Never Alone

Scriptures:     Acts 17:22-34                         Psalm 66:8-20

I Peter 4:1-11                         John 14:15-31

As I was reading this passage – as I read these passages every year in which Jesus is preparing to say goodbye to his disciples, I’m reminded of a summer picnic my freshman year in college, that was held by the church I belonged to when I was at Penn State, Faith United Church of Christ in State College PA.  Then they had – and today they still have – a strong ministry to students at Penn State, with Bible studies and other events during the week for these students, many of whom were away from home for the first time, as I was way back in 1980, almost 40 years ago.  At that time, they called a seminarian to lead activities for the college students.  During the year, under the leadership of the seminary student, we had lots of activities – Bible studies, meals together – a weekly meal at the church every Sunday evening, and picnics periodically through the year.  The students became quite a close-knit group.  We picked a date and came together over the summer between my first and second year in college for a picnic.  Of course, I was glad to see everyone again.  But some of those at the picnic had been in their senior year when I was in my first year, and had graduated from college.  I was glad that even though they had graduated, they had come back to be with us at the picnic….but there was some sadness as well, because we likely wouldn’t be seeing them again.  The lives of those who had graduated were moving forward, with talk of job interviews and engagement rings and such, while the rest of us were enjoying a more-or-less carefree summer in the sun.  Likewise, the seminary student who had led us that year was graduating from seminary, and getting a call to another church – and so we wouldn’t be seeing him again either.    Would the church call another seminarian to lead us through the next year?  What would the new guy be like?  And so, for me, the picnic brought up a mix of joy and sadness and anxiety – joy at being together with friends, sadness that some of these friends and our leader were moving on, and anxiety about what the future would hold for those who would be students again next year.

For me, our Gospel reading feels a little like that…..though much heavier on the sadness and anxiety.  Our Gospel reading picks up where last week’s reading left off, with Jesus telling his disciples that he will be leaving them – specifically, he expects to be arrested and executed.  Of course, the disciples are shocked, upset, fearful.  What will happen to them without Jesus there to lead them?  After all, they had left everything behind to follow Jesus, and following Jesus had taken them far outside the mainstream of their society.  They had come too far to just go back to what their lives had been before, back to just being fishermen and tax collectors and such.  But what is the way forward? 

As readers, we might well have similar questions about what would happen to the disciples.   Up to this point, the disciples have misunderstood Jesus’ message and mission over and over and over again.  Without Jesus there to shepherd them, and left to their own devices, heaven only knows what kind of nonsense the disciples are apt to dream up. 

So Jesus assures them that they will not be left to their own devices.  “I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you,” Jesus promises.  Jesus tells the disciples that he will ask the Father to send another Advocate to be with them.  The Greek word translated here as Advocate, is parakletos.  The word means someone called to the side of another person to advocate for them.  The picture is that of a defense attorney rebutting the attacks of the prosecution. And that is what the Holy Spirit is for us. The word is also sometimes translated Comforter or Helper.  Jesus also calls this Advocate the Spirit of Truth.  Jesus says that this Spirit of Truth, which we call the Holy Spirit, will teach the disciples and remind them of everything Jesus said.

Jesus links the giving of the Holy Spirit to loving him, and keeping his commandments.  “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.”  At first glance, this sounds a little manipulative, perhaps like our spouse telling us,  “if you love me, you’ll take out the trash.”  But I don’t think Jesus is being manipulative, but just recognizing that if the disciples love Jesus – if we as modern-day disciples love Jesus, we’ll want to do what pleases him. 

“If you love me, you’ll keep my commandments,” Jesus says.  We might be tempted to ask, “What commandments?” What specifically is Jesus asking of his disciples, of us?  This passage doesn’t tell us.  But in the other Gospels, Jesus says that the two great commandments are love of God and love of neighbor – and these are connected, inseparable. So that might point us in the right direction.  Sticking to John’s gospel, a little earlier in the conversation, Jesus tells his disciples, “A new commandment I give you, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.  By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:34-35)  And just a little later in the conversation, Jesus tells his disciples, “This is my commandment, that you love one another.  No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  You are my friends if you do what I command you.”  (John 15:12-14)   And so we get the point: Jesus is asking his disciples – asking us – to love one another. 

