Anxious. Lost. Wondering how to connect with God when the usual avenues are gone. Uncertain about the road ahead. So - am I talking about the disciples in today’s Gospel reading, or am I talking about us? Yes!
Today’s reading from the Gospel of John continues with more of Jesus’ “Farewell Discourse”. Jesus and the twelve disciples have gathered for a meal, their last meal together before Jesus’ crucifixion, and Jesus is offering food for their hearts and souls as well as their bodies.
Judas has left to betray him. Peter’s denial has been foretold. And then Jesus tells his dearest friends that he’s leaving and they can’t follow him.
What are they going to do?! How will they continue to do the work Jesus has called them to when he’s not going to be there to accompany them? How can they possibly care for others when they themselves feel lost and afraid? Who will pray for them, encourage them, teach them, accompany them once Jesus is gone?
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| Holy Spirit and Fire with Baptismal Font, from Art in the Christian Tradition, a project of the Vanderbilt Divinity Library, Nashville, TN. http://diglib.library.vanderbilt.edu/act-imagelink.pl?RC=56760 [retrieved May 17, 2020]. Original source: https://www.flickr.com/photos/paullew/42622611981/. |
Jesus is ready for this. He’s ready for their anxiety and their fearful questions, and he’s ready to respond with encouragement and hope: Oh, dear friends, take heart! I know that you feel anxious and lost. I know that it seems like there will be a giant gap between you and God, a vast canyon left by my absence.
It seems like that, certainly, but the truth is that you are not alone. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This Advocate, the Holy Spirit, “will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.” Remember - we are connected, indelibly, to the Father, and to one another.
During his time on earth, it is Jesus who has been their Advocate; Jesus, who has been their helper, comforter, assistant, companion, and guide. It is Jesus who has been at their side, accompanying them through joy and heartbreak, in challenges and success. Now, Jesus is going away to a place where they cannot follow – true! But another Advocate will take his place. It is the Holy Spirit who will be their helper, comforter, assistant, companion, and guide. It is the Holy Spirit who will be at their side, accompanying them along the road that lies ahead.
We, too, find ourselves in a time of great anxiety and great uncertainty. We, too, have lost many of our usual avenues for connecting with God. How very many weeks have gone by when we have not been able to raise our voices in confession and song and prayer with the gathered assembly; to proclaim God’s peace to one another; to gather for conversation and study and fellowship; to share in the Communion meal. When we don’t have these things, what are we left with? When we can’t grab on to Jesus, what do we do?
Jesus’ assurances for his disciples are for us, too. He will not – has not! – left us orphaned, but has given us another Advocate, who has been with us all along. The Holy Spirit is our helper, comforter, assistant, companion, and guide. She is at our side, accompanying us along the road that lies ahead. When we are scattered – away from one another, away from singing, away from corporate confession and prayer, away from study and fellowship, away from the table where we receive the very body and blood of Jesus for us – when we are scattered, it is the Holy Spirit who unites us, who is the bond connecting us to God and to one another.
When we have the joy of witnessing a baptism, these are the words we hear prayed over the newly baptized: “We give you thanks, O God, that through water and the Holy Spirit you give your daughters and sons new birth, cleanse them from sin, and raise them to eternal life. Sustain [name] with the gift of your Holy Spirit: the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord, the spirit of joy in your presence, both now and forever. Amen.”
The gift of the Holy Spirit is not something we can earn, nor is it something scarce we must line up to receive. Instead, the Advocate is freely poured out - not bound by the walls of church buildings or borders between nations, not bound by timidity or fear. The Holy Spirit, who is wind, breath, fire, is moving through the world, showing up in places expected and unexpected, a companion through whatever comes.
When we are feeling anxious, lost, or afraid, the Holy Spirit comforts us. When we are feeling disconnected and alone, she reminds us that we are connected to the whole Church, across time and space, and to God the Father and Jesus the Son. When we are uncertain about the road ahead, the Holy Spirit accompanies us on our way, reminding us of all that Jesus has said.
Jesus has gone, and we cannot follow. Our church buildings are closed, and we cannot gather. But another Advocate has come! The Holy Spirit poured out on us in baptism strengthens us for service and empowers us to love. She comforts and guides us, a companion on the way.
It is the Holy Spirit, the Advocate, who reminds us of God’s bountiful forgiveness, persistent grace, and enduring promises, whether we are gathered around the baptismal font or a bowl of water, around the altar or our own kitchen tables. Wherever and however we gather, we are united by the Holy Spirit, never alone.
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