"Bringing God Glory" (John 13:31-38) Purpose Driven Series Sermon Seven

We were created to have a relationship with God; we were created to live with purpose; and we were created to bring God glory. This is not to say that we can in anyway add to God’s own glory, but rather that we should bring attention to God’s glory in the way in which we live our lives. When we pray that model prayer of Jesus – “Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed be your name” – we are praying precisely that God’s glory receives its due attention. Now, this is not going to happen just because we want it to!

This model prayer of Jesus was not meant to lead toward passivity where we simply hope that God’s name and nature will be miraculously more respected at the same time as we continue to do what we like. We have to give serious attention to how we will participate in bringing about a positive outcome for this prayer. In praying the ‘Lord’s prayer’ and specifically the words “hallowed [or honoured] be God’s name”, we are signing on to the responsibility of representing God’s good name and God’s glory on a daily basis. The hope, purpose, faith and love that we live out should cause people to believe in God’s existence and better understand God’s greatness.

What is the glory of God? Rick Warren answers this question as follows. The glory of God is who God is – the essence of God’s nature. The glory of God is the weight of God’s importance and the demonstration of God’s power. The glory of God is the radiance of God’s splendour and the atmosphere of God’s presence. The glory of God is the expression of God’s goodness and all of God’s other intrinsic eternal qualities. We were created to draw attention to all this, for the benefit of our own spiritual well-being, but also for the benefit of those who have had less chance of appreciating all this than we have had. We are to recognise and honour God’s glory. We are to praise and declare God’s glory. We are to reflect and live for God’s glory.

Oh dear! How far short I fall of all that!! Yet God continues to accept me; and accept all of us, and our worship and praise, as works in progress, as those on a journey, as those who are being transformed day by day into the image of Jesus through God’s Spirit. So even our weakest efforts, when done with the right heart, can bring glory to God – because it doesn’t so much depend on us, but on the one living through us. And the one living through us, that is Jesus, has in himself completely and utterly the glory of God.

So this is not so much about how good and clever we are (for we are still frail humans), but most about the extent to which we allow Jesus to live in and through us. In a vision of life in heaven, the book of Revelation (21:23) says: “And the city has no need of sun and moon, for the glory of God illuminates the city, and the Lamb is its light” (NLT).

As I said earlier, we cannot actually make God any greater than is already (as has always been) the case. Yet the way that we live out our new life in Jesus and become known as God’s person, can significantly enhance God’s reputation in the world. And, in a sense, the more people who come to know God, the greater God’s glory will be.

I just wanted to examine one of the areas in which we can bring glory to God. But I think this actually may be the real key to that endeavour. And for this we turn to John 13:31-38. This is where we read an interpretation of the ultimate meaning of Jesus’ coming to earth. God is love and Jesus has proven it! Now those who come to follow Jesus will have to prove it too!! And the disciple Peter wants to prove it, but still his human frailty gets in the way.

This text follows the famous foot-washing incident, where Jesus models the servant nature of leadership by washing his disciples’ feet. At this time Judas has been revealed as the one who will betray Jesus into the hands of the Roman authorities. The cross has become an inevitability, which, despite its injustice, will show the self-sacrificing nature of divine love. Jesus utter commitment to go to the cross, if that is what is needed to bring about reconciliation between people and God, brings glory to Jesus. Jesus is glorified by doing God’s work according to God’s will. This very act of obedience and sacrificial ministry in turns brings glory to God – the God who actually put in place this act of loving graceful mercy to humankind.

God is glorified because of the very obvious commitment of Jesus to God’s cause – in his sacrifice Jesus revealed the true nature of God. This, as we said earlier, didn’t make God any better (for this is not possible – God is already perfect), but rather drew strong attention to God’s greatness. To bring glory to God then, is to bring attention to who God is, his nature, his magnificence, his compassion, the fact that he has reached out to humanity with loving intent despite the repeated rejection that he has suffered. To bring glory to God is to see God honoured for all he is and all he has done. To bring glory to God is to make visible the presence and reality of God. Jesus absolutely did this – Jesus definitely brought honour to God’s name. And we can too!

