“THE GUIDING FORCE OF
LOVE”
Scripture Lesson: John 14: 15-21
Dr. Matthew Brown
One day in the preschool of a
church I used to serve, the children were walking up the stairs toward the
playground as our music director was headed down the stairs in the direction of
the storeroom. Robert is a tall angular
man who dresses predominately in black, not because of a sense of style but
because there is never any confusion about what to wear in the morning.
It was a rather odd sight,
the serious minded musician deep in thought towering over the talkative,
free-spirited sprites. One of the little
guys looked up at Robert as you or I would look up at a church steeple, craning
our necks, and remembering that he was in a church, he looked up with his irresistible,
imploring eyes, and asked, “Are you God?”
If you do not work in a place
rich with the sound of children’s voices, there are some challenges that you do
not face such as the timing of your visits to the facilities. There’s nothing like being “engaged with
certain life necessities” and hearing the sound of approaching children who
have been drinking a lot of juice. “Hey
teacher, there’s someone in there!”
But if you do not work in a
place rich with the sound of children’s voices, there are many joys that you
miss: their laughter; watching
preschoolers at play; their excitement over a new pair of shoes; sharing
stories with them; hearing them shout your name.
I will tell you though, that
a most common trauma for preschoolers is the shock of having to let go of the
parent dropping them off. The lapels are
grabbed, the legs are locked, the tears flow, the cry is uttered that says,
“You wouldn’t be thinking of leaving, would you?” “I’m not facing this crowd by myself.”
For all our veneration of independence,
we tend to depend a whole lot on others whether it be the parent, the spouse,
the mentor, the confidant, the comforter.
Early in life all those
dependencies are most often focused on the ones for whom we’ll be scrambling to
buy mother’s and father’s day cards over the next month. And then as we grow these dependencies may
change but seldom, if ever, do they completely recede.
Think of the people who have
populated your life. Think of that
person whose presence has brought you comfort.
Just after we were married, still caught up in that honeymoon haze and
the concurrent confusion of wondering who this person is, Donna came down with
one of those viruses that makes people of our age conjure up a scene from the
Exorcist, and she confessed to me just this week that at that moment, what she
wanted more than anything was her mother.
Of course, if she were to face that wretched, wretching illness today, I
think I’d be the one wanting her mother.
Think of the people who have
populated your life. Think of that
person whose wisdom has enlightened you, has opened the door to new
possibilities for your life. I remember
in college, at a time when I was most unsatisfied with life’s prospects and
wanted nothing more than to get done with school and get on with life, I set up
an interview with the pillar of my home community, the CEO of a multinational
corporation, an elder in my home church.
I was doing a project for a marketing class, but more than that, I was trying
to get my foot in the door in the hope of a job selling firebrick. There he sat behind that big mahogany desk,
telling me a little about the history of the company, when almost mid-sentence
he stopped and said, “Matt, I hope you will be open to the possibility that God
may be calling you to the ministry.”
Initially, I thought, “Where did that come from.” But those words had a significant impact on
me. Who are the people whose counsel has
helped to shape your life?
Think of the people who
populate your life. Is there someone who
has been an advocate for you? Author
James Carroll tells the story of his family in the 1960’s at the height of the
Vietnam War. The Carroll’s had a red
telephone in their home, yes, that kind of red telephone. You see, James’ father was a General in the
Air Force and also the head of the Strategic Air Command, and so if that phone
were to ring, unless it was a test, the world literally hung in the
balance.
Well, James’ older brother
was an opponent of the war, and so there was a great deal of tension and painful
argument in the house. When his
brother’s number came up in the draft, and he decided to apply for
Conscientious Objector status, James was afraid the house would explode.
The final step in the
Conscientious Objector process was to appear before the draft board to make
your appeal. At this appeal you were
allowed to have an attorney present with you.
Now, before he was a general, James’ father was a lawyer. And so when James’ brother made his final
appeal for Conscientious Objector status, there standing beside in a general’s
uniform, arguing on a son’s behalf, was his father. That’s an advocate.
Think of the people who
populate your life. Is there someone who
has been a helper to you? Who’s the
person you would call on when you needed help packing boxes, hooking up a
dryer? Who do you know you could call if
you were broken down on the side of 485?
Who do you know would not hesitate to watch the kids for you in an
emergency? You know, I would wager that
for a lot you, those people are sitting right here in this hall.
Comforter. Counselor.
Advocate. Helper. For each of us there is a face that comes to
mind when each of those words are mentioned.
We’re not nearly as independent as we think, are we? Comforter.
Counselor. Advocate. Helper.
And you know what all those words share together? Love.
We are most naive if we think those people play these roles in our lives
just by coincidence.
Jesus said to his disciples,
those early disciples who could not comprehend what life would be like without
him there, “I will not leave you desolate” (RSV) or “I will not leave you
orphaned.” (NRSV). Jesus says that God
would be sending, and the Greek word here is Parakletos - which when translated
can mean, comforter, counselor, advocate, helper. Jesus is saying that the Spirit of God would
be all those things to us. And it is
interesting that in John the focus of the gift of the Holy Spirit is not so
much on the individual as it is on the community.
Do you hear what Jesus is
saying in this text? The one who gave
himself in love for us is saying that the Spirit of God would empower us to be
that love for one another. If you hang
around here long enough, someone, by the grace of the Holy Spirit will be that
love for you. If you hang around here
long enough, by the grace of the Holy Spirit, the Paraclete, you will be that
love for someone else.
That’s what Jesus is talking
about when he challenges believers, those who love him, to keep his
commandments. Think about it. What did Jesus say? When you joyfully respond to the love of God
by loving God and loving your neighbor, you are keeping his commandments. In John 15: 12 Jesus says, "This is my
commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.” Remember that these are not just prosaic
words of encouragement. Jesus is saying
this just after he has knelt in humility to wash the feet of his
disciples. “This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you.”
Comforter. Counselor. Advocate.
Helper. It is the Spirit of God
that empowers us to be that love for one another.
When the church presents the
smug-filled face of self-righteousness, the Spirit is lacking. When the church is the face of compassion,
comfort, counsel, advocacy, and help, it is Spirit-filled.
We can be challenged by the
story of my friend Bobby, who with his high school classmates found themselves
one day facing the shock of a fellow student’s suicide. I don’t know what led to that catastrophe,
what isolation, what ostracism, what of those things we do to one another that
can make one feel so alone. But
something significant was said the next day.
The day after the tragedy, the class president offered this message over
the school intercom: “What Kenny needed
is not sympathy today, but one friend yesterday.”
“If you love me you will keep
my commandments.”
“This is my commandment, that
you love one another as I have loved you.”
These words from Jesus’
farewell discourse were not goodbye, for his love would not leave us
desolate. He would provide for us in the
community of faith a Comforter, a Counselor, an Advocate, a Helper, and by the
power of that Spirit he would equip us, this community, to be that love for one
another and others we haven’t even met yet.
Thanks be to God.
Amen.
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