[Notes: (1) Sunday, May 28, John Godfrey will be baptized in Christ Episcopal Church at the 10am service. A reception will follow. (2) Our Vacation Bible School Team from St. Barnabas and led by The Rev. Mitzi George will join us May 28 and conduct VBS May 29 thru June 2. (3) Also, UTO Spring Ingathering will be May 28, 2017. Please make checks payable to: Domestic and Foreign Missionary Society with UTO on the memo line.]
EASTER
VI - A - 17 JOHN
14. 15-21
It
is because he loves them, Jesus tells his friends, that he will ask the Father
to send the Comforter, the Holy Spirit to lead them and guide them into all
truth, and it is love that will make his presence known to them after he has
returned to the Father to prepare a place for them.
In
today’s gospel reading Jesus is speaking of love and promise to his disciples
in the upper room on the eve of his arrest. He has given them the 11th
commandment, to love one another as He has loved them. All of this talk of love
comes after Judas, the betrayer, has left the room. It is but the tip of the
iceberg of his final teaching of his earthly ministry, also known as his final
discourse.
His
words are punctuated with promises; “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming
to you; because I live you will live. “ His words were meant to bring comfort
to them, but he can tell by the look on their faces that they are confused and
are in doubt. It isn’t that they don’t want to believe what he is saying, but
that they don’t understand what he is saying.
In
the beginning of his final discourse, Jesus talked about his going away and
coming again and the fact that it was to the disciple’s advantage that he did
go away. How can this be? They wondered. It was for the disciples, as we say,
both good news and bad news.
Like
most of us, they dwelt on the bad news. Love, however, is the key to their
understanding what Jesus is saying. “If you love me, you will keep my
commandments. Those who have my commandments and keep them are those who love
me and will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to
them.”
We
show our love for Jesus by keeping his commandments, most importantly the one
to love as he loves us. In turn, He sends the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth
to lead and guide us. The gift of the Holy Spirit’s presence is not a
substitute for Christ, but only makes Christ’ presence and the Father’s
presence in Him, more real.
This
is something new. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God was given to the
prophets to inspire them to speak God’s words. However, in the New Testament
teaching the Holy Spirit is poured forth not only on specific chosen witnesses
but also on all the faithful believers in Christ.
It
was a lot for the disciples to take in all at once. There was no way they could
possibly try to absorb all of what Jesus was saying in such a short period. It
did not come together for them until the Day of Pentecost, when Jesus’ promise
of sending another “Advocate,” even the “Spirit of Truth” who would be with
them forever, descended upon them in the form of tongues of fire.
In doing so, the Holy Spirit loosed their
tongues to speak in languages understood by all who witnessed it. Then, like
the two on the road to Emmaus on that first Easter Day, their hearts burned as
they realized all that Jesus had said and done. Empowered, then, by the
indwelling of the Spirit, and with this gift of knowledge, the disciples boldly
proclaimed the gospel throughout the empire.
The
Spirit of Truth comes to give God’s people the strength and energy to do what
they have to do, to endure what they have to endure, to live to God and witness
to His love in the world. As St. Peter writes “…even if you suffer for doing
what is right,” you are blessed “…if suffering should be God’s will…for Christ
also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in
order to bring you to God.”
To
be in God is to live in Love. Love and obedience are gifts of grace that come
from the Spirit. If we do not understand anything else from today’s gospel
lesson, we need to understand this.
This
Thursday the Church celebrates the Ascension of Christ. Were it not for the
Ascension of Christ to the right hand of the Father, where He continues to
intercede for us, as one of us, the coming of the Holy Spirit would not have
occurred.
It
was to our benefit, as it was to the disciples’ that He went away. Yet His
presence was made known to them after His resurrection and continues to be made
known to us today. A condition of the realization of the presence, however, is
love’s obedience. In that, nothing has changed. Love reveals Christ.
His
Ascension assures his omnipresence to his own wherever they may be and forever.
The Holy Spirit comes from the Father in Jesus’ name and dwells with his followers.
He is in fact the presence of God in Christ continuing with his faithful
servants and witnesses. After the Ascension of Jesus, the Spirit fulfilled and
perfected Christ’ work and still does.
Only
those who love Jesus and keep his commandments will know him, for the world
cannot receive him. The work of the Spirit is two-fold: he guides and teaches
God’s truth and brings to remembrance what Jesus said and reveals those things
that are to come by virtue of what Jesus accomplished.
The
last three verses present a circle of promises that are ours because of Jesus’
being with us by the Spirit. We will “see” him, plain to the eye of faith; a
seeing that is also a knowing. We will live with his new life because He lives.
We will know that He and the Father are “in” each other, and that we are “in”
Him and He “in” us. In addition, we will be joined to Jesus and the Father by
an unbreakable bond of love.
Those
who love Jesus will be loved by the Father and by Himself, and both will dwell
with the believer with a “spiritual” presence, which the world cannot
understand. Love of Christ creates a community of love.
“O
God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our
understanding; Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you
in all things and above all things; may obtain your promises, which exceed all
that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with
you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.” Amen+
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