Sermon for 6th Easter
I Will Never Abandon You
By The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer -
I know there are many people who feel abandoned these days, lost to family and friends, wondering how this pandemic will affect their lives, even worrying if this pandemic will take their lives or the lives of people dear to them.
This sermon is for them. This sermon is for anyone who has ever felt abandoned. This sermon is for you.
Today’s Gospel lesson from St. John continues Jesus’ “farewell discourses” with his disciples. As we were last Sunday, in this text we are back in Holy Week and Jesus has important words to share with his disciples before he is captured and crucified.
Jesus’ most important words in today’s lesson are these, “I will not leave you orphaned.”
Or, in other words, “I will never leave you. I will never abandon you."
Jesus knew he would soon be betrayed by one of his closest followers - betrayed, arrested, and finally killed. Here at the Passover table, Jesus shares his last words with his closest friends. We can well imagine Jesus calling them to remember the taste of glory they had shared, a time when Jesus’ light had come into the darkness of the world. I picture them eating and drinking and even singing as Jesus shares these final words.
Jesus shared these words to sustain his disciples, especially in the terrible days he knew were upon them all. With such words the disciples could go on, sustained by the memory of this one great life, waiting and hoping Jesus would soon return.
It is important to note that John wrote these words years after Jesus was gone, perhaps around 90AD. This gospel was written in the midst of a community for whom Jesus was only a memory. Most of those in John's community had never met Jesus. Most, if not all, the disciples were dead. The temple in Jerusalem had been destroyed - a sign for many that the end-time would soon come.
But the end-time did not come. Life went on and that was, in many ways, the hardest part of all. Jesus had not returned even when all the signs seemed right. This community of believers felt pushed to the very edge of despair, and despair could defeat them.
John wrote these words, knowing the dangers of such despair. So, John pulled together many of the things Jesus said into this one section of the Gospel known as "The Farewell Discourses."
Here at the table, Jesus says the same things over and over in different ways. And, no surprise, Jesus’ central word is love.
" If you love me you will keep my commandments."
" A new commandment I give you, that you love one another as I have loved you."
" Whoever does not love me does not keep my words."
" I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."
"But how can we do that?" the disciples must have wondered. Knowing they had a hard time loving each other even while Jesus was with them, how could believers love like that in John's community where memory was fading? Maybe all they had left was the memory of the time when Jesus was here.
But Jesus did not call the disciples to hold up his life as memory but as a living, continuing presence in their lives. "I will not leave you orphaned," Jesus said, "I am coming to you."
What a strange thing to say on the night of betrayal and arrest. Jesus should have said, "I am leaving you." Jesus did not deny what was going to happen. "In a little while the world will no longer see me, but Jesus also said, "but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live."
Jesus was calling his disciples to live and love in ways that seemed impossible. And to do that, they would need the Holy Spirit.
The Holy Spirit is the other theme repeated over and over around the table. Referring to the Holy Spirit, Jesus sometimes says the Advocate, like someone who stands beside you in a court of law. Sometimes Jesus says Helper, sometimes Spirit of Truth. When Jesus said, "I am coming to you," he did not mean he would return like an old friend from a long journey. Jesus would be with believers in a different way. Or perhaps we could say that God would be with them in a different way because Jesus had been there.
The eternal, cosmic Word of God became flesh in Jesus. That's what John wrote at the very beginning of this Gospel. The Spirit, which blew like a wind over the face of the deep in creation, that same Spirit took on flesh in the one who now sat with them at the table.
Earlier that same evening, this Living Word, Jesus, had bent down to wash the disciples' dirty feet. You cannot get much more down-to-earth than that. Jesus was very clear. The Spirit that dwells in me will abide also in you.
In last Sunday’s gospel, the text right before today’s lesson, Jesus had said something audacious. "Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these because I am going to the Father." If anyone other than Jesus had made such a claim, we would call it blasphemy. Yet, that is what Jesus said that night at the table.
The Spirit will breathe the presence of Jesus into you. In the power of the Spirit, Jesus will continue to be present with you. "I will not leave you orphaned. I am coming to you."
Love and the Spirit - these two are at the center of Jesus' farewell message. "Love one another as I have loved you" and "The Spirit of Truth will abide with you when I am gone." A little later in this same chapter, Jesus says, "The Holy Spirit, whom God will send in my name, will teach you everything and will remind you of all that I have said to you."
Jesus knew there were some questions the sacred writings did not address. Jesus also acknowledged that there were some things he had never talked about. "The Spirit will be your tutor," he said, "guiding you into all the truth."
At the very end of this chapter, Jesus seems to be ready to leave. He says, "Rise, let us be on our way." You can almost see him getting up from the table, then realizing that he forgot to say something important. "I am the vine," he says, sitting down again, "and my Father is the vine grower. Abide in me as I abide in you."
But how can we abide in Jesus? He has told the disciples over and over, repeating himself at the table: You will abide in me through the gift of the Spirit. The Spirit will teach you how to love one another. The Spirit will keep us connected, said Jesus. You to me, all of us to God. And you to one another.
My friend Barbara Lundblad writes that some years ago she read that the reason mountain climbers are tied together is to keep the sane ones from going home. Lundblad notes that whoever said that was playing with us a bit, for we know mountain climbers are tied together to keep from getting lost or going over a cliff. But there's a piece of truth here. When things get tough up on the mountain, when fear sets in, many a climber is tempted to say, "This is crazy! I'm going home."
Our life of faith can be like that - doubts can set in, despair can overwhelm us, and even the whole notion of believing in God can sometimes seem crazy.
Jesus knew his disciples would have days like that. So he told them we are all tied together like branches on the vine - or like climbers tied to the rope-tied together by the Spirit, to trust in one who is always more than we can understand, to keep us moving ahead on the journey of faith, to encourage us when believing seems absurd. "I will not leave you orphaned," said Jesus. "I am coming to you."
Jesus’ promise was not only for Jesus' disciples, it is also for you and for me. The Spirit ties us to Jesus. We feel a tug on the rope whenever we are tempted to settle for answers that may seem to make more sense, but we know cannot give us life.
When all else fails, we always have Jesus’ promise from today’s Gospel: “I will not, I will never, leave you.” Jesus will always be with us, in the good times and in the bad times.
Jesus will never leave us. Jesus will never abandon us. And that, in the best and, especially, in the worst of times, that is enough. Jesus will never abandon you or me.
Amen.
(With thanks to the Rev. Dr. Barbara Lundblad whose work is used extensively in this sermon).
The Rev. Eric Christopher Shafer
Senior Pastor - Mt. Olive Lutheran Church
Santa Monica, California
Sermon for:
May 17, 2020
