That where He is, we might be also

                                 

If you knew that there was limited time left and there where things that you needed your family and friends to know about life, death and the life after your death, what would you take the time to tell them? In its essence that is what the Farewell Discourse of John’s Gospel is all about. Jesus is both telling those closest to him and demonstrating to them with action what he thinks is the most important things to concern themselves with – both personally and corporately.

To that end there are two important things, two themes that get expressed in the Gospel lesson (John 14:15-21) this week. The first theme is the need for love to be expressed in obedience. The second theme is the coming and work of the Spirit. So if you will allow, I want to examine these themes apart and then see how they come together, in light of what we heard last week (John 14:1-14); that Jesus is the very presence of the Living God and that we have gone from building to person, from geography to relationship again.

So let’s start with the second theme first. In recent weeks, I have been considering how the Resurrection was not the culmination of God’s plan for salvation but rather the beachhead to launch the Church so that the work of building the kingdom up might continue through Christ and the Church working with and in the Holy Spirit. this makes the Resurrection more about Pentecost and the coming of the Holy Spirit and less about the Resurrection being the end game. The Spirit is going to be given to enable, embolden and empower the work of the Church community to active witness to the truth of the Gospel. Over and over again in the preaching of the apostles, people are called to repentance because they participated in the death of Jesus and to live the new life found in him because God raised him from the dead.

The Church is that community which witnesses to all the things which Christ is doing in the world, and continues to do with the presence and work of the Spirit. The Church is being drawn and led to live out the dyings and risings of Jesus on a daily basis in the everyday world. Or as St. Paul would have it, “I die daily”. But there is something that we need as Church acknowledge here: Christ is not absent but real and present to the Church. Each time we celebrate the Eucharist we remember his words, “Do this, in remembrance of me.” We do this thing so that we can recall that he is One amongst us. I believe that Jesus is present even now to his community, his Church. And we are being given another Advocate, the Spirit. This second Advocate is here to teach us about God, to help us remember Jesus whom we serve and the things that he taught, and he is with us to lead us into all the truth about Jesus and God. And because Jesus is in the presence of the Father and the Spirit is with us, we are enabled, empowered and emboldened to do things that still amaze and draw attention to the growing kingdom, just as Jesus promised.

What about the other theme? Well it seems to me that this is how we demonstrate the presence of Christ, the Spirit and the kingdom of God amongst us. Being in relationship with God should and must invade our personal space and pervade our corporate relationships. Making this happen is the work of the Spirit – to bring about the unity of the witness of the Body and make it work to make it clear to the rest of the world that there is something more to life than death and taxes.

What is the command that we are given to keep? Is it not that very command that he gives next, to love one another has Christ has loved us? Can we claim to be followers of his and do harm to each other mentally and physically in his name and call that Christianity? Life in the kingdom comes from God and depends on being received – the Spirit is God’s first gift of all the gifts that he desires to give us. There is more to the Christian life than the sight of a lonely cross and an empty grave. It is the knowledge of the presence of the Living God in your life. The incarnation does not end with the Ascension, it goes on in you and me. We are to embody Christ so that others can see and know that we are with him. The world needs to see us acting and reacting as Christ does, loving, caring and having compassion on those who, in the eyes of the world, aren’t worth it.

How do we make this come together? Take the direction of St. Paul: “Be filled with the Holy Spirit.” Take the time to be filled up over and over again so that you can do the things that God calls you to do, to overcome and to build for the kingdom that is coming. We work with God to help heaven and earth to come together; to interlock and be wedded together. Are there questions and struggles? Are there hurts and pains along the way to getting there. Yes there have been, and so long as we are apart from God; as long as we try to do it ourselves, there are going to be struggles, trails and pains. What we look to is the intimacy of the relationship we are building with God and with neighbour, knowing that such a binding leads into that abundant life that overflows into eternity. After all didn't the Saviour promise, “Where I am, you may also be”?

Jason+