Being a Christian is easy. Our New Testament reading (John 14:19-15:8) ends with the truth St. Paul’s member Wayne Boldt carved into our cross. Just stay close to Jesus. The clusters of grapes grow larger the closer they are to Jesus (IHS are the first three Greek letters in Jesus). “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit." Just stay close to Jesus. Easy! 

Yet being a Christian is the hardest thing in the world. “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching" (John 14:23).

A person can say, "I love Jesus," But faith in Jesus and love for him as our Savior cannot be present in the same heart as rebellion against God's commands. 

• When a person doesn’t come to hear God’s Word, even though Jesus taught, “Blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it” (Luke 11:28), do they love Jesus?
• When a person is holding a grudge against a co-worker or a family member, even though Jesus taught, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you” (Matthew 5:44), do they love Jesus?
• When a person is sexually active outside of marriage, living with a boyfriend/girlfriend or having an affair, even though Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person” (Matthew 15:19-20), do they love Jesus?

We can’t say, “I love Jesus,” and follow our own sinful desires. We are only fooling ourselves.

Being a Christian is so very hard. It wasn’t easy for Jesus either. 

“The prince of this world is coming. He has no hold over me, but he comes so that the world may learn that I love the Father and do exactly what my Father has commanded me” (John 14:30-31). We see Jesus’ love for the Father in his willingness to die to crush Satan under his feet in obedience to his Father’s will.

Doing the Father's will is hard. Doesn’t that make Jesus’ promise about prayer so much more meaningful? 

“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples” (John 15:7-8).

Being a Christian is too hard for us. It means sacrificing our own sinful desires on God’s altar, dying to the promptings of the “prince of this world.” But we have the promise from our Savior that he will answer our prayers.

Rejoice in the promise of the new heart in Ezekiel 35-36. 



As you read Ezekiel 35-36, join with me in praying for a new heart and a new spirit. Yesterday we read that the hopes of the exiles in Babylon were crushed with the news that Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. When all is hopeless, let us turn to the God who brought hope to the exiles in Babylon.

The lesson begins with a judgment on Edom, the nation to the south of Israel. The Edomites were descendants of Esau, the brother of Jacob who was later named Israel. In Ezekiel 35, as in the book of Obadiah, the LORD holds Edom accountable for their hatred for their brother nation. 

The lesson in Ezekiel 35 is that the LORD knows our hearts when they are filled with anger and he hears our bitter words. Let us take warning and repent. 

Another lesson in Ezekiel 35 is that when we experience hatred from someone, the LORD hears. We can trust that the LORD will deal with those who mistreat us and bully us. With the LORD's help, we can forgive and let go of our own bitterness, knowing that if a person continues in their sin, the LORD will judge them appropriately. We can let go of the natural desire in our hearts to be someone else's judge and jury. 

Being a Christian is so hard... letting go of our desire for revenge. Being a Christian is so easy, trusting the LORD knows what is best. 

In Ezekiel 36, we can celebrate the miracle of a new heart!

The LORD did bring the exiles back to the promised land just as Ezekiel foretold. And most importantly, the LORD did give them a new heart and a new spirit. 



Archaeology has revealed that miracle. In the ruins of Jerusalem and Judah that are dated before the destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BC, these Judean Pillar Figurines, female gods, "Queens of Heaven," are found in great quantities. Archaeology reveals the rebellious hearts of the pre-exile people of Israel.

After the exile, these figurines are gone. The LORD did give his people new hearts and new spirits.

What a comfort that is for us. As we struggle to love Jesus by keeping his commands, we can trust in the promised Holy Spirit who can charge our hearts and spirits too. 

Prayer: Lord, do the hard part. Give us that new heart eager to do your will. Draw us into a closer connection to Jesus. Make us fruitful branches on Jesus’ vine. Amen.

Knowing that Jesus hears and answers that prayer makes being a Christian the easiest thing in the world. 

Addendum: "The Father is greater than I."

John's gospel emphasizes that Jesus is God, equal to the Father. "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word with with God, and the Word was God" (John 1:1). 

Yet, John's gospel also includes this statement from Jesus: "The Father is greater than I." 

How can both be true? The Son of God is equal to the Father and Jesus is less than the Father? 

The Athanasian Creed (below) helps us claim the truth. As God, he is equal to the Father. However, by become human to suffer and die for us, he was less than the Father. That doesn't answer all my questions... because our God is beyond any of us fully comprehending. But in John's gospel we are about to see Jesus willingly to be "less than the Father" on the cross to show his love for the Father. "If you love me, you will obey what I command." 

A portion of the Athanasian Creed (click here for full text)

Now this is the true Christian faith: We believe and confess that our Lord Jesus Christ, God’s Son, is both God and man. He is God, eternally begotten from the nature of the Father, and he is man, born in time from the nature of his mother, fully God, fully man, with rational soul and human flesh, equal to the Father as to his deity, less than the Father as to his humanity