May 1, 2016

Sixth Sunday of Easter C Acts 15: 12, 22-29; Revelation 21: 10-14, 22-23; John 14: 23-29 ‘I see God in you!’ Has anyone said that to you. ‘You were God’s miracle in my life, I prayed for help and you came.’…’You are an answer to my prayers.’…’I always feel closer to God when we talk and interact.’…’You are very special to me, I see God’s love in you.’…’You are a God-send to me.’ When we hear expressions like these we feel uncomfortable and definitely do not have the same opinion of ourselves as the ones who said these things. It is hard for each of us to respond in the affirmative when we hear these things. Is it because we don’t want to have ‘swelled head’s? Is it because we feel totally unworthy or such declarations? Is it because we have problems recognizing the gifts that the Holy Spirit has filled us with? Is it because we feel uneasiness is the way to respond in humility? If we reflect on the first two sentences of the Gospel we will discover that these people are just affirming what Jesus is saying. “Jesus said to His disciples: ‘Whoever loves me will keep My word, and My Father will love them, and We will come to them and make Our dwelling with them. Whoever does not love Me does not keep My Words; yet the word you hear is not Mine but that of the Father who sent Me.’” It is very interesting the verse before today’s reading: Jesus is responding to a question from Judas, not the Iscariot. The question was, “Lord how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?” Remember that this happened on Holy Thursday at the Last Supper. The Holy Spirit had not been given to the apostles and disciples, that happened on Easter Sunday evening. In John’s gospel, Jesus’ discourses last for four chapters (14-17). The general theme is that Jesus is preparing them for when He will no longer be with them. This will not be a time to be afraid because the Holy Spirit will come and lead them and ‘teach them all truths.’ The Spirit, as we see so often in Paul’s letters, is the gift of the risen Christ. As Reginald H. Fuller in his monumental work, Preaching the Lectionary , the Word of God for the Church Today states, “In the gift of the Spirit, the risen Christ and the Father come and make their home with the disciples. The function of the Spirit is to ‘teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you.’ It is not the work of the Spirit to convey ever new revelations, but to unfold in ever new understanding, interpretation, and application the once-forall revelation of Jesus Christ (‘all that I have said to you.’)..This ongoing work of the Spirit gives the disciples peace and takes away their fear, because the Spirit is always there as their helper who stands by them in persecution and martyrdom.” What an amazingly powerful promise that is: if we love God (and we do), and try the best that we can to live by His word (which we really try to do), then the Father loves each of us AND along with Jesus comes and takes up headquarters in us….really, makes a home in each of us so that others can see what OUR home is like and be recipients of the hospitality and love that exists in OUR home with the Father and Jesus. How are we to accomplish such an enormous task? Jesus gives the answer, it’s by the Holy Spirit that all of this is possible. So God wants and does live within each of us and through each of us reaching out to the world with His love and mercy, we are living out our commission. It is by our allowing God to come to us and living out His commands that we open ourselves to His blessings and enable each of us to fulfill this prophetic call. Now when we hear this, our response is that ‘I’m not worthy’. But it is not about worthiness it is about love. We can ask the same question in a different way, ‘Why does God love me?’ He just does…He created each of us out of love so why would He not love each of His creation? Then we all respond that ‘Well, I’m tempted and I sin.’ This is true and will always be true BUT that is why God sent His Spirit. The Spirit’s job, if you will, is to constantly teach us about the Father’s love and to reveal the power and meaning of the Resurrection: God loves us and God has prepared a place for each of us in heaven IF we believe in Him and follow His commands. The more each day that we open ourselves to the Spirit and we listen to and reflect on Jesus’ teachings, our relationship with God will deepen and WE WILL notice ourselves being CONFORMED to His likeness. This is exactly what the people who made those comments I started out with have noticed in you and me. They have noticed us becoming more and more like Jesus….IF we continue to work on this and respond to the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Why is this so noticeable to these people? Because the more time we spend with God, the more we will become like Him. Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings says this very succinctly, “In every aspect of our lives, we seek an authority who will give us the truth and give it to us straight. If our bodies are sick, that authority is a doctor. If we have money trouble, it might be a financial advisor. If we’re accused of running afoul of the law, we may want a lawyer. If there’s something fundamentally wrong with our selves, our ‘souls’ as we say, we head for the priest, guru, twelve-step group, or counselor. Is there an authority above every other authority, a court of final appeal, a source to turn to for the last word on what to do? Jesus offers us such a resource in the promise of an Advocate who will fill in the blanks for us, now and until the end of time. The Holy Spirit is more than a conscience, more reliable than instinct, wiser than the most welleducated brain in the assembly. The Holy Spirit has God leading us forward, outward, upward, inward Let’s go!” So if we are recipients of the ‘compliments’ or ‘observations’ that I listed in the first paragraph, perhaps it is the Holy Spirit telling us of the gifts that He/She has given to me. My response: Do I ever express my gratitude? Do I ever ask the Spirit what this means? Do I ever ask if there is a message the Spirit wants to tell me? Do I ever consider that the Spirit wants to teach me more about God’s love and my gifts? So I reflect on: • How am I living Jesus’ words in my life today? • Can I remember times when the Holy Spirit has led me to a place and a situation where I was totally dependent on the Spirit’s powers and not my own? • How does the Trinity —three in One—call me to live a full Christian life? • Have I ever felt alone in my faith? Is this feeling a positive or negative experience for me? What place does solitude have in my spiritual development? What place does community have? What place does Scripture have? • Where do I need to grow in my faith? Sacred Space 2016 “Jesus gently tries to prepare the disciples for the day when He will no longer be present to them in bodily form. Unlike us, who know the story, they did not know what was coming next, so they are confused, God helps us to grow even in times of confusion. Jesus is inviting His followers not to cling to His physical presence but to be open to a deeper way of being in relationship with Him. Often we find it hard to let go and embrace the new. But in clinging to the past we are in danger of letting the present become dead to us.