Easter VI

By The Rev. Martha Frances+

Year C, Easter VI

13 May 2007

 

Text: John 14: 23-29         Other Readings : Revelation 21: 10 , 22-22: 5;

                                                          Acts 16: 9-15; Psalm 67

 

       In all the years my husband Bill & I were together, he insisted I had to be the last person to leave an event, to lock up the place.  He might have been right!   At least, he spent lots of time waiting for me.  I'll admit I can surely relate to Jesus' need to linger with his disciples, to prepare them for the time when he will no longer be with them.   In our Gospel reading for today, he has just such a talk with them, instructing them on how to behave when he's gone.  He wants to equip his disciples to carry on his ministry beyond his death, resurrection & ascension.  

        Let's look at what he's telling us, his modern-day disciples, about carrying out his mission in the world.  First, he says those who love him will keep his word.   At base, his word is to love each other as he has loved us.  Jesus does not say anything about our having happy, pleasant feelings toward everyone all the time.   Nowhere does he say that our treating everyone in a loving manner is going to mean that everyone treats us well.  Jesus indicates that we are to choose to behave in a loving manner no matter how others treat us.

        What Jesus tells us is that, if we keep his word, he & the Father will come & make their home with us.  This phrase in Greek means that they will pitch their tents with us, they'll dwell with us human beings.   How extraordinary!  What would you do if you knew very important visitors were coming? 

        There's a story about a poor cobbler who dreams that Jesus is coming to visit him that evening.  He is cleaning up his cobbler shop which is also his home when he hears an old woman outside crying, so he brings her in, gives her a cup of tea, & listens to her story.   As she leaves, he presses into her basket the tea cakes he's just bought for Jesus' visit.  Now he hardly has time to prepare supper, but as he begins again, he hears a knock on his door.   Outside are 2 vagabond children lost in the snow.  He bundles them up in coats he had saved to give to Jesus in his visit & takes them into the snow storm to find their mother.   Rushing back home, he tries to redeem what time he can, making ready a snack supper for Jesus, his important guest.  Just as he has the table set, a man on crutches comes to his door, asking for a bite to eat & something warm for his feet.   The cobbler gives him the supper he had prepared for Jesus & the last pair of shoes he has made, having no more leather to make more. 

Troubled that his important guest has not arrived & embarrassed that he has nothing to feed Jesus were he to finally arrive, the cobbler rocks by the fire & drifts off to sleep.  When Jesus appears in his dream, he shakes a fist at Jesus & demands to know why he hasn't come sooner!  Jesus responds, "Oh, but I did come.  First, I was a poor woman who needed a patient listening ear & then 2 lost children who needed guidance home.  Finally came the older man who needed food & shoes to shelter him from the cold.   I've been coming to you all day long, & you did not recognize me, but you gave abundantly out of your scarcity.  Indeed, you have invited me into your home 3 times & you have shown love for me in most unselfish ways.

Jesus says he'll be at home with us if we show our love for others.  Who have you shown Jesus' love to this past week?  I understand the plant sale gave church members great opportunity to invite new people to Hope & to St. Michael's Day School yesterday.   On June 2^nd, the All Year Day School reunion will give us another chance to open our doors & our hearts to new people. Let's look for opportunities to welcome others in Jesus' name this week.   There's a certain assurance in God's pitching a tent to be present with us through thick & thin, even when things get rough. 

Do we have to do this on our own?  No, Jesus also says God will send an Advocate, the Holy Spirit, to teach us & remind us of Jesus' teachings.  That word "remind" is from the same root as the word "remember."  Jesus told us we're to come to Eucharist as often as possible to eat & drink in remembrance of him.   We're able to do just that because of the Holy Spirit.  Greek for the Holy Spirit is paraclete formed from a verb meaning "to call alongside."   Paraclete or "Advocate" is a legal term, & an advocate is someone who'll stand up for me & take my side.  When I was a kid, my sister & I used to fight & argue w/ each other over almost everything.   But if someone went after either one of us, we presented a united front.  Once, LaNell, the neighbor girl, called my little sister an ugly name, & I took off down the street to "scratch LaNell's eyes out."   Adults intervened, I suppose, because the only damage I did was some pretty mean nail marks on one of her arms, but by golly, I was an advocate for my little sister!   I stood up for her!