At this point, our English word “love” may leave us confused, because that single word, “love” covers a lot of territory, from romantic love to love of parents to love of children to love of friends to love of country to saying “I just love butter pecan ice cream.”  So what is Jesus asking of them?  Is he asking them to eat butter pecan ice cream together?  Is he asking them to have a big group hug?  Where is Jesus going with his talk of love?

Unlike English, the Greek language is a little more specific, with different words for different kinds of love.  For example, Greek has a word, “philia” for “brotherly love” – it’s a word with which we may be familiar, because our city is named after it – Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love.  Greek has another word, “eros”, used for romantic love, which is also called erotic love, so this Greek word has also found its way into the English language.  But these are not the words used by Jesus in this passage.  The Greek word used by Jesus is “agape”, which was considered the highest form of love – self-giving love, self-sacrificing love, love given without intention of getting anything back.  Agape love goes beyond affection – beyond just liking someone – to acting for another person’s good, even at sacrifice to yourself, whether you happen to like them in that moment or not.  Agape love is a matter of will and of action, not emotion.  Jesus points us in this direction when he says, “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”  This is the love Jesus showed for his disciples, and this is the love Jesus wanted his disciples – wants us – to have for one another.  Jesus wants his disciples – wants us – to want what’s best for one another, and to act in ways to make that happen.  And Jesus says that if we act in that way, the world will know we are his disciples.

At this point, we may say, “But that’s not how the world works” – and that’s exactly Jesus’ point when he says that the world cannot receive the Spirit that Jesus offers.  We’re told that a disciple named Judas, but not Judas Iscariot – this was a different guy -  asked Jesus, “How will  you reveal yourself to us, and not to the world.”  And Jesus responds that those who keep Jesus commandment of love will receive what Jesus has to offer, and those who don’t keep Jesus commandment of love, won’t.   The world acts on a basis of self-interest – “what’s in it for me” – while Jesus wants his followers to act on the basis of agape love – “what’s in it for you, or what’s in it for the other person.”  And so the kind of love Jesus commands is costly – may cost us time, as we spend time caring for one another that we could be spending watching a football game; may cost us money that we give so someone else can eat or have a roof over their head, that we could be spending on clothing or vacations for ourselves, or putting away for our retirement.  This kind of love can become very costly indeed, as the people we want to help may misunderstand our intentions and even become hostile – as it cost Jesus his life to show this kind of love for his friends.  Indeed, this kind of self-giving love is threatening to those who are in the world only to take what they can for themselves.  It makes them look bad – which is also Jesus’ point in acting as he did, to hold up a mirror to the world and reveal the world’s badness to itself, so it would turn to God.   Jesus was very honest with his disciples – he came into the world to offer love, and the world hated him for it, killed him because of it. 

Later on, in John’s letters, John is very explicit in tying together love of God with love of neighbor, as he wrote:  “7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. ⁸Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. ⁹God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. ¹²No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹⁶So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.
God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. ¹⁷Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgement, because as he is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹We love because he first loved us. ²⁰Those who say, ‘I love God’, and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. ²¹The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (I John 4:7-12, 16-21)
Jesus connects all of this with peace:  “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.”  Again, the contrast with what the world gives, what the world offers.  The world tells us that peace comes from having wealth, from having status, and from using military force to guard our wealth and status.  The peace the world offers comes from absence of conflict.  But the peace Christ offers comes from a different place, from acting out of love and not fearing the consequences – as Jesus said, “perfect love casts out fear.”  Even though there may be conflict all around us, the peace Christ offers will sustain us.

So truly, as disciples of Christ, even though we may feel lonely at times, we are never alone.  Jesus is not walking beside us, but our sisters and brothers in Christ are, and both they and we have the Holy Spirit within us.  And so as we are together, the Holy Spirit is within each of us, and also beside us as we are with our sisters and brothers.  And so Jesus has not left us orphaned.  We are never alone.  We are never alone, because we are there for one another.  Thanks be to God.   Amen.