Sunday, May 21, 2017

Where We Belong / Based on John 14:15-21 / Delivered to CCH on May 21, 2017

Where We Belong / Based on John 14:15-21 / Delivered to CCH on May 21, 2017
              

John 14:15-21
14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments.
14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.
14:17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.
14:18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.
14:19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.
14:20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.
14:21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

Good morning, I am Darci Strutt McQuiston, a Lay Speaker from the United Methodist Church up on the hill.  It is a blessing to share this sixth Sunday of Easter with you all today. 

Next week is the final Sunday in Easter and then we’ll experience Pentecost on the first weekend in June.  The scripture for this Sunday gives us a little taste of the purpose of the Holy spirit.

The ideas I’m hoping to bring out are:
Knowing where we want to be
Having help getting there
Being where we belong


Knowing where we want to be
The disciples had given Jesus three years of their lives.  They had seen miracles and done miracles themselves.  There was no doubt they had grown to love and respect Jesus.  The first verse of this scripture, and also to last verse of the passage, gave them something to show that love. 
14:15 "If you love me, you will keep my commandments. 
14:21 They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them."

This chapter of John is often called the last discourse.  It takes place just after the last supper before Christ’s crucifixion.  Jesus has just washed the feel of the disciples and asked them to follow that example and wash one another’s feet.  His commandments are seen in how he lived his life.  He is our example of how to serve God.  His command in chapter 13:34 was this “A new command I give you: Love one another.  As I have loved you so you must love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

So our work as disciples of Jesus is to serve one another and love one another as Jesus loved those around him.  All the other commandments are a way to fulfill this commandment of love.  Scripture tells us God is love, and when we love we are like him.  This place of love is where we want to be, but it isn’t easy.


Having help getting there
It was hard enough for the disciples to figure out what Jesus really meant while he was teaching with them, let alone to figure things out without him there to ask.  Jesus covered that need in verse 16/17 14:16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.
14:17 This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

There are many definitions for the Holy Spirit, in Greek parakletos. This word means “one called to the side of another”; to counsel or support the one who needs it.  It is the image of a friend walking the path alongside you.  The disciples had Jesus beside them most of the time for those three years.  Now Jesus is promising that type of guidance but from a spirit within us, and not just for a short time but forever.  Jesus taught the people as a group.  He was limited by his physical body.  He couldn’t be with all people always.  The Holy Spirit is within each of us, and mentors us one-on-one.  We don’t have it in this reading, but 14:26 adds, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.”  Living a life of loving service to others as Jesus did is not easy, but we have someone walking beside us to help.


Being where we belong
The end goal was being reunited with Jesus and finding our place in God’s family.
14:18 "I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you.
14:19 In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live.
14:20 On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you.

The disciples would have felt very abandoned after Jesus crucifixion.  Jesus spoke these words of comfort to them before the events happened.  They are a promise and words of comfort for us as well.  As I read and re-read these verses of scripture it hits me that Jesus isn’t talking about a future beyond where you and I are now.  It was future to the disciples because he hadn’t yet gone to the Father.  We are living where this is already true.  The world no longer sees him.  He is in the Father.  This means we also are connected to him as believers now.  A few months ago, I shared a message where I said eternity with God isn’t something we need to wait for after we leave this life.  It starts now.  He isn’t coming “for us” to take us away from this life, but he is coming “to you/us” within this life.

The companion scripture in the lectionary from the New Testament was Paul’s teaching in Athens.   He also brought out this idea.  Acts 17:28 For 'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we too are his offspring.'

As I pondered this scripture and thought about what I wanted to share with you today I knew I needed to understand it better for myself!  Knowing I want to live a life of love is easy for me.  Not easy to do, but it is easy to know.  Whatever the question, love is the answer in some form.  We are called to love and serve each other.

The thought of the Holy Spirit is a harder concept.  The Bible talks often about the Holy Spirit, but we don’t often talk about him; the Paraklete.  One of the pastors I listen to advised if we use the Greek we need to pronounce the “L” carefully or it will sound like parakeet!  I find that somewhat poetic since the Holy Spirit will repeat what Jesus said.  I guess that’s a way to remember the Greek word!

Think on this for a moment.  Those times when we pause and wish Jesus was here beside us, we need to look within for the guiding of the Holy Spirit.  We have a presence within us that Jesus said was even better for us than himself because the Holy Spirit isn’t limited by a physical body.  Yet I confess it is much harder to recognize for me.  A physical person is easier to comprehend.  Listening for the spirit’s leading takes quiet attention.  I have had experiences in the past where I felt a need to pray for another and then later found out at that moment they faced a challenge.  I have had experiences when I felt I knew a choice was “right” and called it intuition, but perhaps it was guidance from this “one who walks beside”.

We know Jesus commanded we act in love, but those final verses bring it one step beyond that.  Not only can our actions be ones of love, but our being is called to be love.  God isn’t just loving; God is love.  I am blessed to have people in my life that live in such a peaceful way that not only is that how they act, it is the feeling I feel when I am close to them.  They bring a sense of peace just by being in their presence.  Jesus is saying we who follow him can express that love through our being.  A person who is this filled with love would cause that feeling of love to radiate to everyone around them.

On this sixth Sunday of Easter we can rejoice that Christ is risen and with God, our Father.  Because of that, we can claim these promises of Jesus for ourselves.  Think on them as we remember the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost in a couple weeks.  He is one who walks beside us.  May we together learn to listen to this part of God within us, and live in love as our savior commanded.  That is where we belong.

Amen



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