I'm glad I have the Holy Spirit advocating for me, & I hope that comforts you, too.  The Holy Spirit meets the needs arising from Jesus' departure.   We have the Spirit of God among us to teach us as we live out our daily lives.  I certainly sense the Holy Spirit's teaching role as we share Sunday Bible Study & then as the confirmation class meets on Wednesday nights.   In both venues, learning is spirited & exciting.

In addition, what gift does Jesus leave for his disciples?  Peace.  The Hebrew word, "Shalom," is both a greeting & a farewell, but this peace is not, as Jesus says in the scripture, what the world gives.   And it is not just lack of conflict.  When Jesus gives us peace, he's talking about an underlying acceptance of life on life's terms, even when the diagnosis is devastating, the kids have the flu in successive weeks, our jobs are on the line, & the electrician says all the wiring has to be replaced.   I often hear in AlAnon that we don't have to like the circumstances we find ourselves in, but serenity comes in liking ourselves in whatever circumstance.  

The peace Jesus gives is in the next verse in today's Gospel.  He continues, "Do not let your hearts be troubled, & do not let them be afraid."  It's hard not to be troubled or afraid when situations seem so grim, isn't it?  Though many people have thought Jesus was offering freedom from difficulties & then feel they've been cheated when calamity strikes.   Jesus' peace—not what the world gives—comes in the midst of vexation, of misunderstanding, of lies or persecution—often a still, small voice of calm when we would rather scream or lash out at others.

Now I don't mean by this that we are not faithful or loving or spiritual if we get stirred up about something in our lives or the life of someone close to us.  Part of being fully human is to experience a wide range of emotions which include pain & hurt & anger at what is unfair in life, at what seems unbearable.   Affirming & expressing those emotions is normal & healthy for us, but we're not meant to STAY there but to move through those emotions to a place of peace, the shalom that Jesus gives.

Finally, I think it is instructive that the passage ENDS with the reminder that we are to rejoice in Jesus' going away because in so doing, Jesus joins God the Father—& Mother, too—& that they together send the Spirit to strengthen our belief.   Belief doesn't just come from what we've heard about or even what is done for us, but rather belief develops in the process of our acting as if we believed.   It is in walking the walk, with the Advocate beside us, that our belief grows. 

Here in this community of Hope, we have many opportunities to expand our belief, in some cases acting into a new way of believing.  Some worked the plant sale yesterday, & others will help with the Reunion & BBQ next month.   The Bishop's visit & Vacation Bible School require many hands & hearts.

Outreach projects such as tutoring at Black Middle School & learning how to organize in order to make a difference with social & justice issues are vital to our growth as a church who makes a difference here & in the larger community.   We deepen our prayer lives for ourselves & others in Daughters of the King to which we will install three new members today & Brotherhood of St. Andrew, while finding other ways to welcome God's reign in our midst & make others aware of God's presence are challenges to each of us.   We cannot all do everything, but each of us can choose a few places to go for nourishment & to reach out in God's love to others.  What will your summer projects be?   Need some help deciding?  Come see me or ask a vestry member.

As we celebrate the feast day of the Ascension of Christ this Wednesday evening & move on 10 days later to the birthday of the Church with the Holy Spirit's coming into our midst at Pentecost, let us pay attention & be conscious at all times to the movement of the Advocate in our lives.   We may pray for the grace of stronger belief as we become more open to God at work in our lives.  And let us remember that it is in loving actions that we keep Christ's word & experience more & more fully the love of God.   Thanks be to God.  Alleluia!