Lectionary Notebook.

Homily for John

14:15-21

Thoughts on the Gospel Reading

Homily for the 6th Sunday of Easter, Year A
(See TEXT below John 14:15-21)
May 29, 2011

The Lectionary Gospel reading for the 6th Sunday of

Easter opens to us a quiet time of communion between
Jesus and the disciples. Those final few hours before the
LORD departs for his suffering, his trial and his public
execution he spends sharing confidences with those most
important to him.

This makes sense. It makes sense to us that he would

want to prepare his followers for this departure and for
his death. Likewise, it makes sense for him to explain
how they will get along once he is gone. His passing will
leave a huge hole in their lives, but he wants his
followers to know that they will survive.

For today's Homily I would like to offer three statements

to help us unpack this text:

1) Christ, their Advocate, will send another

2) Christ, their life, will continue with them, even when
he's gone
3) Christ, their calling, will be loved through obedience
CHRIST, THEIR ADVOCATE, WILL SEND ANOTHER

The text reads: "And I will ask the Father, and he will
give you another Advocate to be with you always, the
Spirit of truth..."

Jesus, their Advocate, their Comforter, their paráklētos

(παράκλητος) -- the one who comes along side -- was
leaving, but would send another helper to take his place.

Up to that point there was no need for another; Jesus

was with them. But with his death who would empower
them to obey, to follow the practices he had taught
them? No, certainly they would need help, and that help
was coming in the person of the Spirit-of-Truth.

Later in our text, but moving along this same idea, Jesus
utters what must have been a promise that became a
great word of comfort for them: "I will not leave you
orphans..."

I love this text; it is precious to me. I rely upon it as I

attempt to minster to the broken and to those who have
lost their way. I also rely upon it when I lose my way -- "I
will not leave you orphans..."

I recently sat across the table from a young widow who

was pouring out her heart to me. We spoke of her loss,
her long time in the hospital keeping vigil and the
emptiness in her heart. Then she said something very
interesting. She said, "People have told me I should be
angry at God, but how could I, he was right there with
me in the hospital, every moment."

"I will not leave you orphans..."

This is not the first time I have heard such a testimony.

Often the person in pain across from me speaks of a daily
strength, a daily grace, that allows the pain to be
endured.

I think this is something like what Jesus was promising

those first disciples. Notice, not that they would escape
their troubles, but instead another would be present to
them, to be with them through their troubles, just like he
had been.

Which opens for us the second statement:

CHRIST, THEIR LIFE, WILL CONTINUE EVEN WHEN HE’S

GONE

Again, notice the reading of the text: "I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you
will see me..." And then at the end: "...whoever loves me
will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal
myself to him."

Jesus says, "the world will not see me...but you will,” and
“I will reveal myself..."
Jesus is gone, but in reality he never left, for his
continued presence and power is promised through the
Sprit-of-Truth's presence and power.

Said another way, the Spirit of the risen Christ (1 Peter

1:11) would make Jesus present to his disciples even
after his resurrection and ascension. What a comfort this
must have been later, when those disciples remembered
these words.

What about us?

Elsewhere, St. Paul describes the Christ as, "the last

Adam" who " became a life-giving spirit." (1 Cor.15:45)
Taken together, these two texts teach us that, through
the life-giving Spirit-of-Truth, the risen Christ is still
present and immediate to us as new-life as well.

This means we too can find comfort from these words.

This means the Spirit-of-Truth evidences the
transcendent Christ, as life-giving Spirit, to us just as
those original disciples. And this means we too
experience the new life found in the Christ.

We would also say that the presence and the power of

the Christ is not direct to us, but is instead mediated
through the Scriptures and the ordinances, through
sharing life with those who are in need and through the
preaching and the prayers of the people.

Which leads us to the final statement:

CHRIST, THEIR CALLING, WILL BE LOVED THROUGH
OBEDIENCE

"Jesus said to his disciples: ‘If you love me, you will keep
my commandments,'" and, "Whoever has my
commandments and observes them is the one who loves
me."

Clearly, the follower of the Christ is the one who practices

the commands of the Christ. St. Paul puts it this way:
"For in Christ Jesus...the only thing that counts is faith
working through love." (Galatians 5:6)

Or, listen to this similar text from 1st John: "Now by this
we may be sure that we know him, if we obey his
commandments. Whoever says, 'I have come to know
him,' but does not obey his commandments, is a liar, and
in such a person the truth does not exist; but whoever
obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has
reached perfection. By this we may be sure that we are
in him: whoever says, 'I abide in him,' ought to walk just
as he walked. Beloved, I am writing you no new
commandment, but an old commandment that you have
had from the beginning; the old commandment is the
word that you have heard." (1 John 2:3-7)

Notice the balance, “faith that is expressed in love,” or

“whoever says, 'I abide in him,' ought to walk just as he
walked.’”
Let’s think about what this means from different
direction. In John 13:1 we read, "Now before the festival
of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to
depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved
his own who were in the world, he loved them to the
end."

A beautiful text, but, specifically, how did Jesus express

this love? In the immediate context he would kneel
before his followers and wash their dirty feet. He became
the servant of them all; he became their house-slave.

Later would come the cross and the suffering, but here
he offers the practice of love, and then he offers an
explanation by way of the new commandment: "Little
children, I am with you only a little longer. You will look
for me; and as I said to the Jews so now I say to you,
‘Where I am going, you cannot come.' 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." (John 13:33-34)

This is the work of obedience; this is the work of the

Kingdom. To be honest, it is not some fancy theology or a
scholar’s depth of insight, as much a these disciplines
help us. No, quite simply it is being a servant to all. Until
we somehow get there, we really don't love the Christ all
that much!

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”

To this end then, here's how I am challenging myself. I
have asked myself, who would I exclude from GOD's
circle of grace? It is now my calling to serve them, to love
them, and then to pray for them. I think that order is the
correct order.

I believe this is what it really means to follow the Christ.

John 14:15-21
Jesus said to his disciples:
“If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
And I will ask the Father,
and he will give you another Advocate to be with you
always,
the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept,
because it neither sees nor knows him.
But you know him, because he remains with you,
and will be in you.
I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.
In a little while the world will no longer see me,
but you will see me, because I live and you will live.
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father
and you are in me and I in you.
Whoever has my commandments and observes them
is the one who loves me.
And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father,
and I will love him and reveal myself to him.”