, but it’s there in the second half of this chapter.

But here Jesus begins by telling them not to be troubled on the basis of his relationship with God.

But why should Jesus’ words calm troubled hearts?

Jesus says: “You don’t know where my Father’s house is, otherwise known as heaven, but I’m going there and I’m going there to prepare a place for you so I can come back and bring you into heaven with me.”

That is essentially what it says in verse 2.

But is it odd that he is going to ‘prepare a place for us’?

Is this like me rushing home to make the beds and cook dinner while Laura is out - I’ve got to prepare the place, the rooms for them to come home to?

No - there is ample room in heaven for all of God’s people.

So how is it that Jesus is meant to go and prepare a place for those who trust him?

It is Jesus’ going there that prepares the rooms for us.

And the only way for Jesus to go from where he was with the disciples and to heaven was through a death on the cross and his resurrection.

The one coming event that was troubling the disciples so much is the same event that was to bring them comfort.

So when Jesus speaks of going to prepare a place for us the emphasis in this whole segment is on the ‘going’ not the ‘preparing’.

A place was indeed prepared for us, but the only way for a place for us to be available in heaven is if we are somehow made suitable for heaven.

And how are we made suitable?

How is it that our sinful hearts are able to enter heaven?

It’s because our sinful hearts are washed clean by the death of Christ.

We are made suitable to be with God when we accept the gift of Jesus.

Put aside the pressure of society for a second and realise our true concern should be how we are going to pay for our rejection of God.

Brothers and sisters, the result of believing in God - the result of verse one’s ‘believe in me’ cry - is that we will be with Jesus in heaven when he calls us home on the last day.

That’s the assurance of verse 3 - I will come back, says Jesus, and take you with me ‘so that’ where I am you will also be.

This should calm troubled hearts, but how?

The disciples, and us have more questions.

The Way to the Father

Now the one disciple who often asks the question that we really want to ask is Thomas.

Thomas says ‘Hold the phone Jesus, i’m not following.

We don’t know where it is you are going - could you be clearer?’

This is after Jesus has told them that the place is the Father’s house and that they actually do know the way in verses 2-4.

They haven’t grasped exactly what Jesus is saying here.

Thomas’s main question is simply how do we get to this place.

Show us the way.

And then, we get one of the most famous verses in the whole Bible.

How is it that we are to know the way to get to the Father’s house?

How is it that we know how to get to heaven.

It’s through Jesus.