Our Gospel message comes to us today from the 14th chapter of John, beginning with the 23rd verse.
Jesus answered him, “Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me. “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. 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. You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ 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. (John 14:23-29, NRSV)
All mighty God, we thank you for your word and the way that you in it revealed to us who you are and what you've done for us in Christ. Now as we open that word we pray that your spirit may be present, that all thoughts of worry or distraction may be removed and that the Spirit will allow us to hear your voice. And so, oh God, fill us with your spirit through the reading and proclamation of your word this day. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.
“Preparing for Departure”
'Grandma and Grandpa stood with the two boys as they watched Mom and Dad board an American Airlines' jet which would fly them for a vacation to the Caribbeans. The boys searched the small plane windows and finally found their parents who were waving a fond farewell. They watched as the plane began to taxi to the runway. They watched as the plane began its take off. They saw the huge streams of smoke flowing from the jet engines. They saw that majestic silver bird soar into the sky. They gazed into the gray blue sky as the jet climbed and slowly flew out of sight. They stood watching when they couldn't see anymore. Then they turned and began the walk back to the car for their return ride home and the joy and excitement of having Grandma and Grandpa with them for awhile.'
Our text for this Sunday alludes to the great event which takes place this coming Thursday, May 30th. Yes, the Ascension of our Lord. In today’s gospel Jesus is preparing the disciples for the day he will no longer be with them, the day they will be on their own to carry out His mission on this earth. Jesus prepares this disciples for this day because he is counting on them to tell others about the love of God the Father for His children through the life of Christ Jesus. Jesus is not only preparing them for His journey, his ascent into heaven, but as well as their journey out into the world as they will proclaim the coming of God’s kingdom through Jesus.
An ancient legend tells of Jesus’ ascension into heaven. Jesus is met by the angel Gabriel who asks him, "Lord what plans have you made for carrying on your ministry in the world? How will people learn of what you have done for them?" Jesus responded, "I left that to Peter, James and John, Martha and Mary. They are to tell their friends and their friends will tell other friends until the whole world has heard the good news."
Gabriel then asked, "What if Peter is so busy with his nets and Martha so full of her housework and the friends so preoccupied that they all forget to tell their friends? Don’t you think you should make some other plans?" Jesus answered, "I have made no other plan. I am counting on My Children to spread my name and my love."
How did Jesus prepare his disciples for his journey, His ascent into heaven and then their journey to the corners of the world with the story of his love, mercy and forgiveness?
There are a few verses in our gospel text that sheds some light on that preparation. We begin with the verse which says, "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 is telling the disciples that God will send the Holy Spirit which will bring to their remembrance all that He had taught them. For part of their preparation for His journey, His ascent into heaven and their journey out into the world is to find strength, to find expression, to find wisdom through the words of Christ, through His means of grace, through baptism and communion. It is through the word, the remembrance of all that Christ had taught them that they will be empowered for their mission.
Through that word they would find also the command to love one another, to uphold one another in faith, and through those relationships each would find strength, each would be able to fulfill Christ’s plan. Not only would they have each other, but at the same time, the Holy Spirit would come, and in blending in with their spirit, would empower them in their task and in their service. Their task was to spread the message of the risen Christ and this was to be done in words and in deeds.
The same kind of preparation is available for us today. Through the word, through the sacraments, through our worship together, through our sharing the faith together, we are empowered by God’s Holy Spirit given us in Baptism to fulfill His mission in this world. You and I are the Peters the James and the Johns, the Marys and the Marthas, we are the ones Jesus is counting on this day to tell the unchurched, the lonely, the outcast, the sick, the disabled about the Christ who wants to be with them and redeem them.
'A mother was busy cleaning the house one morning when the phone rang. She answered and the person at the other end seemed surprised as she asked, "Is this St. Paul’s Church?"
"No" said the busy mother, "no, I think you have the wrong number."
"Well", said the lady on the other end, "I was calling just to talk to someone a minute."
No, thought the busy mother, I don’t have time for this.
The lady continued saying, "I live alone and I'm confined to a wheel chair. My children live in another state, and sometimes I get so lonely I just can’t stand it. I’m not able to get to church. Could you just talk to me a little while?"
The busy mother felt a sudden warm feeling inside, an embarrassed feeling. There was a long moment of silence as she looked quickly at her work and thought it wasn’t that dirty, nor that messy and she did have planned some tennis for the afternoon, so returning to the phone she said, "I am glad you got the wrong number. I would very much like to talk with you."
The woman was filled with joy as she excitedly gave the busy mother her name and address and sat anxiously waiting for her new visitor.'
Not only in our preparation are we promised the Spirit who will bring to our remembrance God’s means of grace, His word and the sacraments, along with that Jesus promises his peace as it says in our text, "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."
