Stay With Us

Easter 5B; Acts 8:26-40; 1 John 14:15-21; John 15:1-8

St. Paul’s, Smithfield, NC 4/29/2018

Jim Melnyk: “Stay With Us”

Have you ever caught yourself talking to someone special in your life who is no longer in this part of eternity?  Any of us who have lost a parent or a very close loved one probably can identify with the question.  There are times in my life when I catch myself asking, “What do you think, Dad?” or “I wish you could see this!”  Sometimes we sense the presence of those we love, but no longer see, or can almost hear their voice.  Movies seem to love the idea of guidance from the spiritual world.  In Top Gun Maverick says to his recently killed copilot, “Talk to me Goose!”  In Field of Dreams, which I just wept through the other day, Ray hears a voice saying, “If you build it, he will come.”  Ebenezer Scrooge begs of his late partner Jacob Marley, “Speak comfort to me!”

We don’t like to be left alone, do we?  We don’t like to be left behind.  We find it hard to let go of those whom we love – and our hearts and minds, our books and movies, all acknowledge that truth.  It’s hard to let go of people we love, especially when they have been the ones to help us when we were confused, hurt, or sad.  “Talk to me, Dad.”  “Help me, Mom.”  “Be with me.”  “Show me the way.”  We even have prayers that help us give voice to those needs.  You may recall this one from our evening prayers: “Lord Jesus, stay with us, for evening is at hand and the day is past; be our companion in the way, kindle our hearts, and awaken hope, that we may know you as you are revealed in Scripture and the breaking of bread” (BCP, p 70, 124, and 139).

On the night Jesus was handed over to suffering and death he spent precious time with those whom he loved most.  He prayed with them.  He ate with them.  He washed their feet.  Most of all, he spoke with them about what would become his continuing presence in their lives despite the horrific events about to unfold.  Five chapters of John’s gospel – five chapters out of twenty-one – comprise what are known as the Farewell Discourses of Jesus, including what we call the Priestly High Prayer of Jesus – all of which are for his disciples and friends, and for those of us who follow.  Jesus reminds them of his ministry and his mission.  He reminds them that he has been sent from God and that he will be returning to God as well.  Because of his great love for the women and men who have become not only his followers but his friends, Jesus seeks to comfort them in the face of his coming death.

Jesus tells his friends, “I am the true vine, and my Father the vinegrower…. Abide in me as I abide in you.  Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me (John 15:1, 4).  A little earlier in the conversation Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate – a Counselor, to be with you for ever.  This is the Spirit of truth…. You know him, because he abides with you, [as do I], and he will be in you” (14:15-17).  Jesus promises the coming of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in our lives so many ages later. 

Those present with Jesus do not understand all that he has been telling them in that moment – on that last night.  They have seen the wondrous works of the Son of God and still they do not understand.  They have heard the words of their teacher: “I am the Light of the World.  I am the Bread of Life.  I am the Resurrection and the Life,” and yet they cannot grasp what he is telling them on this fearful night – they do not understand the fullness of who Jesus is for them and for the world – the One sent from God. 

It will take the resurrection of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit in their lives to underscore all that they have heard and learned.  It will take the resurrection and the gift of the Holy Spirit in their lives for them to finally grasp the reality that the power of God’s love is so great that Jesus and God have a way to be fully present with them – and to be fully present with us today.

Every baptized person in this place has received the Holy Spirit of God in their lives.  Even those who have not yet taken that step toward baptism are God’s own beloved, and have been touched by God’s Holy Spirit in some way, shape, or form. 

Baptism opens us to the very Spirit of God dwelling within us, and those who have been baptized are “sealed by the Holy Spirit…and marked as Christ’s own forever.”  The Spirit of God, present in and a very part of the God-human Jesus, is offered to each of us, and seeks to dwell within our very souls – a reality which has the power to change lives and draw people into the presence of the Living God.

Anglican scholar and priest J.B. Phillips wrote, “Every time we say, ‘I [or we] believe in the Holy Spirit,’ we mean that we believe there is a living God able and willing to enter human personality and change it.’”  That’s what we believe happens to us in our baptisms.  That’s what we believe happens to us each time we gather together as the body of Christ – as God’s people – and receive Christ’s body and blood at the holy table – when we take Christ within ourselves in the mystery of Holy Eucharist. 

The gift of God in the person of the Holy Spirit calls us into newness of life, into changed personalities and changed ways of living; and that same Spirit of God gives us the power to be different – the power to be transformed – the power to be children of God – and the right to be called God’s beloved. 

The author of First John reminds us that through the gift of God’s Holy Spirit in baptism “God lives in us, and [that God’s] love is perfected in us” (1 John 4:12b).  He reminds us that “we love because God first loved us” (4:19), and challenges us, “How, then, can anyone who follows Christ carry hatred in their heart toward anyone?”  We are called by God through our baptisms – through the gift of God’s Holy Spirit – to proclaim God’s love and grace by both word and deed in our lives every day.

Over the past two weeks we’ve heard about what it means to be Easter People – followers of the resurrected Jesus.  Two weeks ago we heard a quote from author Robert Roth who says, “Resurrection isn’t…safe.... Resurrection calls us out into the world with Christ. We must feed the hungry [and] work for peace…” (Sojourners Online, Preaching the Word, 4/15/2018).  As the Psalmist proclaims, “The poor shall eat and be satisfied” (22:25). No qualifiers.  No check list.  Just fed.  So, we come to know that feeding the hungry and working for justice in this world is part of what it means to be Easter people in our world.

And last week Lorraine challenged us to become holy action figures for Jesus – Easter People who act out the love of God in and for our world.  She challenged us to find ways to be about Jesus’ work of feeding and healing, comforting and encouraging – all the while working for true justice, and being witnesses to the Love of God that brings us all into fullness of life! 

The neat thing is that God doesn’t wait for us to remember all that, or wait for us to get up the nerve to ask, “What do you think I should do, God?”  God is already present with us in the power of the Holy Spirit reminding us of our call to follow Christ and to be Christ in our world – and asking us, “How can I help you be an Easter Person today?”