May 29, 2011
The Holy Spirit
Have you ever come home from work and after supper your spouse or partner, looks at you lovingly and says something like this, “If you really love me, you’ll pick up my father (who drives you crazy) from the airport tomorrow and take him golfing while I’m at work. Or, if you want to prove that you really love me you’ll pick-up my dry cleaning, give the dog a bath and pick-up the kids from school, ok?” Or, like me, If you really really love me, you’ll come to the youth Lock-In with me??? Or maybe your child has said, “Dad, if you really love me, you’ll buy me the car I want... or you’ll get me the new iphone or ipad2”, “If you really love me, you’ll forgive me for lying to you and breaking curfew- and you’ll let me go out tonight”.
I thought Relationships were supposed to be about unconditional love, but for some reason we tend to use manipulative statements as these to get what we want, when we want, and how we want it...putting conditions on the love between us and those we love the most. Today, this gospel reading from John opens with these words from Jesus’ mouth, “If you love me...you will keep my commandments”. If there is one relationship that is supposed to be a guarantee for unconditional love... it’s the love of God as demonstrated by Jesus, right? But here we have Jesus saying the words we’ve heard oh so many times...”If you love me...” If we look back throughout the the past five weeks of gospel readings since Easter Sunday we find the Jesus we know so well proclaiming a love that is without strings, accompanied by grace...unconditional.
Rev. Angela Askew reminds us that “In John 20, to Mary Magdalene- the brokenhearted, Jesus simply spoke her name to assure her of his love. In John’s "Shepherd Discourse," like the sheep hearing his voice, Mary recognized him with joy.
When the disciples were hiding behind locked doors in fear, Jesus simply stood there among them, sorrowful that they were unable to trust the good news brought to them by the women that morning, but not wasting any time with recriminations or scenes of righteous indignation.
In the "Doubting Thomas" passage, Jesus never said anything along the lines of "If you'd really loved me, I wouldn’t have to show you the scars in my hands and expose the wound in my side..."
On the road to Emmaus, Jesus, in the guise of a stranger, patiently walked with his friends along the road, as he had done so many times before, discussing the scriptures. Keeping his disguise, he deliberately recreated a very particular memory for them while they were at table together: he took, blessed, broke, and shared bread. Once they recognized him, Jesus did not stay around to say, "Well it took you long enough." He discretely vanished, leaving them to rejoice with one another.
These post-Resurrection appearances strongly suggest that the risen Jesus loved his disciples unconditionally. Yet suddenly in today's reading, going back to a time immediately before his arrest in Gethsemane, we have the big "if." There may be absolute, unconditional love for us on God's side of things, but on our side, Jesus poses a condition to those who would call themselves disciples: if you love me, you will obey my commandments.” (EpiscopalChurch.org/sermonsthatwork)
Several of you in this congregation have read Marcus Borg’s book, Meeting Jesus Again, for the First Time. In another of his books, Jesus: A New Vision, Borg writes: “To be a disciple meant to follow after. Whoever would be my disciple, Jesus said, Let him follow me. What does it mean to be a follower of Jesus? It means to take seriously what he took seriously, to be like him in some sense. It is what St. Paul meant when he said, Be imitators of Christ. What Jesus was like as a figure of history becomes a model of discipleship, illuminating and incarnating the vision of life to which he called his followers.” (Borg, Marcus: Jesus, A new Vision, 2009)
“If you love me, follow my commandments” Jesus says.
He does not simply, however, say to the disciples... “Love me, and Follow my teachings”... and stand up from the table, walking away into the night. No-He continues this loving farewell discourse with the promise of another advocate, the Spirit of Truth..Jesus had served as their advocate until now, but as evidence of the love of God abiding with them still He says, “I will send you an advocate who will be with you forever,” and later, “I will not leave you orphaned....the original Greek word orphanos, translated orphan- means fatherless, comfortless, desolate.”
Not only were the the closest friends of Jesus gathered that evening to share table fellowship, as they had done dozens of times before, but this time the room would be full of betrayal, confusion and displacement. Judas fled the scene as an accomplice to Jesus’ betrayal, Peter’s sins of betrayal deniably exposed to all, and Thomas, Philip and the others still naiively betrayed by their own ignorances- lost to the true nature of Jesus as Christ. Upon Jesus’ announcement of his impending departure from this earth, all they could hear was, “I am leaving, and you cannot come with me.”
