Gospel of John and Preaching: Sermon Outline: Guy
Donegan-Cross
Theme: believing
Passage: John 6: 27-34
Aim: To
encourage the hearers to have confidence in "believing" and to
understand the "work of believing" as a process of growing in relationship
and trust with Christ.
Strategy: a series of contrasts between commonly held assumptions about believing
held in society today and the call of Christ to believe, centred around the
questions "Why and how do we believe?"
Outline:
It is fashionable to believe in something today ...as
long as it doesn't impinge too much on anyone except yourself. We want to believe that "the truth is
out there" but at the same time the maxim is "Trust no
one." We are rather like a lot of
Jewish people at the time of Jesus, who were waiting for something to grasp
hold of, to believe in, but couldn't see it when it was placed in front of
them. Into their situation came a call
from Jesus to believe fully in him, that there were reasons for believing
exclusively in him, and that to do so would be more than just assenting to a
set of statements. Into our world
today, with its many clamouring voices, comes the voice of Jesus, insisting
that only by believing in him, and growing in our belief, with we find the truth
that is "out there" and trustworthy.
I want to look at some of the problems we have with
believing today, and to explore what Jesus is saying in response:
"It doesn't matter what I believe." Jesus asserts
that what we believe will affect our eternal destiny (verse 27). Believing is a matter of life and death, not
only for this life but for ever. What's
more, while those who believe will receive eternal life, those who don't
believe will be condemned. Believing
for Jesus is not an optional extra - our lives are too precious to be taken
lightly by God.
"All beliefs are valid." Jesus didn't say that just believing in anything was sufficient -
beliefs have to have an object, and in this case the work of God was "to
believe in the one he had sent" (verse 29). Jesus stressed the link between himself and the Father - to
believe in Jesus was also to believe in the one who had sent him. Thus the content of our belief is important.
"I can't trust in anything to believe in
it." Why should we trust in Jesus more than anyone else? In this passage he claims to have been sent
by the Father. For us the truth is
"out there", but Jesus is the only one who says he has come from
"out there"! If we can begin
to trust him, then we will see that what he says has authority beyond what any
other beliefs, people, or even religions have to offer. Believing in Jesus will not pass away with
changes in history or society, but is "imperishable, the food that
endures" (verse 27), and will not fade.
"I assent to these beliefs, and that's all that
matters."
We come now to the question of how Jesus asks
us to believe in him. In this gospel
believing is mentioned 98 times, but the writer makes it clear that not all
"believing" is enough! Jesus
is addressing a crowd who wanted a sign so that they could believe in him ...
instantly. But there is more to it than
a sudden revelation and adoption of a set of beliefs.
In verse 29, believing in Jesus is "the work of
God". Not that we have to earn the
grace of God by believing, but work in the sense that we are striving for and
searching for a right and firm belief.
Our believing never arrives, but should always be taking us towards a
deeper level. No matter where we are
with God now, it is in our willingness to seek after him that our trust is
shown.
And I say seek after him, because the object of our
believing is not a set of beliefs to which we assent, but a living person, with
whom we grow in relationship - Jesus is not an abstract principle.
In verse 32 Jesus describes himself as the "true bread from heaven", and this section precedes the "I am the bread of life" discourse. Thus our believing will grow as we feed on the bread of life - growing in knowledge about him and of him.
So the challenge this passage leaves us with is this:
What are we going to put our energy into? Do we have the confidence to invest our lives fully in Jesus, the one who has been sent by the Father? Will we feast on food that is imperishable, and continue to do so, in the knowledge that believing in Him will always call us to deeper levels of commitment? Ultimately, are we ready to take on this "work of God"?