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When I was in my early 20’s, I went through a difficult period in my life. I had graduated from college, then spent a year as a volunteer in Chicago, and finally returned home to settle into a career. The problem was that instead of settling, I struggled. I took a job that I clearly was not prepared for, And after weeks of talking with my supervisor, And several sleepless nights, I decided to quit. It was clear that the job was not a good match for my skills, gifts, or confidence level. Fellow workers and managers were supportive, Affirming the gifts they did see in me, And even encouraged and suggested other paths and career options. Although I knew all of what they said to be true, I couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of failure. The future looked bleak – and I retreated into a shell – Lonely, afraid, and confused about what next steps to take. I was living with my parents in the midst of it all. I recall coming home after some hard days – Really dragging myself into the house. My dad would offer me an encouraging word, reminding me of my own inner strength. My mom would embrace me in body and in spirit as only my mom can do, and always - always it seemed – there was the comfort of a good plate of pasta and some homemade meatballs. With their words and with their actions, my parents told me, “Donna, what you have to remember is that we promise to love you and we are on your side.” It’s a blessing to have someone – or some two – on your side, isn’t it? It’s a grace to have somebody who promises to love you through thick and thin, in good times and bad. Someone who encourages you when you need it most, who comforts you when your soul and your spirit ache and cry out for help and companionship. This experience with my parents – and maybe – hopefully – experiences you have known with parents, partners, spouses, or friends - provide an opening into understanding what Jesus promises his disciples in today’s gospel lesson. You see, Jesus and his friends are still lingering at the table – The table of the Last Supper. The disciples are caught in a swirl of emotion and need – Jesus, too, I think. They are deeply aware they are on the cusp of the future, not necessarily a future full of hope, but a future full of uncertainty and for some, even fear. I imagine Jesus delivers his promise of love like my mom did: with tear-stained cheeks, trembling chin, and a voice cracking with hope and deep compassion. He speaks the words on his mind and heart before he is taken from those he loved in the world, and promises not to leave them orphaned. “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever.” This, Jesus promises, “is the Spirit of truth.” Sisters and brothers, we are surrounded by a culture that promises us many things. A pill promises to help you sleep through the night or lose ten pounds. A cream promises to make look years younger. A car promises to make you feel powerful or strong. A child promises to do their homework or clean their room later, And if you watched the NFL draft yesterday, You know that sometimes a player promises a super bowl championship. These are the promises of the world, the world that Jesus says cannot receive this Spirit of truth. But we can, We can know this Advocate, friends: because, as Christ says, the Spirit abides with us, and will be in us in our time of need, our time of joy, our times of questioning. This abiding goes even further, John tells us. Not only will the Advocate and Comforter dwell in the disciples, Jesus says, But he will be in the Father, and the disciples will be in him, and he will be in them. All this abiding, living together and indwelling are part of the uniqueness of John’s gospel, what separates it from the others – Matthew, Mark, and Luke. Throughout the ages, this passage and others from the fourth gospel, have drawn followers of Jesus into deeper spiritual growth and intimacy with God. When I stop to think about the richness and depth of Jesus’ promise and description of our relationship with God, The words of that old hymn come to mind, “I scare can take it in.” It is good for us disciples to have those moments to bask in John’s words and the reality of our connection, indeed our very communion, with a God who promises to love us and stand beside us. And, friends, although we may be tempted to, we cannot remain forever in this mystical connection and relationship among God, Jesus, the Spirit, and us. Abiding with Christ, and knowing the comfort, help, and guidance of the Advocate, invite us – better words could be “compel us” - to a lived response in the world. For when we come to know and to realize how deeply we are loved, then we desire to love back. If you love me, Jesus says, you will keep my commandments. What, we might ask, are the commandments of Jesus? There are two in particular in John’s gospel, and they are given at the table that night for the disciples and for future generations: From the 13th chapter, we hear: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, You also should love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, If you have love for one another.” And then again in the 15th chapter: “This is my commandment, That you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, To lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you… I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another.” Jesus makes his promise of love real in the coming of the Advocate; we make our promise of love real in words and deeds of discipleship: like feeding the hungry, visiting those who are sick, preaching the good news, serving on a committee, starting a prayer group, mentoring a child, taking a mission trip to Biloxi or Belize or New Orleans, teaching church school, and so on, and so on, and so on. A promise of love makes the present different and has the potential to change the future. It did for the disciples; It can for all of us gathered here, It will for all those who continue to hear the good news. “I promise to love you. I am on your side.” Who might need to hear these words from you and from me in the days and week ahead? Who in our families, our community and our world will welcome this promise spoken and lived? My prayer for you and with you this day is that we will receive the grace and gift of the promised Spirit that we might proclaim in word and deed: “I promise to love you. I am on your side.” Amen and alleluia. |