They felt lost and abandoned by their teacher, their friend...whom they’d given up everything to follow. He had called them away from the lives they knew, asked them to leave everything to follow him. He had provided them with direction, hope, and provided a sense of security that they had grown to depend on. They had shed their old ways and ideals restructuring their lives around the teachings and ways of Jesus and the truth he proclaimed.
Peter looking across the table into the eyes of his beloved friend... shouts, “But Why can I not follow you?!”... and Thomas, “If we do not know where you are going, how will we know the way...how will we follow you?” Feelings of desolation and abandonment were setting in, disillusioned by the love they had grown so dependent upon they clung tightly to the one they did not know how to live without.
Have you ever felt abandoned, lost, left behind, comfortless? Each of us has experiences that have left us feeling abandoned at times...maybe just for a few moments, or maybe for a lifetime. Perhaps a parent left you in the grocery store when you were a child, and you looked down every aisle as the knot in the back of your throat grew increasingly tighter... until your mom run back into the store frantically searching for you, until you were found again, and safe in her arms. Maybe you were at baseball or soccer practice and were left waiting for a parent who was supposed to pick you up an hour ago? Upon seeing the car pull up to the curb you could exhale again, and your heart slowly stopped racing...your security blanket had arrived. Or maybe you have suffered a greater loss, an abandonment of the soul that has left you broken and alone, feeling rejected and isolated from a love that you once depended upon.
I am certain that each of us can recall an instance where we felt truly alone, left behind, and frightened. I know I can think of many, but one particular experience stands out for me.
I grew up fishing with my dad...almost every weekend he was home we would go fishing. I’m one of three children in my family, Brian is 2 years older than me and Brad is 4 years younger. And, of the three of us I was the best fisherman. I’m actually the only adult child who still enjoys fishing, and the outdoors... I think I was the boy my dad always wanted, although the first time he took me hunting...for squirrels, I cried. That was my first and last hunting trip.
We grew up out West...lived in Wyoming for 6 1/2 years, from the time I was 6 until I turned 11 when we moved to Colorado. My dad worked as a builder...building bridges, tunnels through mountains, ski resorts, water treatment plants, and even worked on the Hoover Dam in the late 80s. This kind of work kept us on the go, moving from one mountain town to the next.
Growing up in the mountains of Wyoming and Colorado was not half bad, I have to say. I still feel at home as soon as the snow top peaks appear in the horizon.
Dad liked to fish for rainbow trout- he’d fly fish, but I never quite got the hang of that so I used mainly fishing lures- which I called fake little fish. I was much happier with the fake little fish as I didn’t have to worry about putting live, slimy night crawlers on the hook as their insides came outside.
This particular day, Brian, the older brother, and I both went fishing with Dad. I think Brian only went for the ice cream.... we always stopped on the way back for ice cream at the local soda shop, next to my favorite- the pet store, in our quaint little downtown.
Dad had an old 1960’s chevy model truck that we’d drive on the weekends...it was pretty beat-up, but something about piling into that thing reminded me of him... and I felt safe in it. There was just one seat...a long leather cushion that seemed to bounce with us as we rode along. The truck almost always smelled of oil and fish..not a great combination, but it sure felt good to be in that truck riding next to my dad...while the hot sun melted me into a cozy sleep.
We drove for about an hour and a half before arriving in Green River, about 30 miles outside of Rock Springs. It was a perfect summer day, not too hot and not too cold.
We’d stopped for bubble gum and soda’s on the way down with a promise for ice cream on the way home. Brian, immediately began skipping rocks on the water even before unloading the truck. Finally, we were set with poles and tackle boxes in hand, and ready to scope out a spot where we’d set-up camp. Dad was pretty picky about finding a good spot. We walked, and walked and walked...for what felt like a half-hour, along the river, before Dad was satisfied.
For the next hour we settled in, catching one or two fish a piece until Dad was growing tired of our fishing spot. As always, he would wander down the riverside, crossing it sometimes with his big rubber waiters that were waist high, and moving back and forth fishing from bank to bank. This time, he said he’d be back in a short bit and that we should just stay in our spots and fish. We were happy enough where we were...Brian wasn’t even fishing by now, but playing with sticks and rocks trying to lure a turtle. I was now fishing with a worm..and had a bobber on a line so that I could sit and enjoy the view, and take it all in. I liked to feel all grown up like I could experience something amazing in that place.
