Sermon preached at St. Alban's, Spirit Lake, on May 13, 2007
(Year C, Sixth Sunday of Easter, BCP Lectionary)
by the Rev. Carl D. Mann

Texts:   Acts 14:8-18
Psalm 67
Revelation 21:22-22:5
John 14:23-29

I remember it clearly. It was late in the afternoon on Saturday. The whole day had been running according to schedule. My older brother and I woke up early and sneaked into the living room to watch Bugs Bunny without waking up Mom and Dad. When Mom woke up, we tore ourselves away from the television momentarily to eat breakfast. Dad left for work while the table was being cleared. My older sister joined us and we watched more cartoons until late morning, ending with Johnny Quest. We finally got dressed and cleaned up our bedrooms before lunch. After lunch, Mom assigned chores and we quickly fulfilled our duties in order to get outside and escape from having to listen to the opera on public radio, which was Mom’s favorite while doing housework. We played with the neighbor kids for the rest of the day until our stomachs were growling with hunger. When we came into the house we knew something was different. Mom wasn’t in the kitchen and the table was set only for kids. Dad had come home from work and was in the shower and Mom was in the bedroom putting on make-up and hairspray.

“Where are you going?” “Out with some friends.” Can we come with you?” “No, not this time.” “How long will you be gone?” “We’ll be home late after you’re in bed.” “Who will take care of us?”

And for us that was the heart of the matter. Who would take care of us? Who had been chosen and had accepted to come and stay with us for the evening? It made all the difference in the world. Was it the nice pretty sitter that played games with us and let us stay up a little past bedtime or the one that followed all of the rules to the letter and didn’t let us have any fun?

There probably isn’t anyone in this room who hasn’t experienced this situation or something comparable in their lives. It is very similar to what is happening to the disciples in today’s Gospel. It is the night before the crucifixion and during the period after supper where in John’s Gospel, Jesus is giving his farewell discourse. He has told them that he would be leaving soon, and has answered several subsequent questions. He has just told his disciples that when he is gone, he will love and reveal himself to those who love him, which is anyone who has and keeps his commandments. And then Judas, not Iscariot, has asked him, “Lord, how will you reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?”

There are two parts to Jesus’ answer. He says that he will manifest himself through the Word and through the Holy Spirit. Now this is interesting because John is using the Greek word “logon” which is the accusative form of “logos” which means “word.” And we already know from John’s Gospel that in the beginning was the Word, the logos, and the Word was with God and the Word was God: all things were made through the Word of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth. Jesus is the Word in human form and he has already been revealed this to them. But now he is saying that they must keep the Word. How are they to keep the Word when the Word is leaving?

The Greek word for keep has great depth in its meaning. It means to watch over and guard, to hold in reserve and to preserve, protect and not to lose, and to observe or fulfill and pay attention to. It is reminiscent of that childhood bedtime prayer, “Now I lay me down to sleep, I pray the Lord, my soul to keep.” At that time before we drop off into sleep, we are asking the Lord to completely envelop our souls, to watch over them, and to hold them dear to his heart. And that is what Jesus is instructing to his disciples and to us in today’s Gospel. Jesus says, “Keep the Word of God, dear to your heart. When I, Jesus am in your heart, you will be able to obey my commandments. You will obey them not out of fear of punishment but out of love for me.” You see to keep the Word is to love, and when we love the Word there is a mutual love between the Father and us. And where this mutual love exists, there dwells the Father and the Word. They have made a home with us. When the Word was physically present on earth, he dwelt among us. But when he leaves, and we keep him in our hearts, he dwells within us. Which brings us to the second manifestation: the Holy Spirit.

Jesus has promised us that after he leaves, that the Father will send the Holy Spirit in his name. In fact, he has to leave in order for this to happen. John uses the word “Paraclete” which has been translated into various forms including, Advocate, Comforter, Counselor, Helper or One who speak for another. It takes on a legal connotation as one who represents us before the court, which isn’t that hard to imagine when we think of Jesus as Lord and Judge. In the Old Testament, Satan is seen as the Adversary or a sort of Prosecutor so it makes sense that the Holy Spirit should be the Defense Counsel.

But the Holy Spirit is more than that. Jesus says that the Holy Spirit will be a teacher and a reminder to us of all the things that Jesus, the Word, has taught us. He will teach us by helping us to understand what Jesus said to us. The Holy Spirit will not contradict himself. The Holy Spirit will not say one thing to one generation and then an opposite thing to another generation because The Holy Spirit is incapable of anything but the Truth. The Holy Spirit will remind us of the Word that we keep in our hearts. For example, when we are faced with a situation and have to make a decision, when we become aware that to do one thing is the proper way and to do the other is wrong, that is the Holy Spirit working within us, reminding us of what Jesus said and helping us to understand why it is proper to choose the right decision. We instinctually know when we are about to do something wrong. That is the nudging of the Holy Spirit within us instructing us not to do it. Now I am not implying that the Holy Spirit is the grumpy babysitter. On the contrary, the Holy Spirit is a spirit of joy because the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of God’s presence dwelling within us.

We know this by the further promise that Jesus made in saying, “Peace I leave with you: my peace I give to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” This is a peace not of this world but a peace which passes all understanding. It’s a peace that doesn’t just mean an absence of hostility but a peace which possesses a full complement of justice, celebration, vision and joy in covenant with God. In answer to Judas’ question, it’s this peace that separates us from the rest of the world. It is this peace manifested in our lives which is the result of the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is the product of God’s Love through the keeping of His Word.

The disciples asked, “Where are you going?” And Jesus said, “I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and take you to myself, so that where I am going you may be also.”

The disciples asked, “Can we go with you?” And Jesus said, “Where I am going you cannot come.”

The disciples asked, “How long will you be gone?” And Jesus said, “A little while and you will no longer see me, and again a little while and you will see me.”

The disciples asked, “Who will take care of us?” And Jesus said, “I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever.”

Like children, they were feeling a little like they were going to be abandoned and needed reassurance that they would be taken care of. But the most important question for them was, “How will you reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?” How will they know one another from everyone else in the world because they know that the world does not know Jesus? And the answer for them is the same as it is for us today. We will know one another by our love.

God is Love, Jesus as the Word of God Incarnate is the faithful expression of the Father’s Love for us, and the Holy Spirit is the bearer of the Truth of that Love. Together, three in One, God has made a home within our hearts.

Let us pray:
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.