Sermon Notes

If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. - Jesus of Nazareth

How does one suppose Jesus related to his father’s “commandments”? Did he believe he needed to earn the favor of his father? Whatever his relation was to the command of his father is meant to provide the example of how a disciple is to relate to his commands. But beyond this easily missed point, there is something that strikes me as even more interesting….the word “keep”. Jesus calls his disciples to “keep” his commandments. I realize that this is just simply the way us Christians talk about this stuff, but I would like to pause on this word “keep” to consider what echos we may hear of this in the scriptures. If you will recall, the first “command” given to Adam was to “tend and keep” the garden. This way of related to the command certianly includes the idea of  “obedience”, but it should NEVER be reduced to simply that. There is far more to the idea of  “keeping” in the scriptural sense than this, and it is to that subject that I would like to consider this Sunday. I hope to see you in person or online!

Peace.

- Fr. Chris