6th Sunday of Easter, May 13, 2007, “Series C”
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen.
Let us pray: Dear Heavenly Father, you sent your Son into our world, that through his death and resurrection, we might be restored to a right and meaningful relationship with you. Help us to treasure your gift of grace, and through the power of your Holy Spirit, so inspire us to reach out to others with your promise of redemption. And when anxieties arise, give us the peace that passes understanding, the peace that comes from the knowledge that through our Lord’s death and resurrection, our future transcends life here on earth. This we ask in Christ’s holy name. Amen.
Our Gospel lesson for this morning is a small portion of one of the most remarkable segments in all of the New Testament – what has come to be know as our Lord’s Farewell Discourse with his disciples. According to John’s Gospel, this discourse takes place after Judas Iscariot has left the gathered disciples to betray Jesus, and prior to his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.
Thus, Jesus knows that his life on earth is quickly coming to an end, and he seizes this opportunity to prepare his faithful followers for what is about to take place. This whole discourse is so compassionate and full of Christ’s love for his disciples, both then and now, that I would encourage you to read it in its entirety when you return home today. It is recorded in chapters 14 through 17 of John’s Gospel.
Just think of the compassion that Jesus expresses for us, his disciples, as he faces his brutal death on the cross. His discourse begins with those comforting words spoken at nearly every funeral service. “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go to prepare a place for you, I will come again, and will take you to myself, so that where I am, you may be also…”
And then, our Lord’s discourse ends with what we now refer to as Christ’s priestly prayer for his disciples. Here Jesus prays, “Righteous Father, the world does not know you, but I know you; and these know that you have sent me. I made your name known to them, and I will make it known, so that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them…” It is hard to read this text without sensing the tremendous love Christ has for us.
Our lesson for this morning is no less expressive of our Lord’s dying love for his disciples. And it is really an appropriate text for this sixth Sunday of Easter, which falls just prior to our remembrance of Christ’s Ascension, our risen Lord’s return to our Heavenly Father, which occurs this coming Thursday. For the words that Jesus spoke to prepare his disciples for his absence through death, are just as meaningful in helping us live today in the absence of his resurrection appearances.
First, let’s consider this promise Jesus makes to us. “I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you.”
Jesus has promised us that we would not be left on our own to try and make sense out of his life, death, resurrection and ascension. And his promise has been fulfilled. On Pentecost we recall how God had poured out his Holy Spirit upon the disciples, not only to give them the courage to proclaim that they had experienced Jesus die on a cross and rise from the grave. But the Spirit also gave them the ability to understand what his death and resurrection meant for their redemption.
And through the power of God’s Spirit, our Lord’s words and deeds came to be recorded – perhaps not verbatim – but they have never been forgotten. And through the power of God’s Spirit still at work in the life of the church, even to this day, Jesus’ words continue to be interpreted and made relevant to our daily life. And in that sense, our crucified and risen Lord continues to be present among us, guiding us and leading us into a more meaningful relationship with God.
In addition, through the power of God’s Spirit, we not only come into our Lord’s presence through his spoken words, but through the sacraments of Baptism and Holy Communion, we are afforded the opportunity to experience and participate in our Lord’s gift of redemption.
As Paul says in his Letter to the Romans, “Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? Therefore, we have been buried with him by baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, so we too, might walk in newness of life. For if we have been united him in a death like his, we will certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.” [Romans 6:3-5]
Of course, in communion, Jesus’ words speak for themselves. “Take and eat; this is my body, given for you… This cup is the new covenant in my blood, shed for you and for many, for the forgiveness of sin. What more needs to be said?
Thus, through the power of God’s Spirit working through the church, our crucified, risen and ascended Lord continues to be present to us, inviting us to hear his word and participate in his saving grace. //
Returning to our text, Jesus says, “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…”
Well, I have never been much of an historian. But I did read at one time, a commentary in which it was stated that most of history can be boiled down to the recording of two facts. The dates of significant advancement in technology and items that could enhance human life, and the recount of all of the wars that have taken place since the beginning of recorded history.
That description of history doesn’t give us a lot of hope for lasting peace in this world. My Grandfather fought in W.W.I. My father fought in W.W.II. Some of my relatives fought in the Korean war. My brother was deployed to Viet Nam during the that war, while I was stationed stateside. Now, we can’t even determine who are enemies are. It just never seems to end.
Thank God, that the peace Jesus promises to leave with us is not like the peace the world gives – for worldly peace is so fragile and temporary. In fact, the peace that Jesus gives is not even related to relative calm in our daily life, amidst the numerous other anxieties that come our way, such as the rising cost of fuel and cost of living coupled with the decrease in wages and good jobs.
The peace that Jesus gives us, is not worldly peace, although it can help us cope with, and deal with the daily anxieties that we experience in this world. The peace that Jesus gives us is the knowledge of his love for us, even in the midst of sorrow. The peace that Jesus gives us is the fact that he will not abandon us, no matter what might come our way.
Again, I think Paul expresses it best in his Letter to the Romans, when he says: “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?… For I am sure that neither death, not life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8]
Finally, Jesus says, “If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I. And now I have told you this before it occurs, so that when it does occur, you may believe.” Clearly, this is not as much a prediction of Jesus’ death, as it is of his ascension.
And isn’t that the goal of our Christian faith – to be with our crucified and risen Lord, not only in his presence, but with him in the presence of his Father? Thus, Jesus tells us to rejoice, to be glad that he will be returning to his heavenly Father, because through our baptism and faith in Jesus’ death and resurrection, that is also where he promises we will be at the end of our earthly life.
John Brokhoff, related the following illustration in his book, The Case of the Missing Body, [C.S.S. Publishing, 1982] “In a little Episcopal church nestled among huge pines and rhododendron in western North Carolina, there is a marble baptismal font. ON the rim is carved the words of Paul: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”
Since it was a very unusual inscription for a font, I inquired about it. I was told the that font was given by parents who lost their three small daughters. The father went off to World War I, and while he was overseas, a diphtheria epidemic struck. One daughter fell victim to the disease. Two days later a second daughter died. Only a few days passed until the mother was left alone. Their three little girls were buried in the parish cemetery.
When her husband returned from fighting for our country, he and his wife decided to give the font in memory of their daughters. Believing these words of Christ that we should rejoice that he was returning to his Father, and trusting that their daughters were with him, it brought a subdued, but true joy to their hearts. And in the hope of rejoining their daughters, they had this inscription etched in the marble of the font: “I thank my God in all my remembrance of you.”
Through the power of God’s Spirit, these words in our Lord’s final discourse with his disciples are so alive with his love and compassion for us, his disciples, that even in the face of our sorrows and tears in this world, we can rejoice, find peace, and know his loving presence.
Amen.
