"Never Alone" - Sermon for Easter 6, May 21st, 2017

Sermon:

Text: John 14:15-21

Grace and Peace to you from God our Father and our Lord Jesus Christ who sends the Advocate to us.

            During the Easter Season, from Easter to Pentecost we read most weeks from the Gospel of John. We spend this time in John each year, looking at all these different texts and it’s interesting to note that none of these exchanges and sermons by Jesus appear in the other Gospels. Jesus does not breathe on the disciples in Matthew, Mark, or Luke, he does not talk about being the Good Shepherd and the Gate, there is no declaration of him being the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

            For quite a long time the thought was, John is different because the writer of John was a spiritual, so told the stories and talked about more spiritual matters. While Matthew, Mark, and Luke were more concerned about historical events that occurred, John tends to focus on Jesus speaking, not what he is doing or where he’s going. This meant that many scholars who were more concerned about the historical stuff, you may have heard the term the search for the historical Jesus, pretty much just put John aside and concentrated on the other three.

            Recently though, there has been more studying of John, and thinking about that question, why is John so different? Is it simply because the author was spiritually minded? Or is there more going on here?

            John is the last of the gospels written, a brief timeline of events. Jesus dies and is resurrected in 33AD, the Jewish temple is destroyed by Rome in 70 AD, Mark is the first Gospel written finished around the same time. Luke is most likely the next to be finished, but it and Matthew are very similar, so both are probably finished around 10-20 years after Mark is finished. When we get to John, it’s been another 10 years or so, some even put it as another 20 years all the way to around 110 AD. It could be anywhere from 20-40 years after Mark is finished.

            And so while for Matthew, Mark, and Luke, the task is to write what happened. They were all focused on writing down where did Jesus go, what did Jesus do. But, for John after all the rest are written, well, they’ve already covered that, but even more important to John, other things are starting to take place. The Temple has already been destroyed, both Judaism and early Christianity are dealing with what to do with that, their center for worship is now gone. And by the time of John’s writing early Christians are getting kicked out of the synagogues, where they too had gone to worship. And through that they are starting to be outcast from society and even from their families. And then on top of everything else, people are starting to die. John the Apostle is the last of the disciples to die, he dies around the time the Gospel of John is finished, his last words going into it. So, with all these things, what journey’s Jesus took are less important than what does Jesus mean to them in the midst of what is going on. They are undergoing extreme persecution and fear about the future, and so they want to hear the words of Jesus, what does Jesus say. And that’s what the gospel of John gives them. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, Jesus is the gate, Jesus breathes life into them.

            And in our Gospel for today, when they are in this fear and uncertainty of the future, they hear God will give them another advocate. The Greek word is Paraclete, someone who advocates for you, watches out for you, is a counselor, and companion. The advocate, the Holy Spirit, is the one who intercedes on our behalf, who watches out for us, who stands with us in times of trial, who walks with us. The way I really like to think about the Holy Spirit here is the accompanier, the one who accompanies us wherever we go and whatever we do. Promising that we will not be alone. To the people of John that’s powerful, that’s what is needed. Jesus is seemingly gone, the temple is gone, they are kicked out of synagogues, they are kicked out of family, the disciples are starting to all be dead and gone, they are feeling alone, and they hear that Jesus will always be with them, and will send another advocate as well. The Holy Spirit will always accompany them.

            We need to hear this too. Hear that when you feel alone, when feel removed, feel separate, you are not alone. Christ is with you, the Holy Spirit is with you. You have an advocate with you, an accompanier with you.

            And then we see Jesus calling us to keep his commandments. Not the ten commandments, but Jesus’ commandments. And that is? Love one another as I have loved you. They will know you are my disciples by your love.

            In the very first Sunday of Easter, we read about Jesus breathing the Holy Spirit upon the disciples and then through all the generations that same breath comes upon us. That breath is life being breathed into us as the people of God, the church in the world. That breath is the Holy Spirit, the advocate, the accompanier, who fills us, and never leaves us alone. And that same breath calls us to love, calls us to love one another, calls us to care for each other, be with each other, to accompany each other, to be advocates for all the people of God. That breath imparting the Holy Spirit upon us, means that we are bearers of the advocate to those around us. You help give the advocate, the Holy Spirit, to all those who fear through what you do, through your very breath. The advocate abides in you, and through you, goes out into the world through your love.

            School just got out, we have VBS this week, and then it’s Memorial Day, and summer happens, and for many of us that means being gone and away from each other. But, we always remember that through Christ, through the advocate, we are never alone and never separate. May God walk with you, be with you, accompany you this week and always. May Christ’s resurrection promise be with you. May the Holy Spirit fill you and give you life and breath. Amen.