Jesus is preparing the disciples for their journey as He extends His peace upon them. A peace which says that even in the midst of troubles, even in the brokenness of life, even in the turmoil of this chaotic world, even in the sorrow of death, even in the pain of broken relationships, even in the normal process of growing older, in all of this there is a sense of peace.
A peace which says everything need not be made right, but a certain calm which comes and says there is a comfort, a sense of courage, a serenity which allows Christ to be in control.
Maybe the following will help explain what I mean by God’s peace: In some hospitals they are using a new method to calm the newborns as they lie in their beds. It seems that if one baby cries, all of them begin to cry. So the hospital installed a tape recorder and speakers in the nursery and began to play a recording of a mother’s heats beat as it would sound to the baby. After listening to these sounds for a few moments, the crying is stilled and the babies seem happy as a feeling of security is spread over that nursery.
In the same way, Christ’s peace is spread over our lives and even though we still have problems, even though we still live in brokenness, there is a security over our lives which says no matter what, Jesus is with me and somehow with him by my side, this too shall pass.
The last preparation our text speaks of is the assurance of a heavenly home, a place with Jesus as he prepares our rooms. Jesus says "You heard me say to you, ‘I am going away, and I am coming to you.’ If you loved me, you would rejoice that I am going to the Father, because the Father is greater than I." Jesus is reminding the disciples again of the promise, the assurance that when their pilgrimage on this earth is ended, they will live with Him for eternity.
Jesus says we rejoice because of this hope. Life is filled with hope. Our lives, because of Christ, are more than nothing. They are filled with Christ’s resurrecting power. There is the taste of heaven now and a full taste of heaven when death comes. Our lives are filled with God’s word, his means of grace, his peace, and the power to love Him and our neighbor. That is a full life. And when that kind of life has ended, then the rejoicing can begin because we have the assurance of the Holy Spirit that we will be living eternity with the rooms prepared for us by Jesus. As John saw in his vision, our rest, our rooms will be prepared by Christ and they will be in Christ. He will be the light, the power of that heavenly home.
Surely in this we are not suggesting that sorrow has no place in the death of a loved one, because it does. But at the end of sorrows, at the end of our tears, at the end of the pain of separation, there must be something. And that something for us in Christ is the resurrection.
Life is more than sound and fury signifying nothing. Life is filled with Christ. And then life ends in Christ and in hope of the eternity.
I end with the following that illustrates the resurrection at the end of the tears, at the end of the pain, at the end of the sorrow.
'A man and his wife stood in terror as the doctor told them their 13-month old baby had died unexpectedly.
The parents hugged, embraced, cried on each other’s shoulder. They returned home, cried more as each friend and relative came to offer support.
Finally it came time to prepare the funeral service. The man told the presiding pastor, "I want this service to be a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ."
The hymns were many familiar Easter hymns. The scriptures included the reality of death as they showed the power of Christ to overcome death. The pastor began his sermon reliving the circumstances of the child’s death, the pain, the heartbreak. Then He spoke of the promise that God’s peace would be present in all circumstances, and ended with Christ’s promise of a heavenly home.
The congregation ended the service with the hymn: Now let the Vault of Heaven Resound, and as the casket was carried from the church to the adjacent cemetery, the organ played with as much sound and triumphant as it could muster, the triumphant melody of the Hallelujah chorus from Handel’s Messiah.'
"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."
Let us pray:
Jesus, we thank you that you promised us peace. When you left this earth you gave your peace as a gift to your disciples and followers and as we follow you today that same peace is available to us. We receive it as your sons of peace. Thank you for the Holy Spirit who gives us tranquility of the mind and heart in troubling times. Thank you for the fruit of your Spirit, peace. We pray that you would impart that peace to our mind, heart and soul continually. We bind up fear and cast if from our midst and we loose your perfected love which casts out all fear. We pray a new revelation into Your love for us and with this revelation the peace that passeth all understanding will fill us. Give us peace for the journey to fulfill the plan and destiny that you have on our lives. Thank you that this peace will never leave us for it is not given as the world gives peace. Your peace does not ebb and flow or wain based on culture, society, money, government, daily circumstances when things are good or when things are bad. Your peace is not fickle. It stands on Your word and is stable and will stay with us through all eternity. Let us never take our eyes off of you so that the waves of this world will consume us and take our peace. Your peace is wrought by your grace and may your grace abound even more in us. Thank you for your peace and we trust you to perfect everything that concerns us. We lay at your altar everything that would take our peace and trust that you will be Sovereign over all. Speak “Peace be still”. Fill us now anew with your peace, in Jesus Name, Amen.
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Scripture taken from the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)® Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
"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."
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