6EasterA, St. Martin’s
Episcopal Church, Moses Lake, May 21, 2017 by Annette Fricke
Chapter 14 of the gospel of John is a
long discourse that Jesus has with his disciples. It actually takes place before Jesus goes to
the cross although in the lectionary, it is appointed for the Sunday preceding
the Ascension. In ways that are similar
to the resurrection, yet a bit different, the Ascension is a confirmation that
Jesus is doing and will do that which he promised at every step in his
ministry. Above all else, this section
of scripture is meant to be a comfort to his disciples, who by this time are in
a state of panic, realizing that Jesus is telling them that he is going
away. Jesus says, “I am leaving, but I
will also return.” The language can be a
bit confusing. How is it that Jesus can
leave and return? Unlike the other
gospels and Paul, the teaching here is a departure. Do we need a dramatic second coming of Jesus
that will set everything straight? Or do
we go along with John who essentially says that Jesus remains with us, is in
us, and abides with us, even when we don’t sense his presence with us in any
sort of way. After all, few people among
those who call themselves by the name ‘Christian’ actually have mystical,
personal experiences of him. I am not
here to step on anyone’s personal beliefs about Jesus—you are free to believe
what you want-- but merely to point out that there is no thief in the night or
talk of Jesus coming a second time to reward the faithful and punish the
unfaithful in John’s gospel. John simply
offers the picture of Jesus’ comforting presence that continues beyond the
resurrection appearances. There is also
no Ascension in John.
On the other hand, the liturgical
tradition that I grew up with and thought about many times was also going
through the minds of the shapers of the liturgy. The words I was raised on in my church still
echo in my head, “He who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Grant this, O Lord, unto us all.” These were words we recited from rote
eventually every Sunday when we gathered for worship. When you really think
about these words, they are not comforting. They are exclusionary and
conditional. As of 1978, those words were stricken in the Lutheran Book of
Worship and were deemed to be false and not true to the gospel. It was and still is, for some people, a
cataclysmic idea. If you expressed this
idea in my seminary class, you were at the least, looked upon with suspicion
and you had better not express this idea openly. John represents a Christian tradition that is
not exclusive, but inclusive even though some of the language of this gospel
also holds on to the exclusivity of belief being a requirement of salvation. Jesus does not discriminate. His life is one of treating all of society on
an equal plane, discounting no one, not even a Samaritan woman or a Gentile. In
spite of our temptation to make Christianity like a club in which some are in
and some are out, it is not a club and the exclusionary rules of a club do not
apply.
Because of our tendency to wander
from the path, the question is posed to us every day: how do I follow
Jesus? How can I be the presence of
Jesus, to others? The answer to that
question, we are told is this, “If you love me, you will keep my
commandments.” God’s love is the source
of life and as Jesus walked in love, so we are also expected to walk in love. Jesus’ whole life is one of a demonstration
of God’s love. There is no more perfect
example in front of us than that of Jesus’ love for all people. God’s love is personified in Jesus. Jesus, despite betrayal, rejection and
abandonment of even his closest friends, continues to love to the very end of
his life in the flesh. This chapter
tells us that it extends also into eternity.
Nobody can quench the love of God in Jesus because Jesus is sending
another advocate. The phrase seems to
imply that Jesus is an advocate as well as the Holy Spirit that Jesus promises
to send.
The word in Greek that translated as
‘advocate’ here means one who is called to assist someone in need. The sense is somewhat like that of a
lawyer. A lawyer is to stand by your
side when you are on trial and is to be your aide. In this setting, as well as that of other
Christian and non-Christian uses of the time, it appears to be more of a
general sense, one who appears in another’s behalf, a mediator, intercessor, or
helper. It seems most appropriate that Jesus is the one who intercedes for us
by way of context, but here, the ‘another advocate’ is identified as a separate
entity. It appears, in fact that the Holy Spirit is the designated one who
functions in this sense. The Holy Spirit
is the one who is the comforter and will abide with us when Jesus is no longer
in sight. As to whether this is a first or second coming or just the interlude
when Jesus goes to the cross is ambiguous and maybe even purposefully
ambiguous. The point is this: Jesus
promises to never leave us, even though his presence with us in the flesh is
long gone.
There is a movie from 2007 titled “Country
Remedy” about a Dr. Gibbs who wants to be the head of a department in a large
Chicago hospital. He wants this job and
feels he is the most qualified for the position. There is one other doctor who has
applied. However, Dr. Gibbs is still
grieving having just lost his wife three months prior, thus his son lost his
mom also. Dr. Sumner, who is hiring for
the position, meets with this doctor. He
is impressed with his experience and publications, but basically tells him that
there is an element he needs to work on if he wants the job. He says to him, “A doctor is a healer.” He wants Dr. Gibbs to be a doctor for a clinic
in a rural town in North Carolina for the summer. When he arrives, the city
doctor has a difficult time relating to the rural town and they to him. He is ready to bail when he finds out from a colleague
that the other doctor is no longer wanting the position. His son is angry and disappointed when he
finds out. He wants to stay because he
has made friends that he likes. In his
grief, he goes into the forest alone in search of a way to bring his mother
back, but forgets to take his inhaler. The
whole town shows up to help look for his son, even the one who just lost his
baby. He had won their hearts by his own
giving of his expertise as a doctor and now they are there to help him. Despite all the tough times we go through as
humans, even grieving the loss of our closest family and friends, all of us are
still called to be healers with the talents and resources each has.
We are still here and are bidden by
Jesus to continue his work on earth. His
presence is our comfort and our strength to do it. He is in us just as he is in the Father. His spirit resides in the Holy Spirit promised
to all who believe in him. As we wind
our way through the gospel of John, we see the Jesus of hospitality at the
wedding at Cana where water is changed to wine.
We see Jesus informing us that God loves the whole world when he spoke
with Nicodemus. John the Baptist says of
him that Jesus gives the Spirit without measure. Jesus tells the Samaritan woman details of
her life, yet withholds judgment, telling her that he will give her living
water. Jesus heals a man unable to walk
for 38 years. Jesus feeds the
hungry. Jesus causes a man blind from
birth to see. Jesus taught and Jesus preached.
In spite of Jesus’ constantly being challenged, ridiculed, and rejected
by those he came to give both physical and spiritual life, he continued to the
end to bear the burden of that rejection, to be chastised, and reviled in so
many ways. These are the sorts of things
that Jesus expects of us if we indeed love him.
Doing, preaching and teaching these things and teaching others to do the
same is keeping his commandments. Keeping
his commandments means that we are all called to be healers, just like Jesus. This
is how Jesus lives and abides in us.
This is how we live a resurrected life.
Our belief cannot be counted on, but God’s work in Jesus can. We are not to look at our own selves as the
surety of salvation, but God.