Though I was pretty content to take it all in, I was also getting a little worried. Dad had been gone for nearly an hour and we had finally lost site of him. Brian said he would go off to look for Dad, but I demanded that he stay...I thought he’d get lost too, and then where would we be? I fished, and put on another lure to pass the time, but another hour had passed and no dad. At this point we were both convinced that we should leave our spot and set off to find him. But...at the lsat second I remembered him saying, “Do not leave this spot...I will be back soon.” As scared as I was and as alone as I felt I determined that we should stay put and that Dad would come back, and he’d know where to find us.
The sun was less overhead, and nearing the western bank...teasing me with it’s return, as clouds came and passed by. I knew that he was out there somewhere, but I couldn’t see him, and how could I be sure he was coming back??
I began to cry and Brian stood close to me...I think even he was getting scared. I mean, Dad had a tendency to wander down river while fishing, but he usually came back before long...
After about twenty minutes of tears...I heard a rustling in the grass, and soon enough saw his poles emerge from amongst the tree limbs... “DAD! I screamed, you’re back!”
Though my dad wasn’t the savior of the world coming to take us into the world hereafter, he was my savior that day. His promise to return was hard to believe when all I felt was his absence, the abandonment from the one I trusted to take care of me. Of course upon seeing him, it was much easier to believe in his promise of return...as I hugged him and held onto him.
The disciples too, clung to their savior, uncertain of their futures. Jesus, seeing their anticipatory grief tenderly reveals his love, and the father’s love- “an Abiding love that will come to them in the form of the Holy Spirit, which will strengthen their faith and enable them to carry forward the love and message of Jesus. His words of hope mark the beginning of what the world now knows as the spirit-filled life, lived in and through and among the Spirit of God...this Holy manifested presence, the indwelling of our Lord. Jesus says,
“I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. 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. I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you....”
The Rev. Barbara Brown Taylor, an Episcopal priest, has described the Holy Spirit this way:
“When Jesus let go of his last breath willingly, we believe, for love of us- that breath hovered in the air in front of him for a moment and then it was set loose on earth. It was such a pungent breath so full of passion, so full of life that it did not simply dissipate as so many breaths do. It grew, in strength and in volume, until it was a mighty wind, which God sent spinning through an upper room in Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost. God wanted to make sure that Jesus friends were the inheritors of Jesus breath, and it worked.” (ChurckCurrie.blogs.com)
As believers of the working, loving power of God to act and breathe in our lives today it is imperative that we recognize this Holy Spirit as God’s abiding love and as disciples we follow Christ’s commandments to Love one another as Christ loved us. In times of pain and suffering when the world seems to close its doors, the Spirit will bring you comfort. When the agony of loss threatens to take the very core of our existence into the dark places of hopelessness...the Spirit will reach out her hands.
When violence and destruction sink their teeth into an already fragile humanity...we as followers of Christ, walking with the Spirit of truth must love the earth as caretakers with dominion as a responsibility not a birthright to power. We must remain steadfast in the demanding of equal rights for all peoples and set forth an agenda that will deliver the marginalized out of the hands of the depraved and destructive forces that promote death and burial. If we, as the United Church of Christ believe that God is Still Speaking we will open our hearts, minds and bodies to the leading of God dwelling within and amongst us, and as a community follow in these footsteps of Christ. The same Christ Whose breath has breathed fire into the hearts of humanity...creating a catalyst that has synthesized our culture’s worldview, through tradition- reason- and experience, with the ethos of those who are called and believe.
Barbara Brown Taylor says: “The question for me is whether we still believe in a God who acts like that. Do we still believe in a God who blows through closed doors and sets our heads on fire? Do we still believe in a God with power to transform us, both individuals and as a people, or have we come to an unspoken agreement that our God is pretty old and tired by now, someone to whom we may address our prayer requests but not anyone we really expect to change our lives?” (ChuckCurrie.blogs.com)
As believers, we must dig deep back to the unveiling of the world when the Creator God peeled back the layers from our eyes exposing us to a world without consciousness to a darkness that would inevitably seek to destroy love, that would invite us to sit by and watch. We can not watch, and we will not participate in the decay of new life, roots that have lost their soil, souls whose roots are drying up, winds that no longer blow, and oceans that reflect the bloodshed upon our own hands.
It is through this Spirit, the same spirit to which we pray in one of the most ancient of Christian documents, the Nicene Creed, that we can believe and continue to move forward in proclaiming the gospel of Love to the world.
We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is worshiped and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. May it be so. Amen.