The result of Jesus glorifying God, was not only an abiding knowledge of the greatness of God, but also that God wholely affirmed Jesus’ act of sacrifice and raised him from the dead, such that Jesus himself is honoured and revered. Verse 32 expresses the coming together of ultimate purpose – divine and human – where the events unfolding on earth bring attention to the glory of God. Those of us who may bring glory to God in life will too experience God’s affirmation. Even if this does not become apparent in the worldly environment, it certainly will in the eternal realm. God’s affirmation of us brings new life, spiritual awakening and kingdom purpose.

It is true that Jesus, even though spiritually present, will be physically separated from his disciples and the world for a time (verse 33). Yet Jesus’ disciples of all ages will represent Jesus through being his arms and feet, his eyes and ears, and his mouthpiece. Followers of Jesus bring glory to God through one specific mode of activity in life. As we see in verse 35, this one specific attitude and set of actions will demonstrate to the world at large who we have given our allegiance to, and thereby bring glory to God. A.M. Hunter describes this commitment to love as the “distinguishing badge” of being a Jesus follower.

To love others, as an expression of our love for God, is not only the greatest commandment (as it is expressed in the other gospels), but should be the very essence of who we are. It shouldn’t be a struggle as if we are trying to obey something that has become a rule of our faith, but something that simply comes naturally. Then why sometimes is it so hard to love??

To open ourselves to love like this brings risks – risks of rejection, hurt and manipulation. This, after all, is exactly what Jesus copped!! I’m sure the human Jesus experienced feelings of being used and abused. This was not how he should have been treated, but that’s what happens! And Jesus continued to get up each morning and continued to love. Jesus touched people with healing – physical, emotional and spiritual; Jesus shared with people the truths of eternal life; Jesus challenged the oppressors in society to change their ways in an attempt to unravel the powers of injustice; and Jesus loved his disciples with staggering consistency. I know all this, and I’m inspired by this, but still frustration grows in me that I just can’t emulate anything like this!!

But I’m not going to give up, because I know the power and effectiveness of the Holy Spirit can continue to do a work in me … as I am open to this! Each new opportunity, that next human interaction, is a fresh chance to embrace the new commandment to love. We can be like Peter, despite that he no doubt genuinely desired to hang in – when the going got too tough he ran and even denied knowing Jesus. Our well-intentioned commitment to Jesus often rests on the thin edge between success and failure. Yet Peter, as we well know, was later restored to ministry and empowered in faith to love people into the Kingdom of God, as he opened himself to the new life offered by the resurrected Jesus.

The concept of loving neighbour goes right back to Leviticus in ‘old testament’ times, so how can this be a “new” commandment? We know that Jesus claimed that to love God and neighbour summed up the complete intent of God’s law, so what’s “new”?? It may be the fact that humanity has failed so very very badly on a grand scale in this area! The ancient people of God in Israel, although they had their good moments, repeatedly failed. And the history of the world in general is littered with violence. The church at times has not faired much better. So of course this injunction to love remains a “new” concept for us to embrace – in each and every generation – and on each and every “new” day.

And of course this “new” orientation is directly shaped around the person and the self-giving example of Jesus. Whereas the “greatest” commandment seeks us to consider others as being just as important as we ourselves are – “love your neighbour as yourself”, this teaching in John seems to crank that up another notch, by suggesting that we should love as Jesus loved (in an unreserved and limitless way)! The fulfilling of this call will certainly bring much-needed “new” impact in our community. This attitude of love was of course modelled by Jesus himself: in the text just prior to this in the humble act of washing his disciples’ feet; and then ultimately by his sacrificial death on a cross.

This call to “love one another” is not so much a call to individual believers, but to us corporately, to act upon this together and mutually. We have each other’s strength, experience and faith to draw upon, and each other’s weakness, failure and doubt to support. We also need to be willing to receive love as a pathway to being better able to express love.

Does anyone have a story of love being expressed to share???

To love, as the most natural part of living, brings glory to God. May God be recognised, honoured and worshipped as we love one another in Jesus’ name! Amen!