You Need A Preacher
"Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you." - Jesus (John 15:3)
"Sunday mornings are for coffee and football," said my British friend (correction, my "mate"... and yes, by football, he meant soccer). And let's be honest, coffee and Premier League is a pretty solid way to spend the morning. But this raises the question: Is it really that important to be at church? Jesus gives us something to think on regarding that question in John 15.
We often come to Scripture wearing our "me-centered, moralistic" glasses, which always leads us to misunderstand Jesus' words. When we do that here in John 15 we assume that He’s giving us more law (ie-something to do). Knowing this tendency of ours, Jesus addresses this right from the jump.
Consider the preceding verse, John 15:2:
"Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit."
With our me-centered glasses on, thinking this Christianity thing is about me accomplishing things for God, we think, "Well, I better get to bearing fruit!" We could interpret this as a call to work hard at being good, righteous, and avoiding sin so God won’t cut us off. We start to view "bearing fruit" as obeying a moral code we think Jesus would approve of—staying pure, being righteous, keeping from sin, etc. We might even start to fear that if we don’t bear enough good fruit, or the right kind of fruit, we’ll be rejected like a branch that's been cut off from the vine.
Then, we read verse 3:
"Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you."
Wait, what? Didn’t Jesus just tell us about bearing fruit and being pruned? How does this fit? I thought Jesus was giving us instructions on how to get clean, not telling us that we are already clean. But here's the key:
"You are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you."
This is crucial—the cleanliness you and I need comes from outside of us. It's an "alien" cleanliness, from a source outside of us, and it’s delivered to us through Jesus' spoken word. It’s complete, needing no additions. When Jesus says, "You are already clean," He’s not offering a starter pack—He's giving us the full deal. It’s done. And it’s not something we must finish through our own efforts.
How do we receive it? Through the ear. It’s the spoken word of Christ, the word about Christ—that He is one with God, that He came to die for our sins, was raised, and now sits in victory at the right hand of the Father. It’s that word, and that word alone, that makes us clean. The pure, naked word of Christ is all we need.
So, back to our question: Is it important to go to church?
Well, if you need the cleanliness of Christ delivered to you week after week, then yes, it’s incredibly important. Would you like to receive the righteousness of Christ? Here’s where you get it: in the word preached. That word comes through the preacher’s mouth, into your ear, and the Holy Spirit works faith in you. He delivers Christ's righteousness to you in the most mundane of ways.
Now, you might be thinking, "Okay, I’ll go to church once, get this cleansing word, and then I can get back to my coffee and Champions League." But keep reading in John 15:
"Abide in me..." (v.4)
This means: stay right there! Don’t move on. Which sounds simple, but to "stay right there," you’ll need a regular dose of the word of Christ. Why? Because our wandering hearts tend to believe lies like:
"Righteousness is earned by how you live,"
"If my life shows a lack of righteousness, then I have to do better to regain God’s pleasure with me"
"Proof that I’m part of God’s family is that I don’t do [insert sin]."
All of us walk into church carrying these lies. Then someone stands up and delivers the good news your heart has been longing to hear: Christ has already made you clean! All your anxious toil, worry, working, and failing are irrelevant. They don’t even make it onto the scorecard (if there were one). Instead, God looks at you, despite all your sin, shame, and attempts to do it on your own, and proclaims over you one word: Clean.
When God looks at you today, in the midst of all your sin and struggle, he proclaims to you: "Well done, good and faithful servant." Ah, the glory of being found in Christ! And receiving that, my friends, is far better than watching a bunch of guys chase a ball around the pitch.
Hallelujah. Amen.
