Hear the words of the Collect for the Fourth Sunday after Easter:

O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men; grant unto Thy people, that they may love the thing which Thou commandest, and desire that which Thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found.

May the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be alway acceptable in Thy sight, O Lord, my strength and my redeemer. We pray in the name of The Father, and of The Son, and of The Holy Ghost. Amen.

The question I would like to ask today is one that causes many people difficulties and also provokes us in a negative way. The question that creates these difficulties is: “Why do we obey?”

Notice that in asking this question I did not place it in a particularly religious sense, but in a general sense. I will approach the general case of this question first and then move on to the religious aspects of this question.

Generally in attempting to answer the question of “Why do we obey” in any sense at all brings with it a tinge of fear. For example if I ask: “Why do we obey the speed limit?” The simple answer is we don’t want to look in our rearview mirror and see flashing blue lights. Or, “Why do we not rob banks?” The simple answer is we don’t want to go to prison.

In each and every aspect of our obedience to the laws of our society we find that in general each does contain a tinge of fear and punishment.

However, as we look deeper at the question of why do we obey the speed limit, we can also find rational reasons for obedience that do not depend on fear. We can quote the aspects of our safety, better gas mileage, and avoiding accidents, or for not causing other people to fear for their safety, and other such concerns.

If we examine the question of why do we not rob banks, we understand that violence is not something we want to participate in, nor is what we are seeking to steal ours in the first place. We would not want someone taking our money through violence, so we do not do it to others.

When we moved to the religious aspects of obedience one of the first things we must deal with is also fear. As we read through the New Testament we see that our Lord talks much more about hell than He does about heaven. Additionally we have probably heard sermons which could be aptly described as “hell and damnation.”

If we are not afraid of that possibility in our lives, our eternal lives, then I would suggest that we are whistling past the graveyard and pretending it’s not there. It is an unfortunate reality that it is there and we must be aware of it and deal with it in our own lives.

I will also suggest that fear is indeed a powerful tool for enforcing obedience, as many a dictator has proved to us. On the other hand, if that is the only reason that we are a Christian, then I think we have really missed the point.

The Collect for today points out that we have a real problem in controlling our human will and desires. It seems that we always want what we cannot have, or want what we should not have. Again, fear can keep us away from those things, but at the same time we can overcome our fear and do what we shouldn’t anyway.

It is because we have this problem that this prayer for the Collect asks God to control our human will. Now if He was going to do this by force, then He would be no better than any other dictator. So what then is the motivating force supposed to be for our obedience to God’s law as opposed to man’s law? The Collect gives us this answer:

Grant unto Thy people, that they may love the thing which Thou commandest, and desire that which Thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed, where true joys are to be found.

The closest I can come to a worldly example of what this prayer is asking for us would be a good, stable, and loving relationship shown in a long-lasting marriage. Do the people involved face temptations which would fracture that relationship? We know the answer to that question is, indeed they do. Yet, because they love each other, with a deep and abiding love, they do not succumb to those temptations which would separate them.

This is the way that we are supposed to obey the laws of God. We are to obey out of love. The fear of loss may be there, but it does not control us.

Additionally, just as in every good and lasting relationship, there are many joys and rewards in it. We find that as our relationship with God deepens and expands that we find the words of James 1:17 from the Epistle lesson for today to be very true:

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

One of these gifts is described to us in the Gospel lesson for today, and that is the gift of The Holy Ghost. Our Lord describes how we are to use this gift in John 16:7-8:

Nevertheless I tell you the truth; it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him unto you. And when He is come, He will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment.

It is through the guidance of The Holy Ghost that we receive the constant reassurance of God’s love for us and of His constant guidance in our daily lives to avoid those things that are both contrary to our confession as Christians and that are really not good for us in both an eternal and worldly sense.

Therefore, let us to love God so much that we do not want to harm our relationship with Him by heeding the indwelling voice of The Holy Ghost to obey all that our Lord Jesus Christ has taught us about living a life pleasing to God.

Let us seek to live by the words recorded by the Apostle in 1^st John 4:18:

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Amen,

Rev. Canon John Jacobs