Year A, Easter 6 John 14:16-21
One of my earliest memories is riding on a plane for the first time. I was really excited about what it would be like to fly through the clouds. From down below the clouds look like the cotton you see growing on the plant before it’s harvested. I imagined that once you were flying in the clouds, it would look the same way. Maybe I would see some angels with harps. You can imagine my disappointment when we first broke through the clouds. It was just hazy. You couldn’t see much of anything. There were no places for angels to lounge gracefully. I thought that these clouds were something you could really wrap your arms around, like a really amazing pillow. It was a real let down seeing them close up. Now that I am an adult, I know that angels don’t lounge on clouds and heaven is another realm, not just really high in the sky. Yet I still long for things that can be grasped.
The
season of Easter is a bit confusing when it comes to our readings. The first few Sundays, we have stories of the
resurrected Jesus…which makes a lot of sense for the season of Easter. Then
last week we shifted to John 14 which contains the words Jesus shared before he
died. Today we have a continuation of
what we started last week. It’s usually
referred to as the farewell discourse, which is just a fancy way of
saying---the long good bye. These were words that Jesus shared with his
disciples as he prepared them not just for his death, but also his resurrection
and then life after that—life without Jesus’ presence.
This week’s portion is the introduction to the
Advocate. The word Advocate comes from the Greek word parakletos. I try not to randomly drop Greek words into a
sermon because I think it just confuses people most of the time. However, when
the word doesn’t have a simple translation, then I like to mention it. Parakletos is translated to a bunch of
different things in the New Testament.
The most literal translation is “called to one’s side.” It is often translated to Advocate,
Comforter, or Helper. It’s also another
way of describing the Holy Spirit.
To be honest, I never really paid much attention to
the Holy Spirit…maybe for the same reason the clouds were so disappointing to me.
I like something I can hold onto. It’s
probably why we love our phones so much.
It’s something we can hold, something that gives us all the answers we
want, yet few that we actually need.
The
first time I remember really appreciating the Holy Spirit was reading a book
called “The Shack.” I won’t explain the whole plot, but the book tried to
depict all the parts of the Trinity in human or human like form. Both God and Jesus were humans, but the Holy
Spirit was almost like a colorful fairy who talked and did human like things,
but was also incandescent. While the book is far from perfect theologically, I
thought it did a really good job of bringing the Trinity to life. One year, I used only that book for my youth confirmation
class. At the end, I asked them all the same question I asked previous
classes. Which part of the Trinity to
you feel closest to? Which do you pray to? Previous classes all said Jesus, or
God the Father. However, in this
confirmation class, most said the Holy Spirit because they understood it in a
more tangible way.
The 2nd time I really connected with the
Holy Spirit was when I was very ill and confined to a hospital bed. For the
first time in my life, Jesus felt far away.
But the Holy Spirit I could sense at times. She helped me feel a little
less alone. That’s what I think Jesus
hoped the Holy Spirit would do, help us feel less alone.
Jesus
knew not only how hard his death would be for this disciples, but how hard it
would be to be left on this earth without him.
Jesus also knew how hard it would be for the generations after him who
would have no experience with the Jesus who walked on this earth. He understood that we would all need someone
to walk along side us.
He
said to his disciples, “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer
see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.” In other words, I will never abandon
you. I will always be with you. While you may not see me, that does not mean
that I am not with you. Death is not the
end. My death will enable you to inherit eternal life with me. I will see you again soon, and in the mean
time, I will be with you in spirit.
Even as I reconstruct John’s words using simpler language, I can see
that words are not what enable us to understand. Knowing the stories, knowing that Jesus kept
all those promises he made, that is what helps us to understand. No matter how
many times he tried to explain it to his disciples, deep down, he must have
known that they would not understand.
They would only comprehend the meaning of his words after the
resurrection. You can’t blame him for
trying. He had to try, because that is
how much Jesus cares for us. He will not leave us ignorant or shield us from
the hard lessons of life. He might leave us a little confused, but never
unaware.
Even
in our confusion, we still know that we have a place to turn, and that is the advocate,
the spirit of truth. We don’t have to understand the Holy Spirit
to believe in the Holy Spirit. While there are a lot of translations for
parakletos, the one I found that really resonated with me is: helping the
dispirited person be brave.[1] When we translate parakletos to comforter, or
helper, we think of someone who will sympathize, or give us a big hug. While everyone needs that at times, I don’t
think that was Jesus’ intention. Jesus
knew that his departure would leave his disciples distraught. He knew that they would face many obstacles,
and most likely a violent death. Thus he
left them exactly what they needed, courage.
We still need that courage. I wouldn’t say we need courage more than
ever. I am sure most of us can think of times we have needed courage, even more
than now. But I think this is a time in
our nation and our world where Christians need more than a helper or
comforter. We don’t need a dove or a gentle
wind. We need that fire that we will
witness on Pentecost, the fire that refuses to be quashed, the fire that
spreads.
I heard a quote when I was writing this
sermon--“That we have a God who might protect us from nothing, but who will sustain
us in everything.”[2] I often wish that God would swoop in and keep
bad things from happening, that God would protect us all from the harsh
realities of this life. Yet again and
again I see that is not how God operates. I could complain about that (and I do
sometimes) or I could just release that expectation and instead focus on what
God is doing. God doesn’t protect us
from the hard things, but God does sustain us when we are facing the hard
things. God gives us the courage that we need.
So let us harness that courage.
Let us call on the Holy Spirit to make us braver, braver than we ever
could be on our own.
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